The Villainess Lives Twice

Chapter 294

Proofreader: somnium

Alice had prepared bath water and soup in a cup.

Artizea drank the soup while soaking in warm water. There was a piece of bread soaked in it.

She had no appetite. Lawrence’s letter was the first clue she got.

But Cedric ordered it strictly.

[“It is also a job to take care of yourself. If you are in good condition, you can come up with good ideas. Isn’t it?]

It was the master’s order.

Otherwise, instead of telling her to drink the soup, he would have brought the cup and held it in his hand.

Cedric wasn’t wrong. She was forced to fall asleep, the flow of thoughts was interrupted once. But after waking up, her mind was still not clear.

The situation could not have changed suddenly in a short period of time while taking a bath.

Even if it changed rapidly, Artizea was not in a position to run and do things directly. She could say all the things she needed, even while sitting in the bathtub.

So it’s just a matter of her mind.

Artizea drank all of the soup and handed the empty cup to Alice. Then, she slid into the warm water and submerged to her neck.

Her stiff body loosened a little. As her body warmed up, sweat dripped down the corners of her eyes.

“Is the water too hot, Madam?”

“No. Just fine.”

There was a nice scent from the dried orange peel that Alice had put in the water.

Artizea nodded off. There was no sign of letting go of the tightness in her chest. She had a hard time breathing, but her body was so languid that she wanted to collapse like this and sleep forever.

It was a joy for Cedric to be able to take care of his servant’s body as her master.

In fact, that’s all she had hoped for from Lawrence all her life.

If she couldn’t be loved as a brother and sister, she wanted to prove her worth as a servant. Lawrence was concerned about her health, and he had sent her medicines.

Even though she knew that it was because it would be difficult to hear that his best contributor was treated poorly, rather than being really worried about Artizea’s health.

So this was an overflowing treat.

Facing each other and listening seriously when she speaks out. Accepting good advice.

Listen to her own excuses only once when she has a setup.

She wouldn’t want more than that.

But now, she was already accustomed to more than that and dreamed in vain.

“Madam, you can’t sleep here.”

Artizea woke up from her sleep, startled by Alice grabbing her arm.

“What time is it?”

“You just slept for a while. I think you better get up, though. Your skin is already red.”

Artizea got up from the bathtub with Alice’s support. She was a little dizzy, but she hid it.

When she returned to the living room there was Owen.

Cedric was sitting at Artizea’s desk, writing something. Then, he heard the door open and turned around.

He looked at Alice instead of Artizea.

“Did she finish the soup?”

“Yes.”

Cedric nodded his head and beckoned Alice to back away.

Alice quietly closed the door and left. Owen offered Artizea a seat.

Meanwhile, Cedric continued to fill out the paperwork. And at the end he signed it, put it in an envelope, and sealed it with wax.

“Take it and deliver it.”

He handed over nine envelopes to Owen. Owen accepted it and went out with a military salute.

Artizea sat in Owen’s seat, waiting for him to finish.

Cedric sat a little further away from Artizea. It was a position where she could see the map from the side.

“How is your body?”

“It’s okay. It got better.”

“Would you like to see it again?”

Artizea nodded her head. Cedric handed her the letter again.

“I also marked the location from the map that Lawrence sent me on this map.”

Artizea looked at the red pen mark on the map. It was located close to Embankment 6.

It was the only place in the vicinity with a high altitude. Even so, it was on a hilly level.

However, from there to the lower reaches of the river, there was an area lower than the river, so if they stood there, they could see the whole embankment at a glance.

“He plans to blow up Embankment 6…….”

“Do you remember where you put the explosives?”

Cedric asked.

Artizea flinched. Cedric said without showing his emotions,

“Lawrence sent me a map, which means I should stand there and see with my own eyes; Embankment 6 bursting.”

“…… Yes.”

“Then, wouldn’t the location where the explosives be installed be the same?”

Cedric himself did not know where the explosives had been detonated at that time. Because he wasn’t informed until after the embankment had burst.

“I’m not saying Lawrence is irrational. The banks of the Abba River are quite strong. Exploding just anywhere is not going to wipe out the city of Kader.”

“Yes. That’s right.”

So, to explode Embankment 7, 8, and 9, a large amount of gunpowder was needed.

“Even if it’s easy to get weapons and gunpowder in the West, there’s a limit to how much gunpowder he has.”

“Ah. Right. Come to think of it, yes. Most of the bulk cargo within this province goes to the city of Kader, so it would have been noticeable if the bulk of the cargo moved from Kader to other areas.”

However, there was no such thing in the information that Artizea had received.

Did Lawrence move the gunpowder in a completely dispersed way to fool the eye?

Considering his personality, that possibility was low. To say the least, his subordinates were bandits.

“Lawrence himself knows. He probably knows that imitating you is the surest and best way to save gunpowder.”

He had to make sure that Embankment 6 was torn down, and the water pressure had to help the collapse of Embankment 7.

Artizea stood up. And with trembling hands, she marked two locations.

Cedric nodded his head. Then, he called in and dispatched two more search teams.

And he returned to the seat across from Artizea.

“I sent orders to local ministers, including Mayor Kader.”

“Are you going to mobilize the villagers to search the embankment?”

Artizea asked in bewilderment.

“There will be agitation. If we do it wrong, we could end up having an accident because of those trying to escape.”

“Anyway, it is impossible to solve the situation with the military alone now. There is a shortage of manpower.”

Cedric said.

“The search can be a lot faster if someone knows the area well. They might find something suspicious in cargo transportation.”

“But, what if things go wrong because you disclose the situation?”

“It would be a political burden for me.”

Cedric replied calmly,

“It doesn’t matter. Even if that were the case, no one could stop me from ascending to the throne for that reason.”

“Lord Cedric…….”

“At this point, the only thing I can hide and shrink is my responsibility. And that’s not an understatement.”

Artizea bit her lower lip and lowered her head.

After all, that’s why she’d burst the embankment in the past. Cedric was and still is here.

“You and I are both here. It will give courage to the residents as well.”

Artizea nodded her head.

Cedric stood up.

“Then, you should sleep more. There is nothing you can do now. It’s all a matter of footwork.”

“Yes…….”

“If you think of something important, please tell me.”

Having said that, Cedric turned the doorknob and opened it as if he was about to leave.

And he paused for a moment.

“Ah, Venia…… ”

“Yes?”

“…… nothing.”

Cedric was about to say it would be a good idea to separate herself from Venia, but he stopped.

It wasn’t something that could be said as a master. Cedric just walked out.

＊＊＊

Artizea slept a little more as he instructed. With a little rest, she thought she might come up with a thought that would open her eyes, but that didn’t happen.

Meanwhile, a search team led by Cedric searched the embankment and pursued the gunpowder cart.

The next day, it rained.

“It is rather good. If it got wet in the rain, the gunpowder was unusable.”

Cedric said so.

However, he himself and his soldiers did not stop the search as they moved with the overflowing river next to them.

The tail was caught the next day, early in the morning of the day when Lawrence wrote down in the letter.

“Your Highness, we arrested the person who came to check the location of the gunpowder on Embankment 6.”

“I am going right now.”

Cedric got up from the table after having an early breakfast.

Artizea stood up following him. Cedric said,

“You make sure you stay in a safe place. Just in case, you have to take command.”

“Yes.”

“I will rescue Lysia and bring her back. So don’t worry anymore.”

Artizea looked at his back. The door closed in front of her.

If the embankment really breaks, and Cedric gets swept up there, she’ll have to stay in a safe place, even after that.

That was the right division of roles. She can’t even ride a horse, let alone chase after people and wield weapons, so what can she do at this time?

Still, she will be able to do something.

“Alice, get ready to go out.”

“Where are you going?”

Artizea looked again at the map that Lawrence had marked and sent.

There was no way Lawrence was going to compete with Cedric there. Anyway, he knows he can’t fight Cedric by force.

As Cedric said, he must have meant for Cedric to go there and see the embankment burst.

‘Maybe Brother will really come.’

If Lawrence was ignoring his life, he might have come to show Lysia the scene.

It wasn’t against Cedric’s orders. The spot was at least completely safe from the flooding of the river.

＊＊＊

Lysia sat in front of Lawrence’s saddle.

He put her hands in pockets made of velvet and tied her wrists so that she wouldn’t do anything. It was to prevent her from using her hands.

“Lawrence, Lawrence. Is it really okay?”

Asked Alwyn, terrified. He was Lawrence’s friend.

He was listed as a major trader in Baron Yetz’s slave books, and he was also in the party with Count Eison who slandered Cedric as an apostate.

Shortly after Artizea revealed that she was the Saintess, he fled west, relying on Lawrence.

He had no great ambition of overthrowing the throne.

His primary purpose was to ruin the West and make Cedric lose his popularity. Then, the Emperor will call Lawrence back.

He thought that was Lawrence’s purpose as well.

But no matter how he looked at it, what Lawrence was doing was crazy.