Since When Were You The Villain?

Translator Note🎈: Hello dear readers. So this note if for my readers who follow me with ‘swwyv’ role on the discord. Many would have been confused why you do not get any update regarding ‘SWWYV’. It was becuase my this novel and the other new novel that I had started translating (The Night The Saviour Ran away) was combined into a single role with the name ‘Hailey Novels’. So please follow that role to get notified on ‘swwyv’. Thanks for your time and love you have showed this novel😊. My updates maybe slow but I always tries to provide with my best work possible❤.

Chapter 113

Alvedian was completely different from any language she had encountered before.

Languages are broadly classified into four types based on their structure (although languages typically exhibit characteristics of more than one type, they can generally be classified into these four categories).

Firstly, there are agglutinative languages like Korean and Japanese, which utilise particles and affixes.

Secondly, there are isolating languages like Chinese and modern English where the position of words within the sentence structure is important grammatically.

Thirdly, there are inflectional languages like Spanish and Arabic, where words change form significantly based on gender, number, case, etc.

But among these, the most uncommon type of language was polysynthetic.

Polysynthetic languages are the rarest form of language in the modern world, where a single word forms a complete sentence by attaching various affixes, adjectives, etc., to a verb.

The world’s longest non-spaced place name, ‘Taumatawakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwenuakitanatahu’ is a single word and a sentence formed in a polysynthetic language.

Doesn’t it look difficult at first glance?

‘I won’t delve into linguistics here, so I’ll skip detailed explanations, but languages like Inuktitut, Mayan, and Maori belong to polysynthetic languages.’

Even for her, who was confident in languages, polysynthetic languages were heard of in passing in linguistic studies, but she never had the opportunity to encounter them.

‘I’m lucky this is a catalogued document; otherwise, it would have felt like reading a novel. I wouldn’t have had the courage to read it.’

Since there were no systematic foreign language textbooks or lectures available, Sophia held Alvedian textbooks, which were passed down through generations like a bible and read through words as long as sentences.

The only relief was that Alvedian used the same script as the Imperial language.

Thanks to that, after holding onto it day and night, she was starting to grasp the language somewhat.

“But why are these characters occasionally stuck together?”

As Sophia interpreted the list, she was so stumped by morphemes that she couldn’t understand why they were stuck together.

Occasionally, there were characters ‘?’ sandwiched between morphemes that she couldn’t understand why they were there.

There was no problem in understanding the content of the document without translating the meaning of these characters, but it still bothered her.

‘At first, I thought it was a mistake, but it doesn’t seem to be.’

Just as there’s a difference between ‘a’ and ‘an,’ language often changes meaning with small nuances.

‘I think I need more Alvedian-related materials… And I also need to find materials related to demonic monsters.’

Sophia murmured as she looked at the mysterious morpheme ‘?’.

She not only had to focus on her self-improvement but also had to pay attention to Killian and Estelle’s affairs, and she also had to consider the future of the original work.

And the events that were about to unfold were already foreseen in the original work.

“This year is different from previous years.”

When spring ripens and the weather becomes completely warm, beasts run rampant.

Just like in Niore territory, where Estelle lives, there were beasts near the capital as well.

However, they were generally few, and the damage from the beast was not significant enough to warrant extensive military police action within the capital.

So knightly orders like the Ruchetainer often went out to regions that needed greater support.

But not this year.

This year, it was different.

Monstrous beasts attacked the capital with such force that it could be considered a disaster.

Just like the beasts they encountered at the Imperial Palace last time, the flying beasts made the high walls meaningless.

Events like this catastrophic one would happen regardless of her small actions.

“But I can’t remember exactly what kind of beast it was…!”

The beast they encountered at the Imperial Palace was from an early episode, so it was relatively clear in her memory, allowing her to look up and study it in dictionaries, but it wasn’t a beast hunt.

Several gigantic beasts appeared, causing a great struggle, and eventually Estelle emerged victorious. That was all she could remember.

But there was one thing that she remembered clearly.

It was raining when the beasts were attacking the capital.

Rain fell throughout the battle against the beasts, causing significant damage in some areas due to flooding.

‘But what’s the use of all this?’

There’s no weather forecast or meteorological prediction, so we can’t accurately predict if it will rain heavily tomorrow or not.

So, we can’t even predict the date based on the weather.

Moreover, if we don’t know what powerful beasts are coming and what their weaknesses are, there’s no solution.

‘In the novel, they struggled for almost a week.’

A disaster that claims hundreds of victims in the capital.

And this becomes the first episode that raises Estelle’s fame.

Anyway, I’ll have to look into the beasts for a while.’

Looking at the Demonic Beast Encyclopaedia might jog her memory about the beasts mentioned in the novel.

Sophia got up from her seat to bring more necessary books.

***

Like the Grand Duke, the Count also had a library stocked with books.

Unlike the library that contained the internal operational documents of the family, Sophia could freely access the general library.

Sophia took a few books from the library to bring downstairs and crossed the corridor.

“The Black Moon has nothing to do with our family!”

As she passed by the count’s room, his somewhat agitated voice leaked out.

Normally, she would have hurriedly passed by, not wanting to provoke anything unnecessary, but the phrase “Black Moon” stopped Sophia in her tracks.

‘Why is the count talking about the Black Moon…?’

Sophia looked around.

There were no maids or servants passing by.

Trying not to draw any unnecessary attention, Sophia subtly leaned closer to the count’s study.

“As you can see from this document, the Military Police have blatantly exposed our top-level trading records! Can it get any cleaner than this?”

“Then do you have no other information?”

The count’s voice was followed by Ian’s voice, a rare occurrence for him to be at home at this hour, given his reputation as a training ghost.

“What exactly are you curious about?”

“Something like the possibility of Rosarphi’s intermediary trade.”

‘Rosaiphi?’ Sophia tilted her head at the unfamiliar word.

It was related to the Black Moon, but why did she not know about it while Ian did?

All Killian had told her was that the Empress had killed his parents and that the Empress was targeting a royal bastard named Estelle.

She had never heard of “Rosarphi” in the original work or from Killian.

However, one thing bothered her.

‘In the original, how did they know that a series of murder cases were the work of the same culprit?’ (T/L: hmm…smart!)

Fideut was poisoned, Persel was assassinated in an alley, and Liam died while fighting the Black Moon at a ball.

There seemed to be no connection between the three individuals, and the reasons for their murders were not clear.

So, it would be difficult to conclude that they were the work of a single culprit.

But in the original work, they somehow determined that it was the work of the same culprit.

But because Sophia couldn’t remember the details of the original work well—memorising all the details of a novel she read without interest was difficult—she guessed that it was probably because of the Black Moon’s mask.

But maybe there was another clear piece of evidence.

“Is there someone who would engage in such intermediary trade? Smuggling, maybe.”

While Sophia was lost in thought, the conversation continued inside.

“Father, you would know best that smuggling in Alvedi is difficult.”

“Hah! With murders happening in the palace, what’s difficult about smuggling in Alvedi?”

The count let out a grunt as if to say, ‘Enough already.’

“Do you know anyone suitable for smuggling?”

“Son, I am a legitimate trader. I have no interest in getting involved with smugglers.”

The count sounded annoyed, as if he wanted Ian to stop.

But Ian persisted.

“There must be a reason for leaving behind such a signature.”

If they needed poison, there were plenty of alternatives to Rosarphi. So why leave behind a rare and difficult-to-obtain substance as a signature?

Rosarphi was rare enough that merely trading or possessing it could risk being identified as the culprit.

It was no easy task unless one had extraordinary audacity.

And to engage in smuggling and clandestine murders while leaving behind such a signature indicated a high probability of intending to convey a message.

“Do you happen to know the meaning of the Rosarphi flower or anything related?”

“As if! I only learned of the existence of Rosarphi recently because of the Black Moon!”

Count Fraus exclaimed loudly.

Sophia grimaced and scratched her ear.

‘He seems quite excited compared to usual.’

Count Fraus was not known for having a good temperament, but he wasn’t one to raise his voice easily. It was especially rare for him to scold his son Ian, whom he held in such high regard.

Was there something bothering him?

‘Rosarphi… I should remember that.’

Sophia echoed the word that was the topic of their conversation.

‘…Well, I should be going now.’

At that moment, Ian’s voice bidding farewell to the count was heard. Then, footsteps approached closer.

Afraid of being caught eavesdropping, Sophia hurriedly tried to run to the study. However, as she straightened her bent waist from eavesdropping, she accidentally dropped the books she was carrying, scattering them across the floor.

With a dull thud as the books hit the ground, Sophia quickly scrambled to pick them up before Ian emerged. Just as she managed to gather the books in her arms, the library door creaked open.

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TRANSLATOR:

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