The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 189
“…Are you really going to do this?”
Gerun Wilfred furrowed his brow, and Roxelyn smiled brightly.
“Have we ever truly agreed on anything?”
Even when they occasionally clashed, Roxelyn ignored it, and Gerun, finding her reactions amusing, would poke at her playfully. That was the nature of their relationship.
Whenever this sly man provoked her, Roxelyn would get irritated and snap back.
“Anyway, setting that aside, why are you here?”
As Roxelyn draped a blanket over the sleeping Zerti Bellion, she quietly asked.
“It seems like your relationship has improved.”
“Yes.”
“I suppose you have me to thank for that, don’t you?”
Gerun Wilfred crossed his arms and asked with a sly grin. Roxelyn hesitated for a moment, then lowered her gaze and nodded.
“Yes, it’s thanks to you. I’m grateful.”
“…Are you feeling alright?”
Roxelyn clicked her tongue in annoyance at Gerun’s comment, tilting her head slightly.
“Even though you killed me, I’m both resentful and grateful because I was able to come back to life thanks to you.”
Gerun paused at her words, frowning. There wasn’t even the slightest hint of genuine gratitude in her tone, despite her words.
“I came to deal with the empire’s famine, why else would I be here?”
Gerun Wilfred gave up on the conversation and answered plainly.
“Isn’t that why you’re here as well?”
“Yes. But I don’t understand why the High Priest is here.”
“Isn’t it because of you?”
Gerun tilted his head as he spoke, and Roxelyn stopped in her tracks.
“Me?”
“Yes. The Emperor gave the order. He told the High Priest to take action directly, for your sake.”
“…Then why did you come?”
“I couldn’t stand by knowing the person I’ve considered as a future candidate for my child was about to do something reckless.”
Roxelyn blinked at Gerun’s words, her face scrunched in disbelief, as if wondering what kind of nonsense he was spouting.
“You don’t have a conscience.”
Roxelyn scoffed.
“I’m sure you came because you’re worried something might happen to the Marchioness.”
After all, the Marchioness had died from the plague not long after the famine hit. While the famine might not have been the direct cause, Gerun likely didn’t want to see a repeat of those events.
“Do you remember the cause of the famine?”
Gerun Wilfred asked, and Roxelyn nodded.
“How could I forget?”
At one point, the empire had been in complete turmoil over it. Roxelyn rubbed her eyelids slowly.
“It was the children.”
Roxelyn muttered quietly, her gaze lowering.
Crops grown on land contaminated by monsters were inedible. Around this time, the world had been in chaos due to the monsters.
“By the way, Roxelyn.”
“Hm?”
“News recently came in that all the Imperial Guard members and knights in the capital were murdered.”
“…Murdered? Did that really happen?”
“Yes, though coincidentally… it seems it’s also your fault.”
Roxelyn gave Gerun an irritated look.
“The person identified as the culprit is Galleo, the Captain of the Imperial Guard.”
At Gerun Wilfred’s words, Roxelyn froze.
“Just to check… did you mess with the King of Makruxa?”
“Ah, damn.”
Roxelyn narrowed her brow and muttered quietly in resignation. Her response was clearer than any other verbal answer.
***
“Daughter.”
“Yes, Father.”
“May I ask what you’re doing so early in the morning?”
“I’m making the land fertile.”
Roxelyn replied as she scattered the finely ground powder of the stones across various parts of the duchy, having risen early that day.
Her leisurely stroll, sprinkling the green powder as she walked, left Zerti Bellion, who had rushed out in his half-dressed state to follow her, sighing deeply.
