The Baddest Villainess Is Back
Chapter 39
Chapter 39
“If you were a man, I would have had you by any means necessary.”
Roselyn frowned at the remark made after their negotiations, which had lasted over five hours, finally came to a close.
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“It is a compliment. I’ve only ever chosen three men to be my husbands.”
Roselyn paused.
‘Ah, polyandry and polygamy are possible here.’
Recalling the fact belatedly, she gave a small shrug.
“I shall accept only the compliment, then.”
“Tell the Emperor of the Dianitas Empire that I wish to pay him a visit personally in the near future.”
“……Personally?”
It was a somewhat unconventional response.
Her visiting in person was, in essence, no different from proving herself to be the Khan.
As if reading Roselyn’s expression, the woman let out a low laugh and waved her hand dismissively.
“Publicly, of course, my husband will go.”
“Your husband……?”
“The Chieftain, Hatan. He is the husband I cherish most.”
The Khan pouted her lips slightly and gave a faint smile.
She found Roselyn—who remained indifferent and calm throughout—quite intriguing and to her liking.
Roselyn didn’t offer empty flattery, nor did she look down on them as Barbarians.
She had been that way the entire time they sat at the negotiating table. Roselyn neither patronized nor ignored her counterpart.
‘Though she was quite cheeky whenever she provoked me…….’
But that was strictly limited to the negotiation table.
“In exchange, you must be the one to deal with us when we go there,” the Khan said.
“To be honest, I don’t particularly trust the others, aside from you, whom I’ve spoken with at length.”
“……Does that mean you trust me?”
“Of course. More than those other dark-hearted outsiders, at least.”
When Roselyn asked with a somewhat dubious look, the Khan replied curtly.
“Did you not also place your trust in us?”
“……Because I heard that Kaluta does not easily cast aside its allies and that its people are honorable and keep their promises. As long as Kaluta stands by us as a friend, I too will do my utmost to protect all that belongs to Kaluta.”
At Roselyn’s firm words, the Khan’s eyes narrowed.
With a charming smile on her lips, she interlaced her fingers, rested her chin on the back of her hands, and grinned.
“What if the Emperor of the Empire tries to stab us in the back?”
Roselyn stiffened.
It was an incredibly dangerous question. Roselyn narrowed her eyes and quietly observed the Khan’s face.
The woman waited for Roselyn’s answer with a mysterious, smiling face.
“……If the reason is unjust, I would send word to you in advance,” Roselyn answered slowly.
At that answer, the Khan’s enigmatic smile deepened even further. Roselyn continued speaking.
“And I will support you as much as I am able.”
“What do you mean by unjust?”
“I am speaking of a situation where the Empire decides to strike you out of self-interest, even though Kaluta has done nothing wrong.”
The Khan burst into laughter.
She liked Roselyn. Having talked with her, she felt a genuine pull toward her.
At first, regardless of negotiations, she had wanted to kill her. Roselyn had a truly exceptional talent for getting under her skin!
Roselyn must have felt the way the Khan had been obsessively glaring at her slender neck. Yet, she had shown no fear.
She was calculating, but only to the degree that any human would be.
She was brilliant, but she did not look down on others or cross the line.
While she had taken a patronizing tone at the negotiating table, that was merely a tactic.
‘I think I see why Sansar took a liking to her.’
Sansar liked strong women.
Beings who could stand tall and unyielding in any situation. Women with a maternal instinct that could draw out hidden strength to protect their children. Those who were beautiful and elegant, yet capable of harboring thorns within.
The fact that Sansar chose her meant that Roselyn was strong.
Though her body might be frail, her spirit was likely firm.
“Very well, Lady Negotiator. How about becoming friends with me?”
“……Friends?”
Roselyn hesitated.
There was almost no one she could call a friend, with the exception of Sansar. Even that had been a brief encounter lasting only a month.
Of course, this time, the various bits of knowledge Sansar had shared while they stayed together had played a significant role.
‘But is that man really a god?’
Roselyn thought of Sansar.
The bard who was so clumsy he could barely do anything. However, she remembered that his songs were beautiful and that he had appeared mysterious at times.
“Why? Do you not wish to be my friend?”
“No, it’s just that I’ve never had a friend other than Sansar……. And since you say Sansar might be a god who was out for a bit of fun……”
Roselyn spoke with a still-skeptical expression. She was someone who hadn't even believed in the existence of gods, after all.
“What am I supposed to do with a friend?”
When she was with Sansar, they just ate together, went grocery shopping, and occasionally shared stories.
“Well, is there anything special to it? Just act as you usually do. Only a bit more friendly.”
At the Khan’s casual tone, Roselyn nodded without much deliberation.
There was no reason to refuse.
Becoming friends meant gaining the other’s favor, and the title of ‘Friend of the Khan’ would make it easy to win the favor of others as well.
“Please feel free to call me either Rose or Rosé.”
“I like Rin better.”
“You may call me that as well.”
Roselyn nodded.
When the Khan added that she should speak comfortably now that they were friends, Roselyn readily agreed.
“You may call me Halli as well.”
“I shall do so in private.”
The Khan laughed with satisfaction at Roselyn’s words. She liked people who were quick-witted.
“Now then, here is my first question as a friend.”
The first question as a friend? Roselyn looked at the Khan with a dubious expression. The woman was still smiling brightly.
“It’s an extension of my earlier question……. How did you know that Yuseok was in Kaluta?”
Flinch.
Her shoulders trembling, Roselyn narrowed her eyes and looked at the Khan.
The question she blurted out as soon as they became friends was too much. At the gaze that even carried a hint of resentment, the Khan broke into a merry laugh.
“Of course, I won’t breathe a word of what I see and hear here to anyone. It’s good for friends to share at least one secret. I’ve wanted to try something like this for a long time.”
She spoke with the smile of a child.
Roselyn opened and closed her mouth several times. The Khan did not back down and waited patiently. Her face was full of interest, as if she were determined to hear it no matter what.
Roselyn chose her words carefully.
“……There was a miracle.”
“A miracle?”
Roselyn gave a single nod.
“Sansar said that if a miracle ever happened to me…… I should help Kaluta.”
After a long deliberation, Roselyn spoke in a hushed voice.
She saw the red seal stamped on the treaty. Beside it lay the documents regarding the trade between Kaluta and the Bellion House. Of course, since it wasn’t the final draft, they would need to meet and coordinate to some extent.
The Khan had even cut her finger and stamped it with a seal made of blood.
“In about two or three months from now, an epidemic will begin to spread.”
The Khan paused at Roselyn’s words.
“Gather plenty of Rishu's Herb. It would even be wise to start cultivating it. The demand will become very high.”
“How do you know that……”
The Khan murmured softly, unable to hide her surprise.
Roselyn turned her gaze away without a word. The Khan watched her, pondered for a moment, and then spoke.
“So the Rishu's Herb wasn’t something the Emperor ordered.”
“……Well.”
Muttering softly, Roselyn gave a faint nod. At Roselyn’s behavior, the Khan burst into a hearty laugh.
‘She is someone I must never make an enemy of.’
The Khan felt quite proud of her own intuition for offering friendship as she spoke.
“From this day forward, you are my dear friend, and the Bellion House shall be a partner with whom we share life and death.”
The Khan stood up and offered her hand. Roselyn also stood up and took her hand.
“And an ally to the Empire, of course.”
“I don’t know if I can trust the Emperor of the Empire with my back, but I shall ensure we do not invade.”
Roselyn’s eyes widened slightly.
The Khan’s words meant that she would place Roselyn and the Bellion House in a more important position than even the ‘Dianitas Empire.’
“I look forward to working with you, Halli.”
“I am simply delighted to have gained such a wonderful friend, Rin.”
The two lightly shook their firmly clasped hands up and down.
“On that note, Rin.”
“Yes.”
“Would you happen to have any interest in marrying my son?”
Roselyn looked at the Khan with a fed-up expression.
Following the oversharing of personal history, boasting about her brother, the background check, and the proposal to be a concubine, now came the proposal to be her daughter-in-law.
“Rather than that…… I recommend the 2nd Prince of the Empire as a husband for Lady Naryan. They seemed to have feelings for each other.”
And so, following their example, Roselyn brilliantly sold out Yuldian.
