The Villainess is on a Quest - Chapter 83

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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 83
Meanwhile, Aine and Kleid were receiving all information in real time through Raina.
The moment they learned that the rebels intended to raise an army and seize the Imperial Palace, an emergency was declared.
His closest advisors urged him forcefully to abandon the palace at once and escape to somewhere safe, but Kleid shook his head.
“If we run, where could possibly be safe? And how would we even move His Majesty, whose very movements cause him pain?”
“Yet we cannot simply sit here in the palace and perish without resistance.”
“The people will never support them. If we flee and preserve our lives, we can plan our next move.”
The Imperial Royal Guard numbered roughly five hundred men. There was a strong possibility that Retaria lurked hidden among them.
Everything was fraught with uncertainty, yet Kleid’s demeanor remained composed throughout.
“We have the Goddess of War, and we have me. What is it you fear so greatly?”
“Even if Your Majesty is the War Emperor and the Crown Princess is a goddess, steel and arrows know no such distinctions.”
It seemed the advisors’ anxiety about Dunkin’s inaction was profound, for they all pressed him harder to flee.
Kleid, who understood Dunkin better than anyone, wanted to speak of him—but sealed his lips as though they were locked shut.
‘The fewer who know, the better things flow.’
If word reached the enemy’s ears, everything could unravel, and then Dunkin and Raina’s lives would be at grave risk.
He decided to wait until matters came to a head, offering only assurances that he could manage.
“How is Wilhelm faring?”
His thoughts then turned to Wilhelm.
* * *
“I visited the Imperial Palace Rose Garden today!”
“The rose garden—that place always blooms with roses in the colors of the season.”

Because Aine had taken on all his duties in his stead, Wilhelm had been somewhat neglected.
To spare the boy from loneliness in her absence, Kleid made all the more effort to look after him.
“Right now they were the same red as my mother’s hair.”
“Yes, summer will be upon us soon enough.”
Seasons had passed in the span of his meetings with Wilhelm. Kleid watched the boy, who still bore that bright, innocent expression.
He seemed nothing like a child trapped in the throes of eternal nightmare, suffering its lingering aftermath.
‘Now that I think of it, didn’t they say his Amnesia has persisted far too long?’
Kleid found that matter itself perplexing. Amnesia was a short-term aftereffect; he had never seen it linger this way.
Of course, exceptions were possible, yet Kleid sensed something subtly amiss.
“If I were to ask you something, could you answer me honestly?”
……
The atmosphere shifted in an instant. The guileless, innocent demeanor from moments before vanished, replaced by something anxious.
Seeing Wilhelm like this, Kleid drew him into his arms and spoke.
“Know this with certainty: even if you recover your memories, I will never abandon you. Whatever you say, I will stand at your side and will not reproach you.”
If the boy was deliberately concealing his memories, Kleid sought to instill him with the confidence to speak truthfully.
Soon tears began to gather in Wilhelm’s eyes.
“You truly won’t abandon me?”
“I won’t.”
“What about Mother?”
“Aine will never abandon you.”
Kleid waited in silence for Wilhelm’s reply, sensing the boy’s discomfort in the quiet, his fingers fidgeting slightly. At last, Wilhelm spoke.
“I’ve actually remembered everything all along.”
He remembered it all. He had never lost his memories at all. When Kleid heard these words, he felt a shock reverberate through him, though no sense of displeasure accompanied it.
“Why did you do that?”
He was simply curious—why this small child had needed to weave such a lie.
“My mother. That is, my real mother told me to survive no matter what.”
When Kleid heard those words, it was as though someone had struck him across the head.
This child had witnessed the moment his mother died.
Kleid knew the truth. The Empire had never assassinated both royal parents.
Their deaths came entirely from within the Kingdom itself. Confronted with the knowledge that this child carried every terrible detail of that day in perfect memory, Kleid faltered on what answer to give.
“You won’t abandon me, will you?”
“No. I will protect you and Aine. I would stake my life on it.”
Yet he was not so foolish as to merely watch the child’s anxiety without action.
After careful thought, Kleid continued.
“Could you tell me what you witnessed that day? Of course, if it troubles you, we need never speak of this again.”
He might never have learned it at all. For now, only he knew.
If the time came, he could simply take revenge on the child’s behalf, and that would suffice.
Yet after a moment of deliberation, Wilhelm shook his head.
“Please tell Mother as well. I’ll explain everything when we’re all together.”
When Wilhelm spoke the truth aloud, a weight lifted from his chest. How long could he have hidden it? Perhaps, if he’d had the choice, he would have buried it forever.
Yet whenever that thought crossed his mind, guilt gnawed at him—the knowledge that he was deceiving these two innocent people.
Even so, understanding that the secret would surface eventually, Wilhelm found himself grateful to Kleid for stepping forward first without hesitation.
‘A dependable man.’
He seemed the sort who would truly shield Wilhelm when it mattered most. And the fact that Aine trusted him counted for much as well.
From what Wilhelm could tell, she was not the sort to extend her trust lightly to anyone.
So Wilhelm, too, gathered his courage and resolved to lay everything bare.
‘That day. All of it.’
Even a five-year-old child could grasp the general shape of how events had unfolded.
How he and Leixi had found themselves in mortal peril, and how their very lives had hung in the balance.
* * *
All command authority over the Captain of the Guard and the Imperial Royal Guard passed entirely into Aine’s hands.
At first they doubted whether they should obey her, but through Kleid’s unwavering support and the boundless faith of the chief steward Rotein, they changed their minds.
Above all, Aine was the Goddess of War. Under her command, they believed that no matter how dire the circumstances, they could overturn any disadvantage.
So the guard swore absolute loyalty to her alone.
“According to intelligence from our spy, Retaria is planning a major assault within the next day.”
A day before the expected attack, Aine summoned them all and disclosed what she knew.
Given the calm before the storm, it was easy enough to anticipate another invasion from Retaria, though the precise timing had remained uncertain.
Yet when Aine spoke the exact date, everyone exchanged looks of astonishment.
“The force is estimated at roughly three thousand strong.”
They wanted to ask how she could know such details, but none dared pose so foolish a question.
It was simple enough to deduce that she had placed a spy within Retaria itself.
And to ask openly would risk exposing that spy to danger—a price too high to pay.
“There are suspicions that Count Dunkin Horeizen has sided with Retaria. Can we still achieve victory?”
One among them asked directly. If Dunkin committed to the opposing side, it was certain they would all perish defending the Imperial Palace.
So the question hung in the air: could they hold this place?
“Even if Dunkin chooses their side over ours, I possess a Trump Card that can overturn the situation.”
She had such a card in reserve. So Aine spoke, asking them to believe in her and follow to the end, requesting their continued resistance at all costs.
When she, a princess of the blood, declared she would not abandon the Imperial Palace and flee, but would remain and fulfill her duty to the last, their resolve hardened.
“Since Your Highness has made your decision, we too have made ours.”
“We will not flee this place, come what may.”
Even if that trump card proved false, they would trust and follow her still.

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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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