The Villainess Lives Twice

Chapter 228

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Proofreader: somnium

Garnet entered the Imperial Palace with an upright posture.

Her resolve was firm.
But inside the carriage, it seemed like she was about to cry.

However, unexpectedly, she was able to walk resolutely when she got off in front of the Imperial Palace.
She walked without compromising her long-trained elegance.

The old nobles who had gathered opened the way.

“Your Grace.”

“Why did you come to this place?”

Several nobles who were close to her asked her with a concerned face.

This was no place for Garnet to appear.

Even those who did not have the idea that she should take refuge in the East to shape the future, agreed with it.

Rather, she could have given the Emperor only weakness.

She was something to be protected.
Both in a symbolic sense and practically.

But Garnet raised her pale face straight up and said,

“I have something to tell you.”

Her voice went straight through the crowd.

 

All those who mumbled their worries or complaints and talked about why Garnet was here shut their mouth and listened.

“Thank you for coming all the way here for my husband and sharing this difficult moment with me.
Although I came here as a sinner…….”

Garnet took a deep breath and said,

“Roygar will fulfill his responsibilities.
So, as you have always done, please take care of my husband and children.”

Garnet lowered her head.

She had little experience in speaking.
So, she said as honestly as she could.

If this really could end with one person punished, these are the people who will continue to be her husband’s strength.

If even her husband cannot escape the punishment, their family will support the children in the future.

They may run away or betray, but these are the people who did not.
So, Garnet trusted them to the extent that it was naive.

A small commotion spread.
She was Garnet, the daughter of Marquis Luden and with the status of Grand Duchess Roygar.

The only people she could bow her head to to greet were the Emperor and Empress.
There was no need to be so polite with, even to her parents.

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Garnet raised her head and moved her steps.

People gave way.
Without hesitation, Garnet headed to the Imperial Palace.

After her, she was followed by several nobility.
It meant that they would be with her until the day they died.

It was enough to show their intentions just to have the heads of each family gather and walk behind Grand Duchess Roygar.

 

And it will be a pressure on the Emperor.

Garnet said she came as a sinner.
However, even if she came to ask for forgiveness, this collective action was meaningful.

Those who realized it followed again.

Until a while ago, they were going to claim this was a conspiracy.

The Emperor has yet to present any evidence.
They thought there must be no real evidence.

So, they didn’t want to back down until they investigated Ian Camellia and his background.

If it’s true that Grand Duchess Evron is really behind it, then from then on, this will become a political affair, not a treason.

But with the arrival of Garnet, things changed.

People thought she had come to beg for life.
So, she was going to appeal the injustice on the spot.

Garnet entered the main palace unhindered.

The Imperial Palace’s security was carried out according to the wartime standards, so this made no sense.

Garnet didn’t find it strange.
This was because she was naturally Grand Duchess Roygar, and there were no restrictions on her access to the Imperial Palace.

In front of the audience room, Garnet met someone blocking her way for the first time.

It was Cedric.

Garnet looked up at his face in surprise.

“Go back, Aunt.”

Cedric said in a low voice.

“What rudeness is this?”

Viscount Hamelton, who had been following right behind her, stepped forward and made a big fuss.
It was as if he was trying to protect Garnet.

“Even though you belong to the same status of Grand Duke, there is a difference in quality, Grand Duke Evron.”

“Looking like this, you are finally showing your ambition.”

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Viscount Hamelton’s words were followed by accusations from behind.

Cedric didn’t listen to the accusation at all.
Instead, he spoke in a soft voice so that Garnet was not afraid.

“You must not go in, Aunt.”

“It has nothing to do with Grand Duchy Evron.”

Garnet said, contorting her face as if she was crying.

She had little contact with Cedric.
Even if they met and greeted each other at an official event, it was at best a few ceremonial greetings.

When Artizea returned from their honeymoon, she thought this time she was going to have a real kinly relationship.

Even when she found out Artizea was pregnant, she thought so.
Their children will become cousins, and she still has few relatives that are close to Artizea‘s age, so she wants to interact like siblings.

A lot of things happened over and over again, and she couldn’t even step up, but even at this moment, she still thought the same.

But Cedric spoke like an older brother.

“I know that it was a decision with a sincere heart.
But it’s not Aunt’s responsibility.”

“Isn’t it right that the person who did it bears the responsibility?”

“It is right, but…….
Acting with the right heart doesn’t always produce the right results.”

“…….”

“Now that Aunt is acting like this, you are only creating the situation His Majesty wants.”

Cedric said so.

[“His Majesty’s unresponsiveness is probably in order to save Grand Duke Roygar.”]

Artizea said,

[“Some people seem to think that His Majesty has not presented it until now because there is no real evidence, and is trying to capture those involved in the agreement to obtain a confession.”]

It would be ridiculous for them to point it out behind Ian, Artizea laughed in vain.

If they had accused him of conspiracy, he would have to forge an evidence so sophisticatedly that he would never be caught as a fraud.

Or maybe he has created a situation that is so heartbreaking that the Emperor wants to forge it for him.

[“The evidence is related to the Grand Duchess.
It would have been impossible for Skyla to steal important evidence from the surroundings of Grand Duke Roygar.”]

[“It means she’s trying to make her aunt a scapegoat.”]

If so, he can claim that it was a mistake made arbitrarily even if it is a big enough mistake to conclude it as treason. 

He could get a good cause to spare Grand Duke Roygar.

It is also possible to eliminate the imperial family that followed the lineage of the Eastern nobility.

The power struggle of the Empire eventually ensues over the position of the Emperor.

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Eastern nobles lose their way of claiming legitimacy by losing the imperial blood.

[“It could also have the side effect of splitting the forces of Grand Duke Roygar and the Eastern nobility.
His Majesty will have the opportunity to touch Grand Duke Roygar’s weakness and the East.”]

The resentment will be directed at Grand Duke Roygar.
The Emperor could present him as a shield or as a cause.

[“Do you think so, too?”]

[“I am not a person who decides whether or not to judge.”]

Artizea said so in a quiet voice.

[“The purpose is to borrow His Majesty’s hand to clear the East before Lord Cedric ascends to the throne, or to create a possibility for that.
It doesn’t mean that Grand Duchess Roygar must be sacrificed.”]

Artizea said,

[“Do what you think is right.”]

So Cedric stood here.

He hoped that Garnet would not be forced to be sacrificed because of the Emperor’s intended political situation.

He wanted to show that what they thought was right did not always turn out to be right.

Even if they acted as they should, it could have just been the result of the conspirators moving the strings.

Krates’ political world is a world of one-eyed monsters.
Garnet should have known that.

“The facts are not always the same as the truth.
What Aunt did may have sparked the situation, but it was never caused by Aunt.
Aunt is not responsible.”

The desires and circumstances of many people, and the face of the Emperor, were intertwined.
And it was Artizea who made it into a bomb.

On the contrary, only Garnet was innocent.

If someone had to take responsibility, it was Artizea and himself.

“Thank you.”

Garnet knew that Cedric was telling the truth.
So, she pressed the many complex words in her mind and said a sincere thanks.

“But I have a responsibility.
Responsibility as a wife to love her husband, as a mother to her children.
It was my choice.”

Garnet looked up at Cedric with clear eyes while saying so.

“It was probably something that I wouldn’t want Aunt to get hurt either.”

“…….”

Cedric spoke one last time.
But he knew Garnet would not back down.

And a person with such a will deserves respect.

The fact that he had first failed didn’t mean he couldn’t stop Garnet’s will.

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So Cedric stepped aside.

Garnet walked down the open path with a graceful gait.
She was followed by the old nobles.

Several nobles cast strange glances at Cedric.
Even if they didn’t fully understand the conversation between the two, they understood that Cedric didn’t speak to Garnet with bad intentions.

Finally, the tail of the procession was visible.
In a way, the procession felt even majestic.

Freil, who was waiting a little further away, came to Cedric’s side.

“It feels strange that it is the Grand Duchess, not the Grand Duke, who is standing in front of that place.”

“There’s nothing we can do.”

Cedric sighed.

“I must go to my uncle.”

“You don’t have to.”

Freil replied,

“I have already sent an attendant at the command of Her Grace.”

“Really?”

Cedric didn’t say anything else.
And he headed out with a heavy feeling.

* * *

The Emperor was sitting in the audience room.

He had already heard that Garnet had come to the Imperial Palace.
He heard that the nobles followed behind her.

‘What is she here for?’

He couldn’t guess.

The Garnet he knew was very helpless.

If others had encouraged her, and she had been driven by the momentum, she would not have come alone.

‘She would not be foolish enough to plead for life, thinking that it was only her husband’s fault regardless of hers.’

It didn’t convince him at first that Marquisate Luden left her to move on her own.

‘Is the Marquis Heir Apparent less-than-capable?’

The Emperor frowned when he recalled the eldest son, whose impression was less than that of Marquis Luden, who was quite troublesome.

“Grand Duchess Roygar has asked for an audience.”

“Bring her in.”

said the Emperor.