The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 143
“Roxelyn!”
Arma strode briskly towards Roxelyn, who had entered the imperial castle.
With a youthful face dressed in a pristine white uniform, Arma smiled brightly upon seeing her.
“I heard you woke up, but your household wouldn’t accept visitors, so I couldn’t come to see you.”
“It’s alright, I couldn’t step out of my room either.”
Roxelyn added nonchalantly to Arma’s concern.
Glancing at Roxelyn’s cheeks and general condition, which were healthier than he had imagined, Arma spoke up.
“I’m glad to see you looking healthier than I expected. I heard you had lost a lot of weight while you were ill.”
Roxelyn glanced down at herself and nodded.
“Being confined to my bed for a week, surrounded by my family’s watchful eyes, having three meals a day and two snack times, I couldn’t help but gain weight.”
“Oh…”
At Roxelyn’s resigned voice, Arma opened his mouth but couldn’t find the words, so he just nodded with a smile.
“Anyway, it’s good to see you. Father has also been waiting for you to recover quickly.”
“Yes, I know.”
“I heard you’re staying at the palace for a day, how about having a meal together?”
Seeing Arma slyly reach for her hand, Roxelyn slowly nodded.
“Sure.”
“Thank you. If you have any preferred food, let me know and I’ll tell the chef.”
“…As long as it’s not meat.”
Having been stabbed in the side and seeing the blood seep out, she had no desire to eat meat.
Fortunately, Arma just nodded without comment.
“Do you like seafood?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’ll arrange for it.”
Looking down at Arma’s hand, which was holding hers gently, Roxelyn lightly squeezed his hand back.
Though Arma’s shoulders flinched, he walked forward slowly without a word.
‘…From afar, he seems so small.’
Up close, he was much larger. Her small hand was more than half-covered by his.
“Arma, can I ask you something?”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“There was someone I was dating.”
“…What?”
Arma’s eyes widened.
‘When did she ever…? No, is this some modern open-mindedness…? Did she date someone briefly in Kaluta…? But we were together the whole time, so when…? Was this before our engagement…?’
Even though he knew it made no sense, Arma’s mind went blank, unable to understand Roxelyn’s declaration.
Failing to hide his confusion, Arma glanced sideways and then slowly nodded at Roxelyn’s calm face.
“…Yes.”
“I even lived in hiding with that person. He gave up everything to follow me.”
“…What?”
“But then, just before we were captured by attackers, he told me to go ahead while they held off the attackers. And he died.”
“…What?”
“But recently, I found out he was alive. He had faked his death and abandoned me.”
“…”
“The person who did that—if it were you, Arma, why do you think he would have done it? I’m curious about that.”
Arma’s face hardened at Roxelyn’s question.
“…What kind of mad… no, what kind of despicable person did that? Isn’t he a worthless piece of trash? How dare he do that to you? Who is this bastard?”
‘It’s you…’
Roxelyn tilted her head as she watched Arma, unusually unable to contain his anger, pacing restlessly.
“…Ha. How could there be a man who’s not even worth living as a human?”
“Hmmm…”
“Hiding his true nature from the person he’s dating…”
Arma paused after hearing Roxelyn’s explanation, his words trailing off.
“Pretending to be in love while not feeling it at all…”
Arma’s eyebrows slightly furrowed.
“Acting sweet like he’d give her everything, liver and gall…”
“…”
“And in the end, pretending to be dead and abandoning her…?”
Arma felt a strange sense of déjà vu as he spoke.
No, it seemed oddly familiar.
But it wasn’t something he had heard before.
‘…How does Roxelyn know about my plan?’