The Villainess Lives Twice - Chapter 307

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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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2. Spring Breeze (1)

1.

The window was open. Every time the wind blew, the long tails of the bookmarks fluttered.

There were many books piled up here and there in the drawing room, and most of them had tags of various colors attached, reminiscent of decorative tassels tied to tree branches in place of lacking flowers at early spring tea parties.

Countess Unise leaned back comfortably against the cushions and fell into thought with a hum.

‘This is quite nice too? It seems like it would be educational, and it looks pretty just to look at.’

The dust on the books didn’t matter since the maids would dust them anyway. If she looked like a lady who always kept books by her side, how dignified would that appear?

It could also have a good influence on her second daughter, who ran around like a colt and was always anxious not to tan her face in the sunlight.

‘Yes, I should read some books this year too.’

Countess Unise mentally arranged the valuable books she owned in her drawing room and recalled their contents.

Most were collected for their pretty bindings, so leaving them as they were would lack a natural touch.

This would become the new trend. Countess Unise was certain of it.

Velvet and silk, porcelain were always right, but wasn’t it spring now? It was time for more refreshing decorations.

And originally, social trends were always created by the foremost noblewoman of society.

With the Empress’s Palace doors closed, there were so few people who could come and go as guests that there was no trend worth following the Empress yet.

Soon, she would be the frontrunner.

Countess Unise smiled contentedly. Following the former Countess Marta and Countess Camellia, she would become the most intellectual and influential noblewoman in the capital.

‘It should look like a book I’m actually reading, right? No, I will actually read it.’

Countess Unise thought this as she picked up a book nearby.

《Phonological Study of Proper Nouns Recorded in the Temple: Before and After the Formation of Allia Wall…》

Countess Unise didn’t finish reading the subtitle and put the book back down with a thud. The black was the binding and the red was the text.

The compiler was foolish. This title should have been embossed with gold leaf. Then it would have looked like a decorative pattern.

Flutter flutter.

The spring breeze that came through the window again made the bookmarks flutter.

Just then, the drawing room door opened. Countess Unise stood up with her face flushed from embarrassment.

“The books are heavier than I thought.”

She chattered unnecessarily as she turned around. Then she saw the child standing at the door and smiled brightly.

“Oh my, Your Highness the Princess.”

“Aunt!”

Leticia threw the picture book she was holding to the floor and ran over excitedly, flapping her arms like wings.

“Oh my. You’ve gotten heavier again in the meantime.”

Countess Unise picked up Leticia. Mielle, who had followed Leticia, politely greeted her.

“Have you been well, Countess Unise? I’m sorry. We’re not interrupting, are we?”

“Of course not. I was just waiting for Her Majesty the Empress.”

Countess Unise smiled as warmly as possible.

No one was unaware that Leticia was the real power in the Empress’s Palace. She was the precious Crown Princess and the future of the Empire.

In a situation where Artizea showed no political moves and didn’t even have personal meetings that might suggest such possibilities, she was also the only reason the doors of the Empress’s Palace opened and closed.

And the person this future of the Empire loved most after her mother and father was Mielle.

There was no way she could be a bother. Rather, she should say thank you for bothering to come.

Countess Unise could enter and leave the Empress’s Palace all thanks to Leticia, who called her aunt and followed her.

And Leticia came to call her that thanks to Mielle. Mielle had taught Leticia, who was too young to understand the relationship between Countess Unise and Cedric, to just call her ‘aunt.’

So Leticia couldn’t help but be adorable enough to want to bite. The same went for Mielle.

Not only Artizea but even Mielle was so calm and mature, so why couldn’t her own daughters be like that?

Leticia reached for the collar of Countess Unise’s jacket. A soft rabbit-shaped brooch was attached to the collar.

“Aunt, I want this.”

“It’s attached to aunt’s clothes.”

“Can I touch it?”

“Of course.”

That was also why she had deliberately worn such a cute brooch. Leticia, who was at the height of curiosity, wanted to touch anything pretty she saw.

Last time, she had suddenly grabbed a brooch shaped like a bundle of grain and almost got hurt on her palm.

“This looks like a baby.”

Leticia mumbled as she fiddled with the brooch and then pressed her cheek against it. Countess Unise’s raised cheeks showed no sign of coming down from the soft display of affection.

Mielle said with a smile.

“The wet nurse gave birth to her second child the other day. She came to greet Lady Tisha, and she’s completely smitten and making a fuss.”

Mielle said with a smile. Countess Unise nodded.

“Do you want a younger brother?”

“Babies are so cute.”

Leticia said while stroking the brooch with her finger.

“I want a younger brother too. Babies are soft.”

Leticia’s fingers were the ones that were truly soft. Countess Unise said with a smile.

“Try pestering your mother.”

Leticia tilted her head as if thinking about something and looked up at Countess Unise.

Then Artizea, wearing a comfortable dress, entered gracefully.

“Mother!”

Leticia struggled to be put down. Countess Unise tried to carefully set her down, but Leticia’s struggling was so strong that she almost dropped the child.

“You should be careful.”

“Mother!”

Leticia immediately clung to Artizea’s skirt and shouted.

“Mother! I want a younger brother too!”

“I wondered what she was suddenly talking about.”

Artizea gently stroked Leticia’s head. Leticia, who expected to hear a negative response, looked like she was about to cry.

“Didn’t you come to read picture books?”

“I want a younger brother too. Waaah.”

While stroking the head of clinging Leticia, Artizea let the whining pass. Then she said to Countess Unise.

“You came all this way and Leticia bothered you.”

“Not at all, Your Majesty the Empress. It’s an honor.”

Countess Unise politely curtsied. Then she covered her mouth with her hand and laughed.

“She wasn’t bothersome at all. How honored I am that Her Highness the Princess calls me aunt.”

She didn’t even bother to speak indirectly.

It had been nearly 5 years since she learned what kind of person Artizea was. Since her thoughts would be seen through anyway, it was better for both of them to show them openly.

After Leticia began to speak and understood the concept of relatives, Countess Unise was accepted as a member of the imperial family in a different way than before.

Previously, despite being the Emperor’s daughter, she was a bastard who was not legally guaranteed that status.

A position gained through favor was inherently unstable, and while having no succession rights, she still carried the danger of having imperial blood.

Compared to that, how good was a life where she could hold up the future Crown Princess and be called aunt?

The distance from power was perfect. How many people could enter and leave just by sending a single letter to the Empress’s Palace?

Requests and gifts poured in like mountains. Countess Unise moderately profited only to the extent that it wouldn’t be sinful.

At first, she returned everything while watching Artizea’s reaction, but Artizea seemed truly uninterested in such matters.

Instead, she kept in mind that she had to work too. The rabbit doll pinned to her chest was one of those things.

Countess Unise had sent rabbit fur baby clothes and a doll of the same size as a second birthday gift for Leticia. After Leticia wore those clothes and held a rabbit doll of the same size at her birthday party, neither the rabbit clothes nor the rabbit doll trend showed any signs of fading.

That trend spread elsewhere too. Ladies competed to wear cute rabbit fur accessories. These days, they even attached fist-sized rabbit fur decorations to their bags.

Moreover, she also liked babies.

Artizea offered her a seat. Countess Unise smiled bashfully and said.

“But, aren’t you really thinking about it?”

“About what?”

“A second child.”

Leticia, thinking that Countess Unise was trying to take her side, quickly clung to her knees.

“One child is lonely.”

“Well. She had such a difficult time giving birth….”

“Of course, our Princess is so healthy like this, but life is always uncertain. The more heirs the better, and the Rosan Marquess Estate should be passed down too.”

Mid-sentence, Countess Unise covered her mouth, saying she had spoken inappropriately.

It was common talk when the first baby grew a little, but she could hardly be called a true relative of the Imperial family. Perhaps only the Empress Dowager would be allowed to say such things.

Maybe they were trying but it just wasn’t happening.

‘Well, her body is so weak.’

Around the coronation ceremony, people thought she had aged drastically. They assumed her complete seclusion in the Empress’s Palace was also due to that.

Now, in Countess Unise’s view, she looked reasonably well except that her hair color hadn’t completely returned.

“I have no desire to leave the Rosan Marquess Estate separately. The same goes for the Duke of Evron’s title.”

Artizea said.

“What meaning would there be in forcing succession? I think it’s enough to leave old honors as just honors.”

People already knew how to separate bloodline and ability. The values of sacrificing for family glory and bloodline were values that should rightfully be abandoned.

Hereditary titles were simply inappropriate for the new era.

Artizea looked at Leticia, who was sitting on Mielle’s lap swinging her legs.

“Sister Mie, me book.”

It seemed like just yesterday she was crawling, but Leticia now spoke quite well and looked at picture books. She had started pretending to turn pages before turning two.

Though she didn’t know letters yet, she would memorize words on pages that Mielle often read to her and pretend to read.

But when she had spread out her picture book and sat down, yet Artizea didn’t open a book beside her, Leticia crawled back down from Mielle’s lap.

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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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