The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 209
In truth, there was a time when Roxelyn, while being pursued as a wanted person,
happened to enter this forest by chance.
“Wow, play with us! Play with us!”
“Pretty lady, let’s play a game together!”
By coincidence, she saw this mansion, encountered the children living here, and played games with them.
And on the day she left, she saw the King of Makruxa here by chance.
However, Roxelyn, wanting to avoid unnecessary trouble, pretended not to notice the King’s presence here.
Perhaps it was all just a series of coincidences piled upon coincidences upon coincidences.
The King of Makruxa wasn’t supposed to find this place until several years later.
But Roxelyn disrupted the natural course of events.
As a result, everything happened too quickly, before anything could even take root, and then it all disappeared.
That’s why Roxelyn visited this place a bit earlier than intended.
Because the King of Makruxa would use the children and monsters here to throw the empire into chaos and turn all the children into criminals.
“Mom!”
The children ran up to Roxelyn, clinging to her legs from the mansion’s open doors.
“…This is…”
Arma’s grip on her hand tightened.
The mansion had opened, revealing a group of children, not just one or two.
The sight of the children numbering at least ten only held their surprise for a moment.
In fact, it was somewhat problematic even to call them ‘children’.
Their forms were slightly bizarre.
Each child was missing a part of their body.
Some lacked eyes, others skin, and still others had cracked skin like parched earth, or missing fingers.
Yet, it wasn’t as if they looked horrific.
The children’s appearance was almost…
Yes, almost like porcelain dolls.
Where they were missing eyes, only part of the porcelain was broken.
Where they lacked ears or fingers, only the glass in those areas was shattered.
No blood flowed, nor were any veins visible.
Inside, as with any other porcelain, they were entirely empty.
Their cracked or broken forms were like finely crafted porcelain dolls, exuding an eerie strangeness.
“Mom, you’ve worked hard to come here. Please, come inside.”
The children, still standing at the mansion’s entrance, beckoned her forward.
It seemed they could not come out, and she watched them for a while in silence.
Just as Roxelyn, her expression impassive, was about to approach the children, Arma held her back a bit tighter.
“Roxelyn, it’s dangerous.”
“…Since when does a father prevent a mother from meeting her children?”
“Yeah, it’s strange. Should we replace our dad? That big brother must be a bad one, trying to keep us from our mom.”
The children’s—no, the dolls’—eyes began to turn a vivid red.
Arma grimaced, feeling an unpleasant aura emanating from them.
His hand instinctively reached for the handle of the sword at his waist.
As dark shadows started swirling around him, Roxelyn tugged on Arma’s hand.
“Don’t.”
Roxelyn shook her head.
“Roxelyn, this is an unknown place. I understand you know more about this than I do,
but I can’t risk your safety…”
“Arma, this isn’t a place where things can be solved by killing.”
Without a word, Roxelyn gripped Arma’s hand tightly.
Arma looked down at his firmly held hand and sighed shortly.
“…This isn’t a good decision.”
“It’s fine. If things go wrong, Arma, you can protect me.”
