The Villainess Lives Twice - Chapter 279

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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 279

Mielle became a little more anxious because of this. Something felt unsettled.

“Is something wrong? It seems noisy somehow… Hazel, what’s going on with you again?”

Hazel was wearing sleek leather pants with a shirt, and over that a short cloak made of wolf fur.

It was a style that became popular after Natalia wore wolf fur to the Crown Prince’s investiture ceremony.

“Don’t you know? Today there’s Countess Marta’s salon at the Empress’s Palace.”

Marcus looked at Hazel. But he didn’t open his mouth to speak.

They might be able to get through this night quietly, so there was no need to alarm Mielle as well.

Mielle felt unsatisfied.

“But His Majesty is unwell?”

“It’s awkward to say this, but since we’re here I’ll say it…”

Hazel looked around at the people as if there was something significant and spoke to Mielle.

“That’s exactly why they’re holding it, rather.”

“Ah…”

Mielle wasn’t a fool either. Even if she didn’t understand everything, she knew that various conspiracies were being plotted within the Imperial Palace.

She also knew about the Empress’s circumstances.

Mielle spoke with a tense expression.

“So that’s why it’s so unsettled.”

“Don’t worry about it and just get some good sleep with Lady Leticia.”

“Will it be okay? You’re not going to go and cause some trouble, are you?”

Mielle rolled her eyes. Even though Countess Marta’s salon was a place relatively free from court etiquette, Hazel’s current outfit was too casual.

Hazel laughed heartily.

“It’s fine. I’m going with Natalia.”

“Still…”

“What, do I always cause trouble like that? I’ll go and come back.”

“You will come back?”

“The atmosphere in the Imperial Palace is really strange these days. I need to stay by your side and Lady Leticia’s.”

At those words, Mielle smiled brightly.

Hazel left. Mielle yawned and said goodnight to Leticia in the cradle.

“Sleep well, Lady Leticia.”

The sleeping baby wrinkled her nose. Mielle smiled a little seeing that.

And she said to Ansgard.

“Would it be better for me to sleep here too?”

“If you do that, it would reduce the knights’ burden.”

“Ah, Prince led the knights out, didn’t he? Will that side be okay? I heard there was chaos.”

“Don’t worry. Lord Ced has never been defeated.”

Ansgard smiled with wrinkles forming around his eyes. Mielle was relieved.

“Yes. And I’ll sleep here too.”

“Thank you.”

Mielle smiled brightly and went to the bed placed in the corner of the baby’s room. There was a separate bed prepared for caregivers to rest from time to time.

Ansgard blew out the candles.

Only one light was left in the room, creating a soft glow. Mielle lay down and closed her eyes.

Before long, she heard the sound of Ansgard leaving and closing the door.

Mielle tossed and turned for a while. When she couldn’t fall asleep and sat up, it happened.

Clang! Clang!

A sound like metal being struck came from outside the window. Mielle first checked the cradle in case Leticia might wake up, then looked out the window.

A group of torches was gathered near the main gate of the Prince’s palace. She couldn’t see clearly from the baby’s room, but they seemed to be soldiers.

Mielle swallowed her breath. Something really seemed to have happened.

Leticia’s custody was the most important thing to the anti-Crown Prince faction.

No one in the anti-Crown Prince faction was thinking about Lawrence.

While Lawrence was in the Capital, he had incited distrust toward Cedric and discriminatory consciousness against northerners among several nobles.

Through old friends including Count Eison, he also spread the logic that once Cedric ascended the throne, the North and Western Regions would sweep away the established privileged class and take their place.

However, he had not participated in any specific plans at all. He wasn’t even in the Capital right now.

Literally, he had only given those hostile to Cedric an opportunity to express those feelings openly.

Cop also did not reveal Lawrence’s name as per Lawrence’s orders.

Because eliminating Cedric first and neutralizing Artizea was the urgent priority.

Once they eliminated just the Crown Prince couple, everything after that would fall into place like putting acorns in a pocket.

Not knowing this, what the anti-Crown Prince faction immediately regarded as a rival to Cedric was Leticia.

As an imperial candidate to replace Cedric, and as a hostage necessary to suppress Evron, she was an existence they absolutely had to secure.

Even before the imperial command was issued, Capital Guard Commander Hoson had gathered his subordinate units near the Prince’s palace for this reason.

The soldiers thought it strange.

“Is there some trouble at the Imperial Palace?”

“I heard there was a riot.”

“But there was nothing happening on the main street?”

There was some quiet murmuring. However, this didn’t cause a disturbance or disrupt their formation.

Hoson waited patiently.

What arrived next was Guard Knight Geus. Behind him followed about fifty Royal Guards.

Unlike the Capital Guard, they headed straight for the main gate.

Geus tilted his head in puzzlement in front of the main gate. Unlike usual, there were no guards watching the gate.

The garden was quiet, steeped in darkness.

‘Did they notice something?’

But if Hoson’s unit had been discovered, it wouldn’t be this quiet.

Perhaps it was because Cedric had taken most of the Evron knights with him.

Geus knocked forcefully on the barred door. Soon an old butler came out to the main gate carrying a lamp. It was Ansgard.

“What brings you here at such a late hour, Sir Geus?”

Geus glanced around.

“How is there not a single guard?”

“It’s not a matter that would concern Sir Geus.”

Ansgard answered politely.

Geus thought he had read between the lines of that answer. Ansgard seemed anxious.

Since Duke of Evron had taken the Evron knights with him, they might be short on guards.

Geus spoke courteously for now.

“It’s an imperial command. By His Majesty’s order, I’ve come to escort the imperial grandchild to the main palace.”

“Since it’s late at night, we’ll pay our respects tomorrow. Lady Leticia is already sleeping.”

“Does His Majesty not know it’s late at night? Yet it means the situation is such that he seeks the imperial grandchild.”

“The night air is too cold for the baby to go out.”

“When an edict might be issued, are you worried about a few coughs?”

Geus spoke with a pressuring attitude.

If the other party didn’t know about what was happening tonight, there was no reason not to bring out Leticia.

Ansgard answered calmly.

“Lady Leticia is not yet old enough to understand His Majesty’s words, let alone follow them. We’ll visit early tomorrow morning.”

Saying that, he politely bowed and turned away.

There was no choice.

Geus raised his hand.

“Defeat the traitors who defy the imperial command and rescue the imperial grandchild!”

He shouted loudly.

This was said for the soldiers to hear.

Hoson’s unit, which had been prepared in advance, came rushing out. The soldiers brought a log reinforced with steel at the front and struck the door.

Clang!

The sound of steel clashing against steel echoed through the night sky, tearing it apart.

This was the sound Mielle had heard.

The Imperial Palace had never been designed as a defensive facility in the first place. While there were secret passages prepared for emergencies, there were no facilities whatsoever for siege defense.

Even the imposing-looking iron gates were actually weak. Though they had barred them from the inside, they were smashed to pieces in just a few attempts.

The Royal Guards rushed forward in a mass and pushed their way in.

Geus sent scouts ahead in case there were ambushes in the garden. But it was completely empty.

The Imperial Prince’s Palace building was quite tall, but it didn’t have watchtowers equipped with firearms. A small number of Evron Knights couldn’t defend everything.

That was why the Evron Knights had given up the garden in advance.

After confirming there were no ambushes, Geus rushed toward the main entrance of the main residence.

Following his gestures, the Royal Guards scattered. It was to seal off escape routes.

It was when Hoson’s unit was about to ram the door with logs again.

Ratatata!

A volley of gunfire poured down over Hoson’s unit. Since it was such close range, about thirty men spat blood at once.

“2nd floor!”

Geus shouted. No sooner had he done so than arrows rained down, and Geus also rolled on the ground to dodge them.

The first gunfire had been a warning. Since they were at close range anyway and facing opponents not armored, both sides had small numbers. There was no need to engage with slow-loading firearms.

However, a second unit appeared. It was another unit of the City Guard that had promised to support Hoson’s unit if imperial orders were given.

This time, the reinforcements fired back.

The knights who had been poking their heads out to shoot from the 2nd floor of the Imperial Prince’s Palace quickly ducked down.

“Break it down quickly!”

Hoson shouted.

It wasn’t easy. The main residence’s door was reinforced from the inside with several layers of steel plates. They had also installed additional bars.

Still, the door shook.

Roil, the deputy commander of the Evron Knight Order, spoke calmly to Ansgard.

“Do not worry. Even if the door is breached, with those numbers they won’t be able to get past the lobby.”

“I trust you.”

Ansgard replied.

Besides that, they had installed explosives in various places. Those people would never make it to where the baby’s room was located.

Buying time was what they needed to do as well.

‘I never thought they would actually attack.’

He had considered it highly likely that it would end with just a siege. The battle preparations had truly been for that one-in-a-million chance.

The Imperial Prince’s Palace was also part of the Imperial Palace. No matter how much they used imperial orders as an excuse, attacking it had to be a burdensome affair.

Roil clicked his tongue.

It would have been good if they had returned to the Duke’s Residence. Everything needed for a siege was prepared there.

It was too late to think about it now.

It would have been impossible to move the entire Evron Knight Order to the Duke’s Residence while hiding that fact. If they had done that, it would have been no different from informing the Anti-Crown Prince Faction that their plan had been leaked.

They didn’t have sufficient forces to divide them either.

They were also reluctant to leave the Knight Order here and secretly move only Leticia.

In the end, they decided to guard directly with all their might. And they were confident they could do so.

“Fire arrow!”

Roil shouted toward the 2nd floor. One knight from Evron who was most confident in archery took up a great bow.

The fire arrow that flew in an arc accurately lit the fuse.

Boom!

The explosives that had been laid in advance on the garden floor exploded. The support unit that had been aiming guns from the edge of their range was caught up in that explosion.

That was when a servant came running and shouted.

“Head Butler! There’s a fire!”

“What? Right now?”

It wasn’t a simple fire. The moment Roil was shocked, there was an explosive sound.

Some of the knights who had been waiting in the lobby with weapons drawn rushed toward that direction.

Ansgard forgot about his leg pain and ran up to the upper floor.

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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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