The Abandoned Villainess Decides to Take It All Chapter 35

Chapter 35

“What business could possibly require both princes at such a late hour?”

“Hah. Since when does the ground cause this sort of mess on its own?”

They looked like ordinary middle-aged nobles who had rushed out without even wiping their sweat.

But in truth—

The Knight Commander, a Marshal, even senior officers from the supply corps…

By the standards of a previous life, every single one of them ranked as generals with at least two stars.

“His Grace the Duke is arriving!”

…And then Anaïs Boliver, the Duke himself, appeared.

The knights in purple uniforms who had followed Kyle visibly panicked.

“G-General!”

In other words, to the Imperial Knights whom the Second Prince had dragged here as his side, this man was their distant and absolute superior.

The Second Prince’s expression was a sight to behold.

Of course it was—this had clearly been done without any prior notice.

Technically, a prince outranked a duke or a general.

But the problem was simple.

No one had yet been officially named Crown Prince.

Which meant that even the Second Prince wouldn’t want to offend House Boliver.

Anaïs Boliver, his pale reddish-brown hair swept flawlessly back, knelt on one knee.

“May the Creator’s blessing be upon you both, Prince Ebren. Prince Kyle.”

“It’s been a while, General.”

“I am honored. However, at this late hour—!”

After responding to Ebren, the general turned his dark eyes toward Kyle.

“Prince Kyle. Why were such mines buried in this land? These are prohibited even within the palace due to their danger.”

“…!”

“Was this for monster suppression? If His Highness the First Prince had not contacted us—!”

It was fortunate he had been summoned late at night.

Otherwise, the Boliver family members training in their secret grounds would have been wiped out.

“And Gedderic!”

The general roared at the knight commander who had accompanied Kyle.

“If you were deploying under the Second Prince’s command, why was I not informed?”

“I-I was ordered to handle it quickly, sir.”

“Only His Majesty and I have the authority to command you!”

“…!”

The man was visibly sweating.

For the record, Lillian felt not the slightest bit guilty toward that knight commander.

He was the one who took Ramio in after being bribed by the grandfather.

More merchant than knight, that one.

The original male lead put on his signature capable, expressionless face.

“General. This is a misunderstanding. It’s true that explosives were used, but they were never dangerous—”

That was when Lillian silently activated the recording crystal.

Audio and video.

A survival strategy in this world.

[Sniff… sob…]

Between the two opposing sides, an oval projection floated in midair.

Inside it—

A grown man sobbing…

Holding a faintly glowing blue orb…

[“I-I just need to do what His Highness told me, right…?”]

He muttered incoherently—

[“N-now I just—”]

—and buried the mine into the ground.

The Boliver family stared in disbelief.

“Isn’t that… the Second Prince’s aide?”

“That should be Sir Cedric Bain…”

“Good heavens…”

“Is esper energy leaking from that orb?”

In the projection, Cedric writhed, suffering from mental contamination.

And of course I show up at the end.

She had to grab his hand to treat him.

Whether the Shedding Veil affected recordings or not, even she couldn’t recognize herself in the image.

Anaïs Boliver failed to hide his admiration.

“…Truly remarkable skill.”

Those around him agreed.

“Indeed, Your Grace.”

“Even an A-rank controller would struggle with contamination like that—”

“And yet she controlled it without damaging the mind.”

“But—”

The Boliver elders stared coldly at the original male lead.

“What, exactly, is the meaning of this?”

“……”

Lillian watched the speechless prince with detached calm.

He must be rotting from the inside.

She had never clashed with him personally.

To Kyle Tarandia, Lillian was insignificant—both in this life and in the “original story.”

Many people had been bystanders in her life.

And yet this felt satisfying.

Probably because he was abandoning his own subordinate.

Then the villain spoke first.

“Well. It looks exactly like what it is. Kyle—how could you ask your subordinate to do something like this?”

He’d enjoyed a reputation as the more noble prince.

That reputation would crack after today.

The looks on the knights behind him said enough.

“…Very well. I regret that things have come to this.”

“And by the way—I will personally interrogate this man.”

“…!”

“You don’t object, do you? He used il-le-gal explosives.”

At the mention of his aide’s fate, the original male lead’s expression stiffened.

The real battle hadn’t even begun.

This doesn’t even qualify as preliminaries.

Still—

Winning was best.

Once they left the noisy area, the Shadows flocked around her like sheep.

“Lady! Please eat more!”

“You idiot, do you know what time it is?!”

“Here—take another cushion!”

Lillian accepted a shoulder massage from Margaret while calmly sipping the juice the Shadows handed her.

She’d worked hard all day.

She deserved this much luxury.

The Boliver family’s reaction was good.

They were a neutral house by tradition.

In the original story, they eventually joined the Second Prince’s faction because of Iris…

There would later come a moment when they desperately needed help.

If we do well again next time, the outcome could be even better.

…But where was the person she needed to discuss this with?

Lillian looked around.

“By the way—where did His Highness go?”

Now that she thought about it, Sir Elias was gone too, along with several familiar Shadows.

Jeanne answered casually.

“He stepped away briefly. There’s something in the rear he needs to handle.”

“I see.”

The Shadows all nodded and smiled.

“Please rest, Lady. This time, you’ll wake up already inside the castle.”

In the darkness, a thin layer of white snow had settled.

Ebren sat on a rock, one leg crossed over the other.

“Doing something I don’t usually do really took it out of me.”

“Ghk… hng…”

“Lately, I’ve been doing many things for the first time.”

Across from him, Kyle knelt in the snow, gasping.

“By my standards, this strategy was terribly inefficient.”

“Y-you… Ebren…”

“But it was worth enduring.”

Several members of Dawn lay motionless with their eyes closed.

It was unclear what had been erased.

The rest would soon be buried beneath the snow.

“Hah…”

Throughout the incident, Ebren had felt only mild boredom.

He’d known Kyle would try to trap him, bring along petty tricks typical of House Favil.

I could’ve erased them all cleanly.

Then the Second Empress would rally Favil, Tillard, parts of the imperial family, and other major houses.

War was inevitable.

In the past, the burden of berserk outbreaks had made war a difficult choice.

But now… I have Lillian.

Victory itself had come to him.

And humans only understood fear.

Erase forty percent of the empire’s population, and the rest would fall in line easily.

And yet—

Ebren smiled faintly at his groaning brother.

This is interesting.

Not Kyle—

Lillian.

The way she’d drawn House Boliver in to shake Kyle’s position.

How she’d known about their secret training grounds.

Fascinating.

Since she uncovered this one, I’ll let her method carry it through to the end.

He’d seen far more interesting moments than expected.

Satisfied, Ebren stood—

and calmly pressed his foot down on Kyle’s head.