When A Villain Meets A Villain - Chapter 44

44. An escape in the middle of the night

Meanwhile, after listening to the words Paul, who had visited her in secret, said, she couldn’t help but ask back at him with a dumbfounded look.

“A man who is kind, generous, and knows how to be magnanimous?”

“Please, be quiet!”

As he didn’t know when and where Lionel would appear, Paul observed his surroundings while on tenterhooks.

As Atalante looked at him doubtfully, she soon folded her arms and responded flatly.

“It’s not my cup of tea at all.”

Though in the first place, she didn’t have a preference in a type of man.

She had just finished speaking, and Paul bowed down with a pale countenance, as if he had just heard his death sentence being announced.

“Can’t you just pretend that’s the case? At least in front of His Highness the Grand Duke!”

He seemed to have eaten something wrong today. From how he looked for her first, which was unlike him, and even pressuring her to have a strange preference in men.

Kindness, generosity, magnanimity.

All of these words just happened to express the opposite of Lionel’s personality. Unable to grasp Paul’s intentions, Atalante could only stare at him doubtfully.

“Explain what’s going on in a way that I can comprehend.”

“That’s, it’s a little complicated, so to speak…”

After averting his eyes for a while, Paul soon made up his mind and explained what had just occurred in detail.

As he continued to speak, Atalante’s originally bleak expression turned even more frigid.

After he finished explaining, Paul looked at her with an expression that was hoping for her understanding.

Of course, he didn’t hear the response he wanted from Atalante.

“Who are you to sell me out without my consent?”

“What do you mean by selling you out, why are you saying it like that? It was an unforeseen circumstance!”

Paul started, and his eyes became filled with desperation, as if he was about to die of aggrievance instantly.

“If it weren’t for me, someone could have died today!”

At those words, Atalante nodded slowly.

She was reminded of the fact that the guy that fell for her was a madman.

‘In conclusion, the clown that Lionel had captured is Esma’s older brother?’

Rumour has it that he’s one of the most talented men in the history of the Imperial Academy, but why did he have to harm himself and blackmail others in the front gate of the mad grand duke.

‘He might have gone crazy because he studied too much.’

After reaching a plausible conclusion, Atalaten turned her gaze to the pitiful Paul and opened her mouth.

“Alright, I’ll do you a favour. Let’s just say that I like a man who is kind, generous, and knows how to be magnanimous for the time being.”

“You…!”

Paul, who was emotional while admiring that the villain possessed minimal humanity, couldn’t help but click his tongue at her following words.

“Oh, you aren’t going to ask me to do this favour for free , are you?”

“I knew it. What was I expecting from a villain…”

“What are you mumbling about?”

Yeah, it’s easier for him to not have any expectations. From his master, and the woman he was enamoured with.

Paul let out a deep sigh, and raised a resigned gaze and asked.

“What is it that you want?”

After managing to gain a good hand while seated, Atalante’s lips drew into a pretty curve.

“I’d like to meet that Young Count.”

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“Wow, he’s still crying.”

“I’ve heard that studying was a butt fight, but it seems that his stamina was really good.”

[T/N: ‘butt fight’ meaning sitting down at the desk to study all day long.]

“No, he’s the one that did something crazy first, so I don’t get why he’s behaving like that.”

The knights that were guarding the guest room were tongue-tied by intermittent sounds of weeping that were coming from within the room.

Tired of catching the struggling Tross, the knights just tied him to the bed.

It was obviously done after obtaining permission from the Grand Duke, as a single knight couldn’t restrain an aristocrat.

“I’ve already contacted Count Evita, so there wouldn’t be anyone that will be looking for him for a while. Keep an eye on him so that he doesn’t run away.”

It doesn’t matter what methods you use, as long as he’s breathing.

The coldly added words lingered by their ears still.

Honestly, the man that was trapped inside was slightly pitiful, but they had an obligation to guard the door.

Just as the two knights adjusted their posture, the lord chamberlain, Paul, approached them while holding drinks.

“Is the Young Count in there?”

“Yes, he’s still crying in there.”

“I see. The knights have worked hard. I heard that the chef prepared a late-night snack, so let’s go and eat it.”

It was a suggestion that caused their eyes to light up, but they shook their heads with disappointed faces.

“Our necks will fly if the Young Count escapes. Unfortunately, when there’s a chance next time…….”

“I’ll stand guard for a while, so go and come back comfortably.”

“But how can we let the lord chamberlain remain by himself…”

“I’ll take full responsibility if the Young Count escapes, so have a great time without worries.”

As he said that, Paul had a very trustworthy face.

His build was surprisingly sturdy, so they thought that it would probably be fine if they left their positions for a short moment.

At the same time, there was a rumbling sound from one of the knight’s stomachs, and unable to resist the temptation, they pledged to return quickly and headed to the kitchen.

“…That’s enough, right?”

After confirming that the two had left, Paul let out a deep sigh as he looked at the opposite side.

“You did a great job. Should I say that you’re quite skillful at acting?”

“If His Highness finds out that you were with two other men, a catastrophe will occur. Come back quickly.”

Paul opened the door personally and spoke with an urgent expression.

He wanted to ask her why she wanted to meet Tross, but when has that woman acted within the bounds of common sense?

Instead of replying, Atalante gave a leisurely smile and entered the room through the gap of the opened door, and Paul let out another heavy sigh after closing the door and cursing his fate,

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“Essiii.”

Even though his eyes were greatly swollen from crying too much, Tross didn’t stop crying out his younger sister’s name.

“If it’s not a difficult task, do it yourself. Why are you ordering me to do it…?”

He uttered curses towards the emperor, the source of all evil, at the same time, but nothing changed.

“Did something major happen for you to whine like this? How irritating.”

An unfamiliar voice could be heard through the darkness. Unlike the tone and lines that contained irritation, the voice was very refreshing.

He wanted to use the moonlight to identify the face that the voice belonged to, but even that was impossible as all the curtains were drawn.

“Who, who…!”

“You don’t need to know that. You’re Tross Evita, right?”

“Do you think I’ll obediently reply…!”

“So you are him.”

The woman that came to a conclusion without hearing him finish his words approached him unknowingly.

While his vision was dim, he could feel her presence.

“You should have gone to another house if you wanted to do something crazy.”

“Would anyone want to do that? Enough of that, and untie this quickly!”

“Oh my, who are you to give me orders?”

Upon hearing those cool words, Tross couldn’t help but shut his mouth.

While it was a completely different voice, it somehow reminded him of Lionel Blanc.

After ascertaining that he had become docile, the woman asked slowly like she was beating around the bush.

“Do you want to leave this place?”

“O–of course!”

“Fine, I’ll let you leave this place, so do me a favour.”

“A favour?”

The woman must have had decent night vision, as she released the rope that was binding his body in the dark skillfully while continuing to speak.

“Pass this to Esma Evita.”

A small and hard object was placed into Tross’s inner pocket along with her words.

“You’re dead if you lose this.”

A refreshing scent that didn’t match her bloody lines suddenly burrowed into his nose. However, Tross stiffened instead of savouring the scent, as he was a simpleton.

“Wait a moment, do you know our Essi?”

“Yes.”

“No way, a friend?”

“We aren’t friends, but we have quite a close relationship.”

The woman that freed Tross’s body before he knew it tapped on his inside pocket, as if she was reminding him of what he had to do, and whispered.

“There will be a small carriage outside the main gate. Get on it and return back to the Count’s mansion. Don’t forget to pass the thing I gave you to Esma as soon as you’ve arrived.”

“What’s this?”

“A secret present for Esma.”

As the woman added words that were obviously a lie, she pushed him towards the windowsill that was cool due to the night air.

“L—Leave from the window?”

“Of course. The door is being guarded.”

“This is the second floor!”

“It’s only the second floor.”

She opened the curtains and the window immediately, as if she was completely uninterested in Tross’s innermost thoughts.

“You won’t die. You know how to break your fall, right?”

“What’s that…!”

Tross couldn’t even look backwards as he was seized by the scruff of his neck by the woman.

He could only look in horror at the dizzying height.

However, in the midst of that situation, Tross recalled what he was supposed to do.

From the outset, wasn’t his purpose for entering this place was to leave ‘that item’ in the grand duke’s townhouse?

‘How did I enter this place! Since things have come to this and I’ve finished my task, I have to become our Essi’s debutante partner.’

At the thought of his only younger sister’s face, his confidence rose, making him feel as though he could do anything.

The kind of confidence that made him think he could do everything, to throw himself out of the second floor, and to leave that item behind.

After swallowing dryly, Tross reached his hand into his jacket carefully.

The item that the emperor ordered him to leave behind was an unidentifiable marble.

Tross held the red marble, which was a little smaller than his palm, tightly.

‘Is it a magical tool with a surveillance function? The emperor pretends not to be, but it’s obvious that he’s wary of the grand duke.’

He managed to come up with a fairly accurate analysis, even though the corners of his eyes were red as he cried to his heart’s content.

After Tross dropped that by the windowsill soundlessly, he licked his dry lips.

Soon Tross, who dropped it silently under the window, licked his parched lips.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and go down.”

…But still, he didn’t have the courage to jump out of here on his own!

But before he could open his mouth and say, “As expected, this isn’t it,” that woman, Atalante, was a little faster in throwing Tross out.

“Take care.”

After a fairly friendly greeting, Tross did the first bungee jump of his life in the middle of the night.

Without any safety measures.

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