The Villainess Lives Twice - Chapter 165

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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 165

The day when Duke Riagan’s petition, Cardriole’s diplomatic letter, and Gayan’s urgent message arrived was the third day since Artizea had received the first report.

Skyla received contact from Artizea on the night of that third day.

General news had also been reaching Duke Loigar’s side.

Of course, they didn’t know the detailed information. Duke Loigar’s network in the southern region wasn’t at a level that could handle military matters.

Some of the great merchants belonging to his faction had large and small trading companies in the south as well.

Also, among the southern nobles, families that boasted of history and tradition supported Duke Loigar. House Riagan was already an entity that couldn’t become their focal point.

However, unlike Artizea, they hadn’t specifically organized an intelligence network. They couldn’t receive news at the same speed as military dispatches.

So the information that came in was still at a simple level.

Queen Eimel had been assassinated by a merchant introduced by the Duchess of Riagan. That merchant was from Ients and was now said to be an imperial noble.

Eimel’s crown prince, enraged by this, raised an army and occupied two port cities in the south, besieging House Riagan.

The diplomatic letter sent by Cardriole stated that they only sought to punish House Riagan for assassinating the queen, and had no intention of invading imperial territory, asking for understanding.

Of course, from the Empire’s standpoint, they couldn’t just welcome a foreign army into their country.

Moreover, it was nominally the Empress’s maternal family. Furthermore, it was someone the Emperor had entrusted with an important mission.

Whatever the justification, they couldn’t allow a small country like Eimel to make threats. It was also a matter of the Empire’s dignity.

It was such a sudden and unexpected event. Duke Loigar’s side fell into confusion, not knowing how to deal with this situation.

Could this be a good opportunity, or not? It was extremely complicated.

Skyla wasn’t in a position to directly participate in such policy discussions. However, she could roughly guess from the stories that leaked out.

And Skyla’s concerns went one step further than others.

‘Could this also be something Her Highness the Duchess of Evron orchestrated?’

Common sense suggested it would be difficult to think Artizea had reached that far.

Even if she had influenced the assassin, how could she have reached Prince Cardriole of Eimel? This wasn’t just anything—it involved war.

Countess Camellia speculated with high probability that it was likely a conspiracy committed by Prince Cardriole himself.

The evidence was that he had raised an army as if he had been waiting and moved with lightning speed.

There was good reason for this too.

After the King of Eimel remarried an ambitious young woman, the Eimel royal family had been in constant turmoil.

It wasn’t exactly a secret that the relationship between the queen and the first prince was bad, given their age difference that made them more like siblings than stepmother and stepson.

So thinking that Cardriole himself had planned this conspiracy to shift responsibility for the queen’s assassination to a foreign country was a more rational explanation than it being something originally aimed at House Riagan.

Originally, he probably intended to blame Ients. House Riagan likely tried to get involved and failed, causing things to go awry.

From the perspective of not knowing Countess Lexen’s true identity, they had no choice but to judge it that way.

But Skyla thought only about the results.

House Riagan was in a greatly difficult position. If things went wrong, they would be destroyed by the Kingdom of Eimel before rescue arrived. Even if not, they would certainly fall out of the Emperor’s favor.

Because the fact that they had secretly tried to build their own power wouldn’t disappear. Even if the Emperor rescued Riagan for now, he would keep that fact in mind.

Could this possibly be something Artizea orchestrated for the Empress?

Artizea had opened the doors of the Empress’s palace. Skyla didn’t believe for a moment that Artizea had done so by soothing the Empress’s heart.

It was easier to understand that this had been promised as compensation from the beginning.

But she couldn’t voice this opinion to Countess Camellia. Not because she feared her mother wouldn’t believe her, but because she worried Artizea might not accept her.

While she was anxious like this, she received a note through a maid saying Artizea was looking for her.

Skyla put on a black cloak and quietly slipped out of the house alone without anyone knowing.

An unremarkable rental carriage was standing near the Camellia manor.

Skyla was about to hail it when she realized it was strange for a rental carriage to be standing still near a marquess’s house at this hour.

“Ah.”

She let out a short exclamation. The coachman got down and opened the door.

Skyla got into the carriage. There was already a passenger in the carriage. A woman wearing a black veil and mourning clothes.

“Your Highness.”

She wasn’t surprised.

The door closed. The carriage departed. There was no destination. They were just running through the middle of the streets to have a conversation without approaching anyone’s residence.

For a moment, only the sound of wheels rolling echoed inside the carriage.

“You’ve had enough time to think, haven’t you?”

Artizea said.

Skyla was startled back to attention and reflexively answered.

“Yes.”

But she couldn’t be certain about what thoughts she’d had or how much. She had thought a lot, but was it enough?

However, it didn’t seem like more deliberation would make it sufficient.

Artizea lifted her veil.

“Have you made up your mind?”

“I thought the decision would be made by Your Highness, not me…”

“Once you place a bet, you can’t take it back. Moreover, this is a big game where we’re betting on who will become the next emperor.”

Artizea smiled.

“One side’s loyal subject is the other side’s traitor. I trust you understand this well.”

And Skyla already understood well which side she should bet on.

She gripped the edges of her cloak tightly with both hands.

“What should I do?”

“Become a maid to the Duchess Loigar.”

Artizea said.

When making someone betray, you shouldn’t start with difficult tasks. This was even more true in cases like Skyla’s, where there was great potential for betrayal again.

But this wasn’t something that would pose a direct threat.

Confirming that Skyla nodded, Artizea spoke again.

“Make her firmly believe in Duke Loigar’s victory. It would be even better if you could plant the idea that she will soon become empress and should act accordingly.”

“Without removing mother from aunt’s side, it would be completely ineffective.”

“That’s right. It’s a prerequisite for everything. If Countess Camellia is by her side, nothing can be done to the Duchess Loigar.”

“My becoming a maid is something aunt has always wanted, so it will happen immediately, but removing mother won’t be possible in a short time.”

“Don’t worry. There’s something being prepared on this end.”

“Are you planning to use Ean?”

“If Countess Camellia suffers great damage to her reputation, she won’t be able to stay by the Duchess Loigar’s side. The Camellia marquessate will be in turmoil for a while.”

That had been the purpose of bringing Ean from the beginning.

The Camellia marquessate itself wasn’t the target. The goal was to disturb Countess Camellia’s mind so she couldn’t assist the Duchess Loigar.

Skyla readily understood.

If Artizea was going to plot against the Duchess Loigar, it would be safer for Countess Camellia not to be by her side.

This was mutually desirable.

It was the same when thinking about Artizea’s victory.

Originally, there was no custom of keeping enemy strategists alive. Moreover, Countess Camellia had once tried to assassinate Artizea.

To save her, not only did Skyla need to achieve merit, but she also needed to prevent further disruption of Artizea’s plans.

“I’d like to ask one more thing. What do you plan to do with Ean?”

“That’s not something I need to be involved in.”

Artizea wasn’t telling Skyla not to be concerned, but rather the opposite.

Skyla felt bewildered.

If they were going to cause something big enough to disturb Countess Camellia’s mind, it could be fatal to the Camellia marquess family.

Was she planning to dismiss such a thing with just one phrase about not being involved?

“I thought Your Highness understood my hope that the Camellia marquessate would stand purely as the Camellia marquessate alone.”

“The Camellia marquessate is already not pure. To protect the family, recovering all legitimacy protected by custom and law should come first.”

Skyla understood what this meant.

To recover legitimacy, they would need to either kill all legitimate heirs or embrace them back into the family once more.

Since Artizea had secured Ean, the former was impossible.

So what Artizea was saying was the latter—that she should marry Ean to give complete legitimacy to the next generation’s heir.

Marriage to Ean Camellia. She had never thought of it before.

However, it wasn’t wrong. Doing so would resolve the legitimacy issues her parents had.

In a way, it was also the simplest method to eliminate disputes. Cousin marriage wasn’t forbidden.

Though it wasn’t common nowadays, in the past there had been plenty of cases of strategic marriages within families to maintain bloodlines and prevent inheritance disputes.

“I will gratefully accept your advice. If Your Highness sets that as a condition, I will gladly welcome him as my husband.”

“That’s not something I’m setting as a condition. I was merely advising that unless you do so, problems will continue to arise with the Camellia marquessate’s inheritance anyway.”

Artizea said only that.

“You and I are joining hands because our interests align. You’re not my vassal, and we’re not blood allies, so I have no intention of interfering in your marriage matters.”

Those words were somewhat disappointing to Skyla.

Sometimes arranging a marriage was just as important as the marriage itself. If Ean had value as Artizea’s subordinate, it could have functioned as a kind of marriage alliance.

But it seemed Ean didn’t have that level of value.

It couldn’t be helped.

She was the Camellia viscountess, and the person who would become marquess.

She couldn’t yet move the entire Camellia family to form an alliance with the Evron ducal house.

Conversely, she couldn’t exclude her family and kneel before Artizea as a complete individual either.

So she was simply breaking through within the limits of what she could do.

The carriage made a full circle and stopped again in an alley near the Camellia marquessate.

As Skyla pulled her cloak over herself, she asked.

“Since our conversation here probably won’t spread anywhere… I’ll ask just one thing.”

“Go ahead.”

“Was Queen Eimel’s assassination something Your Highness orchestrated?”

Artizea gave a bitter smile.

Skyla would never know, but that was precisely why Artizea had come to meet Skyla again now.

Though Artizea didn’t answer, Skyla read the answer in her face.

Skyla got out. The carriage departed into the dark night streets.

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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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