The Villainess Lives Twice - Chapter 185

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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 185

When Cedric returned home, Artizea was building a castle on the table with blocks no bigger than a finger joint.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m bored.”

Artizea answered.

She had decided not to work, and when it came to doing something that wouldn’t tire her, she couldn’t read books, and there was no one to exchange casual letters with.

She often lay down for afternoon naps, but spending entire days sleeping was only something she did in the beginning.

So now she had run out of things to do.

“Did you give up on sewing?”

“Even if I finished it, I don’t think I’d be able to use it anyway. And staring at it gives me a headache.”

Artizea answered glumly.

At first, she had planned to make baby clothes by hand. But she wasn’t particularly skilled with her hands.

Cedric laughed.

“True. I think I’d probably do better than you.”

“It’s harder than I thought. The fabric is thin, so the needle has to be fine too…”

Artizea meant that the skills she used to mend torn sleeves on the battlefield wouldn’t suffice.

Well, Cedric would never actually make baby clothes himself.

“You only need to do what you’re good at.”

Artizea sighed.

She had actually tried making educational materials herself.

Her handwriting was elegant, making it suitable for transcription. Copying spelling primers and such seemed like a decent way to pass time.

However, textbooks for young children were different from those for adults.

When Marcus said it would be better to have an illustrator draw pictures before writing text, she entrusted it to them, but it never came back.

Come to think of it, she would only need to write a few letters and words anyway. It wasn’t something that would take a long time.

She wanted to create something while she had leisure time. It would be fair to say she wanted to leave something for the baby.

Preferably something that contained no value judgments.

Something that would remain useful over time, something that would be the same even if made by a villain.

So although it was still early, she had started making an ancient language textbook, but Ansgard took it away.

“You’re overthinking too much. You say you’re not tired, but from our perspective watching you, we can see your health deteriorating immediately. You break out in cold sweats too, don’t you?”

When he put it that way, she couldn’t be stubborn about it.

Ansgard spoke kindly.

“You must rest well, at least until your recovery period is over. After that, you’ll have plenty of time to personally take care of things.”

Artizea smiled bitterly to herself, thinking that was uncertain. But she couldn’t express it outwardly.

Finding it boring to just sit still, she had been looking for baby toys and such when she found the colored blocks.

“How was it? The audience?”

“It seemed true that His Majesty is unwell.”

“At his age, he shouldn’t be getting so angry, but one unfortunate event after another has befallen him.”

Artizea spoke matter-of-factly, as if talking about someone else.

Cedric smiled bitterly.

“It felt strange. In the past, he wouldn’t have met with me in such a state.”

“There are fish that cannot live in water that’s too clear. What did Prime Minister Lin say?”

That was about Bellon from the Ministry of Finance feeding information to Lawrence.

Of course, Cedric hadn’t told Lin all of that information. He had only asked for a character assessment of Bellon.

“Prime Minister Lin didn’t speak badly of Viscount Bellon. He said he’s good with numbers and meticulous, but not skilled at improvisation.”

Artizea nodded indifferently.

“What do you think? If he were someone with tremendous loyalty to Lawrence, I should remember him.”

He was still an imperial bureaucrat, and if he were Lawrence’s loyal retainer, he would likely have been greatly utilized after the enthronement.

But in Cedric’s memory, that name had never been active. It might have been because it was Ministry of Finance business that he wasn’t familiar with.

Artizea said.

“He was beheaded early on. Because he was tactless.”

Cedric flinched.

Artizea put down the block she had been fidgeting with.

“It’s not that Brother Lawrence lacks the ability to understand that his prospects are dim… I think there might be some other circumstances.”

“Other circumstances?”

“Like belonging to an organization he can’t extract himself from.”

Saying that, Artizea fell into thought.

The Chamberlain had said so. That meant the source of that information wasn’t the Ministry of Finance or the Royal Guards, but inside the Imperial Palace, probably the Imperial Household Department.

She hadn’t personally created an organization inside the Imperial Palace. However, there was no guarantee that an organization interested in the next emperor hadn’t emerged within the Imperial Household Department.

The Imperial Palace was precisely where many supporters of Lawrence could be found.

Things like Lawrence’s bad habits were merely trivial matters.

The servants were all people who had served the Emperor until now. Unlike bureaucrats or nobles, they weren’t entities one could negotiate with to share power.

Yet they were too deeply embedded to ignore like servants or low-level bureaucrats.

If Duke Loigar became Emperor, they would naturally be entities that had to be purged.

The same would be true for Cedric. Until now, there had been those who made Cedric sit in waiting rooms or served him bitter tea that was impossible to drink, making him frown in front of the Emperor.

It was a bit worse in his childhood.

Even if the Emperor had oppressed Cedric, he wouldn’t have ordered such petty harassment.

Cedric wasn’t the type to harbor such personal grudges for long.

But people naturally use themselves as mirrors to reflect upon others.

However, many of the servants had spent their entire lives inside the Imperial Palace. In doing so, they had seen how their trivial tasks confirmed people’s superiority and inferiority.

Exaggerating one’s own experiences is what most people do. But it was especially common among the Imperial Palace servants.

There were even those who couldn’t distinguish between the Emperor’s authority and their own power.

Moreover, it was natural for them to be inclined toward Lawrence, who had received the Emperor’s favor since childhood within the Imperial Palace.

Artizea also had an intelligence network inside the Imperial Palace.

However, she couldn’t fully grasp the servant faction that had long taken root centered around Milaire’s favor.

Rather, there were aspects where Artizea’s intelligence network depended on that faction.

The original beginning had started branching out from the servants who served Milaire.

“This could be a good opportunity. Being connected to Ministry of Finance bureaucrats means we can trace the funds.”

“You mean we can identify those who are actually taking action, even if we can’t catch those who are merely sympathetic.”

“If there are corrupt ties with the Ministry of Finance, it would be good to examine those too.”

“Opportunities to look into the Ministry of Finance are rare.”

Cedric nodded. That would be something worth reporting to the Emperor.

“We don’t need to suspect the Chamberlain?”

Receiving Cedric’s gaze, Artizea looked a bit embarrassed.

“I’m not aware of and controlling every single thing.”

“…Really?”

“The Chamberlain isn’t someone who would be swayed just because he wanted to be. If that were the case, I would have brought him under control much earlier.”

She couldn’t deny that she had tried to attempt it.

Artizea said with a reddened face.

“He probably has his own intentions. The Imperial Palace is like a swamp that cannot be seen into.”

Probably even the Emperor didn’t know how things moved beneath the floor of the palace where he lived.

“I understand. Then I’ll arrange to meet with Viscount Bellon separately.”

Now the remaining problem was Lawrence’s side.

“His Majesty will react sensitively, so it would be better not to touch Brother’s side.”

“It’s a bit unsettling to just leave it alone. Lawrence isn’t entirely without organizational power.”

“Yes. We can’t take our eyes off him.”

Lawrence had many friends.

Though they received much criticism for being dissolute and thoughtless young people, they were individuals with that much more capacity for action.

Artizea reached out to pick up the blocks again.

Cedric reached out and took her hand. Artizea flinched and looked at Cedric.

“Are you bored being with me?”

“Oh, no.”

Why would she say such a thing? Cedric pulled the block from her hands.

“You said you were playing with it because you were bored. If you were concentrating on it, I wouldn’t want to disturb you.”

“Oh, that… I don’t mean I’m bored right now… It’s just because it was in front of me…”

Artizea said this while blushing. Then Cedric stood up while still holding her hand.

“Shall we take a walk before dinner?”

Artizea stood up following him.

The evening sun lingered long, and the sunset was still glowing in the garden.

* * *

A few days later, the special envoy group organized by Duke Loigar for the truth investigation departed for the south.

Since the Duchess Loigar was with them, the envoy group would move at a slow pace. By the time they arrived in the south, the Southern Subjugation Army that had departed first would have sorted out the situation to some degree.

And information flew to the south at a much faster speed than that.

Two weeks later, when various matters had settled down, Lawrence was to depart for the eastern region.

The Emperor summoned Lawrence to meet him the day before.

“Do you think I’m doing this because I hate you?”

The Emperor spoke in a low, soothing voice.

Though he had decided in a surge of anger, now that he was actually about to send him away, his heart felt heavy again.

This was a child born to him in his old age. From the Emperor’s perspective, he was also the youngest.

He had been lovely and adorable since childhood, so he had loved him especially.

That’s why he was also angry. How wonderful it would have been if he had just been a little more cautious and thoughtful.

Nothing was as unpredictable as raising children, but his heart felt stuffy as if blocked in the corners.

“Go to the eastern region and rest well for a while. When people’s attention dies down, I’ll arrange to send your mother out to you too…”

“Whether you’re doing this because you hate me or to assign responsibility, there’s no difference in the fact that you’re issuing me an exile order.”

“How could I be assigning you responsibility?”

“You knew I wasn’t the culprit, didn’t you? If you wanted to clear me of responsibility, you should have conducted a thorough investigation. If not that, then you should have completely covered it up.”

Lawrence spoke calmly.

“Instead, sending me away under the pretense of covering it up is to avoid criticism. If you investigate, you can’t avoid being told that you made someone who might be responsible for the southern conflict the commander of the Southern Subjugation Army, and if you completely cover it up without investigation, you’ll be criticized for putting favoritism before state affairs.”

“Lawrence…”

“If I’m driven away like this, the responsibility for the conflict will be mine, and Your Majesty will appear to have punished me.”

Lawrence said this.

It was the first time he had called the Emperor “Your Majesty” instead of “Father.”

So the Emperor looked at Lawrence with a feeling of shock.

“I shall withdraw. May you be in good health.”

Lawrence bowed coldly and withdrew.

The Emperor let out a long sigh. Even though it was his own decision, somehow his stomach churned and he felt uneasy.

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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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