The Queen of Villains - Chapter 21

~*~*~Bonus Chapters sponsored by Liz! (2/2) ~*~*~

Duke Charles Sadie’s daily life was seemingly simple. He woke up in the morning, brushed his teeth and washed his face, had a simple meal of toast and coffee in the bedroom, and read the newspaper of the day.

Next, with the help of his servants, he would change his clothes and call the butler to confirm the day’s schedule.

It was the same today. Until a noticeable article caught Charles’ eye as he sipped his strong black coffee.

<“Marquis Starr! Robbing the Jewelry Shop for the Lady.”>

The actual content stated that Kilian didn’t steal the jewels but rather went out and bought a lot of them.

However, Charles didn’t even like such behavior.

“It’s irritating.”

Though he didn’t want to admit it, he despised Kilian, who felt like a rival to him. No matter how much he thought about it, Emily should not have married such a man.

Charles recalled the day he first met Emily.

On the day he was sent to the Sinope Territory by the emperor’s order, the first person Charles saw was the bustling Count Sinope.

***

“Your Grace, it is a great honor for you to travel this far, but I am currently distraught as my daughter has gone missing.”

Charles observed the count, who was dressed modestly, in an uncharacteristically frugal manner for a Lord.

Count Sinope was loyal to the emperor, but he was a kind-hearted person with a weak heart.

Perhaps, if he had known he was this kind of person, the emperor would never have entrusted him with that task…..That’s what Charles thought, but he put aside his pity and listened to the count’s words.

“Have you happened to see my daughter while you were coming here?”

Charles had heard stories that Emily was famous in social circles, but as the guardian of the north, Charles had no leisure to attend palace parties.

“What does she look like?”

“Even if you don’t know what she looks like, it’s very obvious to the eyes that you can’t help but know! It’s a striking look.”

Although Charles thought it was a joke, the count’s expression was serious. And so, for the first time in 26 years, Charles found himself at a loss for words.

“… It may not be a very helpful description, but I will go out and take a look.”

“I apologize for burdening you with this request before you even unpack.”

“No, it’s fine.”

Charles put on his hat again and went outside.

“Where should I start?”

He felt as if he was moving according to the count’s wishes, strangely enough.

In fact, that’s right. Sinope Count purposely used the intimidating word “missing” to make Charles take action.

Regardless, in order to find Sinope’s beloved daughter, Charles dispatched the knights he had brought with him.

The people already released by the Count were searching all over the territory, and since this place was unfamiliar to Charles, he had no confidence in finding Emily.

Still, the reason he was working so diligently was because he was curious about Emily, who had caught the emperor’s attention.

For some reason, the emperor, who had intended to betroth Sinope’s beloved daughter, Emily, to Lucius, kept postponing the decision.

During this inspection, there was also an instruction to investigate Emily, the Sinope young lady, in more detail.

While walking, listening to the sound of the valley water with a perplexed mind, Charles heard cursing from somewhere.

“…A dog should poop on his face!”

What is this? The rough tone that doesn’t match the elegant voice piqued Charles’s curiosity.

He followed the sound and saw a woman with a striking appearance, just as the Count described, under a large maple tree. Her hair was loosely tied, and she wore a simple green dress that looked wet and worn at the hem.

Nevertheless, her white and flawless skin, along with her cherry-like red lips, exuded a natural grace and breathtaking beauty without much effort. Most of all, her deep and clear eyes seemed to captivate men.

Charles cautiously approached her, feeling that she might be the Lady of Sinope.

She seemed so engrossed in whatever she was reading that she didn’t even notice the footsteps approaching from behind.

“…Ramis grabbed Lola’s waist from behind and kissed her?”

Charles unintentionally caught a glimpse of the writing and thought,

‘What the hell is this lady reading?’ 

The surprised lady turned around and bumped her forehead against his chin, unable to react in time.

Charles was a prodigy who excelled at the Royal Guard selection exam during his teenage years, surpassing tough competition and ranking first. His specialties were horseback riding, fencing, and tennis. Moreover, he enjoyed combat games as a hobby and had never been defeated in a duel. He was agile and robust, even among the mercenaries who gathered in the Royal Guard, and his body was well-built.

And above all, he was a Bancent Sword Master.

The reason he emphasized this was that despite all that, the woman’s headbutt hurt a lot.

“…Who-who are you?”

Charles furrowed his brow and rubbed his chin.

“Your head is quite hard.”

“I’m sorry about that …but why read aloud a novel that others are reading… .”

It was quite cute to see Emily’s cheeks reddened by her embarrassment. Looking at her woman, Charles was embarrassed because it was the first time he had ever had such a thought.

Charles tried to appear composed and asked Emily.

“Are you Lady Sinope?”

Emily hesitated for a moment and nodded in response.

Indeed, she was Emily. Charles had to admit that the Count’s description of Lady Sinope was not entirely without substance.

“Your father asked me to find his missing daughter.”

“I’ve only been gone for three hours?.”

Emily looked puzzled, and at that moment, people from the Count’s mansion arrived as well. Charles chuckled as he saw her throw the book into the bushes, trying to hide it completely.

“Thank you for finding the young lady, Your Grace .”

Surprised by the butler’s words, Emily turned around and asked.

“Your Grace?”

“Miss, you don’t know yet. This is Duke Charles Sadie.”

Charles noticed Emily’s perplexed gaze.

As Emily attempted to kneel, grabbing her dress hem, Charles stopped her.

“No need to suddenly be formal.”

“But…”

Emily’s mind became nervous when her perfectly made-up figure in society was on the verge of collapsing in an instant.

Charles also noticed her efforts to remove the handmade flower wreath from her head and straighten the wrinkles of her dress.

“I’m not going to talk about it anywhere, so don’t worry.”

Emily blushed and gave a bashful smile.

“Thank you, Your Grace.”

That was the first meeting with Emily that Charles remembers.

***

Charles kept thinking of Emily even while staying in the room the Count had given him that day. In fact, having gone to the battlefield from a fairly young age, he was overly insensitive to others.

Although he had many followers, he did not have many close friends, and he was not very interested in the opposite sex, so there were no women who he could be said to have dated sincerely.

Just the fact that he was curious about someone was very unusual.

“Ha.”

He pondered deeply on what kind of report the Emperor could possibly want.

And the next day, as he finished his morning duties and was strolling outside the castle, he once again came across Emily. This time, she had her long wavy hair loosely tied and was sitting on the ground in a lemon-colored dress that reached down to her ankles.

Charles, unconsciously filled with joy, called out to her.

“Young lady, were you here?”

Unlike Charles, who was glad to see her, Emily’s face hardened when she heard him.

“Is my father looking for me again?””

As Charles shook his head, Emily sighed with relief.

“So this is different from the rumors I’ve heard. Why is a noble lady picking carrots?”

Having already revealed her true appearance to Charles, Emily answered honestly with a touch of self-derision.

“It’s fun.”

Charles tilted his head in curiosity.

“Is picking carrots amusing?”

“No, not that. It’s just that these people don’t treat me like a noble lady.”

To Charles’ surprise, an elderly woman in the distance called out to Emily without any concern.

“Emily! Come have some carrot soup later.”

“It tastes awful.”

“Do you want to be hit with a carrot?”

It wasn’t appropriate behavior for a noble lady. Seeing Charles’ shocked expression, Emily burst into laughter.

“Isn’t the way they speak amusing? It’s something you would never hear in high society.”

“Do they know that you’re the daughter of a lord?”

“Yes, they do. But I asked them to treat me casually. I don’t want to make people uncomfortable by unnecessarily emphasizing that I’m the daughter of a lord.”

“…You’re quite unique.”

It was undeniably unique, yet it didn’t seem awkward at all. Charles had always disliked the blurring of boundaries between commoners and nobles, but this was a truly strange situation.

During the few days he spent at the Sinope estate, Emily’s unique charm gradually captivated Charles.

So he decided to ascend to the royal capital and report to the Emperor about the Sinope estate, requesting to be linked with Emily.

Contrary to the Emperor’s concerns, there were no suspicious aspects regarding the Count of Sinope, and the records were exceptionally clean.

Emily had no disqualifications as a potential bride, but the Emperor was in the midst of replacing Lucius’ betrothed with another person.

Hence, Charles believed that there wouldn’t be any major issues in making such a request.

Unfortunately, it turned out to be a different outcome from what the Emperor had intended and only further intensified the wariness towards the Sinope estate.

***

After finishing his recollection, Charles tapped the desk with his finger and called for the butler.

“Bring me a pen and stationery. I need to write an invitation.”

***

Translator note: What is the emperor so wary of? Like if he liked her enough initially to have her as a candidate for crown princess there must have been something significant that made him change his mind? It seems like it’s something Count Sinope did, maybe? What do you all think? I wanna hear your thoughts/theories  in the comments.~Mae

Kofi: https://ko-fi.com/maetranslations