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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Mod7
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Sleep wouldn’t come.
It couldn’t.
Elizabetta stared at Edanant lying beside her, her eyes filled with nervous anticipation.
–Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
Her heart pounded like a drum, threatening to burst from her chest.
‘What if he hears it?’
Edanant was a superhuman, his senses far beyond those of ordinary mortals. He would undoubtedly hear the frantic beating of her heart, loud as a woodpecker against a tree trunk. She tried to suppress her racing pulse, willing her heart to calm down.
“Can’t sleep?”
“W-Well, yes…! I had too much tea!”
A comfortable silence settled over the bedroom.
Only the soft snores of the little Luinong could be heard.
Elizabetta tossed and turned, restlessly shifting under the covers. Then, Edanant’s voice, low and teasing, broke the silence.
“It must be your first time sleeping with a man. Or have you perhaps… shared a bed with someone before?”
“Of course not! Do you… Do you think I’m some kind of loose woman?!”
The notorious villainess, known for her stubbornness and hot temper, could hardly have a secret history of romantic escapades.
A faint smile touched Edanant’s lips at her indignant outburst.
“Of course not. I simply assumed you were… well, a divorcee whose engagement was broken off right before the wedding.”
“Eek!!”
Without a shred of hesitation, he had struck a nerve.
Elizabetta threw back the covers and kicked Edanant with her long, slender legs.
–Thwack!
–Thwack!
The rhythmic thud of her kicks against the blankets echoed through the room. The bed shook violently, disturbing Rue’s slumber. She frowned in her sleep. Meanwhile, Edanant burst into laughter, unfazed by the attack.
The tense and awkward atmosphere had been instantly replaced by playful banter.
Elizabetta, finally tiring of her assault, pulled the covers back over herself, her face hidden. The mischievous joke had clearly hit its mark.
“I apologize. It was just a jest.”
“Shut up!”
“Would I ever seriously slander the Empire’s most beautiful woman, renowned throughout the land? Your Highness’s beauty rivals the radiant sun and the gentle full moon.”
“Ahem…! Y-You’re quite knowledgeable!”
Elizabetta was just like her older sister, Ludmilla.
She disliked flattery.
And she abhorred empty compliments.
But she couldn’t help but be pleased by a man’s genuine praise of her beauty. As Edanant continued to shower her with compliments, weaving flowery phrases into his words, Elizabetta, half-hidden beneath the covers, couldn’t suppress a giggle.
“It seems you’re finally relaxed.”
“I-I wasn’t tense in the first place!”
Perhaps worried that he had seen her giddy reaction, Elizabetta stammered, correcting him.
Fortunately, he hadn’t.
The soft glow of the lamp on the desk was the only source of light in the darkened room.
Finally at ease, Elizabetta turned towards Edanant. She hugged the fluffy pillow, a mischievous smile playing on her lips. She looked incredibly cute.
“So, Edanant… what do you like about my sister?”
“Hmm… Let’s see. At first, I was captivated by her gallant demeanor and unwavering dedication. I gradually fell deeper under her spell, until… Well, now she’s the only woman I see.”
“But you like the Saintess too.”
“I have many ideal types.”
His voice was confident, unwavering.
To so casually admit to having multiple romantic interests…
‘What if my sister hears this?’
Elizabetta sighed at his brazen response, a faint smile touching her lips.
His answer gave her a sliver of hope.
It meant that she, too, had a chance.
A renewed sense of determination filled her as she gazed at Edanant. Bathed in the soft glow of the lamplight, he looked incredibly handsome.
“Mmm…!”
Edanant reached out and gently stroked Elizabetta’s hair.
His touch was tender, as if soothing a restless child.
A warmth spread through her as he continued to caress her hair. Her eyelids grew heavy, and a pleasant drowsiness washed over her.
“Edanant… you’re going to marry my sister next spring, aren’t you?”
“I suppose so.”
“Yes… You and my sister truly love each other… I know this. And I truly want you two to… find happiness together.”
“Thank you.”
Was it the encroaching drowsiness?
Or the comforting warmth of his touch?
Elizabetta blinked sleepily, her voice soft as she confessed the feelings she had kept hidden for so long.
“But… strangely… whenever I see you and my sister together… my heart aches.”
“…”
“I’m happy for you, but it hurts. Isn’t that strange? I should be happy, but… there’s this… emptiness in my chest. I don’t know what to do.”
A tangled knot of emotions, a suppressed sorrow she had carried for so long.
Edanant, sensing her pain, let out a heavy sigh. He lowered his hand from her hair and gently caressed her cheek.
Her eyes fluttered closed.
Elizabetta, bathed in the warmth of his touch, drifted off to sleep.
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A caress against her cheek.
A soft pillow and comfortable sheets.
And the faint, familiar scent of gunpowder.
Elizabetta, enveloped in a blissful sense of comfort, surrendered to sleep.
.
.
.
A crimson expanse stretched before her.
Elizabetta instantly recognized it as a dreamscape.
This couldn’t be reality.
She had entered a realm seemingly designed to manifest her worst nightmares.
‘What… What is this?’
A vast pool of blood, like a crimson lake, filled her vision.
Countless skulls floated on the surface, half-submerged in the gruesome liquid.
Butterflies fluttered through the air.
They danced above the blood-soaked lake, as if reveling in the nauseating stench.
Was this what hell looked like?
It was more than a simple nightmare.
This was the abyss.
Drawn into this horrific realm by a powerful magic, Elizabetta desperately tried to wake up.
‘I can’t… I can’t move…’
But it was no use.
Her desperate attempts to escape were futile, her will trapped within the confines of the dream.
As if mocking her struggle, butterflies, their wings stained crimson and black, fluttered around her. Elizabetta raised a trembling hand, and a crimson butterfly landed gently on her palm.
–Rustle.
Then, as if entranced, she stepped into the pool of blood.
And, following the fluttering butterflies, she waded deeper into the crimson lake.
‘A person?’
After what seemed like an eternity,
She saw a slender figure sitting at the edge of the pool.
Long, golden hair, half-submerged in the blood.
Delicate shoulders and a curvaceous figure.
Dressed in a black evening gown, like a grieving widow. The contrast between her pale skin and the dark dress was striking. Elizabetta continued towards the figure, her steps slow and hesitant.
‘……!’
She stumbled.
She had seen the figure’s face.
-Welcome to my garden, beautiful maiden.
Skin as pale as moonlight.
Eyes that glowed like embers.
And an aura of chilling coldness that threatened to freeze her soul.
Death, mirroring the beautiful villainess’s form, had made contact through the dream.
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Elizabetta was jolted awake by the sound of a child’s cries and an angry voice.
It was Rue and Edanant.
So energetic, even this early in the morning.
The villainess, her golden hair disheveled, yawned languidly and sat up in bed.
“I told you to go to the bathroom! Now you’ve drawn a world map with your pee!”
“Sob…! Sob! B-But…!”
“Go next door and ask for some salt!”
“Waaaaah!”
A clothesline strung across the room held a damp blanket and bedsheet.
The evidence was clear.
Elizabetta, seeing the replaced bedding, quickly scrambled out of bed. She anxiously checked her pajamas, worried that Rue’s… ‘lemonade’ might have stained them.
“Rue drew a map on the bedsheets!”
“Nuh-uh! Zururu Luinong graduated from bedwetting ages ago!”
The commotion had drawn a small crowd of Luinongs. They held hands and danced around the clothesline, their chanting intensifying Rue’s cries.
She must have been too scared to go to the bathroom after hearing the ghost stories last night.
Elizabetta sighed and looked at Edanant and Rue.
‘That was… a strange dream. The details are hazy. Did Edanant dump me, claiming he didn’t want a “used” woman?! Unforgivable! Even in a dream, that’s unforgivable!’
The villainess, glancing out the window, stood up.
She would mediate the quarrel between her pretend husband and pretend daughter.
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That dreamscape scene is what’s illustrated on the cover.
