The Baddest Villainess Is Back
Chapter 35
Roselyn gazed only at the man before her, despite the weight of the stares coming from all directions.
He looked intrigued.
Yet, he was a predator who looked as if he would seize her throat in an instant if she took one wrong step.
A title like “Lady” or “Duchess” became meaningless once one left the Empire.
Especially to the Kaluta, foreign ranks held no sway.
“I learned it a long time ago from a wandering bard.”
“A bard…?”
“Yes.”
Roselyn nodded.
After leaving her family behind, she had once happened to provide a room for a bard for about a month.
In truth, the original Roselyn would never have made such a choice.
Even now, she didn’t know the exact reason why she had shown such kindness.
She just felt like she had to, and in return for her hospitality, the bard taught Roselyn the Luta language.
He told her that if she ever needed help, she should come and find him, and he would grant her request.
War broke out after that and the world ended, so the occasion never actually arose.
Still, because it was such a unique language, the memory remained vivid.
“…Strange. Those who know the Luta language are already quite old, and those newly learning it should only be the Khan’s inner circle or the leaders of each tribe.”
Roselyn stared blankly at the man, whose features had grown somewhat faint with age, but she did not respond to his mutterings.
“Do you know the name of this bard?”
“I do.”
“Tell me, if you don’t mind.”
Roselyn hesitated.
Setting aside whether the person in this world and that world were the same, she couldn’t be sure if it was right to reveal the name when it was unclear if a connection even existed between her and the person here.
However, if she didn’t reveal it, she would be suspected.
After a brief moment of deliberation, Roselyn spoke.
“This person might not remember teaching me this language. Can you promise me that you won’t interrogate them about this or about teaching the Luta language to an outsider?”
Roselyn asked.
It was a nuisance for someone to suffer because of her. She didn’t want to feel guilty, either.
When Roselyn began speaking in the Luta tongue, the 2nd Prince, Yuldian, dropped his jaw.
‘Since when could this stuttering girl speak so fluently?’
She was a lady who could never even lift her head, always walking with her eyes fixed on the floor.
Yet, he couldn’t understand how she could hold her head high and converse with a king so effortlessly in such a menacing atmosphere.
‘When Father insisted I leave the negotiations to her and stay out of it as much as possible, I thought he’d finally gone mad…’
She was far bolder than he had expected.
Yuldian had wanted to go back to the Empire the moment Bayan ripped a man’s arm off with his bare hands.
‘I wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for this woman in the first place.’
He had no choice but to come after being told she had specifically requested him—perhaps as some kind of retaliation for last time.
‘…Though this brat is just as incomprehensible.’
Yuldian glanced at Arma.
Yesterday, he had worn pitch-black clothes with his hair swept back to reveal his forehead, but today he was back in his usual snow-white uniform.
His bangs were down again, and he was clutching the book he always carried like a trademark.
‘He probably thought it didn’t suit him.’
He scoffed inwardly. It made sense to feel tired after wearing clothes that didn’t fit.
‘But what the hell are they blabbering about?’
Yuldian watched the man from the Kaluta side, who was laughing heartily, with an expression of sheer frustration.
“I don’t know whether to call you bold or warn you that it would be better to watch yourself.”
“I’d prefer ‘bold,’ if possible.”
The two were talking amongst themselves in a bizarre language Yuldian didn’t know at all.
‘Can all those guys standing behind them understand that?’
Yuldian thought as he looked at the Kaluta people, whose expressions remained unchanged.
In that moment, Naryan, who was standing behind the Khan, caught Yuldian’s gaze and gave him a quick wink.
‘…I want to go home.’
Yuldian shuddered in disgust.
Arma also seemed frustrated, as his expression was slightly stiff, unlike his usual self.
He had been shooting Roselyn looks from the side, signaling for her to explain at least once, but she didn’t glance toward them even a single time.
It was as if she had forgotten they were even there.
“Very well, I promise.”
“Sansar.”
At that name, several of the Kaluta people flinched.
The man’s eyes widened at Roselyn’s words.
Roselyn’s eyes darted around, slightly flustered by the sudden heavy atmosphere.
‘Is it a criminal’s name? Or a name that doesn’t exist here?’
If that were the case, it would be troublesome. Roselyn held her breath and carefully gauged their reactions.
“What did you say the name was?”
The Khan asked with a stiff, disbelieving expression.
“I said it was… Sansar.”
“Do you remember what he looked like?”
Roselyn paused and tilted her head.
She felt an uneasy sensation and considered giving another warning, but thinking it would be overstepping, she simply shrugged and explained.
“Um… he had silver hair with large waves that reached his waist, and beautiful green eyes…”
Roselyn rubbed her cheek with the back of her hand before continuing.
“He was a man.”
“…”
Simultaneously, the surroundings fell into a dead silence.
“What? Did you say something weird again?”
Yuldian, sensing the shift, frowned and demanded an answer.
Roselyn just shrugged and didn’t even bother to reply.
“Were there any other characteristics?”
“Well… other than that, he looked almost identical to the Kaluta people…”
She murmured softly, then let out a low exclamation.
“Ah, I think his eye color changed occasionally. Like when he looked up at the sky or was lost in thought…?”
Roselyn recalled the Kaluta man in her mysterious memories.
He was someone who always gave off a mystical aura.
She had only shown him charity by sharing the bread she happened to have when he was collapsed from hunger…
Despite his light behavior and way of speaking, he was somehow a very comforting person.
Comforting enough that she had allowed him, a stranger, to stay for a while until he found a place to go.
‘Looking back, it was a strange thing to do.’
Whatever his story was, he was a man, and she was a woman living alone.
“If you learned the Luta language, you must have known him for quite a while…”
Roselyn pulled herself out of her thoughts and looked back at the man.
“I can tell you more about that friend, but before that, I would like the Khan to be as honest as I have been.”
“…What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
Roselyn smiled at her companion, who was scowling in displeasure.
She had remembered it during their conversation.
A single thing her friend Sansar had said a long time ago.
“Oh, there’s a fun secret hidden in the Kaluta. Want me to tell you?”
“A fun secret?”
“Yeah, the Khan of the Kaluta…”
Recalling the words of the person whose voice she could no longer even remember properly, Roselyn slowly moved her lips.
“If you want to hear more, please call the real Khan.”
“…What are you talking about?”
The man retorted, his face contorted in confusion.
“Can only be a woman.”
Roselyn’s lips curved into an arc.
“The Khan of the Kaluta can only be a woman, Chieftain.”
As soon as Roselyn finished speaking, silence enveloped the area.
The man who had been staring at her from across the table snapped his fingers.
At the same time, the figures of those standing behind him as if to protect him vanished from sight.
“What is the meaning of—!”
The Kaluta people blocked the vision of the other two, excluding Roselyn.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
At the chilling voice, Roselyn turned her head in surprise.
Arma was staring at the man with a stiff face, unlike his usual self.
No, to be more precise, he was staring at the beautiful woman behind the man, who looked like a dancer.
“One person leaving seems like enough.”
The man spoke.
“Ack! Hey, what are you guys doing!! Do you know who I am?! I am of the Dianitas Empire…!!”
Yuldian was dragged away and kicked out.
The man stood up, and the seductive woman who had appeared to be a dancer sat down in his place at an angle, resting her elbow on the table and her chin on her palm.
“Indeed, what a bold child. How did you know?”
The glamorous woman, her red hair tied in a ponytail, asked with a smile.
