The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 197
Roxelyn shrugged her shoulders and turned to look at Devon.
“Grandfather.”
“Yes.”
“When two houses trade, isn’t it clearly stated in the contract that all details of the trade are not to be disclosed to third parties?”
Zerti Bellion narrowed his eyes and nodded.
“That’s right.”
He slammed his staff onto the floor with a thud as he spoke.
“Well, most of the territories invited today have violated that clause and met secretly to collude.”
“…What?”
“The food shortage in the duchy is particularly severe, and they plan to use that as leverage to pressure us. If we try to push back against any one house…”
Roxelyn made a light gesture, mimicking a throat-slitting motion.
“They’re prepared to stage a collective boycott.”
Devon Bellion’s eyes sharpened.
He scanned the room with a hardened expression.
“W-What nonsense is this, Ducal Lady? How can a young woman who’s barely had her coming-of-age ceremony meddle in matters between noble houses? And with such fabricated claims!”
The count, gritting his teeth, gently pushed his wife aside and took a few brisk steps toward Roxelyn before halting.
“I’d prefer it if you didn’t come within ten steps of my daughter.”
A faint purple mist began to swirl around Zerti Bellion.
Even though Roxelyn stood nearby, the poison posed no harm to her.
‘…I’ve heard the Abyss doesn’t harm those it doesn’t intend to.’
It seemed that was indeed true.
As she watched her father, who had grown quite skilled at controlling the Abyss, Roxelyn smiled.
“And what if it’s not a lie?”
“What…?”
“If it’s not a lie, can we end all trade? You’ll be the ones to pay the penalties for breaching the contract.”
Roxelyn smiled sweetly as she spoke.
“How absurd. You’ve been ill for a long time, and now your personality seems to have become quite twisted in the time you haven’t stepped outside. You shouldn’t speak on matters you don’t understand.”
At the count’s words, Roxelyn laughed brightly.
Her radiant smile, free from any shadow, was as beautiful as a blooming rose, yet her gaze held a poisonous sharpness.
“The Bellion Duchy has kept Monsterwood at bay and defended our borders for a long time, never retreating from the front lines, not even once.”
She stood tall, looking straight at the count as she spoke.
“The calluses on my grandfather’s and my uncle’s hands, the scars covering their bodies, are proof of their lifetime spent standing as gatekeepers, blocking the monsters that come out of Monsterwood.”
At Roxelyn’s calm words, Devon Bellion’s eyes widened slightly.
He had never expected to hear such words from the mouth of his young granddaughter.
“And yet, your behavior is laughable.”
Roxelyn openly mocked them.
“Do you even know why the lands of the duchy are so barren, even though it’s part of the same North as your territories?”
“Well, it’s because it’s farther north…”
“It’s still the same North.”
She firmly countered.
“It’s because of the miasma of Monsterwood. The blood and miasma of the monsters we’ve slain have seeped into the land, killing it, making it impossible for crops to grow.”
“……”
“And because we face frequent monster attacks, the mining and weapons industries have developed significantly, but agriculture has not.”
Roxelyn calmly scanned the room, looking at those who had come here, driven by their greed.
“What do you think would happen if the duchy closed its gates and ignored the monsters that crawl out of the forest?”
Only then would they scramble to send out their armies and struggle to deal with the monsters.
The imperial capital would tell the North to handle it on their own.
“Grandfather isn’t the type to boast about such things.”
But Roxelyn was different.
She could boast as much as she wanted.
And quite ruthlessly, too.
“For hundreds of years, the Bellion Duchy has stood as the gatekeeper in front of Monsterwood, periodically subjugating the monsters and working with the temple once or twice a year to purify the area.”
