The Villainess Lives Twice - Chapter 158

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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 158

 

23.

 

After that, Artizea did nothing for quite some time.

 

The doctor had ordered that resting was her job. Even if that weren’t the case, the household of the Evron Ducal Residence seemed determined not to let her work.

 

There were no urgent matters either.

 

Resting wasn’t easy though.

 

Even during times when tactically she should take no action at all, she had never rested so idly like this. At the very least, she always had to handle information work.

 

Sitting blankly by the window and just staring at the sky, Artizea realized she had been like this before.

 

It was when Lisia died, and she had stepped down from all official positions, disbanded her intelligence organization, and withdrawn to live alone in seclusion.

 

Looking back, the memories from that time were vague and hazy.

 

It seemed like she had spent entire days doing nothing, just spacing out.

 

She would think she had just eaten breakfast, only to find it was already evening the next day. There were times when she heard that someone she thought she had met just a day or two ago had already left for distant places two weeks prior.

 

She had planned that when a period of leisure came with nothing to do, she would read all the books she wanted to read. She had thought about going to a peaceful resort and living a life of taking morning walks while breathing fresh air.

 

She couldn’t do any of those things. Her body continued to feel constantly uncomfortable and sickly even without any particular illness.

 

Unable to get up in the morning, she would lie buried in bed with her eyes open, her aching body sprawled out, and with no reason to get up and no one looking for her, entire days would pass by until afternoon.

 

Now was different from that time.

 

There were still many things left to do.

 

But her thoughts often stopped just like back then.

 

“Is this alright as it is?”

 

Artizea would sometimes ask herself.

 

The answer was “Yes.”

 

She had to wait like this. Whether she did more trivial tasks here or not, it wouldn’t make any difference.

 

While she was sprawled in the armchair without any thoughts, something touched her back.

 

“Ah!”

 

Artizea suddenly came to her senses.

 

And she jerked her body backward in surprise. Her body, suspended in air, flailed about.

 

Sedric, who had been lifting her up, panicked and tightened his arms to hold her securely.

 

Artizea instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him. Sedric’s strong arms easily supported Artizea’s tensed body.

 

Sedric said, not knowing what to do.

 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think you’d be so startled…”

 

“That’s what I told you, didn’t I? I said to just wake her up. I said it didn’t seem like she was sleeping deeply.”

 

Lisia scolded him.

 

She was sitting at another table a little distance away, looking over miscellaneous documents, just as she had been before Artizea fell into contemplation.

 

Artizea patted her chest. Sedric set her back down in the armchair.

 

Lisia approached and asked.

 

“Are you alright, Your Highness? You’re not feeling uncomfortable anywhere from the surprise, are you?”

 

“No, I’m fine.”

 

She answered Lisia while unconsciously paying attention to her lower abdomen. Artizea’s belly was now beginning to show quite noticeably.

 

Sedric hesitated before speaking.

 

“I’m sorry. I thought you were sleeping, so I was trying to move you to the bedroom.”

 

“Oh, no. I must have dozed off.”

 

Artizea answered with a flushed face.

 

“But what brings you here? The sun is still high in the sky?”

 

“There might be a military meeting this evening, so I came to see your face beforehand.”

 

Thinking Artizea might say that wasn’t necessary, Sedric added.

 

“To rest as well.”

 

Artizea made a subtle expression. She felt like smiling, but it seemed like she shouldn’t.

 

“Did I disturb you?”

 

“I wasn’t doing anything.”

 

Sedric reached out his arms again. Artizea was flustered again. But this time, those arms didn’t lift Artizea up.

 

Instead, he removed a pin from her hair and gently smoothed it over. It had gotten disheveled from rubbing against the armchair.

 

Artizea’s face reddened.

 

“I should fix my hair.”

 

“It’s home anyway, so it doesn’t matter, does it?”

 

“Still.”

 

It bothered her.

 

Sedric extended his arm to Artizea as she pressed down her hair.

 

“Let’s have Sophie come to the sun room.”

 

“The sun room?”

 

“I thought we could have lunch and snacks there. If you’re not going to take a nap, let’s go together.”

 

Usually when Sedric ate alone, he didn’t particularly fuss about choosing locations or having things specially prepared.

 

When busy, he would eat simply in his study, and when he had to go out, he would eat simply in the knights’ dining hall near the kitchen.

 

So if he had it prepared in the sun room, it was probably for Artizea’s sake.

 

Even though there was no reason to hesitate, Artizea hesitated a little.

 

When she glanced at Lisia, Lisia pointed to the documents and said.

 

“I have a lot of work to do.”

 

“So she says.”

 

At Sedric’s words, Artizea felt shameless.

 

“After Lisia reviews it, don’t you have to look over everything again anyway? That’s the manor budget, isn’t it?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Leave it to her. If you want to lighten the workload, someone other than Lisia seems more urgent.”

 

At Sedric’s words, Artizea sighed.

 

Freil complained, didn’t he?”

 

“Don’t scold him. It was more lamenting his situation than complaining.”

 

“What else can he do but lament being loyal to the Evron Duchy that has no replacement personnel?”

 

Sedric closed his mouth. The reason there was no talent to handle information was mostly his fault.

 

“It’ll be fine soon.”

 

Artizea said so.

 

Once power began to attach, it would grow in an instant. When that time came, choosing people to use would become more difficult.

 

Sedric extended his arm. Artizea took his arm and stood up.

 

The two came outside with Lisia seeing them off. And they walked slowly as if taking a stroll.

 

“By the way, is this military meeting about the southern expedition army?”

 

“It’s a comprehensive issue. We recently sent a large amount of military supplies to the north. Most of the supplies the southern expedition army will use at their destination were arranged to be provided by House Riagan, but they still need enormous amounts of supplies while moving.”

 

“If you have to requisition supplies again, things will get tight in various ways. Will you be alright?”

 

“Do you mean the Evron issue? Or…”

 

“Both.”

 

“If you’re worried about His Majesty the Emperor, you don’t need to. I’ve already reported the war situation to His Majesty and informed the military as well.”

 

Artizea nodded. Sedric continued.

 

“If you’re worried about the war, as I mentioned before, it came because it was worth coming. It was already in a lull.”

 

It had become certain that Karam’s siege weapons could not break through the walls of Told Gate.

 

There was no second attempt to bypass Told Gate and cross the mountain range for a surprise attack.

 

Karam was still stationed outside Told Gate. The standoff continued.

 

However, it hadn’t led to the major disaster they had initially worried about.

 

After trying their siege weapons several times, Karam realized they were ineffective and gave up.

 

Moreover, the weather had warmed up. Now Karam no longer had any incentive to attempt moving south as if chased by the cold.

 

Rather than crashing against the anvil-hard walls of Told Gate, it was better to seize land from other northern tribes.

 

The Emperor and the military had relaxed their tension.

 

Karam would move south in winter and return in spring. That was the northern war the Empire knew well.

 

Originally, the fear stirred up about that war was for political reasons.

 

But conversely, it could also be made an issue for political reasons.

 

‘Even if His Majesty tries to find fault, there’s nothing I can do about it. Even though the war ended this year, preparations against siege weapons must be made anyway for this winter.’

 

According to Freil, they were already preparing for next year. They had agreed to exchange in principle.

 

However, repairing the walls of Told Gate as preparation against siege weapons, and training vigilante groups in each village centered around retired soldiers to respond to unexpected attacks were also being carried out simultaneously.

 

Sedric broke his chain of thought.

 

“Stop thinking now. You won’t be able to rest.”

 

Artizea lifted her head and looked at him.

 

“Is there anything you want to eat?”

 

Artizea sometimes felt that Sedric was hiding something.

 

It was the same now. It seemed like he had deliberately changed the subject.

 

She had no intention of pressing him about it. It was a matter of the Evron Duchy. Moreover, it was a military issue.

 

Not only was it not something Artizea herself should be involved in, but even if he asked for advice, there was nothing she could say.

 

It was the same regarding the new leader of Karam. She had never met him and didn’t know the actual situation well.

 

She knew that Sedric wasn’t telling her the details not because he distrusted her, but because he didn’t want to add to her burden.

 

However, one side of her heart grew heavy.

 

What had that prince of Karam said to Sedric? Was he one of the ‘returned ones’?

 

Artizea tried to forget her various thoughts and answered.

 

“…Sugar.”

 

“That won’t do.”

 

Sedric immediately refused.

 

Artizea let out a disappointed sigh. The butler and doctor were blocking it together. She had hoped Sedric might give her even a little.

 

Usually people crave what they ate as children, but she craved what she had never been able to eat.

 

These days, she kept thinking about white sugar. Marcus had brought her fruit candy instead, telling her to eat that, but that wasn’t it.

 

Sedric also asked.

 

“How about fruit?”

 

“That’s fine too, but I’d prefer meat.”

 

“Perfect.”

 

When she wondered what was perfect, she saw that the table in the sun room was filled with large bowls of meat pancakes and crispy bacon-wrapped potatoes.

 

There was also bread, butter, and jam.

 

“It’s mine.”

 

Feeling Artizea’s gaze, Sedric said.

 

Artizea shook her head and sat in the chair Sedric pulled out for her.

 

“I think I’ve been misunderstanding why Lord Sedric doesn’t like banquets all this time.”

 

Sedric smiled awkwardly.

 

Milk mixed with summer fruits was poured into a coolly chilled glass.

 

She wasn’t particularly hungry, but it went down well. Eating was also a habit – for a while, if she didn’t eat, her stomach would feel bloated and uncomfortable, so the compulsion to eat was stronger, but now she found herself thinking about food at random times.

 

It was when Artizea had eaten one juicy meat pancake and taken a sip of sweet milk.

 

She felt something bubbling in her lower abdomen. What would have been dismissed as indigestion before now felt unusual.

 

She had heard that fetal movement begins like that.

 

It seemed like she might be mistaken because she was too conscious of the baby in her belly. She couldn’t be certain.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“Nothing, it’s nothing.”

 

Artizea took a deep breath and composed herself. It took considerable effort to keep her face from flushing.

 

Then she felt it again. This time it was certain.

 

It was a strange feeling. Until now, even though there was a baby, it had felt abstract, but now she thought, it’s really there.

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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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