The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 109
Roxelyn suddenly felt a surge of irritation and pressed it down slowly as she looked at the man in front of her.
She wanted to slap the smug face of the Emperor, but she couldn’t actually do it.
Even though this Emperor was grinning, he didn’t have the magnanimity to tolerate such disrespect.
When he was somewhat moderate, discussions had to be resolved through conversation.
“…What do you mean by that?”
Roxelyn asked, suppressing her annoyance and inquiring somewhat dryly.
The Emperor tapped the armrest of the sofa with his finger, then smiled and began to speak.
“The one and only Roxelyn Bellion had been appointed for a diplomatic role in Kaluta.”
He furrowed his brows as if he was in a difficult position, then pulled down the corners of his mouth. If only based on his expression, he seemed truly pitiable.
“….”
“So, it’s become somewhat regrettable that your engagement needs to end, from my point of view.”
Of course, Roxelyn didn’t believe him.
She looked at the Emperor without saying a word.
Her expression was stiff, and the Emperor, too, faced her dissatisfied gaze with a curious expression.
‘So, she can make such a face.’
The Emperor rubbed his chin.
‘In the past, she just looked at the ground and had no expression, almost like a doll, but now…’
It seemed she was capable of getting angry.
The Emperor shrugged his shoulders while looking at Roxelyn.
If the promise was kept, in fact, granting the annulment wasn’t a bad idea.
His youngest son wasn’t interested in the throne, and the Emperor had no intention of giving the throne to a child uninterested in it.
‘The problem is that Kaluta trusts Ducal Lady Bellion quite a bit.’
The Emperor momentarily recalled the young leader he had met from Kaluta.
The boy, acting as Kaluta’s envoy, spoke with a voice that was firm and resolute.
‘The moment Ducal Lady Bellion annuls the engagement, all the merit will return to the Bellion Ducal family.’
That wasn’t good in many ways.
From the Emperor’s perspective, it was better for Roxelyn to maintain her current engagement as ‘the fiancée of the Third Prince.’ It was more beneficial for him.
‘…And perhaps, it might change the youngest one’s mind too.’
Emperor Severus was not a fool.
He knew that Arma Diyanitas resented him, and he also knew well that as much as he resented him, he resented the empire he ruled.
Arma resented everything in the empire. Thus, his youngest had given up loving the empire early on.
To turn away from everything produced by the empire and to ignore the duties and responsibilities given to him, he had curled his claws and contorted his body into an ill-fitting box to become a dull person.
The youngest had made such a choice largely because of his influence, so the Emperor remained silent.
“I understand Your Majesty’s position.”
Roxelyn nodded.
The Emperor lifted his head, coming out of his reverie to look at Roxelyn.
“You must certainly find it regrettable.”
She spoke boldly, albeit stiffly, as if stating an unchanging fact.
The Emperor almost burst into laughter at her audacious remark, but he suppressed it.
‘Why was such a jewel hidden in the mud?’
The Emperor thought.
‘Did the ducal house intentionally hide her?’
As he had done.
Severus had tried hard to hide the one he had come to love.
Though it is said that one wants to give everything to a loved one, the Emperor was not like that. He was a lowly and sinister character who wanted to keep her solely for himself.
Thus, he had hidden her from the world, even when she should have held the most honored position.
When Arma was younger, he told him that she had died, to keep her survival a secret.
So, the boy had to grow up in a long period of envy and loneliness.
The reason he had given Roxelyn Bellion, a nearly laughable figure in high society, as a fiancée was due to this.
Severus cared for Arma the most among his three sons, but because he cared, he had to pretend not to love the boy.