Thought It Was ‘The End’, Only to Return to a Changed Genre - Chapter 20

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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 4. One Becomes a Villainess for a Reason (2)

“Welcome, little rat.”

“I’ll tell the master that you called me a little rat.”

“How petty. You’re not even a child, yet you threaten to tattle on such things.”

“Isn’t it more petty for someone to threaten to ban me from entering the manor if I don’t listen?”

“Verifying an employee’s identity is a legitimate right.”

“You already know my identity.”

“I don’t know. Edelaine knows.”

Edelaine had picked up Lloyd from somewhere. And she kept him closest to her.

Closer than family.

She relied on him more than anyone and gave him her heart. That alone made Lloyd an untouchable person. In fact, even if he hadn’t come to this place, no one would have been able to do anything to him.

Whoever Lloyd was, there was no one closer to Edelaine than him.

It was surely this boy who had protected his younger sister for the past five years.

“I cannot say anything.”

“When did I ever tell you to betray your master? I’m just saying I’ll help. Going through Lucian every time must be troublesome and costly. Can’t you tell from the fact that I’ve left you alone even knowing you’re in contact with him?”

“….”

Lloyd stubbornly refused to open his mouth as if he had nothing he could say. Jeff added another word.

“There must be limits to moving alone. I’ll never ask what Edelaine is trying to hide. Just think of it as dealing with a convenient information broker.”

“….”

“The price is cheap too. Almost free.”

“Nothing is more expensive than free.”

“That’s why I said ‘almost’ free.”

“….”

Lloyd pondered.

Now that Edelaine had inherited the Bertrand fortune, it might not matter how much of their saved money remained, but life was unpredictable.

If Edelaine wanted to run away again, they would need funds. Saving money was the way to live well.

“There is something she ordered me to find out.”

“What is it?”

“Someone targeting Saint Genevieve.”

“The Saint, suddenly?”

“And a mage who controls monsters.”

“A mage?”

Jeff’s eyes widened.

“What would she do after finding out who’s targeting the Saint?”

“I don’t know that either.”

“The Saint would be the safest person in Greenwinsor….”

The reason didn’t matter to Lloyd. It wasn’t necessary. Only properly carrying out what Edelaine wanted was important, regardless of her intentions.

While Edelaine cherished him like a younger brother, to him Edelaine was his master. She was his master, benefactor, only family, and most precious person all at once.

Unchanged since the day Edelaine picked up Lloyd.

“She also told me to investigate the Saint’s husband.”

“Why that too?”

“She said if he’s a strange guy, she’ll divorce him and bring her back.”

“….”

Does she think the Saint is her daughter… Jeff muttered unconsciously.

“That girl… is particularly concerned about the Saint.”

“Enough to give her own fiancé to her.”

Jeff chuckled at Lloyd’s additional comment.

He had said that if she couldn’t recognize Shane when she saw him, she might as well throw those eyes away, but it seemed those were indeed his sister’s eyes.

But why was she looking for a mage?

“A mage… A mage who controls monsters….”

Were monsters beings intelligent enough to be brainwashed?

While intelligent monsters did appear from time to time, those were occasional mutations.

“Have you ever heard of such a thing?”

“I think I might have heard it mentioned jokingly at drinking parties.”

Jeff had extensive connections.

The continent was vast, and there were many eccentrics. Thanks to doing business and investing here and there since childhood, his network was among the best on the continent. He heard many stories accordingly.

However, even to him, the idea of humans controlling monsters sounded absurd.

“I’ll look into this more thoroughly and tell you. Oh, I won’t say anything to our parents or older brother, so tell Edelaine that too.”

“….”

“Why, weren’t you going to tell on me anyway?”

“I was only planning to tell about you calling me a little rat….”

“You can tell everything except that.”

“….”

“I don’t mean anything else by it, squeaky. We just want to know what we need to eliminate to avoid losing our youngest twice.”

Jeff spoke gently.

However, Lloyd didn’t break his characteristic doll-like expressionless face. He stared intently before speaking.

“That wouldn’t be Shane Blancarde, would it?”

Jeff burst into laughter.

Even as a child, Edelaine had tried to keep away from Shane. She would sometimes run around avoiding Shane who approached her one-sidedly, but that wasn’t out of fear.

“The current Shane is an ally. At least our goal is the same.”

Not losing Edelaine twice.

Currently, there was no one who could hold onto Edelaine more securely than Shane.

The Bertrands would not make the same mistake twice.

*

“Saint, you must go to bed.”

“I know. Just a moment… Let me finish organizing up to here.”

Genevieve answered without turning around.

The prayer room was narrow and dark. Though she was a Saint, supposedly a servant of the goddess, Genevieve had never once received a divine response. God gives fate, gives abilities, and simply watches.

The maid waiting to attend the Saint announced the time again, and Genevieve reluctantly tidied up and stood.

Her husband was guarding the Crown Prince anyway, so she couldn’t meet him. Though he often received leave because they were newlyweds, guard knights usually stayed at the Imperial Palace, and the Saint could not leave the Church.

If asked whether she missed him, she did, but it wasn’t desperate.

He was a good person, but… honestly speaking, Genevieve simply wanted a family.

‘I want to have a child soon….’

Could a Saint receive maternity leave….

If she had to leave for purification in distant places again, childbirth would be difficult. She couldn’t know whether the goddess’s blessing was limited to her body alone or would apply to a child she might conceive.

“You’ll harm your health if you overdo it.”

“Don’t worry. I’m sturdy.”

The goddess had given her servant various abilities for convenient use.

So she wouldn’t be hungry even without eating.

So she could live without sleeping.

At least she was made able to move.

Someone might call that a miracle, but to Genevieve it felt like a curse of forced labor.

Especially when she thought of what triggered the awakening of this ability.

Genevieve recalled Edelaine’s worried gaze. Don’t overdo it, she had said, tell them if you don’t want to do something. The warmth of the two hands that had held hers was warm, but it gave her a subtle feeling.

You don’t know.

How much I’ve missed you all this time, not at all.

You don’t know how often I’ve cried feeling sorry toward you….

The most difficult time in my life.

It was when I was criticized for daring to covet glory as a fake, even though I had never claimed to be a saint with my own mouth.

Genevieve wanted to abandon everything. She only resented Shane for bringing her here calling her a saint. She was grateful he saved her from hell, but thought it was no different from pushing her into another hell.

Edelaine personally cared for Genevieve, who was frightened of Shane. She kept her by her side, trying to feed her delicious things and show her good things.

To make her smile.

Telling her she was the protagonist.

After losing such an Edelaine, obeying Shane’s commands was out of guilt.

Though she was scared, the pressure to become a useful existence was greater.

Because she had sacrificed the only person who had been on her side.

No one blamed her or questioned her guilt, but it was hard to forgive herself.

“The morning air is getting quite cold now.”

“Winter will come soon. Then you’ll have to travel far again, Saint.”

“I said I won’t travel far this year. His Holiness told me to stay by his side this winter since his body is unwell. He probably has many tasks to entrust to me.”

“You’re already busy with the upcoming wedding ceremony for the House of Blancarde…”

“I’m not busy just because of that matter alone.”

“His Grace is really too much. Dumping such a big task and telling you to finish it within a month, and of all people, asking you to officiate the wedding…”

“Don’t I seem like the right person for it? His Grace is my benefactor, but Lady Bertrand is also my benefactor.”

“…But…”

What she wanted to say was obvious.

I have no idea where those damned rumors keep sprouting from.

Even after getting married.

‘If a heart pounding from fear counts as heart fluttering, then I suppose it does flutter!’

In front of the Duke, she had only ever felt like a frog before a snake, so why did people keep doing this.

Genevieve quickened her pace instead of speaking, feeling somewhat fed up.

She had rushed into marriage because she wanted a family, but she also had expectations that having a husband would prevent her from being linked to the Blancarde Duke. But marriage alone seemed insufficient.

She should probably have a child quickly. If she became a married woman with a child, wouldn’t such rumors disappear…

That’s when it happened.

An arrow whizzed past Genevieve’s eyes and embedded itself in the stone wall.

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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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