Translator: Nox

The Baddest Villainess Is Back

Chapter 53

“Roselyn, Roselyn…. I was wrong, Roselyn.”

A man, heavily intoxicated, sat by a grave and murmured softly.

His eyes, once as blue as the sky, were clouded by alcohol. His appearance was a disheveled mess, and his low, muttering voice was laced with curses.

“…I kept looking for you.”

The man, Arma, whispered under his breath.

Arma had not loved Roselyn. Or so he had thought.

He believed she was nothing more, nothing less, than an entertaining companion. As time passed, he had grown smugly satisfied with how she softened only for him; surely, that was what had made him so arrogant.

“I didn't want to become Emperor.”

It was simply that.

The man was born of the solar bloodline that sustained this nation, yet he had never received the sun’s love and had even been robbed of his mother’s embrace….

Thus, he could love nothing.

Because Arma could not love anything born of this land, he sought to escape it through cowardly means.

Through death.

No—by faking his death.

“…….”

His hand slowly traced the tombstone, one side of which was discolored from his daily caresses.

If he died, he could not inherit the throne.

It was a ridiculous thought even to him, but Arma believed there was no talent capable of succeeding the throne other than himself.

The 2nd Prince was hot-headed and dull-witted, and while the 1st Prince was at least calm and intelligent, he fell far short of Arma.

His father, the former Emperor, knew this. He knew, yet he did not stop Arma. Even though he was the only person in that Imperial Palace who saw through his true intentions.

No, perhaps it was because he saw through them that he did not grant him the position.

The Emperor must have thought it better to pass the throne to someone slightly incompetent yet who loved the country, rather than making a man with no intention of caring for the nation the Emperor.

「My youngest.」

「Yes.」

「If you have no intention of succeeding the throne, then die. You are a hindrance.」

It was a sort of eviction notice.

An order to cast aside the Imperial surname and leave.

And that was the only mercy the Emperor, dying in the aftermath of the war, could offer.

The 1st Prince was named the likely Crown Prince, but he had many shortcomings.

And to fill those gaps….

His father quietly killed everyone with succession rights, excluding the 2nd Prince, who had no interest in the throne.

Yes.

Arma’s ‘faking death’ was a necessary act.

‘…But I could have told her.’

It would have been fine to tell her honestly and say that he would surely find her wherever she was.

His father would have turned a blind eye to at least that much.

Had he done so, she wouldn't have had to run everywhere under such a stigma, nor would she have had to live as if holding her breath….

She wouldn't have had to die.

‘It was a choice I made to save myself….’

But that choice was the very thing that wounded you.

‘I should have been fine….’

He thought he didn't love her.

He thought she was just a slightly familiar toy.

A toy closer to a friend, whose stubbornness was annoying, yet he enjoyed watching her because she opened her heart only to him when he was by her side.

An existence he could let go of whenever he was told to.

So, he thought that if they parted….

“I thought I’d be okay.”

Thud.

Muttering softly, he struck his head hard against the tombstone carved from solid marble.

[Roselyn Bellion]

As he moved, the letters engraved on the stone became clearly visible.

“But I wasn't.”

He wasn't okay.

“I wasn't okay at all, Roselyn.”

At first, it was fine.

He had to wrap up his life as Arma, take on a new title, and reorganize his group.

There was so much to settle and he was so busy that he had no room to worry about Roselyn.

She crossed his mind occasionally, but he assumed she was getting along well enough on her own.

Arma knew Roselyn cared for him. He knew, but Roselyn never acknowledged those feelings.

Not once had she ever openly opened her mouth to tell him she liked him.

To his hypocritical concerns about what she would do if left alone, she would simply murmur that she would be fine.

So….

Surely, there must have been some childish spite involved.

There must have been an arrogant thought somewhere, wondering if she really could be okay without him.

Arma didn't want to admit it.

He thought he, too, would be fine without Roselyn.

He was just curious about how she was doing.

He never intended to kill her. He never intended to put her in danger.

But with that frail body of hers, she was playing a game with her life on the line.

Chased by the Imperial Family.

Chased by hunters seeking the bounty placed on her head.

So, Arma pursued Roselyn, though it was too late.

She was no longer leisurely or relaxed. She was so good at hiding that even the great Arma couldn't find her.

The brother who held the Emperor’s crown—the one Arma had cast aside—was trying to kill Roselyn.

While she bore the false charge of murdering him, Arma.

Arma wanted to stop it.

He chased because he wanted to stop it, but the more he chased, the further away she got.

As the days he failed to catch her increased, he grew anxious, and on the days he received belated information, he couldn't even sleep.

And then, one day, he realized.

That you, who had always made sure to get your medicine with the money you earned even while on the run and swindling others, were no longer buying medicine.

He was anxious.

So incredibly anxious.

It was a long struggle.

And not long after that, he heard that Roselyn had been caught.

Gerran Wilbrid, dispatched by the Emperor's command during the prolonged pursuit, had found Roselyn.

And Roselyn died. She was gone.

“…Gerran Wilbrid.”

He ground his teeth.

Gerran Wilbrid killed Roselyn. He even burned the corpse, leaving not a single trace of her body.

After escaping, he too had died in the flames not far away.

Why didn't he know?

What is dead does not return.

What is left unsaid cannot be conveyed to the dead. Even if one tries to tell the dead, it only becomes a hollow futility. Because death is the end.

No matter how much he yearned and yearned, no matter how much he screamed at a God he didn't believe in, Roselyn did not return.

Because the Roselyn who loved Arma, the one who laughed and talked with him, was already dead.

Arma slowly opened his mouth.

* * *

—I’m sorry, Roselyn….

At the voice and the scene etched into her mind, Roselyn slowly drew a breath.

Unable to show it, she froze stiffly.

‘…What was that just now?’

The moment Arma touched her, a strange scene flashed through her mind.

At the touch that carefully brushed her cheek, Roselyn suddenly realized the current situation.

While she couldn't see, Arma had quietly entered her room. Since a moment ago, he had been repeatedly holding her hand and stroking her hair in silence.

‘…Just why is he doing this?’

Roselyn found herself in a bit of a predicament.

Because she had kept her mouth shut to pretend she was sleeping, she was now stuck in a state where she couldn't do anything.

‘And what was that memory I just saw….’

Roselyn recalled the vision that had surfaced in her mind like a dream.

There was a tombstone with her name on it.

Roselyn rolled her eyes beneath her eyelids.

‘Could it be… my original world?’

Then she really had been alive.

Roselyn thought with her eyes closed.

“For some time now, I’ve been dreaming of a world where you are dead. A dream where I regret your death.”

Startled, Roselyn remained silent.

“I see myself in despair because you aren't there. Every night, I see a pathetic man getting wasted by your grave, doing nothing but offering confessions.”

“…….”

“I’m afraid it will turn out like that. In those moments, I feel every single emotion from that dream, and it’s so horrific….”

Hesitation could be felt in his low voice.

“…I’m afraid that I will lose you and become like that too.”

‘…Is that why he had that expression in Randarin?’

The Arma who had come for her was terrified, and he was relieved by the fact that he had found Roselyn.

The hand that had been stroking her hair slowly traced her cheek once before pulling far away.

“I… don’t really know.”

Roselyn debated whether she should just speak. She felt like she shouldn't listen to any more of this.

“Roselyn, I hate the Emperor, the Imperial Palace, and the Empire.”

“…….”

“So I thought I’d never be able to love anything that came from the Empire….”

Arma’s voice trailed off.

“But I feel like it might be okay if you are in that Empire….”

Roselyn bolted upright from her seat.

“Maybe I truly lo— mmpf.”

And just like that, she reached out both hands and muffled Arma’s mouth.

“You seem to have a fever, so please go to sleep.”

“…Rose… mmpf.”

“Go to sleep.”

Arma, his confession suddenly stifled, looked on with a face full of bewilderment.