When A Villain Meets A Villain - Chapter 47

Here’s a recap of the nobles for you~

Evita & Sera — both families that are part of the imperial faction. The Evitas are in charge of the imperial faction’s finances. The Seras managed to forge and maintain friendly relations with the Grand Duchy after Lionel’s bloodbath, making them the only Imperial nobleman that was close to Blanc (Ch 11)

Esma Evita — younger sister of Tross, apothecary that made the love potion which was actually made for her crush, Paulo Union, who’s part of the aristocratic faction. (Ch 38)

Tross Evita — Young Count of Evita, genius of the Imperial Academy, sis-con. (Ch 38)

Pietro Sera — brought Atalante along to the grand ducal castle on the Emperor’s orders, got ‘mental training’ from Atalante on the way there. Atalante castrated his father btw. (Ch 3)

Milvia Sera — Pietro’s younger sister, whom Atalante had acted as to enter the grand ducal castle (Ch 3-4). Has the strongest desire to win amongst the imperial faction’s young ladies.

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47. The Goddess of the Night

Time passed unknowingly, and a beautiful evening arrived as the sun set. Those that were favoured by fortune and were celebrating their coming of age along with the Founding Festival gathered at the palace with a mixture of nervousness and excitement.

By the time Esma reached the largest hall of the imperial palace, quite a few people had already settled in their places.

“Young Lady Esma!”

A young lady, who was wearing a similar white formal dress, approached Esma with a smile.

From then on, several other young ladies approached her from all over, like it was proof of Esma’s popularity.

“I’ll be meeting with some of my friends for a while, so please have a good time, Young Lady.”

After letting go of her hand gently, Pietro spoke politely.

Although she could feel Tross’s burning gaze from a distance away, Esma tried her best to ignore it.

“Is that alright?”

“Of course. I’ll return here before the banquet starts.”

The debutante hasn’t begun in earnest, so it was alright to separate from her partner for a moment.

“In that case, gladly. Thank you for your consideration, Young Lord Sera.”

Esma responded politely to his goodwill, before smiling and sharing the joy of becoming an adult with the young ladies she was close with. However, Esma’s green eyes looked for a certain someone the entire time.

‘How will Miss Atalante appear in this place?”’

When she received an item that was delivered by Tross a few days ago, she couldn’t help but be shocked. The item that ended up in her hand was unmistakably the drug bottle containing the love potion.

And a short sentence was written underneath it.

While she was looking for anyone that resembled Atalante in the crowd, she unintentionally found someone else.

That man, Paolo Union.

“I just spotted a few young ladies from the aristocratic faction wearing sky blue dresses.”

“Is that so? It’s doubtlessly customary to wear white clothes to the debutante, but it appears that they want to stand out in any way.”

“I suppose, all the young ladies look beautiful! It also conforms to the customs. Come to think of it, I was so upset that Madam Delica didn’t accept any orders this time.”

“Yeah, but apparently… The reason Madam Delica didn’t take any orders this time round wasn’t due to her chronic illness, but because a young lady from the aristocratic faction had ordered too much, causing her to collapse from overwork.”

“Goodness, how shocking! If the rumour was true, then it really is terrible.”

As usual, they started gossiping in secret when a few people had gathered.

Rather than just purely gossiping, it was more accurate to say that they undermined each other according to their factions.

Knowing that they were spitting in her face, Esma tried her best to change the subject naturally.

“More than that, I heard that the Grand Duchess of Blanc will be coming to today’s debutante!”

“Ahh, we’ll finally know the identity of the candidate for Grand Duchess.”

“She isn’t amongst the young ladies that we know, right? Whether it’s the imperial faction or the aristocratic faction, I’ve checked all the young ladies that will become of age this year, but I still can’t identify them. Who in the world is she?”

“Perhaps… it isn’t a young lady. Rumours about the grand duke’s unique tastes haven’t been floating around for a day or two.”

A young lady whispered while covering her mouth with a fan, like she felt uncomfortable talking about it.

While the faces of those that were gathered turned red, everyone has heard at least once about the rumours regarding the grand duke’s unique tastes, so they didn’t know how to refute it.

Additionally, it wasn’t the Grand Duke of Blanc’s first or second time acting arbitrarily in defiance of customs and regulations. Honestly, it wouldn’t be odd if he did anything.

“Still, don’t you think it’s very romantic? The fact that the frightful Grand Duke of Blanc came to the capital in search of his loved one.”

And he managed to find his lover in the end.

As Esma spoke with a dreamy voice, she was the only one to side with the Grand Duke.

Her innocent appearance caused the other young ladies to close their mouths quietly instead of continuing to gossip.

“Yeah… but I feel sorry for that person that caught the Grand Duke’s fancy. Though I don’t know who she is, she’s quite pitiful.”

“What do you mean, pitiful? There’ll only be a few amongst us that will marry out of true love.”

Esma, who was always sympathetic to the opinions of others, was a little firm today.

Most aristocrats would marry according to the merits and drawbacks of their families.

Esma’s parents were the same, and so will her brother, her friends before her, and herself.

‘If only I had the power and courage to find a companion for myself…like the Grand Duke of Blanc.’

There’s nothing else she would want for if only she could convey these feelings of hers.

Just as that thought crossed her mind, she spotted a face that she had been looking for a distance away.

It was well-built man with black hair with a hint of blue hue and neat gray eyes

‘…Young Lord Union.’

Before turning to the aristocratic faction, the County of Union, who was called as the Shield of the Empire, possessed numerous secret swordsmanship techniques.

Like it was evidence of his own descent, Paulo Union was the only one in the hall wearing a long sword that didn’t match his attire.

Paulo might have noted Esma’s gaze from afar, as his head slowly turned towards her.

Just as she thought she was about to face his indifferent gaze, the servant standing at the entrance of the hall announced someone’s entrance with a trembling voice.

“H—His Highness, the Grand Duke of Blanc has arrived!”

For a moment, the large banquet hall was as silent as death.

Countless people have arrived up till now, but the large banquet hall has never been so quiet. It probably wouldn’t be this quiet, even if the emperor made his appearance.

The gazes of everyone were fixed at the banquet hall’s entrance, and not long after, the grand duke of Blanc’s brilliant silver hair appeared.

He was dressed in a black uniform, which didn’t suit a debutante in the slightest.

What’s with that black colour? The young ladies wearing sky blue dresses from the aristocratic faction brought the most troublesome of consequences. The young lady that spoke ill of them could only pray earnestly that the words she uttered wouldn’t enter the grand duke’s ears.

A beautiful silhouette appeared behind him, and the grand duke bent down and held her hand like it was natural of him to do so.

Everyone looked at the future grand duchess candidate with bated breath. They approached the center of the banquet hall with graceful steps.

With every of her movements, the tiny diamond powder that was dusted over her waist-length crimson hair twinkled dazzlingly.

The woman’s dress was much more unconventional than the grand duke’s attire.

It was purple, no, perhaps deep blue, and occasionally black coloured, depending on the angle of light.

The colour of the dress wasn’t the only problem. With each step she took, the sides of her alluring dress seemed to split open strangely. Though her skin wasn’t exposed at all, it had a semblance of obscurity, and despite that, there wasn’t any frivolous feeling.

While the thought that they might have been mistaken about the party venue crossed some of their minds, the nobles present at the banquet hall were so overwhelmed by her beauty that they even forgot to think sharply and looked at her.

The goddess of the night.

The thoughts of the nobles that faced the woman standing next to the Grand Duke could basically be categorised with those five words.

‘Which family is that girl from? Is she not an imperial citizen?’

It was their first time hearing that such a beautiful and elegant young lady existed.

Just as they admired her elegant figure, the faces of the nobles that saw her back became noticeably distorted. At the same time, the eyes of a few individuals that recognised her widened immeasurably.

Amongst them, the reactions of Pietro, Esma, and Tross were the most noticeable.

Pietro’s face turned red and stiffened in place, while Esma covered her gaping mouth with a small hand. Tross… he rubbed his eyes several times.

‘T—that woman clearly was…’

Crimson hair and purple eyes, a slender figure and a large rose tattoo on her back.

The women before them matched the description on the wanted poster, which all imperial citizens would have seen at least once, perfectly.

“The villain, Atalante!”

Along with someone’s scream, the previous silence was broken like it was a lie.

Atalante wasn’t just a normal villain, but she was also known as an aristocrat hunter. And all the people gathered here are aristocrats… In short, they were her targets.

They avoided the two by backing away towards the wall like they had made a promise, while the guards approached them awkwardly, while pretending that they were about to draw their swords.

The reason why the knights couldn’t draw their swords easily was because of the villain that was standing next to the villain.

“Grand Duke! How could you bring that villain to the debutante?” How dare you, on the Empire’s sacred anniversary…!”

Someone that was courageous tried to raise a protest, but sadly, he was stopped by people around him.

“Relax. What are you going to do if you went against that crazy Grand Duke’s mood?”

Lionel and Atalante looked straight ahead, ignoring the astonished gazes.

It was an arrogant and lofty appearance, as if asking, “Did a dog just bark?”

After a brief silence, the bugle sounded to announce the emperor’s arrival. The only person that could resolve this absurd situation that was occurring for the first time in history has arrived.

The emperor didn’t appear from the banquet hall’s entrance, but from a higher floor that overlooked the banquet hall.

After sitting on his throne with a look of boredom, Emperor Kaiser then looked at those that were waiting for me.

“Hmm? Why is the atmosphere so stiff on such a happy day?”

And soon after, the emperor managed to realise the reason for the frozen atmosphere.

Everyone else was bowing to him, so the man and woman that were the only ones that remained upright entered his gaze.

“It feels like yesterday when you just came of age, but now the Grand Duke of Blanc, who is all grown-up, is attending the debutante this year with a partner. And next to you is…”

With an interested gaze, the emperor looked at the face of the woman that was standing next to Lionel, before his gaze turned ablaze.

How was it that the woman that he couldn’t find after combing through the entire empire was here, right in front of his eyes?

A strange smile appeared on the emperor’s face, which had been frowning as he tried to grasp the situation.

‘It seems like you’ve finally had the thought of looking good to me? Lionel Blanc.’

The emperor slowly opened his mouth to praise the youthful grand duke that had personally brought the villain and was awaiting his orders.

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