The Villainess Lives Twice - Chapter 129

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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 129

Gayan wasn’t particularly the type to feel human affection for his subordinates.

However, he himself was a knight who had risen from the bottom. He knew very well that all the royal guards were people who had worked themselves to death, staking everything important to them—whether it was advancement, honor, or their children’s future.

And they were all here as a result of what they had achieved in their own way.

Not standing there to block filth thrown at them with their bodies.

“If we suppress the protesters with force now, we’ll lose our justification. While the temple’s main concern is heretical acts, what the protesters are angry about is the attempt to sacrifice an innocent child.”

Gayan said.

“Forceful suppression will make Lord Lawrence’s image—of being involved in human trafficking and killing innocent children in the past—even more serious.”

“Damn it.”

Lawrence spat out irritably.

“I heard Tia appeared at the temple?”

“That expression is inappropriate. She didn’t go to be interrogated.”

“Isn’t interrogation essentially the purpose? I heard they requested cooperation in investigating the ancient books and old language manuscripts that were at the Rosan estate.”

“The ancient books are merely old collections from the Rosan Marquess family. Since the Duchess of Evron is the Marquess of Rosan, it’s natural for the temple to request cooperation from the Duchess.”

“Doesn’t that sound unreasonable? If they really wanted to know about the books in the study, it would be normal to call the butler. That old butler beside Tia probably knows even the doodles stuck between the pages of books.”

“….”

“Isn’t this an attempt to place part of the responsibility on Tia?”

“Even if there is such an attempt, the opponent is Evron.”

Gayan said emotionlessly.

“They’re not someone the temple can pressure and force. I heard that today too, the knight order went to escort her to the temple in full military gear.”

“Do you judge that there’s no problem since Tia went voluntarily?”

“That’s correct. If problems arise, Evron will be the first to respond. The Duke of Evron is not someone who would abandon his wife over such issues.”

Even if he had such intentions, not enough time had passed for news to be delivered yet.

And the Evron knights weren’t the type of people who could mistreat their mistress according to their own judgment following the current without orders.

And Gayan knew one more fact.

Artizea had voluntarily cooperated with the investigation partly because she had communicated with the Emperor.

After reading the long letter Artizea sent, the Emperor said this to Gayan:

“Tia says she wants to meet Archbishop Akim.”

“The Duchess of Evron? I thought she had severed ties with Lady Milaire.”

“How could severing ties between parent and child be so simple? Living without contact when nothing’s happening is different from completely ignoring when one’s mother is in crisis.”

The Emperor sighed.

“Tia says she’ll donate the Rosan estate to the temple to make it a monastery.”

“Isn’t that the main house of the Marquess family?”

“So it would be worth using as negotiation material. According to Tia, how about finishing this matter by making the Rosan estate a monastery and confining Milaire there?”

“Is there hope? Archbishop Akim is not an easy person. Would he end it just by receiving one estate?”

“It won’t be just the estate. Probably more property will have to be handed over. Maybe some interests will have to be given up too… Still, it seems the donations Tia has contributed so far are considerable. She’s made a lot of effort to maintain close relations with the temple, so they can’t completely ignore her.”

The Emperor’s words were quite hopeful.

“Tia will do well. She’s such a smart child. The temple can’t ignore the Evron Duchy either, and recently there are entanglements due to the western granary business. Her reputation among commoners is also good because of her romance with Cedric, isn’t it?”

“That makes sense.”

“Rather than me, it looks better in many ways for Tia to step forward. I told her not to worry and spend freely, as I’ll supplement it later.”

Saying that, the Emperor paused for a moment. Then he gazed into space and muttered briefly.

“I wish I had just one child like that.”

“Your Majesty…”

The Emperor looked tired.

That day, the Emperor didn’t say a single word about Lawrence.

Whether it was because he had no expectations at all, or because he thought it inappropriate to speak to Gayan, who was from Lawrence’s faction, wasn’t certain.

‘This is ruined.’

That day, Gayan thought so.

Gayan knew that on the first day this situation occurred, the Emperor had Lawrence informed of the news first.

Even if Lawrence knew first, he wouldn’t have been able to solve the incident. How could he solve something that even the Emperor couldn’t handle?

But at least he should have pretended to fight against the temple. Being his biological son unlike the Emperor, there must have been things he could do.

He could have claimed all this was slander, or spirited Milaire away, or like Artizea, tried to minimize the situation through negotiation.

Or he could have gone to comfort her.

Milaire was mistaken. Henry Kishower said she couldn’t meet Lawrence, but in fact, it was Lawrence who refused to meet.

Henry Kishower had some sympathy for Milaire, so he had even deliberately arranged communication with Lawrence on her behalf.

What Lawrence chose was to sever his relationship with Milaire more thoroughly and prove that he had no participation in that curse whatsoever.

Lawrence had essentially shown what he would do to powerless parents.

Though he seemed too young to realize it yet, this was a very important matter to older people like the Emperor and Empress.

“Even if you gain the Empress’s recognition, the temple will be standing in the way next…”

Amelie said with a relaxed attitude.

“It’s not that the possibility has completely disappeared. Legally, he just needs to become the Empress’s adopted son. But the situation has already reached this point.”

“Sigh.”

“Even if he gets ahead of Duke Loigar, it will be difficult to properly establish imperial authority.”

“He’ll face resistance from the temple and citizens from the coronation day.”

“Right. And Lord Lawrence isn’t someone who can break through that with his own power. I want to become a high official, not a nanny.”

Gayan couldn’t help but agree.

Gayan was ambitious.

Even if he had doubts about Lawrence’s character, if he still thought Lawrence was the person closest to the throne, he would have stood by Lawrence’s side.

But now he was grateful that he had tried to place one foot elsewhere in advance. It was much better to establish connections beforehand than to turn around after things had reached this point.

As if guessing Gayan’s inner thoughts, Lawrence said in a cold voice:

“You’d better not think of betraying me just because I’ve become like this, Sir Gayan.”

“I don’t know what you mean so suddenly…”

“Uncle Loigar holds long grudges. He would never accept you. Those under him despise people like you.”

“….”

“It’s not over yet.”

Lawrence said.

“What do you plan to do?”

“I sent word to Viscount Hoden, who went to the south, to return to the capital quickly.”

“….”

“The Empress wasn’t involved in this matter at all.”

The social circle watched every move to see what attitude the Empress would show.

Her husband’s old mistress, who had acted as the queen of the social circle, was caught cursing her.

At this point, even if she had decided to forgive past events, resentment and anger should have surged again.

However, the Empress was spending her time pleasantly in the Empress’s palace as if nothing had happened.

She wasn’t pretending nothing was wrong; she really seemed to have no interest in what happened to Milaire.

She met old friends and resumed hobbies she had enjoyed in the past.

In particular, she spent most of her day personally teaching culture and etiquette to three children from Viscount Pesher’s family, who were young enough to be her grandchildren.

With the situation having reached this point, no one paid attention to the Pesher family.

In fact, even if they had been interested, it wasn’t a situation where they could criticize the Empress about the Pesher family. Wasn’t she the one who had almost been cursed?

Gayan said to Lawrence:

“Do you still think becoming the Empress’s adopted son is promising?”

“There’s no other way now. If mother disappears, the situation might actually be better.”

Gayan tilted his head slightly.

He agreed that there was no other way.

However, there was no guarantee that the Empress would think better of him just because Milaire was gone.

“Tia wasn’t receiving as much favor from the Empress as I thought. I thought I had time so I proceeded slowly, but perhaps gaining the Empress’s favor itself was impossible from the start.”

“Yes.”

“Then it would be better to clearly show profit and loss. I can see how much the Empress is obsessed with the old House of Liagan. That’s why I’m waiting for Viscount Hoden.”

“You need information to do anything. Are you thinking of replacing Duke Riagan?”

“Yes. I told them to search and see if there are any remaining descendants.”

Gayan thought it was a hopeless story.

Lawrence’s profile looked like a melancholy sculpture.

Though he hasn’t acknowledged it yet, perhaps he’s already feeling it.

That his days have already come to an end.

On the other hand, Duke Loigar’s face was blooming brightly. There hadn’t been a time recently when he felt this good.

“Sister-in-law, please have a drink.”

Countess Camellia felt deeply uneasy about this.

“You don’t look happy, sister-in-law.”

“We must be careful, especially at times like this, Prince.”

“Do you think I’m doing something wrong?”

Duke Loigar said, withdrawing his smile. Countess Camellia spoke carefully.

“Emperor will not punish the Grand Duchess Rosan for treason. I’m worried there might be a backlash.”

Duke Loigar had officially made statements supporting the Temple.

Officials under his influence unanimously advised that Milaire should be punished for treason.

Several media outlets and intellectuals who echoed his words made the same claims.

They said this incident wasn’t the impulsive mistake of a foolish woman, but treason intended to murder the Empress.

Besides that, several conspiracies were in motion, including spreading rumors.

For Duke Loigar, this was his decisive move.

Countess Camellia said with a dark expression.

“Stop at a reasonable level. The Temple will formally put the Grand Duchess Rosan on trial for heresy. Even if Lawrence becomes the Empress’s adopted son, ascending to the throne will be impossible. The Archbishop would never crown the child of an excommunicated person. He will absolutely refuse to officiate the coronation.”

“That’s not enough, sister-in-law.”

Duke Loigar said firmly.

“The Temple’s influence won’t last long. It’s different from the old days. Once he becomes Crown Prince, even if the Archbishop doesn’t officiate the coronation, if he ascends the throne, he’ll eventually be recognized someday. Or if Emperor personally removes the crown from his head and places it on Lawrence’s head, it would all be meaningless.”

“His Majesty’s heart is turning away from Lawrence. You don’t need to think so hastily…”

“That departed heart won’t come to me.”

Duke Loigar said.

“Or perhaps, are you worried about Duchess Evron?”

Countess Camellia looked at him with a bewildered gaze.

Duke Loigar looked at her with shadowed eyes.

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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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