The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 72
Someone calling her name snapped Roxelyn back to attention.
The first thing she saw upon opening her eyes was a vast expanse of blue… resembling the wide ocean.
The third prince’s blue eyes.
Startled, she clamped her mouth shut and blinked.
“Your Highness?”
Realizing that his face had come so close, Roxelyn finally looked up at him, and he took a deep breath and stuttered out.
“W-What a relief…”
Arma, who sighed deeply, hugged Roxelyn. She flinched.
“Did I do something?”
“You suddenly froze as if you had fainted and didn’t move…”
Awkwardly raising her hand, Roxelyn patted Arma’s back a couple of times before letting go.
“I’m fine.”
As she slightly tried to twist away, Arma’s body stiffened belatedly.
Watching him hastily step back, she let out a low laugh and turned her head.
“I apologize.”
“No, it’s fine. Are you not feeling well?”
“No, suddenly… I remembered my conversation with Sansar.”
Roxelyn narrowed her eyes slightly.
“Sansar? So, besides telling you to go to Kaluta, he left you other messages?”
“It seems he wished that I would help the Kaluta someday.”
Roxelyn lightly nodded in acknowledgment to her own words. She shared only what she could tell from their various conversations.
‘…And, an Abyss? And the awakening of an Abyss?’
It sounded almost like Roxelyn herself possessed an Abyss. No, it seemed like a certainty.
But as far as Roxelyn knew, she was powerless. She had lived believing herself to be a non-ability holder.
Born with a frail body that could die at any moment, a weakling with only power in her name.
“You’re going to help us?”
The woman’s voice carried a laugh, but her gaze was sharp.
“Why, did Sansar say that we might face destruction at some point?”
At the Khan’s words, Roxelyn paused.
Indeed, Kaluta was destined for destruction.
If Roxelyn had not rescued the Khan’s son, Batar.
If she had not apprehended the culprit who attempted to kidnap and kill Batar.
A war would have erupted, leading to destruction.
“Perhaps that might have been the case.”
Roxelyn spoke calmly.
A sharp gaze turned towards her.
“Anyway, let’s get to the main point, Khan.”
Roxelyn tried not to show that there was a stabbing pain in her head right now as she began to speak.
“His Majesty the Emperor wishes to form an alliance with Kaluta. He also desires to open trade routes.”
At her words, the Khan’s expression became visibly indifferent.
Resting his chin on his hand, the Khan, who had seemed cheerful just moments ago, dropped the pleasant facade and looked at Roxelyn with a clearly disdainful gaze.
“Opening our borders doesn’t benefit us. It merely exposes our land, which has been an unknown territory until now, to our enemies. We have been self-sufficient and living without any need.”
“…”
“So, no matter how many times you come and talk, the stories you bring are just uninteresting tales of invaders to us.”
Listening to the Khan’s arrogant yet justified words, Roxelyn shifted her gaze to Kaluta’s princess, Naryan.
The girl who had been smiling brightly was looking at Roxelyn with a mysterious smile.
‘…The next Khan seems to be her.’
And it was clear that the boy known publicly as the Young Chief was destined to be the next tribal chief.
“Khan, as history proves, the transformation from an invader to a victim happens in the blink of an eye.”
Roxelyn smiled brightly, almost mockingly.
The Khan’s brows twitched.
“Shall I speak frankly?”
“…”
“At this rate, Kaluta will face destruction within ten years.”
Roxelyn lightly tapped the table with her fingertip.
“And if I were an invader… I think I would target the next leader first.”
Roxelyn’s gaze landed on Naryan.
Simultaneously…
Crash—!
The table the Khan had punched split in half and shattered.
“…”
Roxelyn, trying not to show it, was inwardly terrified.
A cold sweat ran down her spine.
That day, the negotiations ended inconclusively.