The Villainess Lives Twice - Chapter 303

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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 303

“What were you writing?”

Cedric glanced at the papers Artizea had set down.

“Documents regarding the House of Rosan. I need to organize them before the coronation ceremony.”

“Ah.”

An empress could not hold other titles.

So she had to step down from the Marquess Rosan title before the coronation ceremony. Now the position of Marquess Rosan would remain vacant until Leticia came of age and formally inherited the title.

“So you will no longer be Marquess Rosan.”

Cedric muttered this with a strange feeling.

Anyway, Artizea thought she had finished all her work. So she wouldn’t feel attached to that name either.

To her, the title of Marquess Rosan was merely a means to obtain the wealth and power needed for her work.

She would have had no attachment or pride in it, so now that it was no longer needed, she would readily hand it over to someone else.

Cedric briefly thought of their past fight over the marriage contract.

In the end, it was something that would be settled so casually like this.

“Please sit.”

Artizea offered him a seat.

Cedric let out a small sigh. He couldn’t continue this conversation standing as if handling remaining business.

He didn’t want to sit and finish the conversation. But eventually he sat on the sofa.

Artizea followed and sat down.

As if she had given orders in advance for when Cedric arrived, a maid soon entered with a teapot and teacups.

Artizea personally brewed the tea. Cedric quietly watched her hands.

Her hands were completely bare. The diamond bracelet that used to hang on her wrist was also gone now.

His feelings were complicated. But it also felt natural somehow.

Artizea’s face had become peaceful. It was clear she had mentally organized many things.

She looked fine. Though wrinkles still remained on her face from the vitality she had used up, she seemed to be getting along well enough.

Cedric calmed his mind while watching Artizea’s hands pour out the hot water that had warmed the teacups.

Perhaps this state was what they should have originally arrived at.

“Was the time sufficient?”

Cedric asked while looking at her fingertips.

Wondering how one could live a life without regrets.

“Yes.”

“…”

“I want to retire.”

Cedric looked at her with a hollow expression.

Artizea looked down at her teacup. And said quietly.

“I did too much in too short a time. Twice, in fact.”

She had run frantically as if being whipped, chased relentlessly.

“What I did was like rolling a snowball down a slope while supporting it from below. If it rolled well, I could build influence in an instant, but if it went wrong, an avalanche would occur and I would be the first to be buried and die.”

If Cedric hadn’t intervened to help several times, there would have been dangerous moments this time as well.

Even knowing she shouldn’t live that way, she couldn’t stop. That was probably her flaw.

“I’m tired now. I don’t want to think about anything anymore.”

“I see…”

“Yes. So now… I want to spend the rest of my life doing nothing.”

Artizea said. Cedric answered in a low voice.

“I understand. You can rest now.”

“I’m sorry for being irresponsible.”

Artizea bowed her head.

“You once told me I could think of better ideas. I thought I wouldn’t be useful for proper governance, and I still think so, but those words were a great comfort to me.”

“…That’s enough about that.”

He wanted to deny it.

But even if he said she wasn’t a useless person, those words wouldn’t have much meaning to Artizea right now.

Cedric looked at Artizea with complicated feelings.

This was the right thing to do.

Artizea was right. She had lived fiercely enough to be more than tired.

So it would be right to let her spend at least her remaining time comfortably, without disturbing it with his own desires.

Yet it felt as if his ankles were stuck in a swamp.

Artizea said.

“I want to try living the rest of my life for myself.”

“…”

“That’s why I’m telling you this.”

Cedric looked at Artizea with puzzlement.

Artizea fidgeted with her hands awkwardly. Her earlobes and cheeks were red.

“I know that without using my brain, I’m nothing. So I know I’m useless now too.”

“Tia…?”

“I’m not particularly pretty, not healthy, my body can’t have another baby, and I probably can’t fulfill my role as empress, let alone the duties that people say a spouse should fulfill.”

Cedric waved his hands in panic.

Artizea held her breath for a moment, then poured out the rest of her words all at once.

“I don’t even know how much life I have left, and I think I’ll probably only leave sadness behind.”

“Tia.”

“Still, would you let me stay as your wife, nothing else, just your wife?”

The meaning of those words entered Cedric’s ears, lingered there for a moment, then slowly entered his consciousness.

And it spread through his body as if flowing through his blood vessels.

It was only after that when Cedric properly understood what she meant.

They had married for a purpose. Now Cedric was someone who could understand the overall picture Artizea had drawn with that proposal.

In the short term, to make the Emperor and Lawrence misunderstand, and in the long term, to dilute the impression of being a northerner by forming a marriage alliance with the House of Rosan, a central noble family.

And above all else, marriage was necessary to gain legitimate rights to the House of Evron and obtain immediately usable personnel.

Since they had united for schemes, that marriage could not be separated from politics.

When he proposed to her again, he had hoped they would become husband and wife before being lord and retainer.

But even after achieving their initial goal, they remained more of a lord-retainer relationship than companions.

That was unavoidable until they obtained their final goal of the imperial throne.

So except for that one night, Artizea had never been completely his wife.

Artizea wasn’t the Duchess of Evron because she was his companion, but had married him because she needed the position of Duchess of Evron.

But now she was saying she would spend the rest of her life by his side for herself, not to take responsibility for the position of empress.

Cedric reached out his hand to Artizea with half-belief.

Artizea stood up hesitantly and placed her hand on his.

Cedric grasped that hand, then released it once. Then he gripped it tightly again and pulled her sharply toward him.

“Ah!”

Her skirt swept across the table, knocking over the teapot. Fortunately, the tea had already become lukewarm.

The cup fell under the table, leaving a stain on the carpet. Tea water also spread across Artizea’s skirt.

Her slippers came off and rolled on the floor. Artizea sat on Cedric’s lap with her eyes tightly closed.

Cedric looked into her face without kissing her.

“You’re really driving me crazy.”

Cedric whispered in a cracked voice. Artizea hesitated, then opened her eyes.

“Actually, I think I’m already crazy. Really… I shouldn’t have fallen in love with you.”

Tears flowed from Cedric’s eyes and fell onto Artizea’s face.

Artizea hesitantly reached out to his face and wiped Cedric’s eyes with her index finger.

Then she lifted her head, wrapped both arms around his neck, and carefully took his lips.

Cedric traced her back with his large hands. It was a careful movement as if confirming that Artizea was still there.

The next moment, Cedric embraced her tightly. Artizea’s lips parted first.

Cedric dove into it like a madman.

Artizea struggled, unable to breathe properly.

Cedric loosened his grip on her arm slightly and asked.

“Where did the bracelet go?”

What he had been anxiously thinking about came out directly as a question.

Since their lips were still almost touching, the sound of his words was transmitted delicately directly to her lips.

“In the bedroom.”

Artizea answered with her eyes still tightly shut. Her ragged breath tickled Cedric’s philtrum.

Cedric let out a long sigh.

“Really… Constantly dipping a person in hellfire and pulling them out doesn’t make them stronger through tempering.”

A long sigh escaped, seeming resentful and lamenting.

However, there was no hesitation. He stood up while holding Artizea in his arms. Artizea wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his ear.

And she whispered words Cedric had never expected.

50.

The day of the coronation was clear without a single cloud.

Despite the military rebellion that had occurred, the atmosphere full of hope and happiness from the Crown Prince’s investiture ceremony continued.

Wise people were already guessing that the rebellion was the Emperor’s defeat to the Crown Prince.

Emperor Gregor was still nowhere to be found. No abdication ceremony had been held either.

If this were truly an abdication, the Emperor should have personally removed the crown from his own head and handed it to the Crown Prince.

But there was no talk of the Emperor appearing at the coronation. The role of delivering the crown to the Crown Prince fell to the Archbishop.

However, no one cared about the Emperor anymore.

Madame Emily let out a sigh full of regret.

“This isn’t right.”

The dress didn’t fit perfectly and was a bit loose.

Emily thought it lacked sophistication since it was originally an old-fashioned style dress.

There was too much embroidery and too many jewels. And that embroidery was made with thread actually coated in gold.

Its luxury and extravagance was beyond description. But that wasn’t the recent trend.

The thread used for embroidery should have been the finest silk thread from Mount Ientz. What mattered was the silhouette and variety.

Above all, the dress shouldn’t weigh down the person.

The jewels were also taken directly from the era of the First Emperor, so their brilliance was different from modern ones. This was due to differences in crafting techniques.

Sophie glared at Emily.

“It looks dignified and wonderful.”

It couldn’t be helped since everything from the innermost dress itself to the cloak worn over it and all the accessories were national treasures.

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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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