The Villainess Lives Twice - Chapter 1

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 1

0.

“You wicked and cruel bitch!”

Countess Phyllis screamed and wailed at the top of her lungs.

Marquess Artizea Rosan was being dragged away with both arms seized, listening to those sounds in a daze.

During the dragging to this place, she had been struck in the face with iron gauntlets countless times.

Her mouth was torn and swollen, making it impossible to speak.

Even when she tried to walk on her own, the knights forcibly dragged her.

In the process, her ankle was twisted. She couldn’t tell if it was broken or sprained, but it hurt either way.

Unable to walk anymore, she had no choice but to be dragged.

Her twisted and seized arm also hurt. Her wrist, which the knight had gripped and twisted, was also swollen.

The knights threw her onto the floor. Artizea rolled on the ground.

“How could you do such a thing? How could you kill even Eave!”

Countess Phyllis screamed as if coughing up blood.

She shook off the arm of the maid who was supporting her and ran over to slap Artizea across the cheek.

Since her mouth was already torn, the pain was indescribably great. Artizea felt her vision turn white as she rolled on the floor again.

“What sin did Eave commit! Even if I’m a lowly woman, that child isn’t! How could you do such a thing to your blood-related nephew!”

Artizea raised her blurred eyes to look at Countess Phyllis.

Countess Phyllis sobbed, then turned to the other side and ran.

She intended to stab her to death with a sword, candlestick, or anything else.

Emperor Lawrence, who had been quietly watching the situation until then, approached her. He gently embraced her shoulders and said.

“Calm down, Emma.”

“How can I calm down? She killed my child! How can Your Majesty have such a composed face? Eave was my child, but he was also Your Majesty’s son!”

“Tia is my sister, Emma. There must be some misunderstanding.”

“I will have revenge! I will have revenge!”

Countess Phyllis collapsed in her seat and wailed loudly.

‘Eave was murdered.’

Artizea only now learned this fact.

She looked at Lawrence. Lawrence had a sad and devastated expression.

But Artizea saw a sense of triumph in his eyes.

It was clear what kind of conspiracy had been plotted against her.

First, frame her as a criminal by pinning the crime of killing a child on her. Then a chain of accusations would follow.

She had committed many real crimes, and Lawrence knew most of them. So the charges wouldn’t need to be fabricated.

It was definitely Emperor Lawrence himself who orchestrated this conspiracy.

The Emperor said.

“I can’t believe you committed such a crime, Tia. Did you really kill Eave?”

There it was. Even his voice contained fervor.

Artizea tried to speak. But before she could open her mouth, Countess Phyllis shouted.

“After that woman’s maid visited, Eave suddenly vomited black blood and died!”

Lawrence raised his hand. The knights brought another woman. It was Artizea’s maid.

The maid quietly knelt down. Lawrence asked.

“Is it true that Marquess Rosan told you to poison Eave?”

“Yes.”

The maid answered respectfully.

“Marquess Rosan planned to kill Lord Eave first, then assassinate Your Majesty. That way, she could seize the Empire as guardian of the young Prince.”

Everyone present murmured as if shocked.

Lawrence asked with a grief-stricken face.

“Do you have anything to say in your defense?”

Artizea laughed dryly.

What exactly did they think of her?

She wouldn’t deny being called vicious. But being treated like such a fool made her laugh.

“Your Majesty, don’t you know what kind of person I am? If I wanted to seize the Empire, I would have assassinated Your Majesty first, not Eave.”

What good would it do to clumsily murder Eave, who had no inheritance rights, in a way everyone would know? It would only arouse Lawrence’s vigilance.

If she had plotted, she would have killed Lawrence first without anyone knowing.

“Tia, such words won’t help you. You need to explain yourself.”

Artizea shook her head.

What use would excuses or explanations be? Lawrence had already decided to kill her.

Since the Emperor himself had decided to frame her for treason and kill her, there was no way to survive. Unless she actually plotted treason and succeeded.

And it was already too late for that.

“I truly can’t believe it. Tia, you were a good child, weren’t you?”

“Your Majesty, you are the sole authority of the Empire.”

Artizea said.

Her mouth was full of blood, and her tongue was caught on her teeth and torn.

Still, if she endured the pain, she could say a few more words.

“Now that you bear the Empire on your shoulders, please stop the habit of shifting responsibility to others for everything. This is my final advice.”

“Insolent!”

A knight struck her face again.

“Take the traitor away and imprison her!”

A courtier shouted. Artizea raised her eyes, which were beginning to swell, and glanced at Lawrence. Lawrence didn’t stop them.

Artizea didn’t remember exactly what happened after that.

There was torture, and she was forced to sign several documents.

Then she was dragged to a tribunal composed only of the Emperor and a few nobles and officials.

Accusers and witnesses came forward and presented evidence one after another.

Some were real evil deeds that Artizea had committed.

Others were fabricated ugly and lewd scandals.

Artizea possessed a sharp mind and strong will. But she didn’t have the physical strength to endure torture.

When she was dragged to the tribunal, she was half-unconscious and let everything pass by in a daze, far from being able to defend herself.

When the trial ended, she had become a wicked woman who made a pact with demons and tried to manipulate the Empire.

Lawrence sighed deliberately.

“Even though you are my sister, your crimes are too deep to forgive. Since you ruined the country with your tongue, cut it out so you can never commit the same crime again, and cut off the hands stained with innocent blood as an example. However, spare her life.”

Thus, Artizea was dragged back to the underground prison.

The punishment carried out was more severe than the verdict.

Instead of having her tongue and hands cut off and being confined to her home, she had her limbs severed and was bound in a deep prison unknown to anyone.

* * *

“If your brother does well, you’ll do well too.”

That was what Artizea Rosan had heard all her life.

Her mother was Milaire Rosan, Baroness, and her father was Michael Rosan, Baron.

Milaire was Emperor Gregor’s mistress. Everyone in the court knew it.

The Empire’s law was monogamy, and required chastity before marriage.

It was forbidden for married people to have affairs with unmarried men and women.

The Emperor was exposed to everyone’s eyes. It was absolutely impossible to have a secret affair.

However, it was also rare for such powerful people to strictly observe monogamy.

Eventually, if the woman or man they fancied was unmarried, they would arrange a marriage and then bring them to the Imperial Palace.

Milaire was such a case.

Mikhael Rosan was old and had only death to look forward to. He already had a grown heir.

He casually lent the Emperor the name of Baroness and received a sapphire mine in return.

Milaire became the emperor’s mistress as a marquess’s wife and bore him a son.

That was Lawrence.

Everyone knew he was the emperor’s son. Though he couldn’t be called a prince, no one called him the legitimate son of Marquess Rosan either.

Milaire loved him, and so did Emperor Gregor.

But Artizea was not the emperor’s daughter.

Considering the timing of their relationship, it was clear that Artizea was not the emperor’s daughter.

Artizea resembled neither the emperor nor Milaire. Ridiculously, she looked exactly like Mikael in his youth.

“Be good to your brother. You’re only alive because of him.”

Milaire would say such things.

“If it weren’t for your brother, how could we have lived as masters of a marquess house? When you were born, such filthy rumors spread that they wouldn’t acknowledge you as a daughter of House Rosan and would have killed both you and me, dumping us in some back alley.”

Milaire’s words always ended like this.

“You must live for your brother. Only when your brother becomes emperor can we survive. When your brother becomes emperor, would he mistreat his only sister? Your brother’s success is the path to our family’s happiness.”

Artizea had no memory of being loved by Milaire. She had no memory of being happy either.

Artizea received praise only when she accomplished something for Lawrence.

Small things like when Lawrence said the tea she brewed was delicious, or big things like when House Rosan’s wealth benefited Lawrence.

Artizea was not foolish. She knew that her mother’s affection would never come to her.

However, the desire to be loved that had accumulated since childhood was not easy to control.

And it was easy to create reasonable justifications for it.

Lawrence, Milaire, and Artizea were bound by blood.

If Lawrence failed, they would all die together. There was no precedent anywhere of sparing the family of an enemy who fought for the throne.

It was for survival.

Thinking this way, Artizea did anything.

She had a talent for evil deeds and conspiracies.

She slandered loyal subjects to death and made The Empire’s politics a complete mess. It was also she who plunged the people’s livelihood into misery and massacred countless people.

The petty and small evil deeds that occurred in the court were far more numerous. There were also several people she assassinated.

It was also she who used and caused the death of Saint Lisia, who was the hope of The Empire’s people.

It’s for Lawrence, this much is natural in a succession struggle. Even knowing these were excuses, she brazenly committed countless acts.

And so, finally, Lawrence wore the emperor’s crown.

‘I knew this day would come.’

Artizea thought hazily.

Though she was the greatest contributor to making Lawrence emperor, she asked for nothing and quietly withdrew. Because she was afraid.

It was also for this reason that she practically dismantled the intelligence organization she had built with years of time and money.

She thought that perhaps, for the sake of sibling affection, he would spare her life.

But Artizea knew too much. She had committed too many sins.

So Lawrence cut out her tongue so she couldn’t speak and cut off her hands so she couldn’t leave records.

He meant for her to die alone, carrying all the sins she had committed until now.

When the hunt ends, the dog gets boiled.

Artizea was Lawrence’s dog. This prison was her pot.

“Hah…”

In the end, it was her own doing, what else could it be?

Thinking about all the things she had done until now, she shouldn’t shift the blame to Lawrence or Milaire.

Artizea laughed. Even without a tongue, she could still laugh.

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