The Villainess Lives Twice

Chapter 289

23. 23. Tsunami

By the time Cedric crossed the western border, Artizea was already going down the Abba River.

Before leaving, Hayley’s objection was unusual.

“I understand your concern for Lysia. I’m worried, too. Lysia is my cousin, and I don’t want to lose anyone close to me any more!”

Having said that, Hayley also kept her mouth shut with a shocked face.

Jordyn’s affairs hadn’t been spoken of with each other since she became Artizea’s subordinate.

Artizea looked at Hayley with a quiet gaze. She looked like she was looking at an inanimate object.

No, she didn’t show her feelings at all, as if she, herself, was an inanimate object.

“I don’t expect you to understand.”

Artizea spoke without a fluctuation. There was no particular coldness in her tone, so it felt even more distant.

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Still, Hayley didn’t back down.

“What can Your Grace do if you go directly?”

She said sternly.

“Send in the knights. Command the Western Army. Your powers are not to be displayed in the field, but to be valuable in this room!”

At those words, Artizea lowered her gaze.

It was miserable. Artizea herself knew best that plotting in a small room was her role and natural talent.

Still, she couldn’t help but say it.

“Didn’t I tell you before? People do something because they cannot help but do it.”

She knows it’s not right, she knows it’s more likely to fail.

Even though she knows she’s not talented and she’s not efficient, she knows that she has other things to cherish just as much.

[“I really hate seeing people around me get hurt. If Lady wants to be with me, you must remember that fact.”]

Cedric said so.

[“When we go together, we will be able to find the right path.”]

Cedric also said,

[“At that time, I had already made up my mind to take responsibility for what you were doing.”]

He had a weary face.

[“Don’t make me lonely anymore.”]

It wasn’t that she didn’t think of him.

She hadn’t forgotten her baby either.

Still, Artizea couldn’t help but go.

Lysia was the one who taught her that a really good person exists.

Before that, Artizea studied ethics and theology, but did not believe it.

Such a thing would be hypocrisy or just an ideology spread by a certain ruler in the past to facilitate domination.

Humans are inherently evil. The world Artizea knew was made up of monsters and beasts.

Artizea wanted to be a monster rather than a beast.

Then she got to know Lysia, and for the first time in her life, she knew what it was like to be human.

She tried to keep it. She wanted to put a roof over it to keep out the rain and block the strong winds.

If Cedric was like a lighthouse in the distance, crashing into the breakwater to destroy it and being unreachable, Lysia was the fertile soil for the most beautiful flowers in the world.

But the soil was easily washed away by heavy rain. As if there was nothing like a roof put on.

Artizea had sworn to protect her. She even promised Cedric.

But she couldn’t keep it.

That must have been the first thing she knew about humanity.

Hayley was right. Cedric said it, too. There wouldn’t be much she could do in the West.

But how can she leave it to others and return to the Capital to see Cedric’s face and smile?

If she couldn’t save her own humanity, she wouldn’t even be able to become a human.

So Artizea ordered without persuading Hayley.

“You stay here and pretend I’m on a pilgrimage to the West.”

“Your Highness…….”

Hayley eventually accepted the order.

She wrote a letter to Freil.

[The public mind in the West is shaking.

There are a lot of people who want to meet the Saintess and receive her gifts, but because of the plague, we prevent them from going to the neighboring village, let alone traveling.

When the Crown Prince led the Knights of Evron in the past to rebuild the Western Army, I was very angry.

I also felt resentment towards the Crown Prince, who graciously compiled such a request.

Since the North is doing the job of the North, the West should take care of the West.

The land is fertile, and the climate is livable. Isn’t it enough to block the monster wave?

Unless the generals of the Western Army leave to the center for power, or become the lord of the castle and just sit and protect their land.

Why should the North bear the burden, and why should the Knights of Evron be sacrificed? I’m sure Sir Freil has had the same thoughts as me.

Oh, and Sir served as the Crown Prince’s lieutenant at that time. If so, you must have known him much earlier than when I opened the map and read the records.

Now that I am here, I think that I was lucky.

If the Crown Prince had not paid attention to the West, even if the Western Army cooperated with quarantine and security, by now, there would have been more than one or two riots.

Even though the castle lords may be protesting internally, they are not hasty to reveal now that the Western Army is exerting influence everywhere because of the plague.

In such a case, it would be a big deal if the monster wave exploded. I’m glad there’s no country beyond the western border.

But I don’t know how long it will last. The West needs more hope than a saint who doesn’t show up.]

Hayley wrote that far and put the pen down.

If he had sat down in front of her, she would have said anything, but was reluctant to leave a letter.

‘Even if I burn it, it will definitely leave some residue in the furnace.’

It must have been summer, so the fire would be extinguished quickly.

Thump, thump.

There was a knock on the door.

“Come in.”

Hayley said, folding the letter in half.

Sophie pushed the door open.

“Hayley, are you busy?”

“No. What’s going on?”

“No……. I was just wondering if there was any other contact.”

On Hayley’s desk were several letters and urgent messages. But none of those things Sophie was curious about.

Hayley made an apologetic look and Sophie smirked.

“I was just curious, so I asked. Sorry.”

“It’s frustrating is it? This is Her Highness’ fault.”

Hayley pouted her lips.

If someone else had shown that attitude towards Artizea, Sophie would have felt sad and angry.

But Hayley was fine.

“Yeah, to be honest, even in my opinion, Madame was so wrong!”

Sophie laughed and said it aloud. Even so, it seemed that her mind would be relieved.

When Artizea left, she left with only Alice.

This was partly to hide her own absence as much as possible, and partly because she didn’t need Sophie to manage her wardrobe.

“Don’t worry too much. You probably know Her Highness, don’t you? She probably knows that everything is dangerous.”

Hayley said softly.

And she glanced at the letter lying on the desk. She knew, but did not believe it.

She hoped that there would be no sacrifices over this.

＊＊＊

Artizea’s carriage passed by the largest and most prosperous city near the Abba River.

Inside the carriage, Alice asked curiously,

“Aren’t you going to enter the city of Kader?”

In Alice’s opinion, the city of Kader was the most important part of the neighborhood.

In fact, it was not an exaggeration to say that there was no place for Artizea to stay except for the city of Kader.

Most of the land in the Abba River basin was low and fertile.

The arable land was large, while rivers frequently overflowed. Because of this, cities have not been formed since ancient times, and small towns have been scattered here and there.

As technology developed, the number of floods decreased. However, the city did not develop rapidly.

It was because a small farm village leaning on the river was enough to live on.

‘The city of Kader is the most developed among them.’

The city of Kader was a city that developed as a warehouse center. All nearby grains are gathered in the city of Kader and transported to other areas by water transport.

Artizea had no intention of going there.

If the purpose was to collect rumors, of course, they would have entered.

But not now. Now, Artizea was going to go up to a high area.

A location where she can overlook the whole Abba River at a glance.

They could see dust rising from a distance.

“Mountain bandits!”

One of the escorts shouted.

The carriage stopped. Artizea sat there quietly.

There was no city and small farm villages were scattered here and there, so it was a perfect area for mountain bandits to run rampant.

“It’s not a big deal. When everyone saw the knights, they avoided it.”

Artizea’s escorts numbered 100. They were rural knights. It was because Hayley did not yield on this alone.

At most, it was not a target that a dozen bandits could dare to attack.

As expected, the dust stopped. Only one horse frantically approached the knights.

“On guard!”

At Sir Owen’s order, ten knights in the line aimed their guns.

The bandit wandered and then turned. Only one horse that had been running away from them came to Artizea’s procession.

It was a young woman in a suit covered in dust.

“Stop there.”

Owen stopped the woman halfway. The woman gasped as she rolled off her horse. She seemed out of energy.

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One of the knights hastily grabbed her. The woman pleaded as she grabbed the knight’s arm.

“Are you from the Western Army?”

“Yes.”

The knight was a Northerner, but he answered falsely. This was in order not to reveal Artizea’s identity.

The woman shed tears. The knight was perplexed.

Owen approached Artizea’s carriage. He was going to ask if it would be okay to take a break to take care of the woman who was being chased by the bandits.

Artizea had already opened the carriage door.

She couldn’t hide her surprise. Artizea screamed with a more startled face than when Alphonse’s body was returned.

“Venia!”

The woman raised her head in surprise.