I Accidentally Kidnapped The Ultimate Villain – Chapter 52

Ch 52

Aria, without realizing it, hid the note given to her by Killian’s page inside her glove.

“That necklace and ring, it’s as if they’ve found their owner.”

“Thank you…”

Aria knew that the Emperor was emphasizing the Late Empress’s necklace and ring.

“Oh my, Your Majesty. You must give us a chance to greet her as well.”

The Empress, with her son Prince Leventis, was approaching the Emperor and Duke Dolorein. The Emperor frowned coldly, then put on an artificial smile and looked at the Empress.

Aria felt tense, somehow sensing that the Empress was not an easy person to deal with.

“Greetings to Your Majesty, the Empress.”

“Oh my, Dolorein Princess.”

The Empress never liked Aria Dolorein, who was suspected of setting fire to her Saga. Moreover, she was even more displeased that Aria would eventually get engaged to Lionell, who was always an eyesore.

“Have you been behaving yourself lately?”

“Yes.”

“You mustn’t set fire to my newly built Saga this time.”

“Hahaha. That’s a rather unfunny joke. It seems that Mother has gotten quite old.”

Lionell answered instead. He vaguely knew that Aria was not as poisonous as before, and he disliked even the Empress approaching her.

“Berthin. You’re still relying on Mother a lot.”

That was a roundabout way of saying, “You’re still a mama’s boy.” It was already a widespread rumor in the Imperial Palace that Prince Berthin was the Empress’s puppet.

“Yes. I have my own mother, after all.”

Berthin, pretending to be innocent, scorned Lionell for his mother’s passing.

“How well our Neil has grown. It’s as if he only resembles my good qualities, wouldn’t you say?”

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

The Empress covered her mouth with her fan, glanced at Lionell once, then looked at the Emperor and removed her fan. Then, she smiled and looked at Aria. She found it odd that Aria Dolorein hadn’t said a single word.

“By the way, Dolorein Princess.”

“Yes.”

“I heard that you recently invited a night visitor to your house. Is that true?”

“What do you mean by a night visitor? A thief?”

Aria asked, not understanding.

The Empress felt insulted by her question.

“Oh my, are you really asking because you don’t know?”

“Yes. Our mansion hasn’t had any thieves lately. Of course, there’s no reason to invite a thief either. Isn’t that right, Father?”

“That’s right. It seems Your Majesty, the Empress, is still keeping people who only please her ears close by.”

“Huhu. Empress, you’re getting swept up in such rumors again. Maintain your dignity.”

“……Yes, Your Majesty.”

The Empress was smiling on the outside, but she felt that Aria, who was insulting her, was detestable.

The Emperor was tired of this conversation. The Empress was like a fox, smiling and being affectionate in front of him, but he knew that she was trying to kill his most beloved son, and that she was manipulating the ministers to put the unqualified Second Imperial Prince on the throne.

He wanted to test Aria because of that.

“What do you think, my new daughter-in-law?”

“What do you mean?”

“It seems the thief the Empress is talking about isn’t a normal thief.”

Aria thought for a moment before answering.

“My father is a minister of this empire. So, if that thief isn’t a thief who infiltrated the Dolorein Estate, then I think she might be referring to someone who is receiving a salary from the country but not fulfilling their duties.”

“Puhahahaha!”

Lionell suddenly burst into laughter. Aria had tried her best to think through her words while pretending not to be nervous, but she couldn’t understand why he was laughing like that.

The Emperor was the same. He turned his head away for a moment and laughed, and Duke Dolorein was looking at his daughter with pride.

Aria was very confused and looked at the Empress. The Empress broke the fan she was holding in half and was forcing a smile.

“That’s a wise answer.”

“Ah… Thank you.”

“Mother. I have a bit of a headache.”

Prince Leventis spoke to the Empress to defuse the situation. Then, the Empress quickly hid her frustrated expression and said with a relaxed smile.

“I will go and have the prince’s condition checked by a doctor.”

“Go ahead, Empress.”

She said that, glared sharply at Aria, and then turned her back.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Hahaha… Hahahahahaha. Ah… my stomach really hurts.”

Lionell felt like he was going to die from laughing. His stomach felt like it was going to burst, but because Aria was looking at him with an innocent face, he almost hugged her because she was so lovely.

“It’s well known that the Empress’s Saga is involved in selling positions.”

“Ah…!”

Only then did Aria realize what mistake she had made. The Empress was someone who had made many mistakes by putting her incompetent relatives in high positions to increase her insignificant power. It was as if Aria had directly pointed that out.

“Oh my goodness…”

“Our new daughter-in-law. I really don’t have to worry about you.”

“Ah… You flatter me too much…”

Aria felt like the world was spinning. She was so resentful of herself for making such a mistake.

She had tried to answer cleverly, but she had only angered the Empress.

“Today is truly the best night.”

The Emperor said that to Duke Dolorein with a smile. Then, Duke Dolorein also smiled.

Aria felt very drained from this situation and wanted to escape.

“Excuse me, but may I go and fix my hair?”

“You’re beautiful even now?”

“My stray hairs are sticking out a lot.”

“You’re beautiful no matter what your hair looks like. Maybe this hairstyle will be in fashion in the capital starting tomorrow.”

“Still.”

Aria grabbed Lionell’s sleeve as if asking for a favor. Then, Lionell looked at Aria with a flushed face.

“Go ahead.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty!”

Aria answered quickly as if the Emperor might retract his words, and then let go of Lionell’s arm. Then, Lionell, who had reflexively grabbed her hand, seemed flustered as well.

“Do you have to come back quickly?”

“Yes.”

“As quickly as possible.”

He felt like a child whining because he didn’t want to be separated from Aria.

Aria headed to the powder room without looking back.

“Hoo…”

When she entered the powder room, all the young ladies inside were startled and greeted her.

“Hello, Dolorein Princess!”

“Hello, Princess!”

“We’ll be leaving now!”

It just so happened that Aria had headed to the powder room used by the Noble Faction.

“What is this…?”

She was confused. All the young ladies were greeting her and quickly leaving, and she felt like she was being ostracized even though she had done nothing wrong.

She was brushing her hair when she found the note she had put inside her glove.

She knew that the person who gave her the note was Killian’s page. Because he was the person who had been with Killian in the back when he entered.

Aria slowly unfolded the note.

『I will be waiting on the highest floor.

If you don’t come, I will report what happened with Aria to His Highness.』

The sender was not written. But Aria was sure that this handwriting was Killian’s. It was also given by his page.

She somehow didn’t want to go.

Out of frustration, she glanced at the mirror. In the mirror, a dazzling beauty was elegantly adorned with her hair up.

But if she didn’t go, Killian would really tell Lionell.

Then what would happen?

Then the Noble Faction would land a huge blow on the Imperial Faction. They would have kidnapped Duke Loenbert, who was practically the leader of the Noble Faction, causing him great humiliation, and they would even say that they slept in the same room without being married.

The Dolorein Princess would be finished in high society, and she wouldn’t be able to end things well with Lionell.

Aria began to realize that she had been too lenient with Killian while spending time with him.

Killian was that kind of person. He would take advantage of other people’s weaknesses and use them easily.

Even if he had been kidnapped and lost his memories, there was a line that he should have kept.

Aria regretted forgetting that because of his pure appearance. At that time, she hadn’t been possessed for long either, so she didn’t know much…

Aria thought that she couldn’t help it even while regretting it, and she clenched the paper tightly. Then, she looked in the mirror and fixed her hair and clothes.

“Hoo…”

She couldn’t avoid what had already happened. Then, she had no choice but to go.

Aria thought that if he had come to see her as the Divine Beast had said, then she might be able to clear up the misunderstanding.

With that expectation, she left the powder room and checked on the Emperor and Lionell. The two of them were having a good time talking with the other ministers and Duke Dolorein.

In another corner, the Empress and the Noble Faction were talking about something.

Aria thought that this was her chance and went outside the banquet hall. Then, she went to the stairs on the right end.

Aria regretted wearing such high heels today, but with a sense of resignation, she climbed the stairs.

Eventually, she reached the attic, panting after climbing so many stairs, and saw a familiar back.

“Duke Loenbert.”

He looked at her and said with a cold smile.

“I have been waiting, Princess.”