The Villainess was Loved

Chapter Ninety-Two: Silly Rabbit, Tricks are for Kids

The barbeque was in full swing; even Stanley was in attendance.

Were was surprisingly more harmony between everyone than I anticipated, dare I say, hoped?

But alcohol would do that to you, and I was left the only sober grump in this affair.

“Here you go, my love!!”

Breca said loudly and cheerfully as she handed me perfectly rare grilled meat.

“a little overcooked.”

“Honey…worms….parasites….”

She had a knack for being overly affectionate when she was drunk. I did not mind it because I was at most times drunk off my ass with her, but now I felt weirdly conscious of it; if only because the prince kept looking over at where I sat every time, the word ‘honey’, ‘dear’, or ‘precious’ was uttered.

Is it like a sarcastic statement? Is that what he is trying to show, disbelief?

I should perhaps try and keep my focus elsewhere, but am I really the only one troubled by this arrangement? Travel with the prince to the capital to announce a wedding that was not even in sight a week ago?

Plus, I could not get rid of Arusei’s warning; ‘The plot comes to you?’

Does that mean Regina’s target will change, or will I likely be involved in the throne race?

‘Should I move? God, can I move to the countryside?’

‘Why did I ask for land? I should have asked for a mansion!’

‘…Mmmm…fu*k! I can’t even go back to that moment.’

“Thank you.”

I took the serving from her and, with little hesitation, dug in.

It wasn’t long before I was full, and the party hit its c****x as, for the first time, the smooth sipping tsundere, Tagen’s cheeks flushed.

I have never seen him drunk; hell, he never drinks even when with the Clay knights. At first, I thought he was a stick in the mud, but it turns out he simply was without men he respected enough.

Each time the prince offered him a glass, he took it.

He gazed at me as though I had tampered with it when I did that.

Breca, now seated beside me after her little dance, slumped on my shoulder.

“I told her.”

She said quietly, half passed out.

‘Ahh…to humour drunks.’

“Told who, and what?”

I asked, turning to perhaps my excuse to turn in early.

“Before we vent to Mt. Lui, I told her I wab in lobe bith har. Tr…wa.. b-bad timing, she had just broken up with Alden…fir tim, but I could not…not tell her, you kno…beutifl, like…like blow..ser sun”

[Before we went to Mt. Lui, I told her I was in love with her. It was badly timed. She had just broken up with Alden for the first time, but I could not-not tell her, you know. She at the time…looked beautiful. Like the glow of the setting sun.]

‘Mt. Lui…two years ago?Ah, the vampire hunting quest.’

‘Is she talking about Kat?’

“She, at..eh tim, said, ‘Aww, I-I love you too. I MEAN you are a LOUSY drunk but…’ I..I remember what she said… word for word…f you balive it. Not beyond the wors…I hav..jus..sai but…can you belibe it.. she svad; ‘I lobe yew.. too’”

[She, at the time, said, ‘Aww, I love you too. I mean, you are a lousy drunk, but…’. I remember what she said…word for word….if you believe it. I mean, not beyond the words I have just shared, but can you believe it? She said, ‘I love you too’.]

Tears flowed from her eyes at what might have felt heartfelt to her, but the slurred or oddly pitched words came off close to sheer nonsense to me.

“I thought thar, bis was ir, thab we were dabting…”

[I thought that this was it, that we were dating…]

She buried her head in my shoulder, and the words that followed were crystal clear for whatever reason.

“Imagine my surprise when…when we got into the town and met with Wreigner and Alden..only for them to announce that they were back together moments later? Hmm?”

I turned my chest to her to hide her state from the guests or, for the most part, outsiders.

I have been on the end of unrequited love before; I know the hope entangled with each announcement that you; ‘give up’ on the person. I wish the person who means the most to me in this world did not have to go through it.

“Hey, precious.”

I mimicked her manner of speech.

“Let us go somewhere private. M’kay?”

I could feel the warm wetness on my exposed skin as I pulled her from me.

“I do no.. wanta’ lobe her animoo…it hurts so..badd…itsto barrch!”

[I do not want to love her anymore…it hurts so bad, (unintelligible?)]

She was wailing now, albeit not loud enough that the music played could be interrupted.

So rather than forcing her to move, I simply embraced her as soft sobs claimed her.

It was hardly two minutes since she began wailing, and soft snores filled.

I rolled my eyes.

“Why can’t we talk like this when you are sober?”

But, even as I uttered my question, I knew the answer.

She did not wish to offload on me, and I had a habit of tunnelling my focus to a harrowing extent, so noticing the people I felt safe around was slightly challenging.

“Sir Tagen.”

I called, and despite being in mid-conversation with Stanley and the prince, he placed his drink on the nearby table and walked to me, cheeks flushed.

‘Oh…God, another drunk.’

“I am not drunk, my lord.”

“Mmm…”

I rolled my eyes.

“Call me, Countess or ‘My Lady’ outside of Clay. My Lord is only fitting, within Clay, I do not want the masses knowing our business.”

“Understood.”

He bowed so exaggeratedly that he nearly fell over, but he held well.

‘One drunk, carrying another…feels like a bad idea ready to happen.’

“I am not drunk, Countess.”

“Yeah, yeah. Lift Breca and help me take her to her room.”

“Understood.”

‘Should I just use my plants?’

I didn't particularly appreciate using my ability around unfamiliar people, a habit that I may just have to get accustomed to in light of my upcoming wedding.

He wobbled slightly in his movements as he lifted her but maintained stability for the entire walk to Breca’s room, where I followed steadily behind.

Still…something…something wasn’t right.

‘Don’t you dare throw her on the bed!’

“I-I will not; I just need a moment to steady myself.”

Sir Tagen answered.

‘I did not realise how much of a lightweight you were. You never touched any drink I offered.’

“I do not particularly like drinking. With you, I could refuse, but the third prince always met my refusal with profanity and threats. Perhaps I have already been trained to behave like a dog before the royal family.”

‘By Killian?’

“Countess, it is disrespectful to call a royal family member by their name!”

‘But, I haven’t said anything?’

He turned to me, his expression a pale mess.

He swallowed dryly, then stammered for the nearest words.

“I-.”

“I don’t want to hear it. Tagen. Does the Empress know I am with child?”

The implications were clear; despite my best efforts in keeping him away from matters of importance, the Empress's spy had been doing his job.

He looked away, then nodded.

“Does her majesty know the father?”

He nodded slowly this time, as though he was not sure.

“I have mentioned that I suspected the first prince, but I have not given her clarification.”

The giddiness from his drunken state had vanished; a new, cold, and slightly panicked state of sobriety welcomed his demeanour.

“How long.”

“Pardon, my lor-, I mean, countess?”

“How long ago did you feed her the information about my pregnancy?”

“Immediately, we returned from war, and I grew certain of your state. But on the topic of the father, three days ago.”

“Any response?”

“None yet, but she knows we are departing for the capital tomorrow.”

I took a deep breath and turned out of the room.

“C-countess, wait!”

It wasn’t that the Empress knew what I wished to keep hidden or that he, as a spy, found information to share, that threw me into chaos. It was that I had missed his advantage entirely.

“Countess, I do bel-,”

“Quiet down! I am in no mood for baseless exchanges. You can read my mind; you know what I will do next.”

“I beg you, please, it is a family secret.”

“Exactly, one that will guarantee you become a royal dog for the rest of your existence. Are you not overjoyed? Your family will be back on the map, your brothers and sisters, your entire line forced to work for the throne.”

“What is going on?”

The prince’s voice sounded through the living room, ultimately making mute the point of music in the room.

“My oh, so lovely knight here can read minds.”

The prince frowned.

“Hmm…”

“You do not seem surprised.”

I asked him.

Does he not see that the situation entailed both of us?

“I met his father when I was a child. He used to stop all my pranks before I even did them, so I assumed he was just highly intuitive. But this is…fascinating.”

“Fascinating? That’s it? Fascinating? That’s your grand input? You realise the Empress knows about us, about-”

“I have only told her that I suspect-”

Tagen tried to intercede, but the first prince’s voice was louder.

“Enough!”

The prince commanded, then placed his glass on the nearby table.

“Countess, what do you propose as the way forward? We can sign documents that wed us tomorrow then say we wished for a private ceremony? But that will make the Emperor furious. We need his permission to wed.”

“Or…worse, we could owe the Empress a favour.”

I sighed.

“Out of the question, you will neither support the second prince nor marry him.”

“You think she wishes her son to marry someone pregnant?”

I rolled my eyes to emphasise the pointlessness of his concern.

“I think, aside from offering Sir Tagen and his talents to the Emperor as a peace offering gift for our inappropriately early wedding-.”

“Please, countess, I beg of you.”

“Shh…! I am not drunk enough to deal with your pleadings.”

I said to Tagen, who looked shaken since we met in the palace for the first time.

Yet, despite his apparent alcohol-induced vulnerability, I couldn’t help but envy his ability to keep things of importance to him silent.

A family secret that even the game failed to mention?

But if only I had his loyalty. Then…

“I like that idea.”

The prince said with finality.

“That will be the safe option. Stanley, make the preparations with the temple of Patum.”

“Yes, your highness.”

“We should sleep now. It is late.”

The prince said.

“I think I will stay up a little while longer.”

“Countess, it is time for bed.”

The prince said, then walked over to the recorder and turned off the music without consent.

‘Huh…odd.’

A frown creased my brows.

‘The first prince is commanding…yet he asked my opinion?’

Almost as though he anticipated my response. As…as though he knew the Tagen family secret.

[…I met his father when I was a child.]

The words hung ripe in my mind.

The webs the first prince spun were invisible, but they were always there.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was his marionette and he was readying me for a grand act.

A sensation that near made me shudder lodged a swell of irritation and powerlessness right to my core.

His motivations for behaving that way mattered little, and I need not understand them, but it seems he miscalculated the amount of trust I place in my gut.

And it is currently screaming that I am being played for a jester.

“Unless…”

I added loudly, causing the remaining parties in the room to turn their gaze to me.

“Unless you, Sir Leon Tagen, consent to work full-time, under the name of Clay, and with that, become a double agent.”

Leon Tagen stared at me as though I was a being from another planet. So I proceeded to clarify.

“Unless you become mine.”