The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 35
She had no choice but to attend since the Emperor himself had requested her presence.
Overcoming her annoyance, Roxelyn wrote replies to the two letters.
Knock, knock.
Just as she was about to get up, a knock sounded. When Roxelyn bade them enter, the door opened.
“Good afternoon, Young Miss.”
It was the butler, Dean.
A most competent butler in many ways, he was also quite skilled in martial arts, making him one of the Duke’s most trusted individuals.
“Everyone was quite upset that you didn’t join them for breakfast.”
“Is that so.”
Roxelyn responded tersely and nodded.
“So, what is it?”
“The master requests your presence. He wishes to have tea with you if you are available.”
“Alright, I’ll go.”
Roxelyn readily nodded and followed the butler out of the room.
She had a guess as to why she was being summoned and saw no reason to hesitate.
She followed the butler to the private reception room used by Duke Bellion.
It was a place where the Duke often entertained esteemed guests or engaged in casual conversations and private discussions.
Of course, the room was thoroughly soundproofed and secured.
Even the entire room was made of soul stones, rendering Abyss powers unusable.
“Please, go in.”
Smiling kindly, the butler Dean motioned for Roxelyn to enter.
As soon as she entered, she saw Duke Bellion sitting on a spacious sofa, tilting a glass of wine.
He seemed unusually chipper in his ornate attire, a smile playing at his lips.
“Have you come, little one?”
“Good afternoon.”
“You haven’t shown your face for two weeks, and now you decide to visit?”
“It seemed like you had something to say.”
Roxelyn approached Duke Bellion with a slight smile.
Duke Bellion, noticing Roxelyn standing, nodded for her to sit.
“Take a seat.”
“Yes.”
Roxelyn sat down upon receiving permission, and Duke Bellion frowned.
‘You’re not even a guest, but you’re acting like a stranger…’
He couldn’t understand why she was being so formal.
“It’s about that Nolan mine you mentioned.”
“Did you win the bid?”
“Yes, thanks to you.”
He nodded.
“I’m glad.”
“Hmm. And though it’s not announced yet, there’s a high chance the minerals from there are not just amber.”
As expected.
Roxelyn crossed her legs and watched Duke Bellion, who chuckled wickedly.
Devon Bellion.
Though now only known to the Emperor and some old nobility, Devon Bellion was originally a bastard of the Bellion Ducal Family and, until his early twenties, the godfather of the underworld.
Until his early twenties, Devon grew up unaware of his noble blood.
However, when the sole heir of the Bellion family met with an accident, and the bloodline’s continuation was threatened, the previous Duke Bellion had no choice but to bring in the bastard Devon.
With the direct heir gone and the branch family eagerly eyeing the Duke’s position, the previous Duke could not tarnish the direct bloodline.
Despite being a bastard, Devon was the only one carrying his blood, so he was belatedly registered in the family registry.
Devon, as clever as he was fit to be a ruler, quickly took over the Bellion family, just as swiftly as he had dominated the underworld.
However, Duke Devon’s rough habits from his early years in the underworld were hard to shake off, and so, this generation’s Duke Bellion was known to be quite unrefined and rugged for a noble.
‘Of course, I only heard about this later from Gerun,’ Roxelyn thought as she looked at the duke.
A brutal slaughterer.
That was the only title befitting this man in his ridiculous and ornate clothes and sunglasses.
Smiling like a defanged tiger, Duke Bellion took off his sunglasses and grinned while holding a cigar in his mouth.
“My granddaughter, have you manifested an Abyss?”
The humor-lit sanpaku eyes of Duke Bellion gazed directly at Roxelyn.
***
Devon Bellion held his family in high regard.
It was a tradition of the Bellion family through generations.
‘For direct lineage,’ they would not spare even their lives.
Therefore, the previous Duke Bellion had abandoned Devon, the illegitimate child, to avoid endangering his only heir.
Yet, when that sole heir died, he brought back Devon, the discarded son, to preserve the ‘direct’ bloodline.
He chose the half-world-raised direct descendant over handing over the devoted Bellion to some branch family relative.
Devon Bellion, in his younger days, was lonely.
He didn’t deny envying those who had ordinary families.
Desire was his driving force, the most honest and primal emotion that brought him to his current position.
The reason he conquered the underworld and had many under his feet was because of that.
Creating a family was his long-time dream.
