I Played the Role of the Adopted Daughter Too Well

Minister Celine stepped forward.

 

“Just a moment, Your Majesty.”

 

Viola wasn’t too surprised by her appearance because she knew that Celine was the only one who could interrupt and stop the Emperor in the first place.

 

“No matter if you are the Emperor, you must follow the rules.”

 

Celine looked towards Viola.

 

“Lady Viola can appoint a lawyer as needed. Because anything she says now could be detrimental to Lady Viola. If Lady Viola appoints a lawyer, we have enough time to wait.”

 

Viola came to her senses.

 

‘I can’t get help from a lawyer…’

 

Celine spoke very warmly, but this was Celine’s test.

 

‘Celine is a character who fundamentally believes in people.’

 

She did not believe without any basis. Celine trusted people who showed her confidence and honesty.

 

‘Basically, her insights are excellent.’

 

So, Celine was a character who quickly understood the true meaning of people just by observing and testing them.

 

‘To hesitate and appoint a lawyer will be detrimental to me.’

 

Not only that, Viola was Bellato. A Bellato who couldn’t handle things on her own, so she hires her own lawyer? It’s never a good choice.

 

‘What the hell…!’

 

Another test. This was what she had been doing for the past five years. She had gotten used to it and now the opponents had just changed to Nelac and Celine.

 

“I don’t need help from a lawyer.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because I haven’t committed any wrongdoing that warrants being questioned.”

 

“That is a matter for His Majesty the Emperor to decide.”

 

“I don’t think there’s a way that you, Lady Celine, don’t know what I know.”

 

“What does Lady Viola know?”

 

“It’s the terrorist group ‘Fever’ that has been secretly active for several years.”

 

In the novel, Celine said she had known about Fever for ‘a long time,’ although she never specified exactly how long ‘a long time’ entailed.

 

‘Please, you should know by now.’

 

That was the first point. Viola looked but she couldn’t read anything from Celine’s expression, nor from the look in her eyes.

 

“No. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know.”

 

Her head shook quickly. She wished Celine already knew, but she just needed to turn the situation to her advantage, thus it didn’t really matter if she didn’t know.

 

“I’ve known about Fever for five years.”

 

Once again she met Celine’s eyes. She seemed to be waiting for Celine’s answer.

 

“I was seven years old at the time.”

 

In other words, Viola was subtly asking whether Celine knew what the seven-year-old Viola knew. Viola continued.

 

“It’s something I knew at the age of seven, so I don’t think Minister Celine doesn’t know.”

 

This statement revealed her secret trust. Celine had to give her answer.

 

“Lady Viola is forcing me to answer. My answer is ‘I know,’ as it has to be.”

 

Celine grinned. Although she did not give an exact answer, she read Viola’s intentions accurately. Viola smiled leisurely, despite the heart pounding inside her chest, and answered.

 

“Please call it confidence and expectation rather than forcing.”

 

“I know you are confident, but what are your expectations?”

 

“The Minister Celine I see is wiser and greater than anyone else. So much so that she offered the Golden Rod to His Majesty the Emperor.”

 

These words were sincere. Celine was a character who worked solely for the prosperity and development of the Empire rather than competing for her own political power and interests. Han Arin liked that side of Celine.

 

“I really like Minister Celine’s appearance.”

 

In addition to Viola’s acting, there was sincerity. Celine, with her great discernment, could read the sincerity.

 

“It feels good to receive that kind of trust and love from someone. Good. I know about ‘Fever.’ Is that what Lady Viola wanted to hear?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Viola nodded her head and relaxed a little. Celine was a relatively common-sense person when compared to Bellato, which was full of nonsense. Unlike Duke Heron, Celine was not someone with whom Viola had to be careful about every little thing. Comparatively speaking, Viola was having a much easier time now than when dealing with Heron.

 

“I’ve been researching Fever for a long time.”

 

“There are very few people who know about Fever. This is a matter I did not even report to His Majesty the Emperor. How do you know about Fever?”

 

“Several people that I am very close to are connected to Fever.”

 

Viola listed their names.

 

“Tundra. Sir Hickson. Lord Jackal. And even Butler Ersa. They all have something in common.”

 

“Tundra is Viola’s companion sword, Sir Hickson is Duke Heron’s comrade-in-arms and formerly known as ‘Black Mirror.’ Sir Jackal is the Storm Sword, and Butler Ersa… you probably mean ‘The Sword Demon’ of the south, right?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“What do they have in common?”

 

“I rescued the orphan Tundra while he was being kidnapped. The others had their loved ones kidnapped. Sir Hickson and Butler Ersa’s daughters, and Lord Jackal’s son.”

 

Viola took a deep breath and calmly continued her speech.

 

“Even though Tundra was alone like that, I didn’t think the other people were so shabby that they could easily be kidnapped. However, they were kidnapped and then these family members exhibited irrational behavior.”

 

Hickson spent his days as a junkie, Jackal suddenly opposed Bellato, while Ersa went out and made a name for herself as a swordswoman.

 

“It was strange that such a group of noble warriors lost their loved ones, but it was even stranger that they showed excessively unreasonable behavior. The fact that there were at least three such people, could it really be a coincidence?”

 

If you look at each one separately, it may not seem too strange, but if you see them all connected, it is strange.

 

“So, I figured out that there was an organization that was working in a carefully planned, systematic way. I also found out that the name of the organization was Fever. I can request Sir Hickson as a witness to support my claim.”

 

“It looks like you did a lot of research on Fever. I don’t think there’s any need to summon Sir Hickson because I also know about Fever. But how did Lady Viola know that a magic bomb using a human as a medium would explode?”

 

Viola secretly swallowed her saliva. Now it was getting real.

 

“I was born under a killing star.”

 

She glanced toward Nelac.

 

“If His Majesty the Emperor and Lady Celine allow, I would like to show you. Is that okay?”

 

Nelac nodded his head and Viola raised her killing spirit. The body of Viola, the main character in the novel, easily responded to her will. Her eyes turned red and she began to radiate out an immense aura.

 

Nelac looked into Viola’s eyes. He had never seen anyone exude that level of aura at the young age of twelve.

 

‘My skin is tingling. When it comes to aura alone, she’s at the level of a 3rd-class knight or even higher.’

 

It was a body born with the fundamental ability to kill. It was clear that this was a child born only once every few hundred years. 

 

Celine wasn’t very surprised. Viola was born with a killing nature and it’s not like Celine didn’t know that truth. What she knew in her head, she now confirmed with her eyes.

 

“I was born with a killing nature and am more sensitive to life forces than anyone else.”

 

It was much more difficult to get rid of a killing intent than to raise it. That’s how it was originally. However, Viola’s body was a little unusual. Since the body and mind worked separately, the aura and killing intent inherent in the body would disappear if her concentration was disturbed. This was the part that surprised Nelac.

 

‘Did you instantly get rid of your killing intent?’

 

It was literally handling life and death freely. This meant only one thing.

 

‘She has complete control over her life.’

 

Viola was proving it in front of Nelac, the Emperor of Swords. From generation to generation, those born with a killing nature were known to be extremely dangerous. Viola was revealing her murderous nature as it was, but also demonstrating her control in front of the Emperor.

 

‘Even though it’s a situation like this, she isn’t disturbed at all.’

 

It’s not that there were no distractions, but all the benefits that Viola could take from this situation were being taken. It was truly the attitude and posture of an iron-blooded princess.

 

“As I am sensitive to life forces, I was able to read that the boy’s condition wasn’t normal.”

 

Actually, this was a lie. However, thanks to Viola’s confident words and attitude, Celine did not suspect her.

 

“And I have experienced similar cases before. At Azulesia, a store I love.” 

 

This time she turned her gaze towards Celine as it was clear that Celine would have known about the affair. It was such a big event. It was the incident in which Jelton, the eldest son of Viscount Seall, who visited Winter Castle, was beheaded.

 

“I know it well. Lady Viola was dispatched as a special envoy, right? Although I guess there must be an inside story…”

 

“Yes. Jelton was addicted to black magic, and if left untreated, there was a high probability that there would have been a huge explosion. Someone tried to modify Prince Jelton into a bio-bomb.”

 

“There was such an inside story.”

 

Celine wasn’t very surprised. Because she, Celine, had also conducted an investigation. Although she did not know about the Viscountess’s affair, Celine had already discovered that Jelton was addicted to black magic.

 

Viola continued as Celine nodded her head.

 

“Knowing that there was an evil organization called Fever, you figured out that the outstanding warriors had lost their reason because they had been subjected to a type of black magic, and after recognizing that Fever used black magic, you decided to kill the deceased. Can I interpret this to mean that you learned of mana explosions, etc. through Prince Jelton?”

 

“Yes. With my killing power, I noticed something strange about that boy and was convinced that it was a mana bomb designed by Fever. And you can see the results.”

 

Viola shrugged her shoulders deliberately. The results said it all. There was no mistake in Viola’s words, and her attitude was confident. So much so that even the Emperor of Swords admired her.

 

‘She’s a great kid.’

 

No matter how proud she was, she had never seen her daughter speak like this in front of Nelac and Celine. But in fact, she was Viola and she felt like crying.

 

‘Why me!’

 

It was true that she had to do this to claim her innocence, but the looks in Nelac and Celine’s eyes were too burdensome.

 

‘Please don’t look at me too favorably. I’m going to scout for the Empire!’

 

It felt like she was hallucinating. It was never beneficial for Viola to have this situation happen. She was trying to avoid the worst by facing the lesser evil.

 

‘I hope no problems arise in the rest of my long and happy life. Please! No, I can’t do it. 

I need to throw a smoke screen so they don’t try to scout me.’

 

Viola decided to add a few words.

 

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Translator Note: