Translator: Nox

The Baddest Villainess Is Back

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Arma Dianitas.

He was the 3rd Prince of the Dianitas Empire.

He was also the Emperor's illegitimate son.

The Emperor, who made every decision with cold calculation, had fathered him with the only woman to whom he had ever truly given his heart.

Because of the difficult labor she endured to bring him into the world, the Emperor never sought to have more children with his mother.

The Emperor loved Arma's mother sincerely.

She was the only person who could cross the Emperor without consequence, and the only one who knew his every secret.

Yet, surprisingly, she was not the Empress.

She didn't even reside within the Imperial Palace.

The reason Arma was treated as illegitimate was that the Emperor had never granted her any official power.

Furthermore, he kept her tucked away in a heavily secured mansion.

However, due to a massive fire that had occurred years ago, the public believed she was dead.

Because the Emperor had decreed it so, she became a ghost—a person who no longer existed.

Thus, Arma grew up his entire life being looked down upon as a bastard.

One cannot kill a person who is already dead.

One cannot compete with a person who is already dead.

Therefore, Arma's mother was the safest of all the Emperor's possessions.

It was almost laughable that the most beloved thing in the world to an Emperor who lacked for nothing was a commoner he had met while traveling incognito.

...Or so Arma thought as he sat in a private audience with the Emperor.

「So... you're asking me to release Giles Robert?」

The Emperor, lounging on a sofa in disheveled attire while sipping from a wine glass, asked with a low chuckle.

「Yes, Imperial Father.」

Arma replied briefly, bowing his head slightly.

On his handsome face, which wore a bashful, beaming smile, a large piece of gauze was prominently attached as if to show it off.

Due to the incident yesterday, the banquet had been adjourned and postponed for two days.

Things had become complicated because the Bellion Ducal House was involved, and Arma had uncharacteristically stepped forward.

Had Arma not intervened, it would have ended as a simple spat between nobles.

But the moment Arma got involved, it became a crime of insulting the Imperial Family.

Of course, the Emperor, Severus Jean Dianitas, did not doubt for a second that all of this was calculated by his cunning youngest son.

「You mean you won't seek punishment for the insult to the Imperial Family?」

「Yes... I'm sure Young Baron Robert wouldn't want to be beheaded over a trifle like this.」

Actually, it would be more accurate to say that the Emperor *tried* not to doubt him.

「I made a mistake as well...」

A hint of embarrassment flickered across Arma's face as he scratched his cheek with the tip of his index finger.

「...A mistake?」

「Yes. Ahaha...」

The Emperor knew that the foolish behavior and the expression that looked as if he were about to cry were not genuine.

The boy was an eccentric who insisted on this dim-witted act simply because he found it bothersome to suppress his incompetent older brothers and take his rightful place at the top.

However, he could tell that the word 'mistake' just now was sincere.

'A fellow who lives every moment as calculatedly as I do made a mistake?'

The Emperor narrowed his eyes and rubbed his chin.

He was trying to gauge the truth.

「Well, if you, the party involved, don't mind, I shall release him.」

The Emperor answered, recalling the dozens of long letters and petitions he had received from Baron Robert.

「I do feel for Baron Robert.」

He spoke in a voice that didn't sound sympathetic at all.

「For a man of his standing to have only one son, and for it to be that fellow.」

Since the Baron was over sixty, he wouldn't be able to produce a new heir, and the next Baron would inevitably be that thoughtless boy.

「He was a bit stiff, but he did his work well enough. How could a man's harvest of children fail so spectacularly?」

The Emperor murmured softly, a habitual smile playing on his lips.

「Haha, Imperial Father, really...」

Arma gave him a look that suggested he shouldn't talk about others' failures, to which the Emperor shrugged.

「I haven't particularly failed. There is a rather magnificent specimen right in front of my eyes, after all.」

He spoke lightly, gesturing with a flick of his finger and a laugh.

It was then.

Knock, knock.

There was a presence outside the door, followed by a polite knock.

The Emperor, remaining in his relaxed posture, tilted his wine glass and nodded toward Arma.

「Come in.」

Arma spoke with a soft, smiling face.

Even as he watched his youngest son stubbornly persist in using formal honorifics despite being a Prince, the Emperor merely gave a light shrug.

「What is it, interrupting a rare chat with my son?」

At the Emperor's uncharacteristically casual voice, the soldier who entered hastily bowed his waist.

「My apologies. I thought I should inform you immediately.」

「Oh... has something happened?」

Arma asked, appearing slow on the uptake.

「The Lady of Bellion has disappeared! A maid who went to check on her found her gone and reported it in a panic...」

Clatter—.

Arma started to rise from his seat, then hesitated as he glanced at the Emperor.

The Emperor's eyes narrowed for a moment, catching that subtle movement.

'Aha.'

The Emperor let out an internal laugh as he brought the wine glass to his lips.

'I have something interesting to tell Silli now.'

He thought of his hidden jewel, whom he would visit soon, and spoke slowly.

「Imperial Father, I must take my leave...」

「My youngest, your father is bored, so stay a while longer and keep me company while I drink.」

Detecting the mirth in the Emperor's voice, Arma gave him an awkward smile.

* * *

「...There's less information than I thought.」

Roselyn, who had been sitting in the Imperial Library for hours staring at books until her eyes felt like they might fall out, murmured softly.

She didn't know how much this world differed from the one she originally knew.

Consequently, her plan to study the latest political situation and culture of Kaluta as much as possible before heading there felt a bit lackluster.

Since she had only heard stories about Kaluta, she knew almost nothing about their specific culture or traditions.

'Is this almost like a gamble too?'

Based on the few things she could cross-reference, it seemed largely similar to the other side, but still.

'Anyway, look at the time.'

Roselyn turned her head to look out the window.

Outside, it had already grown dark.

Realizing she had come here before noon and skipped lunch entirely, Roselyn stretched and stood up from her seat.

It was just as she was about to put the book she had been reading back on the shelf.

Thud—.

The library door, which should have been closed, suddenly sounded as if it were being shut again, and then someone lightly grabbed her shoulder.

Roselyn's eyes widened slightly.

Thinking someone had caught her off guard in an instant, she was about to swing the thick book in her hand.

「My Lady...! You were here.」

「...3rd Prince-nim?」

Roselyn paused at the sight of the young man with a thick piece of gauze on his cheek.

「What brings you here...」

「Everyone is looking for you because you suddenly vanished. I found this place while I was searching for you...」

Arma said with a smile, his cheeks slightly flushed.

「It's chaos out there. Especially the Little Duke and the Duke—they're calling it a kidnapping or a mysterious disappearance and turning the Imperial Palace upside down...」

Roselyn stiffened at his trailing voice.

Startled by the unexpected news, Roselyn's eyes went wide.

「Did they really turn the place upside down?」

「No, not quite to that extent yet.」

Roselyn caught a subtle nuance in Arma's answer.

It sounded like he meant they hadn't reached that point *yet*, but were on the verge of it.

「...I'm sorry. I didn't intend for that to happen, but I lost track of time while reading.」

「Yes, it seems so. I'm just glad you're safe. I'll send someone immediately to let them know you've been found.」

As he added those reassuring words, a faint scent of alcohol wafted from him.

「Yes, but... have you been drinking?」

「Ah, yes. Imperial Father... asked me to join him. Do I smell?」

At Roselyn's words, Arma's face fell into a pout as he buried his nose in his sleeve to sniff himself.

He took a couple of steps back, looking as if he were worried the smell might cling to her.

Watching Arma, Roselyn slowly shook her head.

「No, it's not that.」

「Um, My Lady.」

In the library, where darkness had settled and they relied on candlelight, Arma stood quite close to her.

「Yes.」

Arma's lips parted as if to speak, but he said nothing. Roselyn shrugged and spoke first.

「Thank you for coming to find me. I should go before I cause any more trouble.」

Roselyn thought of her father, who made it a point to visit her room at least once a day, and furrowed her brow.

It was because she doubted her mentally fragile father would be holding it together well.

'...Mentally fragile.'

It felt a bit funny to think that now.

Roselyn recalled the image of her father, whom she had always perceived as infinitely imposing and terrifying.

He was a man who was difficult to approach and a man who was frightening.

'Father might be going on a rampage again.'

He was certainly not the kind of person who usually inspired such thoughts.

「I heard you'll be joining the delegation to Kaluta. Would it be alright if... I went as well?」

Roselyn paused at the voice that reached her just as she was about to leave the library.

She looked at him with a slightly startled expression, then a puzzled one, before finally shaking her head.

「No?」

As if that would ever happen.

Roselyn gave a short reply, opened the door, and walked out.