Born as the Hidden Daughter of a Villainess and the Male Lead

<Episode 33>

 

***

 

I walked on the red carpet without changing my expression.

At the end of the path, the crown prince held out his hand to me with a clear look of nervousness.

“………”

Before I took his hand, I looked back at Roberick, who was staring at me with a worried expression.

Then I looked at Chastia who was ignoring me.

Lastly, I glanced at Allea, who was staring at me expressionlessly.¹This girl is scary I tell you, guys.

“Edith Ronen Heilian is the only heir who has inherited the noble blood and glorious blessings of the Grand Duke of Heilian.”

“Thus the Emperor Oswald Tristan Ruairi will bestow the title of ‘princess of Heilian’ on Edith Ronen Heilian.”

The Emperor recited a prepared declaration and then raised the scepter.

The red spirit stone embedded in the top of the scepter was emitting a brilliant light as if a flame was burning within it.

I got down on one knee in front of him.

The Emperor gently pressed his scepter onto my shoulder.

“From this moment on, no one can deny the identity of princess Edith Ronen Heilian.”

The title award ceremony was concluded.

I calmly stood up.

The Crown Prince was waiting across from me with a nervous expression.

“Then, the engagement ceremony of Edith Ronen Heilian and Valerian Haus Ruairi…”

[stop.]

At that moment.

A noble voice, incomparable to that of the emperor, settled down in the hall.

The Emperor showed a surprised expression as he stared into the place  where the voice came from.

I smiled softly and looked up into that place.

…..The real engagement ceremony has now begun.

Saaaa–

Ilipia appeared with flowing silver hair, looking like an ancient divine being.

“What…….”

“Golden eyes, silver hair… No way?”

Ilipia, who was looking down at the surprised faces of everyone, made eye contact with me.

We stared at each other and laughed a little.

She sat down next to me and asked the Emperor.

[Do you know my name?]

The Emperor looked at me and Ilipia in confusion, then answered slowly.

“…I meet Ilipia, the Spirit King of Life.”

The people in the hall were shocked at the Emperor’s forced answer.

“The Spirit King of Life?”

“…The Spirit King’s materialization is something that is difficult to see even once in one’s life…!”

People were mesmerized by the rare sight of the Spirit King were whispering as they could not take their eyes off her.

The Emperor still stared at Ilipia with a look of confusion.

[The reason I stopped the ceremony like this is to make it clear that the wedding between the Crown Prince of the Roshan Empire and the child I blessed, Edith Ronen Heilian, which was scheduled to be held today, should not take place.]

Ilipia muttered in a calm tone that made it difficult to read her thoughts.

A deathly silence fell over the vast crowd of people.

Roberick and Chastia also looked shocked.

The Emperor, who never lost his composure, was completely stunned, but then his eyes hardened fiercely and he questioned.

“What do you mean by that?”

Ilipia answered elegantly.

[This means that Edith already has a companion chosen by fate.]

The hall was in an uproar due to the King of Spirits’ series of shocking declarations.

“…A companion chosen by fate?! Who on earth is that?!”

The Emperor did not hide his anger and shouted at the being who was disrupting his plan, even though the opponent was the Spirit King.

Suddenly-

At that moment, the door to the main hall was opened roughly and people reflexively looked back.

[-Did I arrive on time?]

Although he certainly had the appearance of an extremely handsome human male, he was an intimidating being that couldnot even be compared to a worthless human.

Oried, the Spirit King of the Earth, stood at the entrance to the main hall with an indifferent expression.

When Oried, the Spirit King of Earth appeared, he arrogantly looked down on the shocked audience and approached the throne.

The people, who were so overwhelmed by his presence that they could not utter a word, belatedly realized that a small boy was standing next to Oried.

Several people’s eyes turned to the nameless boy, whose beauty did not fade even though he was next to the great spirit king.

he had a beauty that was even more mysterious.

I smiled brightly at the boy.

The boy, Ashamed, made eye contact with me with a slightly unfamiliar expression.

“wha-, how is that here….”

As soon as the emperor discovered Ashamed, his face turned pale and his face contoured cruelly then he shouted.

“Ashamed!”

And with a big smile on my face, I went down the stage and held Ashamed’s hand as if to show off.

“Prince, princess!”

The Crown Prince was so frightened that he shouted.

I held hands tightly with Ashamed and looked back at the prince.

The Crown Prince ‘s complexion turned pale when he saw Ashamed looking up at him, and even his lips trembled.

“What are you doing now…!”

[Oh, the Emperor of humans.]

The angry Emperor tried to shout something, but Ilipia cut him off.

[I revealed myself to those who believe in their ruler.]

Ilipia declared in a clear voice.

[To announce the truth about Ashamed Haus Ruairi, the hidden second prince of the Roshan Empire, who was imprisoned in an abandoned castle after the Emperor of the Roshan Empire denied his existence with the lie of death.]

“……What?”

“Now, what is Ilipia talking about?

“Ashamed Haus Ruairi… isn’t it the name of His Highness the 2nd Prince who died a few years ago?”

Whispers expressing all kinds of surprise and astonishment came from everywhere.

[He is the true companion of Edith Ronen Heilian, the child I blessed.]

After Ilipia recited the next words.

In an instant, all noise disappeared.

Everyone was speechless.

“…Ilipia, what do you mean?!”

Roberick’s panicked cry was heard.

Starting with him, loud incomprehensible murmurs filled the wide space from everywhere.

Sitting in the center of the commotion, I watched the Emperor’s reaction.

The Emperor came to his senses and stared at Ashamed in anger.

Have you finally realized the situation?

I smiled proudly and looked at him.

 

***

 

“Ashamed!”

That day, I hurried back to the abandoned castle.

After revealing all his secrets, Ashamed promised not to use the spirit’s power to distract me anymore, and I was finally able to walk the normal path and return to the castle where Ashamed was.

“What?”

Ashamed looked at me with a slightly embarrassed expression.

I said out of breath.

“Let’s get engaged.”

There was silence.

Ashamed had a dumbfounded expression on his face and didn’t give any answer until a long time had passed since I spoke.

……Oops, I was so excited that I spoke without even considering the opinion of Ashamed.

“Ah, I’m sorry for suddenly saying this. If you don’t like it, there’s no need to force it…”

“No.”

Before I could finish speaking, Ashamed’s voice quickly came back, clearly containing a negative answer.

“I don’t dislike it.”

Ashamed hesitated for a moment and denied it again.

I gave a puzzled look.

If you didn’t dislike it, why did you hesitate to answer?

Ashamed bit his lip and looked at the wall, then looked at me repeatedly, and asked with a clear look of hesitation. 

“Why did you…. suddenly say something like that?”

of course it is because…

“I promised I would help you.”

I smiled back at Ashamed.

There were ripples in his blue eyes.

“I will not be betrothed to the crown prince, Ashamed.”

“……what?”

“Because I’m thinking of getting engaged to you instead.”

The boy’s face became confused.

“I’ve thought about a way to save you. You’ll be in a lot of pain even if you stay like this, and even if you go out into the world, your innate nature will lead to your death…”

but..

If you cannot be free because of the law set by the rulers of long ago.

“But there is a way. If only the spirit kings who blessed me would step forward and declare that you are my destined companion and that although you are a spiritist born with the dark attribute, you will not cause harm to the world.”

Let us receive help from beings nobler than human rulers.

“What would happen if, during the engagement ceremony hosted by the emperor, the Spirit King suddenly appeared and declared that this engagement should not take place?”

“…..ha”

Ashamed let out a small sigh as if he finally understood my intention.

“The answer is simple. Everyone in this world listens more to the words of the great spirit king than to the words of worldly monarchs.”

I said with a smile on my face.

“I will have Ilipia appear during the engagement ceremony. As promised in advance, Ilipia will declare that my destined partner is you, not the Crown Prince. I will declare that you were in fact my true companion and at the same time reveal the fact that the Emperor faked your death and imprisoned you. If that happens, all the nobles in the empire will become aware of your existence…”

And, the last remaining problem about his dark attribute.

“First of all, let’s just skip the engagement ceremony. After that, the Emperor will definitely try to break off our engagement by talking about your attributes. If the spirit kings come forward again and say that although you have been blessed by the spirits of darkness, you are not destined to cause harm to this world, the Emperor’s attempt will be completely defeated.”

Thus, the Emperor will never be able to lay his hands on Ashamed again.

At that time it would be believed that although Ashamed was born with dark attributes, he would never cause harm to the world.

Also, she was the companion of the Great Princess, loved by the Spirit Kings of Life, Water, and Earth.

If we do this, Ashamed’s status can be restored to its original state.

“That’s my plan, what do you think, Ashamed?”

And… I didn’t say this separately, but unlike my engagement to the crown prince, which was made according to the Emperor’s will, my engagement to Ashamed was a marriage made entirely according to my will.

In the future, when I want to break off the engagement, I will be able to choose much more freely.²You wish😂

In addition, if Ashamed regained his proper status, it would match my goal of obtaining the power of the imperial family to restore my grandfather’s reputation. Wasn’t it a flawless plan?

After speaking, I smiled confidently.

Ashamed looked up at me blankly.

On that day, we promised to give a big surprise to the Emperor and the imperial family.

 

***

 

“This is nonsense. Even if you say you are the Spirit King, there is no way the people will believe you if you tell such a blatant lie…!”

The Emperor shouted in a very distorted voice.

A voice other than Ilipia’s intervened.

[lie?]

The Emperor flinched,then he trembled, and looked away.

Oried, with a cold complexion, was staring at the Emperor.

[How dare you accuse the Spirit King of fraud? Phoenix is gone anyway, so why not bury this empire underground?]

The nobles were once again shocked by Oried’s growling words.

I had no intention of revealing this fact.

I quietly stared at the Emperor, who had a cornered expression.

According to the Spirit Kings, Phoenix, the Spirit King of Fire, has been gone for quite some time.

The Spirit King disappeared?

I was surprised and asked the reason, but they didn’t answer that.

Anyway… Because of that, the blessing that had been passed down to the royal family weakened, and they struggled to incorporate the fallen Bastevan’s bloodline into the imperial family.

Finally, I understood everything.

“Your Majesty! You certainly didn’t say anything like that!”

“The Spirit King of Fire, who protects the Roshan Empire, has disappeared!”

Some nobles shouted sharply after grasping the flow of the situation, which the Spirit Kings themselves came forward to reveal.

The Emperor was cornered and could not say anything.

[This is unbelievable. How dare you try to marry a bastard who has not even received the blessing of a low-ranking spirit with the human I blessed?]

Oried looked down at the prince, who was trembling so much that he seemed to be foaming from his mouth, and spoke with his golden eyes emitting a chilling cold.

The nobles were now shocked again and cried out in exasperation.

“What… what? The Crown Prince has not received any spirit blessings!”

“The Emperor deceived us!”

“How did all of this happen! Your Royal Highness definitely said that you received the blessing of Phoenix-sama, but now they say you are an ordinary human who has not received the blessing of any spirit at all!”

“How can someone like that ascend to the throne of the Roshan Empire!”

With this, all the truth that the emperor had been hiding was revealed to the world.

I held Ashamed’s hand tighter.

Ashamed didn’t want to hold my hand as if he wasn’t used to it, but since I held him firmly, there was no problem.

[Therefore we, the spirit king of life, Ilipia, the spirit king of the earth, Oried, and the spirit king of the water, Naiad, stop the marriage that was scheduled to take place today.]

Ilipia declared to everyone in the crowd.

[And the engagement ceremony of Ashamed Haus Ruairi and Edith Ronen Heilian will be held now!]

pop-!

The moment Ilipia’s voice stopped, sparkling water droplets exploded like gunfire in the air.

[Edith.]

Naiad appeared from the golden ceiling of the main hall, leading her group, and smiled beautifully.

The Emperor looked in bewilderment at the endless cannons of water exploding from the ceiling.

“For a while, no one will dare touch us.”

I whispered proudly and held Ashmed’s hand tightly.

Today’s events will spread widely as shocking news to the nobles and the people of the empire.

It was no different from covering up the fact that Phoenix, the Spirit King of Fire, has disappeared, and defrauding all the people of the Rosin Empire by claiming that the Crown Prince, who was just a criminal who did not receive any blessings, received the blessings of the Spirit King of Fire.

The honor of the imperial family will fall, while mine will rise.

Because Edith Ronen made it clear how great Heilian was.

“Let’s do well in the future, Ashamed.”

I looked back at Ashamed with a wide smile.

Ashamed looked at me for a long time.

“…..emm”

The boy, who resembled the stars that brightly decorated the cold night sky, had a small smile on his face.

 

***

TL:

The next chapter will be released today after a few hours, sorry for the delay.