The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 103
Roxelyn let out a short sigh.
“I shall retire for now. My head hurts a bit.”
“Ah, of course. Do you want me to call a doctor?”
Since that day, she often had headaches and her eyes hurt.
‘Why is this happening again?’
She frowned and pressed the temples with her palm. At a slight nod, a maid who was nearby approached.
“Miss, I’ll escort you to your room.”
“…Alright.”
The moment she took a step, the world spun around.
‘What to do with this damned body…’
A voice yelling her name called out, but Roxelyn couldn’t respond and just fainted right there.
Truly, a uselessly feeble constitution.
* * *
“What the…?”
Roxelyn, who suddenly opened her eyes, frowned as she rubbed her eyes, but the view remained blurry.
Rustle.
At the faint sound, Roxelyn’s body jerked violently.
She frowned and took a deep breath.
Instinctively, her body tensed up.
“Ah, you’re awake.”
There are things that trigger unpleasant memories.
Roxelyn’s life on the run was never enjoyable. Thinking about it, there might have been some good memories, but that was it.
Moreover, Roxelyn was objectively beautiful, so there were many who coveted her.
Yet, Roxelyn had survived well.
But there were things even she couldn’t avoid.
For example, when she was captured and taken to the imperial palace, her freedom restricted.
“Have you ever wondered what kind of screams people make when their eyes are gouged out, ducal lady?”
“….”
“I’m curious. I wonder if the dignified ducal lady who has been running away so well will beg me for her life.”
“Judging by your vulgar and cheap tone, I can guess why you’re stuck in this stinky and dirty underground dungeon. It seems this place suits you best.”
Roxelyn openly mocked her tormentor, even under severe and sinister torture.
“…Wow! Even with your life hanging by the thread of such dirty and insignificant hands, you dare to overstep your bounds!! I can kill you any time. I can kill you!!”
“No, you can’t kill me. The Emperor won’t allow it. If you kill me, you’ll be sliced up alive.”
Sometimes she laughed like a person gone mad.
“Ah, shall I explain it in a way even a fool can understand? Even in this state, you, a mere lowborn, are in a worse mire than I am.”
“You, you bxxxx! How dare you, do you know who I am! Here, I am like a god! All of you should grovel at my feet, begging for your lives and spilling whatever you know! You all are…!”
“Hahaha, seems like playing the role of a sewer rat king is quite enjoyable for you. Continue to enjoy it.”
Sometimes she brutally grated on her opponent’s nerves.
“You filthy bxxxx, you think I don’t know how you survive outside?! Yeah, let’s see how long you can keep up that high and mighty attitude…!”
“Every time you open your mouth, it smells like a sewer. And I, of all people, have no intention of entertaining someone as lowly as you.”
Tsssss—!
That day, Roxelyn lost one eye, which was cauterized with a heated iron rod.
“…Uh, are you alright?”
Chilling memories sometimes resurfaced with just a voice.
Roxelyn blinked once, keeping her lips tightly shut.
“Your vision is a bit blurry right now, isn’t it? It’s because of the aftereffects. It seems the burn you suffered was quite a shock.”
“……”
“Have you ever sustained a burn before, Your Ladyship? Physically, you seem fine, but sometimes, even when you’re perfectly healthy, you might show strange reactions if you have trauma related to fire. You’ll feel better once you calm down.”
The very familiar voice was less rough and gravelly than she remembered, entirely smooth without any hint of harshness.
“Who… are you?”
“Ah, I am Asidore. I’m an intermediate priest dispatched from the temple by imperial decree.”
Asidore.
Roxelyn then chuckled lightly and shrugged her shoulders.
“Is that so. Thank you for your help.”
“Not at all, it’s only natural as a messenger of the gods.”
“Messenger of the gods, huh….”
Roxelyn murmured with a low voice, mulling over her memories.
People tend to erase unpleasant memories as quickly as possible, but Roxelyn was always the opposite.
She tended to remember unpleasant memories longer.
Chewing over them again and again, to seize any moment of opportunity to grasp their throats tightly.
It was a silent preparation for the day of revenge that might suddenly arrive.
Asidore, as Roxelyn remembered in her world, worked as a torturer in the underground dungeons who went by the name of ‘Singh’.
A torturer who could never see the daylight.