Tia’s Smooth Life After Regression - Chapter 140

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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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Tiya’s Smooth Regression Life

Chapter 140

“Uncle, what on earth-“

Count Montes placed his hand on the Prince’s shoulder, stopping his words. Then deep affection settled in his eyes as he faced Karsein.

“You know that I care deeply for you.”

The Prince nodded halfheartedly.

Though he sometimes felt his uncle interfered too much in his affairs, he had never doubted him.

After the First Empress, his mother, committed suicide by poison, it was the Empress and Count Montes who had constantly stayed by his side.

Among them, Count Montes had always shown unconditional love and trust.

Perhaps that was why.

There were often times when Count Montes felt more like a father than the Emperor, who was hard to meet even once a day under the excuse of handling state affairs.

To think that such an uncle would be cast out like this, that this might be their last meeting.

This wasn’t like his uncle at all.

The Prince bit his lips and deliberately roughly brushed away Count Montes’ hand.

“Don’t act like such a defeatist.”

A tenacious determination appeared in his eyes.

“I’ll make arrangements so that uncle can walk out of here with dignity on your own feet, so don’t be so discouraged. Since I’m destined to ascend to the Emperor’s throne, I can make this much happen according to my will.”

The Prince spoke triumphantly, filled with the desire to prove that his words were not lies.

“Just wait and see.”

Then he immediately turned around and left the room.

However, Count Montes knew that those last words were meant for himself, not for him.

Probably, no, Karsein would fail.

If I fall after this, the forces supporting the Prince will suffer great losses.

“I can’t let that happen.”

Count Montes leaned back in his armchair and took a deep drag from the cigar resting on the ashtray while organizing his thoughts.

What he had to do was clear.

To place the crown of victory upon the Prince’s head.

For that purpose, he had been the immature Prince’s backer all this time, educated him as Crown Prince, and cherished him dearly.

But now that alone was not enough.

“There’s no method more certain than eliminating the competition.”

He steeled his resolve and crushed the cigar into the ashtray like putting a period to his thoughts.

Then he took out a small glass bead that he had hidden in his inner pocket before being dragged here.

When he threw it on the floor and crushed it with his shoe heel, it made a crunching sound as the glass bead shattered and pitch-black smoke that had been contained inside escaped.

Surely the glass bead that was paired with this one had also shattered with the same sound by now.

It was a signal to the spy he had planted in the Princess’s Palace. To move according to plan from now on.

“…So it comes to this in the end.”

What he was aiming for was one thing.

To eliminate Karsein’s only rival, the Princess.

He knew well enough that the moment he stained his hands with royal blood, he too could not remain safe.

However, he already had his back to a cliff.

So if he could just grab the Princess’s ankle before falling into that abyss, he could at least become nourishment for Karsein’s future.

However, his target was not only the Princess.

Count Montes’ eyes narrowed.

‘It would be best not to leave any future troubles.’

Count Montes thought of another companion for the journey. The very mage who had delivered the plague’s infection source to him.

Most of the charges brought against him were true, but a few among them were false accusations.

One was that he had bribed a servant at Vladijef Manor. And the other was that he had bribed mages from the Mage Tower to manufacture the mark of death.

The unidentified mage who had requested a meeting through a merchant Count Montes dealt with spoke as if he knew what he wanted.

“Count Montes would surely recognize the value of this item.”

A stone of unknown purpose placed among all sorts of luxury goods adorned with gold and jewels.

It was the infection source containing the disaster that would later be called the mark of death.

If it had been someone else, they would have immediately disposed of it upon hearing the mage’s explanation and reported him to the judicial authorities right away, but Count Montes was different.

As the mage said, he recognized the value of that item at a glance.

At the time, he had been blinded by revenge and bought the infection source, but he hadn’t just sat idle.

There’s no such thing as free kindness or coincidental luck in this world.

He had traced that mage’s activities and discovered that he was a mage belonging to the Royal Court, not the Mage Tower.

There was no time to find out what that person’s purpose was.

However, there would be nothing good about leaving someone who knew too much alive.

* * *

After a very long time, Vladijef Manor regained its vitality.

It was because Count Valoz had been cleared of false charges and returned to the manor, but that change didn’t start with the Count.

Early in the morning, a sweet smell began to fill the interior of the manor.

The employees thought that the chef, who had been quietly holding his breath in the gloomy manor atmosphere, had demonstrated his skills.

However, when a burning smell began to mix with the sugar scent at some point, people quickly realized that the culprit of this burning smell was not the chef.

When the manor’s employees hurriedly ran to the kitchen, the huge kitchen was not only filled with acrid smoke but was half devastated.

“Cough, cough! Isn’t there a fire?”

“No, someone put coal in the oven! That’s why the manor is filled with smoke!”

“Take it out quickly! There might be a fire!”

People tried to remove the pitch-black lumps that filled the huge oven.

But a voice from one corner of the kitchen stopped them.

“Perfect!”

Everyone’s heads turned toward where the voice came from.

There was Tiya, her face and clothes covered in soot.

Tiya blocked the path of the employees who were bewildered and didn’t understand, and proudly shouted.

“Ta-da! These are the secret family cookies passed down from Grandmother Bear! Cough.”

“…Excuse me? Cookies?”

No matter how you looked at them, they were coal.

Pushing through the hesitating employees, the chef with a resigned expression began taking out the coal-black cookies from the oven.

Clang.

Every time a cookie was placed on a plate, it sounded like stones hitting each other.

“Those are supposed to be cookies?”

“The young lady says they’re her family’s secret cookies?”

“Do people from the North perhaps chew stones?”

While everyone was murmuring, Tiya smiled contentedly as if she found the cookies she had baked adorable.

After putting them in a basket, she shouted toward the crowd that had gathered.

“Come on, come on. Everyone needs to line up! I’ll share these secret cookies that are so good two people could eat them and not notice if a third person died!”

Silence fell over the kitchen.

The employees only looked around nervously, and no one readily stepped forward.

“Um, Miss?”

At that moment, Mia, who had been mixed in with the group of employees, courageously stepped forward.

“Wh-why did you bake cookies yourself?”

As if she had been waiting for those words, Tiya rubbed under her nose with her finger.

Not knowing that soot had smeared on her philtrum, Tiya spoke triumphantly.

“It’s to celebrate Father’s release! I baked them so we could all share them together.”

Just when silence was about to fall again, as no one could bring themselves to refuse.

“Th-then we shouldn’t be the first ones to eat such precious cookies!”

Everyone’s gaze turned to Melody, who had raised her voice for the second time.

She squeezed her eyes shut and shouted.

“I-I think the Count, who has just been released, should taste them first!”

The employees gladly yielded this honor to their master, who had barely been freed from his confined life.

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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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