The Villainess is on a Quest - Chapter 72

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 72
When Philip arrived, Emilia could honestly predict well enough what purpose he’d come with.
He must have taken issue with the situation. She glared at Philip, who had barged in uninvited, her displeasure evident.
“As if crossing our threshold without so much as notice weren’t enough, now you dare speak such nonsense!”
There was reason aplenty for the Imperial Family to command reverence and receive the deference they did.
For every privilege they enjoyed, they bore corresponding duties in equal measure.
Yet had Philip and his wife ever discharged those duties even once with competence?
Had they served in the military like Kleid, proving their devotion to the Verona Empire? Or had they rallied the people’s wavering hearts as Aine had done?
Failure would have mattered little. What counted was whether they had tried at all. But this arrogant man before her had done nothing—nothing whatsoever.
“Aunt! You are gravely mistaken! That woman will surely bring ruin upon the Verona Empire! One day she’ll destroy everything the Imperial Family has built!”
Fear began to creep over Emilia, eclipsing even her anger.
If someone else were to hear such words? The barely steadied public sentiment would surely descend into chaos once more.
But what truly unnerved her was Aine, hidden against the wall beside her, listening to every word.
“How you speak, as though you were praying for her to ruin it.”
Emilia hadn’t expected Aine to remain silent—how could she, faced with such contempt?
It was natural that Aine’s anger should kindle. She was Imperial Family now, Kleid’s wife.
More than that, it seemed strange to stand idle while those who had slandered her own deeds went unchecked.
“What’s someone like you doing in my aunt’s home!”
“Philip Hertz! How dare you insult my guest in my presence!”
The moment Aine stepped into view, Philip’s face flushed crimson as though he’d lost all reason, seething with indignation.
By contrast, Aine smiled coldly down at him.
“I wouldn’t call it merely poor conduct for an Imperial Family member—it’s rather frivolous, wouldn’t you say?”
“How dare a baseborn Orion wretch like you presume to judge me!”
Philip had spoken words best left unspoken. Emilia closed the distance in a single stride and struck his cheek.
It happened in an instant. Philip, who had never been struck by anyone in his life—for it was custom that servants receive the blows meant for their masters—suddenly found himself on the receiving end.
And struck hard at that. The blow, driven by fury, snapped his head to the side.
“Just now, Aunt, you….”
The sting radiated across his face. Shock gave way to rage.
His brow twisted, and something scalding rose in his throat.
He couldn’t believe it.
“Do you truly believe you’ll walk free after this affront to me?”
He was Imperial Family. No matter that she was Odin’s sister—once married, she had left the Imperial Palace and become nothing but a Married-Out Outsider.
That such a woman had dared lay hands upon his noble person. His rage burned hotter, and reason’s thread grew perilously thin.
It felt as though he could overturn everything right now—his aunt be damned. Philip’s eyes glinted with cold fury as he clenched his fists.
On the precipice of violence, Aine stepped forward.
“It seems the Verona Empire knows nothing of hierarchy.”
“What?”
“Though I hold the rank of Marquess’s wife, I remain your senior in age and station—yet how do you dare cast such a look upon an elder?”
It was universal across all kingdoms and empires: there existed lines that must be observed.
Of course, a king or emperor might transcend such boundaries, but this mere prince—no true wielder of that station—had proven himself a reckless fool beyond all measure, and Aine found herself at a loss for words.
“I cannot fathom who destroys the honor of the Imperial Family. What would the Empire’s subjects think if they saw this? Might they not conclude that those they revere are no better than beasts?”
It was a naked provocation. Philip possessed nothing to fall back upon except his title as Imperial Family member.
The instant she likened the Imperial Family to beasts before him, he would react as though he himself had been insulted.
And just as Aine had foreseen, Philip’s eyes rolled back in fury.
“How dare you!!”
Beyond restraint now, he looked ready to throw himself at Aine.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Kleid’s cutting voice sliced through the corridor before the blow could fall.
“I asked what you think you’re doing.”
Philip’s face drained of color as though his composure had been a lie. It seemed he hadn’t anticipated Kleid’s presence at all.
“Brother….”
“You haven’t changed. Not one bit.”
Kleid had severed all contact with Philip before departing for the battlefield.
Returning, he’d made no effort to seek him out or reach out in any way.
To Kleid, Philip was simply someone without meaning.
Yet that meaningless existence had just insulted the woman Kleid held most dear and cherished most sacred—and had raised his fist to strike her.
“I was certain I warned you clearly back then: the more you act like this, the more you expose your own insignificance to the world.”
Kleid felt a sigh of frustration escape him.
There had been a time when he’d regarded Philip as a valued younger brother, when he’d tried to guide him. Yet somewhere along the way, influenced by those around him, Philip had become completely warped.
Philip, meanwhile, ground his teeth so hard they might have shattered. That look in Kleid’s eyes—that condescending gaze, as though instructing him—kindled fresh fury.
Philip chose to belittle Kleid in order to preserve his own dignity. His gaze fell upon the woman standing before him.
“What I don’t understand is why you’d bring in someone so base. Why? Do you have some peculiar taste or—”
But his words never found their ending.
“Don’t cross the line.”
Kleid had drawn his blade and pressed it against Philip’s throat.
Philip lifted his head, studying Kleid’s expression. Surely he didn’t mean to actually sever his neck with that sword.
Yet his face was cold enough that Philip couldn’t simply dismiss it as a threat.
Breath catching, Philip turned his gaze to Emilia, silently beseeching her to intervene.
But Emilia, though clearly shaken, refused to meet his eyes.
He understood then: no one in this room would step forward for him.
“Kleid. Please stop.”
Yet help, as it turned out, was not entirely absent. It simply came from an entirely unexpected quarter.
None other than Aine.
“There’s no need to soil your blade with such filthy blood.”
Philip’s expression twisted again at the word “filthy,” but Aine paid him no mind.
Kleid hesitated briefly at her words, then chose to respect her wishes and sheathed his sword.
Philip was beginning to speak again when Marquis Andre appeared.
“You should leave now, Your Highness. We did not invite you here as a guest.”
“Marquis!”
“If you remain, I shall have to report this matter to His Majesty.”
At those words, Philip’s blood ran cold. If word of today’s commotion reached Odin, what would happen to him?
Philip had meant only to meet with Emilia and her husband and persuade them—not to commit an act of disrespect.
Raina’s access to the Imperial Palace was already restricted. Any further punishment would be dangerous.
Now that he had lost Sonelopi, there was a real possibility his titles as a member of the Imperial Family would be stripped away.
“If you withdraw now, I shall handle the matter quietly.”
Philip, forced to acknowledge the Marquis’s authority, burned with the anger of defeat—yet he chose to retreat from his seat.
“I won’t forget what happened today. Never!”
His arrogant pride remained unbroken as he turned to leave, but none of those present felt even a flicker of fear at his words.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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