The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 86
Roxelyn blinked, realizing the truth belatedly.
“…But why six months?”
“Because of one condition—that we must sort out our feelings after those six months.”
“……”
Maybe she didn’t need to say that yesterday.
In that other world, Arma chose freedom over being with Roxelyn. Thus, it was highly likely that Arma in this world would eventually choose freedom over her too.
Thinking this clarified her mind.
“…Roxelyn?”
“Yes?”
“You seem happy. Is there something good?”
“It seems like the things I’m planning are going to work out better than expected.”
Roxelyn shrugged.
If she had any regrets, the first was cruelly dismissing Aegis Bellion’s hand, and the second was not being able to block Arma Diyanitas who stood in front of her that day, and not dying in his place.
The first regret would somewhat end with winning the bid for the Olan mines and securing a deal with Kaluta.
The second regret was realized to be unnecessary to worry about at all, so why wouldn’t she be pleased?
Roxelyn wanted to rid herself of all regrets and leave for a place unknown to anyone—to rest.
Even if she was making the same wrong choices as before, it wouldn’t bring Roxelyn’s world back to how it originally was.
Regrets would remain as regrets, and the grudges wouldn’t be erased until the moment she died.
“Is that so? That’s great to hear.”
Arma responded with a smile, presuming it was because the Kaluta matter had been resolved well.
“Ah! Roxelyn, please call me Arma. It’s weird for a couple not to call each other by their names, right?”
As the saying goes, even a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and Arma sought to shorten the distance between them by starting with a change in how they addressed each other.
“Alright, Arma.”
At Roxelyn’s easy agreement, Arma’s face brightened.
***
Time flew swiftly.
The journey back to the Empire, now halfway completed, had reached the trading city of Landarin to shake off the fatigue of travel.
The atmosphere in the city was tense and grim, filled with the acrid smell of burning.
A nearby village had been razed overnight in an arson attack, and a search was underway to find the culprit in the surrounding areas.
‘…Has the arsonist already started acting?’
Roxelyn frowned at the sight of ash, like white snowflakes, settling on roofs and leaves, blown from somewhere unknown.
‘That’s sooner than expected.’
Human memory isn’t that remarkable, after all, unable to recall every single day of a decade in detail, just remembering roughly when certain events happened.
Hence the need to read various newspapers, meticulously fitting pieces together and combining fragments.
To find discrepancies with her memory, identify differences in this world, and narrow down those variances.
‘What a hassle.’
Roxelyn sighed.
But resolving this arson case was her responsibility. She left her inn room, heading downstairs to pick up a newspaper. She could have called the maids, but even that felt too bothersome.
‘…I must prevent Landarin from burning.’
The ash currently drifting carried poison within.
‘Is Gerun on the move as well?’
It’s said that where there’s a corpse, there’s poison. This was terror by an arsonist, burning living beings and their screams condensed into ash.
Some resentments leave curses even after death, and this ash was laden with poison.
Someone had forcibly created ash imbued with poison, soon to become the source of a plague spreading throughout the Empire.
Lost in thought and looking down as she walked, she was suddenly jolted and pushed backward.
Stumbling, she was caught in the moment.
“Goodness.”
With a low mutter, someone caught and steadied Roxelyn by the waist.
“Sorry, sorry. Are you alright, Miss?”
The person quickly let go after setting her straight.
“I was distracted and didn’t see you there.”
Scratching his head awkwardly, the man emitted a subtle scent.
“…No, I’m also at fault, so it’s alright.”
It was the scent of a fire demon.