Translator: Nox

The Baddest Villainess Is Back

Chapter 24

“……Ah.”

Arma’s lips parted as he stood there, stunned by the immediate rejection that suggested his proposal wasn't even worth considering.

He hadn't expected to be turned away so coldly.

No, he thought that even if she refused, she would at least offer an explanation. But to not even give him that.

“La, Lady!”

Arma hurriedly chased after her.

Fortunately, Roselyn hadn't gone far.

She stood frozen, looking startled by the servants scurrying about in every direction. At the sight of her, Arma caught his breath and stopped, staring blankly.

Roselyn looked like someone witnessing an impossible sight, as if she couldn't believe that people were searching for her so frantically.

‘……What is this?’

In truth, being ignored was part of daily life for Arma.

But Roselyn had never been like that.

From the moment they first met, she had been timid and soft-spoken, only answering when he spoke first, but she had never once looked at him with contempt.

She might ignore questions from others, but she always answered his.

Of course, it hadn't been that way from the start. In the beginning, she always had her thorns up around him too.

But the more Arma approached her and spoke to her, the more those thorns would soften whenever she looked at him.

Through those efforts, Arma had come to know much about the person named Roselyn.

Or rather, he thought he had come to know her quite well.

And yet…….

‘What on earth is this……?’

Now, it felt as though her thorns were directed solely at him.

「So, I’m sorry, but I’d like you to let me go for my sake. I prefer someone more promising, someone with strong convictions and a sense of masculinity—someone a bit fierce.」

That cold voice suddenly drifted back to him.

Arma began to walk behind her again, forcing strength into the corners of his mouth to keep his smile from crumbling.

He had heard that she had tried to take her own life.

It was a shock to Arma that he hadn't realized she was pushed so far to her limit.

He had believed she told him everything.

But thinking back, she had never actually spoken of her hardships.

The stories she told were always about her ordinary daily life.

Stories about eating meals, having tea, taking walks, and reading books.

Arma strode toward Roselyn as she prepared to move again.

“Roselyn.”

Roselyn stopped at the call.

“……3rd Prince-nim?”

Seeing her expression, which clearly asked why he had followed her all this way, Arma forced a smile and spoke cautiously.

“About going to Kaluta—why is it okay for my brother but not for me, My Lady?”

“Ah. Because you’re the opposite of my ideal type.”

Roselyn replied curtly.

At that, Arma froze in his tracks. He watched Roselyn walk away with trembling eyes.

She moved forward steadily without a single glance back, like someone who had truly folded away all her feelings.

「I prefer someone more promising……」

Certainly, the future of the 2nd Prince, who was preparing to support his elder brother, was brighter than that of the frail 3rd Prince.

「Someone with strong convictions……」

The 2nd Prince definitely had strong convictions.

They were so strong that his personality was a bit foul, but regardless, he was certainly firm in his ways.

「A sense of masculinity……」

Comparing the 2nd Prince and the 3rd Prince, objectively speaking, the 2nd Prince possessed more masculinity.

It was only natural.

Arma’s image was that of someone pushed around by the 1st and 2nd Princes, unable to even speak up to the servants.

「Someone a bit fierce.」

Another way to describe a foul personality was to call it fierce.

And all these descriptions matched the 2nd Prince perfectly.

Unlike the 2nd Prince, the 1st Prince didn't run his mouth recklessly. Meaning, he didn't pester or torment people like the 2nd Prince did.

‘He’s annoying in a different way, though.’

Anyway, for that reason, her ideal type could be said to be the 2nd Prince.

Arma was shaken by that realization.

“…….”

Arma didn't want to be Emperor.

It was bothersome, bothersome, and bothersome again—and frankly, he didn't want to do as his father, the Emperor, wished.

‘……What is the reason?’

Arma pondered.

He had done his best to be kind to Roselyn, so why had she chosen that 2nd Prince over him?

Resuming his pace, Arma slowly lifted his head.

Roselyn had already disappeared from his sight.

And the fact that she didn't look back was the same now as it had always been.

“Ah……”

Only then did Arma realize. Thinking back, she had never once looked back.

She had never looked at him first before he called her name.

She had never answered anything unless he asked.

And so, they…….

Had never actually been close, not even once.

The moment he realized this, Arma’s eyes widened involuntarily.

The meaning was simple.

Roselyn had never once opened her heart to Arma.

Arma had simply lived in his own delusion.

Or perhaps it had been Roselyn’s pity.

Or perhaps she had noticed that he had approached her with other intentions out of curiosity.

Whenever Arma saw her, Roselyn always had dead eyes, her shoulders hunched as she avoided the gazes of others.

‘……I thought she was interested in me, but that wasn't it. Or, she’s given up on me entirely.’

If a person could find the courage to die, could they not find another kind of courage?

The moment she decided to die, Roselyn must have made up her mind to erase, forget, and throw everything away.

‘……That’s why she’s breaking off the engagement with me and trying to move on to someone else.’

Because she wanted to meet someone whose face or personality was closer to her ideal.

‘If I let her go to Kaluta with my second brother like this……’

Kaluta was a nation of barbarians.

It was a place where women proudly wore revealing clothes and the shameful act of kissing in the streets was taken for granted.

“No.”

Arma shook his head as a surge of jealousy twisted his gut.

He abandoned his dignity and sprinted down the hallway with all his might, chasing after Roselyn.

Reaching out toward Roselyn as he spotted her shortly after, he put on a final burst of speed.

“……Go.”

“……3rd Prince-nim?”

Arma grabbed Roselyn’s wrist, careful not to hurt her, and snapped his head up.

Roselyn frowned as if bewildered.

“I’ll do it!”

“……Pardon?”

Roselyn looked at him with an absurd expression, as if wondering what kind of nonsense he was talking now.

“I will become a person with strong convictions and masculinity…… a fierce person! So, I will be the one going with the delegation to Kaluta!”

Arma’s voice rang through the hallway, and everything went silent.

Servants walking by, soldiers, and even the Head Chamberlain stopped in their tracks and held their breath.

Roselyn, who hadn't quite grasped the meaning, let out a low exclamation a beat late.

“Ah.”

A strange feeling washed over her at Arma’s sudden declaration.

‘…So he’s saying he wants to be the one engaged to the Princess of Kaluta instead of the 2nd Prince?’

The reason she was taking the 2nd Prince on this mission was to use him for the engagement with the Kaluta princess. Even if that partner became the 3rd Prince, it wouldn't cause any major problems for her plan.

‘The more cards I have, the better.’

Yet, for some reason, a nagging sensation tugged at one side of her heart. She hesitated, hand over her chest, before slowly nodding.

“Very well.”

Yes, there was no problem at all.

“Yes.”

Arma smiled brightly at Roselyn’s permission.

Thump—.

……There shouldn't have been a problem, but for some reason, the sound of her heart beating loudly echoed within her.