The Villainess Lives Twice - Chapter 96

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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 96

Artizea arrived near the capital in late February.

It had been a journey of about a month and a half.

She was able to shorten the period a little from her initial estimate. This was because Artizea had reduced her luggage to travel light.

She moved by buying all necessary items on the spot and giving away or discarding things that were no longer needed.

While Evron would still be covered in snow at this time, the capital was already warm. To northerners, it felt completely like spring.

Artizea did not enter the capital immediately. She rented an entire inn in a nearby small town and stopped there first.

She wanted to understand the situation before entering the capital.

Freil and Ansgard, who had been summoned, immediately headed there.

It was Hailey who came out to greet the two men.

“Oh my, Sir Hailey.”

Freil called out to her in surprise. Hailey shrugged her shoulders.

“It’s been a while. And I’m no longer ‘Sir’ now. Haven’t you heard the news?”

Freil tilted his head. Hailey let out a small sigh.

“Well, since His Grace the Prince is at his estate, there was no need to send a messenger to the capital specifically to inform about this. You did hear about the war, didn’t you?”

“Yes. I know that well. Reports went to the Imperial Palace too. Is it true that Karam made siege weapons?”

“Yes. I’ll give you the details later. It’s not that serious a situation.”

“So Sir Hailey didn’t come because it was a serious situation?”

At Freil’s question, Ansgard spoke.

“Sir Hailey seems to have come as my lady’s maid.”

He knew that Artizea was planning to select a maid from among the duchy’s retainers.

“Yes, something like that.”

“Her Highness the Princess does have an eye for people. I’ve always thought Sir Hailey wasn’t someone who would just end up as an administrator.”

Freil said. Hailey was one of the few people he could have good conversations with at the fortress, which was full of stuffy and rigid people.

“But you were skillfully persuaded. You said you didn’t want to do complicated work.”

“There were circumstances that made it unavoidable. Go to the drawing room first. Her Highness the Princess is currently bathing, so she’ll come out shortly.”

Freil and Ansgard exchanged glances.

Artizea was not someone who made people wait like that.

This meant she wanted them to hear news from the fortress from Hailey before greeting her.

All three of them were people who could understand this.

Hailey guided the two men to the room being used as a drawing room. Then she briefly summarized and told them the news from the fortress.

The two men sighed at the news about the Jordin family.

In Ansgard’s case, he had known Aubrey since she was born. He even lightly wiped away tears.

Freil was not from the fortress, so he didn’t know Aubrey well.

The last time he had seen her was three years ago, when Aubrey was fifteen. He only had the impression that she was an immature little miss.

He simply felt sorry about the Jordin family and various circumstances.

However, separate from such sympathy, Freil spoke coldly.

“It was time for a generational change. Sir Mel took over at an appropriate time. Evron also needs to change now.”

“For Her Highness the Princess?”

“You know what I’m talking about, Sir Hailey? There are limits to surviving just by showing loyalty and following with one’s life.”

Freil said. Having been on information gathering missions in the capital all this time, he fully understood the urgency of the situation.

“Sir Aaron and Lady Margaret are also faithful and capable people, but they tend to shrink at just hearing the name of the Imperial Court. Sir Mel is also rigid and conservative, but he’s younger and more flexible than Sir Aaron. Besides, His Grace the Prince would be more comfortable with Sir Mel.”

“Yes. I also think it was right for father to step down first. Father never had any other intentions, and His Grace the Prince showed unwavering trust, but being a firmly entrenched meritorious retainer from the previous generation isn’t originally a comfortable existence.”

“Besides, both Sir Aaron and Lady Margaret tended to feel like His Grace the Prince was a child they needed to take care of…”

Ansgard muttered as if talking to himself. He was no exception to this.

Freil said.

“In serving Her Highness the Princess, just the fact that His Grace the Prince chose her so we must be loyal is not enough.”

“I’m not thinking that far yet. Though I’m called a maid, in reality I’m closer to a hostage.”

“Sir Hailey…”

“Jordin now has a history of betrayal. It’s natural that Her Highness the Princess wants to prepare for any contingency.”

Hailey said this and added.

“And whether Her Highness the Princess is someone worth being loyal to, I’ll have to see from now on.”

In her view, Cedric was an emotional idealist.

Ideals weren’t bad, but they were unrealistic. As Duke of Evron, he could maintain the status quo, but anything beyond that would be difficult.

Hailey thought this was only possible because the Evron Duchy was in a special position.

Hailey loved her family and wanted to make the duchy a good place. However, her trust in Cedric was partial.

She had loyalty, but that loyalty was not personal and passionate, but merely a childlike instinctive level of affection for the land she belonged to.

In short, if the duchy’s safety and her family’s safety were in conflict, she would choose her family without hesitation. It was completely different from the loyalty that Mel and other knights had.

And Artizea was different from the people Hailey had known so far. What she demanded was thinking and moving beyond the framework of the House of Evron.

The mutual trust of the duchy, which had been as blind as a child’s feelings, was broken. Cedric also seemed to be starting to see reality.

Hailey thought it was rather good. If the goal wasn’t to survive forever subordinated to the homeland.

Comforting wounds among themselves, relying on each other, and deepening affection had no meaning beyond self-consolation.

If they stayed as they were, they would have embraced each other and sunk while stagnant without change or development.

Hailey was giving up on Evron. That was also why she was satisfied as a low-level administrator without any views.

However, if things could change, there was no reason not to move.

Freil smiled. He could fully understand Hailey’s feelings.

Both Freil himself and Hailey knew the problems of the Evron Duchy.

But they weren’t figures sufficient to step forward and change Evron. It would have been the same even if their status had been higher.

In the end, only the Duke of Evron could make Evron different.

“Anyway, now that Sir Hailey is here, it’s reassuring.”

“‘Sir’ no longer fits my status.”

“Then, should I call you Lady Hailey now? Or Miss Hailey?”

“Miss at this age is a bit…”

Hailey made an awkward face.

While they were having such a conversation, Artizea came out. Lisia followed behind her.

The three people stood up. Freil and Ansgard politely knelt on one knee and paid their respects.

Artizea gave time for Lisia and the others to exchange greetings.

Then she sat in the seat of honor and offered seats to everyone.

“Please sit comfortably.”

“You must have had a hard time traveling such a long way.”

“It wasn’t such a difficult journey. The duchy is a good place. And loyal.”

At Artizea’s words, Ansgard bowed his head.

Having already heard the story from Hailey, it was enough to read the unspoken story in her words. He felt sorry.

“I’d like to hear about the situation in the capital. What happened during the winter. First, Ansgard, tell me. How is the Duke’s residence?”

“What could happen when Your Highness the Princess and His Grace the Prince are not there? The renovation work finished safely. The garden landscaping was also completed as Your Highness the Princess desired.”

“I trust Ansgard.”

The design was done directly by Artizea, and the management and supervision were done by Ansgard.

The purpose of the construction itself could not be hidden.

However, they divided the work into pieces, assigning only small portions and preventing anyone from seeing the overall plan. Outsiders would not be able to easily discover the location of the new facilities.

The landscaping was also fine since they brought gardeners directly from the Evron Duchy to maintain it.

“I also plan to gradually maintain the villas.”

“Understood. I’ll leave it all to you.”

Artizea spoke gently. Hailey looked at her with a slightly surprised expression.

Artizea was generally gentle and generous with the ducal family’s people, but she never lowered her position or spoke humbly unnecessarily.

Except for Cedric, Ansgard was the only person she spoke to so gently and politely with honorifics.

‘It’s not that he doesn’t deserve such treatment, but…’

Ansgard was respected by all the ducal family’s people as Cedric’s guardian, as the oldest and most trustworthy butler.

But Artizea was someone who didn’t easily open her heart even to the maids who served her closely.

This affectionate treatment of Ansgard felt a little unfamiliar to Hailey.

Come to think of it, there weren’t no such opponents at all. There were exceptions like Lisia.

This time, Artizea looked at Freil.

“You tell me as well.”

Freil glanced back and forth between Ansgard and Lisia for a moment. Even if Hailey didn’t know, he didn’t think Lisia was an appropriate person to hear such stories.

However, since Artizea had asked here, she must have judged there was no particular reason to dismiss anyone.

“Countess Marta has opened a salon.”

Hailey thought for a moment before remembering who Countess Marta was.

This was thanks to Artizea making her memorize the influential figures of the capital while they were coming down to the capital.

“Her Majesty the Empress’s lady-in-waiting, you mean?”

“Yes. Her Majesty the Empress has provided space in the Empress’s Palace.”

Though it took the form of providing space, there was no doubt that the salon was actually being operated according to the Empress’s will.

“It’s been over three months since the Empress’s Palace opened, but during that time, Her Majesty the Empress has personally met only young ladies who just debuted this year and elderly and impoverished ladies.”

Freil took out a list. Artizea personally examined it.

There wasn’t a single noteworthy name. They were all insignificant people who couldn’t belong to any particular faction.

Even when Artizea thought about the future, none of these had distinguished themselves.

One could say the Empress was quite remarkable in the opposite direction from what people usually think.

She opened the doors of the Empress’s Palace to show that she was well and could meet people at any time, while actually living a life that was no different from not ending her seclusion.

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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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