The Villainess Lives Twice - Chapter 278

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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 278

Cop carefully surveyed the inside of the bedroom.

He held fresh bed sheets in both arms. If there were any knights or servants of the Crown Prince’s faction inside the bedroom, he would need to take different measures.

Even the Chamberlain was not someone he could trust completely.

Cop wasn’t actively suspecting the Chamberlain either. Though the Chamberlain didn’t like Lawrence, he had devotedly cared for the Emperor until his death.

He was lucky. The Chamberlain was away from his post.

Cop carefully entered inside.

He had mobilized all his resources for this moment.

He used everything: Cop’s own connections inside and outside the Imperial Palace, informants recruited by other secret investigators, and even weaknesses they had on individual Royal Guards.

That wasn’t all. For this task, he had also deployed spies that great noble families including Count Brennan had planted in the Imperial Palace.

“This is influence built up over decades. It must succeed.”

The old foxes had boasted like that. To Cop, it was laughable.

Once the Crown Prince ascended the throne, all those spies would be swept away anyway. There was no way Marquess Rosan would leave them be after taking power.

But in any case, they were a great help now.

The Emperor was sitting up inside the curtains.

His face was severely swollen and his complexion was dark. However, the sharpness in his eyes within those wrinkled features had not disappeared.

Cop approached him, set down the bed sheets, and knelt.

“Cop.”

The Emperor took a deep breath. He tried to clench and unclench his fist, but it didn’t work well.

“Your Majesty, I have something to report, so I came to see you secretly like this.”

Cop whispered in a low voice.

“Where did Bertolt go?”

The Emperor asked that first. Bertolt had been in charge of guarding the bedroom since this afternoon.

After the Chamberlain left, he noticed that Bertolt had disappeared at some point.

Cop answered respectfully.

“He is guarding the door.”

The Emperor’s mouth twisted.

If he had been in good health, he would have laughed. But now he couldn’t even control his own expressions.

“Who had recruited that fellow?”

“I am honored, Your Majesty. Sir Bertolt is Your Majesty’s loyal subject.”

“A loyal subject who dares to dismiss guards from my bedroom on his own will and lets in those without permission.”

The Emperor thought threats must have been involved.

Cedric must have had reasons to trust when he assigned Bertolt as guard of this bedroom.

And the Bertolt the Emperor knew might submit to the Crown Prince as the next power, but he wasn’t the type to participate in conspiracies with the opposition.

Emotionally, as a soldier and knight, he would be inclined toward Cedric.

‘Did his daughter marry into a branch of Count Eison’s family?’

Children. It was always the damn children that were the problem.

The Emperor looked at Cop with blurred vision. Cop spoke.

“I am honored. How could I not know I am a sinner? However, with access to the Imperial Palace strictly restricted and all paths to report important matters to Your Majesty blocked until now, I had no choice but to inquire about important matters.”

“….”

“Duke of Evron is confining Your Majesty. He has committed high treason.”

“…Who doesn’t know that.”

The Emperor said as if squeezing out the words. Cop continued.

“I’m not speaking of this current matter, Your Majesty. I’m telling you that the past conspiracy case of Princess Floella and Leofriq Evron has not ended.”

“What…?”

“Among the traitors of that time, some who succeeded in escaping and accomplices who should have been properly punished were hidden to create a village.”

Cop said.

“Even if the Duke himself was young when it was created, that village has been maintained until now. Even before Your Majesty reinstated the ringleader, he had been visiting that village and building relationships. Many of his close associates are from that village.”

“Ugh.”

The Emperor made a strange sound while taking a deep breath. His chest felt blocked.

Still, Cop didn’t stop speaking.

“The same goes for Mortan, Baron, the maid favored by the Prince’s Consort. The Morten Baronet was not directly involved in the conspiracy at the time but supported the escape, and since then has been in charge of managing the village and external relations under the Duke’s orders.”

The Emperor still half-believed until then.

It wasn’t that he thought Cedric was completely unaware of this entire situation where Ferguson had betrayed, palace servants were dismissed, and watchers were assigned.

However, the Emperor could understand it if he tried to understand.

Since he had tried to check Cedric before collapsing, it was natural for him to be anxious and fearful enough to monitor him.

Recruiting intelligence organizations was naturally the first thing that should be done.

That was the current power struggle. The Emperor was angry but accepted it as a challenge, not as betrayal.

Even if he took power, he was still his Crown Prince.

But this was betrayal.

His insides ached with a sharp pain as if cut.

He thought Cedric had compromised and learned to understand power. He had chosen present strength over past resentment.

So he thought they could compromise.

Also, he believed that the straightness of his nature hadn’t completely disappeared. Human nature doesn’t change so easily.

But perhaps that judgment itself was wrong.

Once he started doubting, everything became suspicious.

The events he believed were lucky breaks for Cedric, and what he thought were fisherman’s profits gained from Lawrence and Loigar’s foolish acts.

Rather than compromising with reality after facing various problems, had he been scheming for the throne from the beginning?

Had he been continuously acting his straight nature for revenge?

If so, all of this was happening not for power but to settle grudges.

It was unacceptable.

The moment he died, where was the guarantee that Cedric wouldn’t define him as a usurper?

Who could guarantee that he wouldn’t remove him entirely from the Imperial family’s legitimate lineage and posthumously honor his mother as Emperor?

He was not a usurper.

He might be a greedy villain and a traitor to some people, but the Emperor’s crown was his.

He had thrown himself into power struggles risking his life. The Emperor’s crown was a trophy of life built with effort and luck, blood and bone.

He couldn’t tolerate Floella, who was merely born, coveting such a position based on bloodline.

The Emperor knew well that Floella was neither a criminal nor a competitor. That young sister was innocent and weak.

However, her very existence symbolized the totality of everything Gregor had fought against until then.

That was also why he wanted to bequeath to Lawrence even if it meant some strain.

Only when he chose to newly create the Imperial family’s legitimate line would he finally become a true Emperor lasting through generations.

But in the end, what sat in the Crown Prince’s position was not his adopted son but Floella’s son.

And its purpose was revenge.

The Emperor’s chest rose and fell rapidly.

“Your Majesty.”

Cop called to the Emperor who was staring into space.

He had no interest in what impact this problem would have on the critically ill Emperor.

The master he served was no longer the Emperor.

What mattered most was that this would enrage the Emperor.

“Your Majesty, please issue an imperial command.”

Cop said forcefully.

“Your Majesty’s loyal subjects are waiting for the imperial command. We have made full preparations so that the moment you give the order, we can subjugate the traitors.”

“Ha.”

“The military’s loyalty is not yet dead. Lord Lawrence is also earnestly waiting for Your Majesty’s words.”

Cop said that.

He didn’t think he was lying to himself. Because that’s how it would end up.

Lawrence was the one who deserved to be Emperor.

The Emperor let out a hollow laugh at those words. He felt thirsty with faint hope.

“Has Lawrence come?”

“Yes. Although His Majesty’s summons did not reach him, Lord Lawrence came to the capital several months ago.”

Cop spoke earnestly.

“Lord Lawrence has changed, Your Majesty. He is not the same Lord Lawrence from his immature days.”

The Emperor did not fully believe those words.

He would change once he matured. With such hope, he had continuously watched over Lawrence. However, people do not change easily.

“Do you serve Lawrence?”

“I am Your Majesty’s servant.”

“I do not mean to scold you. When I sent Lawrence away, what disappointed me most was that the boy could not properly make even one person his own.”

The Emperor muttered as if talking to himself.

“But… if he can win over one of my investigators, that is sufficient.”

It was by no means sufficient.

Most of those scheming outside probably were not loyal to Lawrence. They simply needed a focal point.

However, the Emperor turned a blind eye to that fact.

Giving the nobility the experience of overthrowing a government by force, putting forward someone without legitimacy, was never good for future generations.

Moreover, those who had gathered were most likely the greediest ones.

The Emperor knew this too.

The reason he had used such people was because he was confident he could control them.

This was possible because imperial authority was already strong, and those people were merely servants, not allies with stakes in the throne.

“….”

The Emperor stared at the carving engraved on the bed canopy for a moment.

The golden sun relief in the center of the sky looked down at him as if surveying all things.

Gregor was neither a sage nor a wise man. Rather, he belonged to the category of ugly humans, and he knew this about himself.

If he stood higher than others, it was because he possessed greater desires than anyone else.

“Bring paper. You will write down what I dictate, and I will sign it.”

Cop took out the paper and pen he had prepared in advance and wrote down what the Emperor dictated.

The Emperor signed it.

“Go.”

Cop bowed and retreated backward.

The door closed, and it became quiet again.

The Emperor looked at the bed ceiling for a moment, then closed his eyes.

He felt dizzy from his own foolishness.

* * *

Even though it was night, lights were brightly lit throughout the Imperial Prince’s Palace.

The knights had strangely rigid expressions. Though Mielle did not understand killing intent or fighting spirit, she could sense that the palace atmosphere was strange.

“Is something wrong?”

Torches moved with murmuring sounds in the distance. Ansgard said.

“Nothing serious will happen.”

“Yes….”

“Tonight, Lady Mielle and Lady Hazel will sleep here.”

Saying that, he closed the curtains.

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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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