The S-Class Hunter Doesn't Want To Be A Villainous Princess - Chapter 14

"Try to recall your last memory with the Saintess. What did you see?"
"...Darkness... I saw darkness..."

She was confident that this guy would be useful. Because-

"And?"
"A strong... grudge."

It seemed like someone had already used a similar skill on him.

***

"Has the interrogation ended successfully?"
"Yes."
"Did you find what you were looking for?"

She had found out a lot. Renee smirked in response to Cedin's question.

"Yeah. I found out everything, even things I didn't want to know."

Because of that, things became very complicated. She immediately headed towards Ishir.
Now was the time to reach an agreement with him.

"Wait here, Cedin."
"I'll go with you-"
"No."

She firmly cut off Cedin and called for Ishir.

"Your Highness."

Ishir was in the middle of cleaning his sword alone. Even at Renee's call, he silently continued to clean the sword.

"I assume you have something to say to me."
"To you?"

Only then did Ishir stop cleaning the sword and look up at her.
His eyes were calmer than before, but they were boiling with different emotions.

"Yes. You discovered something."

There's no point in hiding it. Renee plopped down on the opposite side of Ishir without any regard for dignity. His brow furrowed at her completely disregarding gesture.
But he started cleaning the sword again as if he didn't want to open his mouth anymore.

"Don't hide it."
"I don't know what you've been talking about since earlier."
"You discovered the will, didn't you?"

Her sister told her everything, but where could it be? If her Constellation hadn't told her, she would have never noticed.
This lack of cooperation. That's why she followed along this far.
Renee growled, but Ishir leisurely swung the sword around.

"Do you have any connection with my knights, Young Lady?"
"No. I just have a good intuition."
"Your actions cannot be explained simply by having a good intuition. You must either have connections with my knights or be monitoring me. I don't particularly like either."

Ishir aimed the sword at Renee's neck and smirked.

In response to his wicked smile, she also put on a smile that reflected her true personality.

"What's the matter? If Your Highness were in my position, you would have done the same."
"Except for the fact that I would never be in your position."

Let's see if he can remain so calm until the end.

Renee slowly lowered the sword he held with two fingers.
Although she was confident that she would not be harmed, being openly threatened like this didn't feel good.
Ishir put the sword back into its sheath and took out a piece of paper from his pocket. Renee reached out her hand to grab the paper, but Ishir's words stopped her.

"I didn't show you the will to protect the Young Lady."
"Me? Seriously?"

Ishir took her hand and placed the will on top of it.

"I'm curious to see if the Young Lady can remain so nonchalant even after reading it."

Renee turned her gaze away from Ishir and began to read the will. The will was written in neat and beautiful handwriting.
But what caught her attention before the handwriting was the traces of tears.
The tears were so beautifully shed that the personality of the person who wrote them was clearly visible.

...My life has been stained with tragedy.
For the sake of my mission for the Empire and for those who trust me, I couldn't say anything until now... But I can't bear it any longer.

Even though she had just read the introduction, she could already understand.

Oh, this is bad.

[The <Lord of Vicious Blood> suggests running away now.]
[The <Queen of Waves and Healing> touches her forehead.]

[The <Emperor of Temptation> observes this situation with great interest.]

...A false engagement for the sake of a position with someone who doesn't love me.
Someone who wants to kill me because of that engagement.

"Wait a minute. Does the Saint know? That you don't love her?"
"I should be the one asking that. How did you find out?"
"Answer me!"
"It's none of your concern."

He's been found out!

"You shouldn't have let it show! You should have hidden it well!"
"Did the Saintess not show any signs of it, so you tried to kill her openly?"

She has nothing more to say. She continued reading the will with a bewildered expression.

Those two facts began to devour my soul.

I could forgive those two people. Even if they caused me great pain, I could willingly love them. But there was someone I couldn't forgive.

I couldn't forgive myself. Myself for being swayed by this situation.

And so...

I didn't need to read any further to understand the content.

"We're in trouble."

She looked at him with a pale face.

This rotten bastard.
Did he try to hide something so important from her? Isn't this like sentencing her to death?

"We're in big trouble."
"If this gets leaked, it will cause a huge uproar. We need to silence anyone who discovers it."
"If you keep quiet, this will be as if it never existed."
"Did you kill the knight who discovered this?"
"If a prominent knight suddenly dies, wouldn't that look more suspicious? I'll take care of it soon. My knights are not as loose-lipped as you."

Wait? Renee burst into laughter.

"No. He believes in religion, right? That, the Velorian religion or something."
"Are there people in the Empire who don't believe in that? Why-"
"I know what someone with faith is capable of. Where is that knight?"

Even the most annoying people in my past life were fanatics.
She immediately got up from her seat. Ishir followed her, looking bewildered.

"Where are you going?"
"Don't you know? I'm asking where that knight is."

[The <Queen of Waves and Healing> shows you the trace of the person you're looking for!]

Renee ran in the direction indicated by her Constellation. There, she saw a knight sitting with his face buried in his hands, in agony.

"Hey, you."

She woke the knight up abruptly. His face turned red as if he had been crying a lot.

It goes against her nature to rush someone who is grieving, but she’s in a hurry too.

"Young Lady Marchius. I don't know what you're thinking right now-"
"If you don't know, leave me alone."

There's no time to explain. Renee shook off Ishir's hand trying to hold her back and lifted the knight.

"W-What's the matter?"
"Did you read the will?"
"Why are you asking me that?"
"No, you don't need to answer. I can tell by the look on your face."

She smiled and placed her hand on the knight's forehead.

[Skill activated! - <Astaroth's Breath>]

The knight soon fell asleep as if he had collapsed. Renee laid him down properly and breathed into him.

'Sister Waves, can you find out who this bastard talked to?'

[The <Queen of Waves and Healing> nods in response to your request.]

"What are you doing, Young Lady?"
"Now you and I are on the same boat."
"What did you say?"
"The real problem is that the boat we're on is sinking right now."

Renee raised her hand and slowly lowered it. They're descending like this, this person.

"I'm sick of even stepping on the same ground as Young Lady, let alone being on the same boat."
"Oh, come on!"

She's frustrated. Renee sighed.

"If this accusation gets out, you and I will both be finished, you know!"

And my quest will be finished too!

[Quest Window]

<Main Quest - Adaptation 1>

You are now reincarnated as Renee Marchius, the noble daughter of Duke Marchius, the strongest warrior family of the Lambdish Empire.

Renee Marchius is the worst villainess in the novel.

Recover your reputation to -500.

Clear Condition: Reach reputation -500.

Clear Reward: <<What If An S-Class Hunter Becomes A Villainess?>> Volume 1.

Failing one or two sub-quests wouldn't be a big problem, but the main quest was different.
Most of the main quests were directly related to the final quest.

'Moreover, the clear reward is the item I need the most right now.'

Since she doesn't know anything about this novel, she has to be careful when taking action!

[The <Emperor of Temptation> timidly asks if it's natural to be cautious when taking action.]

'It must never be leaked.'

Surely, if it is revealed that Lianne pointed to Renee as the cause of her death, she should worry not only about reputation -500 but also about reputation -999.

"If you keep your mouth shut, it won't be leaked."

Ishir also answered, seeming annoyed. But Renee was not someone who could be reassured by that.
Of course, the information could be leaked in some way.

"This is not something Lianne would do. Lianne was a person so stubbornly attached."
"Yes. Someone must have intervened and manipulated it. But why don't you feel any sense of crisis yet?"

At first, she was skeptical. She thought maybe Lianne had run away and died in an unexpected accident.

Or maybe she couldn't overcome her hatred for Renee and Ishir and committed suicide.

Until she heard Derek's confession.

She thought about the truth Derek revealed, which was hinted at just now.

'A strong... grudge.'
'A grudge? Tell me more.'.

She continued to press Derek. Since she couldn't know when a similar skill would be revealed, she had to extract as much information as possible.

'I can't feel... the power of the saint...'
'Then what do you feel?'
'This is... a power... like... a demon...'

Renee let out a sigh. A demon. That's a part she doesn't know well.

[The <Emperor of Temptation> expresses injustice that it's not the work of a demon!]

'I know that too.'

It didn't seem like a demon. Even if the demon was after her, the Saint wouldn't have lost to just one demon.
But seeing that she could use a similar skill, it was clear that she was an incredibly skilled person.

'<Belial’s Whisper> is a skill that I find difficult to use too.'

Something that she still didn't know had definitely intervened. Something that had ill intentions towards Renee and Ishir.

'I have to find out its true identity. But before that, this will have already come out.'

Surely, this was also manipulated. Where did the manipulation start and end?

"It doesn't matter. This will won't escape outside. Forget about the existence of this will. It means don't go around poking your nose into things for no reason."
"You have no intention of revealing the mastermind?"
"Mastermind?"

Ishir, seeming bored, took the will back from Renee's hand.

"Of course, it's obvious who's behind this. They must be one of those who want to tarnish my 'reputation'. Naturally, I will find them and completely destroy them. But I can't publicly accuse them. Lianne's death will be treated as an unfortunate accident. This fake will never exist in the first place."

"What if it gets leaked?"
"I will deny it. I have the real evidence in my hands. Baseless rumors without evidence are just empty words."

[The <Queen of Waves and Healing> calls you with a perplexed face.]

"Yes, then let's start with your knights."

Renee pointed to his back with his chin. Ishir turned around with a bewildered face.

"Your Highness, you should take a look at this for a moment."

There, knights stained with confusion, resentment, sadness, and betrayal were staring at the two of them.

"The will written by the Saint is being distributed throughout the Empire."

[You are known as the indirect murderer of the Saint. Your reputation decreases by 50. Current Fame: -897.]
[Your reputation continues to decline... Current Fame: -898.]
[Your reputation continues to decline... Current Fame: -899.]

Damn it. Seriously.

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