The Villainess Lives Twice - Chapter 98

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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 98

Lai was dressed in the attire of an inn stable boy.

Artizea leisurely poured more tea into a fresh teacup and added milk as well. Since it had been a long time, she intended to personally serve tea to Lai.

“It’s been a long time.”

Lai removed his hat and bowed his head respectfully. And as his first words, he said this:

“Have you gained some weight?”

“….”

Artizea was caught off guard.

Instead of responding to Lai, she looked at Freil. Freil silently gestured frantically at Lai.

Meeting Lai was not something that should have been prioritized.

The role he was handling was very important in itself. However, it wasn’t urgent enough to meet immediately upon arriving in the capital.

Normally, Freil would report the situation first, and after Artizea finished making her judgment, they would go to meet Lai.

But Freil had brought him here without receiving prior permission.

While Lai himself had a strong desire to have an audience with Artizea, Freil also saw that there seemed to be a problem.

So he had decided to take a slight risk and hurry to report this as a priority…

Lai also opened and closed his mouth. Artizea sighed.

“Someone who does covert work speaks without engaging his brain. I didn’t know you had such a habit.”

“No. No, no. I’m sorry, that’s…”

Lai waved his hands frantically.

“I meant you look better!”

“The problem isn’t that you commented on my figure. I didn’t know you had the habit of blurting out words so thoughtlessly. I should have given you a poison bottle instead of gold coins.”

Lai felt cold sweat running down his spine. This was more frightening than someone screaming in anger.

This time Artizea spoke to Freil.

“It’s fortunate that you both survived.”

“Your Highness, that’s…”

“Sir Freil has the habit of being careless and always missing one thing, and Lai’s words fail to go through the process of thinking, yet both of you miraculously didn’t die. I was foolish. To think I considered leaving the capital in your hands.”

Freil felt wronged. It was Lai who made the slip of the tongue. Why should he also be scolded wholesale?

Lai remained silent. Since words had truly leaked out without going through his brain, he had nothing to say.

That she looked better wasn’t a lie. He had no bad intentions, and certainly no intention of daring to evaluate Artizea.

He had just always thought it was pitiful that she was too thin and had poor complexion, so he spoke carelessly.

Artizea sighed. Lai’s heart sank.

What if he disappointed her a little? She was an employer who held his family in her grasp.

But that was all there was to it.

“So, what’s the matter? Did you have relations with Mother?”

Lai’s face instantly turned bright red.

“What do you take me for? I may not be a good man, but I’m not someone who doesn’t know what his assigned duty is. I’m not an idiot who would dare lay hands on the Emperor’s woman either!”

“But you were tempted, weren’t you?”

At that, Lai closed his mouth.

Freil, who had heard nothing of such matters, looked at Lai in shock.

Artizea maintained a calm attitude. Her face was unbelievably cold for someone discussing the relationship between her secretly placed subordinate and her own birth mother.

Freil asked.

“Your Highness, don’t tell me the reason you chose to send in a young man and told me to prepare to make him disappear quickly if necessary was because of this?”

“That’s how Mother builds trust. I thought it wouldn’t be surprising if such a thing happened.”

“It wasn’t me.”

Like someone who had been insulted, Lai angrily swept back his bangs.

“But you felt sympathy, didn’t you?”

“….”

“That’s natural. Mother has a passionate temperament and high pride, but she probably showed you all of her greatly weakened inner self. When such a beauty lays bare all her vulnerable inner self and clings to you, men who can think nothing of it would be rarer.”

“Marquess.”

Lai’s face contorted. However, he couldn’t deny it.

Artizea smiled slightly.

Though she couldn’t know exactly what had happened, she could roughly guess Lai’s psychological state.

Lai had encountered a problem he couldn’t handle alone, yet couldn’t consult with Freil about it.

It wasn’t practically an urgent problem, but it was a desperate situation. Moreover, he absolutely wanted to see Artizea directly.

The conclusion drawn from this was clear.

“I’m not trying to reproach you. I know you’re not someone who moves based on temporary lust or impulse. You move based on more practical interests. That’s also why I chose you.”

“….”

“But that doesn’t mean you can help the movements of your heart. Being weakened by an attractive member of the opposite sex is human nature.”

“I’m ashamed.”

Lai finally confessed honestly.

He was truly ashamed.

Not because he felt pity while knowing what kind of mother Milaire had been to Artizea.

But because if it weren’t a beauty of devastating beauty in Milaire’s position now, he would have mocked rather than sympathized.

“I want to extract myself as quickly as possible.”

Lai said.

“The Grand Lady’s trust has become too deep. She even came out of the Emperor’s bedroom to meet me in a public place. At this rate, it will soon become dangerous.”

“How many requests have you received so far?”

Currently, Lai was the person Milaire trusted most.

Even though he secretly came and went from the Rosan Estate, it wasn’t completely secret. Though they didn’t know who Lai himself was, many knew that the necromancer who once caused a stir in social circles had become Milaire’s honored guest.

Even while thinking of him as a worthless fraud, quite a few requests poured in.

Freil handed over the request contents he had organized into documents.

“Accept the minor problems. Don’t touch anything that could be politically dangerous or too big, and squeeze out as much money as possible within what you can handle.”

“Yes.”

“Especially accept all proposals of the type asking you to disappear from Mother’s side, and demand money in return. Ask the butler of the Rosan Estate for a large sum too. Make it look like you’re making one last score before disappearing.”

“You’re telling me to be faithful to my swindler role to the end.”

“Right. And before you leave, reveal the truth.”

“That I’m a fraud?”

Lai’s eyes widened. Artizea said.

“I’ll give you specific instructions later on what to reveal and how. Then you can disappear.”

“But…”

“I’ll process it as a disappearance anyway, so you don’t need to worry about Mother’s retaliation.”

At Artizea’s words, Lai tensely clenched and unclenched his fist once.

“Will that really be enough?”

“Yes. That’s the end of your role.”

Artizea said so. In her plan, that was as far as the piece Lai would play extended.

“For a while, it would be good to completely hide yourself from the capital. Go visit the Eastern Region once.”

“The Eastern Region?”

Lai wondered with dread just how much more she intended to work him. Artizea said.

“There’s someone you need to find. Even if I gave you a vacation, you couldn’t go to your family in this situation anyway, could you?”

“Damn, that’s true, but…”

“After finding the person, take your time visiting your family too. You’ll be able to tell immediately when it’s a safe time by observing the capital’s situation.”

“Is that really okay?”

“After this job is finished, you really won’t have to worry about money anymore, so retirement would be fine too.”

At Artizea’s words, Lai looked a bit anxious.

“Why?”

“Do I get to keep all that money?”

“It’s money you squeezed out with your own ability, so why? Are you going to share it with me?”

“No. That’s not it.”

Lai answered immediately. Then Artizea laughed.

“I’m anxious about it. It doesn’t seem like the Marquis would just let me go peacefully. What if I get poisoned on my way home after being told to retire?”

“You can just hide yourself and never come to the capital again. Wasn’t living with your family your dream?”

“No, well, how should I put it.”

Lai scratched his head.

“Being treated like a useless person already feels a bit off. You came barging in and messed up someone else’s life.”

“Messing up a life, that’s quite grandiose. I just went to assign work to someone who gets paid for it, didn’t I?”

“You took my family hostage.”

“Should I kill them all to silence them instead?”

Lai had nothing to say to that.

He didn’t know exactly what Artizea was trying to do.

At first, he thought it was revenge against Milaire.

But now Lai knew it wasn’t simply just that. Too many things were moving in perfect coordination like gears for it to be mere revenge.

He was seized by an indescribable feeling.

Lai always felt emotions toward Artizea that were stronger and more complex than the pity he had felt for Milaire.

He couldn’t clearly define whether it was impulse, awe, rebellion, or something else.

Something bubbled inside his chest. He felt disappointed. Even Lai himself wasn’t clear about what exactly he was disappointed about. He also knew he had no right to feel that way.

Did he want to be used as a tool until the very end in this woman’s dangerous work? He wasn’t a partner who could walk alongside her as an equal, but at best something like a small blade to be wielded.

This woman’s loyalty belonged to the Duke of Evron.

Remembering that fact made Lai feel strange.

“If you want to earn more, you can stay. I’m just saying you can retire if you want to.”

Artizea said as she lifted her teacup. It was to hide her gaze by looking down.

There was no particular need to exclude Lai. He was a useful person.

Though he had a history of betrayal, back then his opponent was already someone wearing the emperor’s crown. Now there was no one who could particularly sway Lai. He was a trustworthy villain, after all.

With his family secured as they were now, there was even less to worry about.

Even if she didn’t use Lai, she would eventually have to replace him with another piece anyway.

Suitable replacements weren’t common, so why was she encouraging his retirement?

In the end, it was because of personal sentiment.

‘It would be nice for him to have a chance to live properly at least once.’

Artizea looked into her teacup. Though her ugly eyes couldn’t possibly be reflected in the milk tea, it felt like she was having a staring contest.

“…”

She expected him to make a few more sarcastic remarks, but Lai was silent for a moment before speaking.

“Then, when the time comes, please give me instructions through Sir Freil.”

“Alright.”

Having such a perceptive man around was troublesome, Artizea thought.

Lai bowed and withdrew.

As he suppressed the stuffy feeling that had settled in his chest, Freil followed him out and warned him.

“Don’t have foolish thoughts, Lai.”

“I won’t.”

Before he could even figure out what foolish thoughts Freil was referring to, Lai responded that way.

Artizea was right. He had no interest in things without practical benefit. Much less something as insignificant as unclear feelings.

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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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