The Villainess Lives Twice - Chapter 23

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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 23

Everyone knew that the Duchess of Loigar followed Countess Camellia, her much older sister, as if she were her mother.

The House of Camellia was also Duke Loigar’s most reliable supporter.

Neither Cedric nor Freil could have imagined that name would come up here.

The woman bowed her head, tears streaming down her face.

“Father invested almost his entire fortune in Saint Olga’s Heart. He never even thought about making a big profit. Just handling such a historically significant jewel would be considerable experience for a jeweler. But all that’s left is this faded piece of paper.”

As a commoner, White wouldn’t have been able to bring the signed contract and promissory note to court even if he had them.

What judge would dare rule in favor of a commoner against Countess Camellia?

“Father went bankrupt because of this. He worked himself to the bone until the day he died, collapsed, and passed away just like that. Those people killed our father.”

Even as she pleaded, she didn’t expect Cedric to do anything for her.

Who in this world would fight high-ranking nobles for someone they met for the first time today?

Especially a noble fighting for a commoner.

She told her story because she was heartbroken and resentful, wanting to confide in someone.

Also, even knowing he wasn’t the same person, even knowing he was treating her with courtesy, she was transferring that resentment to Cedric, who was a noble.

Cedric understood her feelings.

That’s why he said nothing and waited until she stopped crying, then purchased all the documents for the face value of the promissory note plus interest and some consolation money.

“This is nothing more than a scrap of paper now. The only reason it wasn’t burned is because Father couldn’t let go of his attachment.”

“That would have been true for Mr. White.”

But it was different for Cedric. There was no court that could deny or doubt the documents he possessed.

The woman signed the transfer contract with tears still in her eyes. With this, ownership of Saint Olga’s Heart was transferred to him.

After adding a few more words of comfort, the two left the White household.

Cedric first returned to the Evron Ducal Residence in the capital. It was too late to go back to the military camp.

He threw his outer coat to a servant and sank into the sofa. He felt like drinking.

As if sensing this, Freil brought down a bottle of brandy and a glass from the shelf.

Cedric accepted the brandy glass from Freil.

“Interesting.”

That was Freil’s opening remark.

“Interesting?”

“I thought Lady Rosan had demanded a valuable jewel as an engagement gift. I never imagined it would be connected to Duke Loigar. I understand why you said she’s different from Milaire and her daughter.”

Just a few hours ago he was calling her Milaire’s daughter, but now his mind seemed to have changed.

“I hadn’t thought of it.”

“What shall we do? Lady Rosan has given Your Highness grounds to fight Countess Camellia. If we sue to get the diamond back, we could destroy the House of Camellia’s honor.”

Cedric looked at Freil with mixed feelings. Freil spoke in an excited voice.

“It’s a case where an honest merchant had his jewel stolen, went bankrupt, died, and left only young children behind. Moreover, Miss White is quite pretty. It will be a huge scandal. Especially if it’s a case that arose while Your Highness was seeking an engagement gift.”

“I have no intention of dragging the White family before the public to soil Countess Camellia’s honor. What’s the point of fighting by dragging a lady’s honor through the mud?”

Not only Countess Camellia, but White’s daughter and Artizea would also be caught up in scandal.

White’s daughter might at least become an object of sympathy. Even so, she would be hurt. Such scandals are not something ordinary people can handle.

In Artizea’s case especially, she would be criticized as greedy, being Milaire’s daughter who wanted a magnificent diamond.

“I’d rather not get the diamond at all than do that.”

“But, Your Highness.”

“And the Countess might have simply received a precious gift. At least that’s what she’ll say.”

“That’s impossible. It’s a jewel precious enough to become a family heirloom, and moreover, it’s the heirloom of a family that was destroyed when Her Majesty the Empress’s maid committed suicide. If Countess Camellia had nothing to hide, she would have already boasted about it to the point where everyone in high society knew.”

But Odorov the jeweler didn’t know that Countess Camellia possessed that jewel.

Even if he had known, since it wasn’t public, he wouldn’t have dared to speak of it, taking on such risk.

In other words, the Countess was hiding that jewel.

“If it wasn’t a gift, then it must have been a bribe.”

“Gift or bribe, what’s the difference? Uncle Loigar isn’t ashamed of coveting wealth. It’s not particularly secret that Uncle Loigar takes bribes, and the same goes for those around him.”

Cedric sighed.

“Would Uncle Loigar cast her out just because Countess Camellia took some bribes? Impossible. Moreover, there’s nothing as easy to call a pure gift as jewels given to a lady.”

“Then the one who gave it must be the corrupt one.”

Freil said with conviction.

“…”

Cedric tilted his glass for a moment without saying anything.

His feelings were complicated.

If it were simply to retrieve the jewel, he could file a lawsuit.

First file the lawsuit, then negotiate behind the scenes. They would probably weigh each other’s honor and interests, reach an agreement at a reasonable amount, then pay money to acquire the diamond.

But was that really what Artizea had asked of him?

Could it be that she didn’t mention Countess Camellia’s name because she didn’t know who had the diamond she wanted?

That wouldn’t be the case.

“If you do that, it will be easier to understand what kind of person I am. If your feelings don’t change even after obtaining Saint Olga’s Heart, please propose to me as grandly as everyone will know.”

Artizea had said that, but Cedric thought the reality was the opposite.

He wasn’t doing this to understand Artizea; rather, Artizea was testing him.

It seemed she was presenting a difficult problem to see how he would handle it.

“This reminds me of an old tale.”

“An old tale?”

“Isn’t there a story about a beautiful princess from the East who demanded that anyone wanting to marry her must solve three riddles?”

“Ah, that one. The story where after hundreds of victims, some beggar boy used his wisdom to solve all the problems and married the princess, right?”

“Right.”

Cedric hoped this would be the only problem.

Come to think of it, Artizea’s words weren’t wrong either. At least he understood that she was someone who thought very complexly.

And that even while sitting deep within the House of Rosan, she was someone who could grasp information he hadn’t even thought of.

“Let’s go back to the beginning. What Lady Rosan requested is Saint Olga’s Heart. Officially, that diamond is currently supposed to be in Baron Itz’s possession.”

“Let’s look into Baron Itz.”

Freil said.

While he had the butler bring the noble directory, Cedric sipped his drink and fell into thought.

Artizea’s purpose isn’t the jewel.

Is it groundwork for the future?

However, creating a scandal that would drag Countess Camellia’s honor through the mud would have no practical effect.

It would be meaningful if she had a personal grudge against the Countess or was aiming for a power struggle in high society.

But it wouldn’t be enough to deal a blow to Duke Loigar’s forces.

Moreover, it was still too early for Cedric to fight Duke Loigar.

First, he needed to establish his presence with weight in central politics.

Freil said while searching through the noble directory.

“Here it is. Baron Itz. His original title was Baron Rand. He inherited the family by marrying the heiress of the Rand Baron house, but changed the surname to his own. You could say he essentially bought the title.”

“He must be quite wealthy.”

Strictly speaking, titles couldn’t be bought and sold in the Cratese Empire.

However, there were occasional cases where titles were exchanged by marrying the heir of a declining family, having the spouse inherit the title instead, and changing the surname.

Then after a few years, they would divorce with a large alimony payment, and the head of the family would change. It was a loophole method of trading titles.

“Baron Itz?”

At that moment, one of the guard knights who had been standing silently around them widened his eyes and asked.

“Why? Danel. Do you know something?”

“If it’s Baron Itz who married Baron Rand’s daughter, he’s a gambling hall owner. There’s a large gambling hall that’s his main establishment on Pontin Street, and there are three or four fairly large gambling halls in the capital alone.”

“A noble directly involved in the gambling hall business, that’s surprising too.”

Freil looked up and stared at the knight.

“Danel, how do you know this so well? Don’t tell me you’ve been gambling?”

“Of course not!”

Danel quickly shook his head.

“Absolutely not. My younger brother is a bit of a troublemaker, so he once owed money at Itz’s gambling hall. I learned about it after paying off his debts several times. I was going to shut it down if it was an illegal gambling hall.”

“So it turns out her backing was stronger than expected.”

Freil said coldly. Then he looked at Danel again with suspicious eyes.

“You didn’t sell the name of the House of Evron in that process, did you?”

“How could you think that of me?”

Danel made an aggrieved face, but he had certainly sold the ducal house’s name to some extent.

Cedric shook his head.

“That’s enough. More importantly, a gambling hall owner… I think I roughly know what part is problematic. It’s probably one of Uncle Loigar’s never-ending sources of money.”

“What will you do?”

“What do you think I’ll do?”

Freil fell into thought for a moment before speaking.

“A commoner was swindled and killed by a gambling hall owner. Your Highness might not have known before, but now that you know, you’re not someone who can pretend not to see it.”

“Right. I can’t just leave it alone.”

Cedric stood up.

He still didn’t know what Artizea wanted. If that was the case, rather than trying to present her with a model answer, it would be right to just act as himself.

Now he was curious to see what would come out at the end of this matter.

Freil, who had stood up following Cedric, asked.

“Will you move now?”

“If it’s a gambling hall, isn’t now prime time?”

“That’s true.”

Freil grinned.

“I’ll prepare the knights.”

Then he ran ahead first.

Cedric slowly emptied all the brandy glasses by himself. Thoughts of Artizea wouldn’t leave his mind.

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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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