She is the Daughter of the Villainess in a Ridiculous Novel - Chapter 129

“Huh?”

Idel’s eyes widened slightly at Sigmund’s reaction, which was different from what she had anticipated.

She hadn’t expected him to object.

Sigmund had never refused a proposal of hers before—no matter how incomprehensible or unpleasant the suggestion might have been.

‘So I thought that this time, too, he would accept it even while clicking his tongue and saying I’d truly lost my mind.’

Wondering if she had misjudged something, Idel kept her mouth shut. Sigmund looked at her intently for a moment before arching an eyebrow.

“Or what, is this a confession that you want to spend the rest of your life together?”

“What?”

“You know it too. Unless that’s the case, you know exactly what kind of talk will circulate in social circles.”

An act always had an “end.” And at that moment, she would be the one on the chopping block. In other words, Sigmund was directly pointing out Idel’s “bad habit.”

Whether he liked it or not, Idel occupied a massive part of the life he had lived so far, and he hated seeing his “comrade-in-arms” unconsciously throw herself away like a disposable pawn.

He hated the idea of others touching her as they pleased even more.

‘Why do you think I kept my mouth shut about the ghost commotion?’

Wasn’t it because he knew that if she found out about the situation, she would act like a pushover exactly like this?

‘Even though it’s not an important enough matter to justify taking such a risk.’

In any case, Sigmund had no great lingering attachment to the position of Crown Prince, nor did he feel a profound sense of duty. His initial decision to go to the Imperial Palace was for power, and he didn’t have much of a mindset focused on serving the country to make it wealthy and strong.

‘I’ve just received things from the Imperial Family, and perhaps because of my experience rolling around in the crow’s nest, there are problems that naturally catch my eye, so I’ve just been dealing with them one by one.’

Therefore, even if he were to lose the position of Crown Prince because of this incident, Sigmund’s life wouldn’t change significantly.

‘It’s not like I’ll become miserable.’

Thanks to “someone,” everything he truly valued would remain exactly as it was.

‘Though it seems that “someone” doesn’t think the same way.’

Was this also because they were comrades?

Just as Sigmund briefly dwelled on that subtly irritating word, Idel muttered something that grated on his nerves.

“Ah, I thought it was something serious.”

“Did I hear that right? ‘Something serious?’”

“I just didn’t expect you to care about rumors in society. Well, of course people will talk.”

They would surely chew over, dissect, and savor the reasons why he and Idel broke up, or whether there was some flaw in one of them.

‘If someone else tries to discuss marriage with me, or if I actually get married, there will probably be plenty of talk about whether that person will end up on Sigmund’s bad side.’

That was true, but….

‘They won’t be able to say anything to my face anyway, so isn’t it fine?’

In places where people gathered in such numbers, endless talk was simply the nature of the beast.

‘Besides, it’s not like this is the first time.’

From the story of the “second daughter in the rumors” spread by Melisa to the gossip after her debut and finally the commotion at the Marquis’s funeral today, Idel was a person whose name had already been dragged across the chopping block of high society as much as it could be.

A drop of paint stands out starkly on a pristine white canvas, but what difference does one more drop make on a surface already splattered with all sorts of colors?

‘In fact, I might even be considered one of a kind.’

No matter how much they cursed her behind her back, the most welcomed person in social circles was always the one standing at the center of the latest scandal.

‘As I thought, isn’t it better to sacrifice some flesh to take the bone? Especially when this seems directly intertwined with Nox’s.’

No matter how much she racked her brain, she kept reaching the same conclusion. Just as Idel parted her lips to try and reassert her rational logic, Sigmund cut her off.

“Stop right there with that ‘it’s no big deal because I’ve been through it before’ talk.”

Having anticipated her move, Sigmund snorted and twisted his lips.

“I didn’t realize that being badmouthed by everyone suddenly became ‘no big deal’?”

“Hey.”

“If it’s such a small matter, why don’t you go tell the Duke or Gianna every single detail right now? Let’s see if Gianna can last a second without flying into a rage.”

“……”

“You were planning on telling your family only after the deed was done, weren’t you?”

At Sigmund’s knowing look, Idel raised both hands in a flare of indignation.

“Fine, I take it back. Happy? That’s playing dirty.”

“You’re the one who played dirty first. Forget Nox or whoever; think about my position. I almost pushed you into a pit just to save my own skin.”

Idel exhaled softly as she looked at him, his chin tilted up defiantly.

“Fine. When it’s time to roll in the mud, we roll together. That’s what it means to be comrades, right?”

“……I wonder.”

As he trailed off, Sigmund’s expression looked somewhat uncomfortable. Idel was about to demand what the problem was now, but she simply kept her mouth shut.

Judging by his face, something was bothering him, but he didn’t seem to know exactly what it was himself.

‘……Well, I suppose if the situation were reversed, I wouldn’t have been able to choose so readily either.’

Suddenly, she remembered Dante shouting, asking if Sigmund had agreed to this.

‘Perhaps I was being a bit too hasty.’

Solving everything quickly wasn’t the only thing that mattered. As Sigmund said, if she didn’t have to sacrifice any “flesh,” that would be much better.

While Idel calmly organized her thoughts, Sigmund began to speak slowly, his hand brushing against the tombstone of his twin, Ulan Belnias.

“We have time. High Priest Othello suggested it might be a good idea to offer prayers for Crown Prince Ulan for a while.”

“High Priest Othello said that?”

“Yeah. The optics won’t be bad, either. It’ll look like I’m trying to soothe Yulan’s soul. In the meantime, we can look into the circumstances further. Whether it’s Nox or a ghost.”

Soothe….

Idel chewed on Sigmund’s words, absentmindedly tapping her arm with her finger. Blinking as her gaze shifted between him and the grave of Prince Ulan, she let out a small exclamation and spoke to Sigmund.

“Hey, I just had a great idea.”

“Now what?”

“Let’s meet in secret after all.”

“Hey, were you even listening to a single word I just—mph!”

Idel abruptly clamped her hand over Sigmund’s fuming mouth and narrowed her eyes slightly.

“Just listen. Your concern is that a scandal about the two of us will break out in high society, right? Then it’s simple. People just shouldn’t know that I am ‘me.’”

“……”

Sigmund’s brows furrowed. It was a look that clearly demanded to know what kind of nonsense she was talking about. Idel, unbothered by his clear disapproval, continued.

“I’ll come wearing the robes of a pilgrim priest. So, essentially, you’ve been secretly meeting a priest at the temple this whole time. How about that?”

If she was going to ask how it sounded, she could at least move her hand.

Sigmund pulled Idel’s hand away from his mouth, his attitude much more softened than when he had first heard her crazy suggestion.

Brushing his lips lightly with the back of his hand, he narrowed his eyes and countered.

“Isn’t that a bit of a stretch? What reason would I have to meet a priest in secret?”

“Why not? You can just say you’ve always been troubled by the thoughts of your younger… no, older…? Anyway, the twin brother you never even got to see properly. There are plenty of bereaved families who entrust family mementos to pilgrim priests. Just say you hoped traces of Crown Prince Ulan would be spread across every corner of the Empire. See? No problems if we do it like this, right?”

Hearing Idel’s rebuttal, Sigmund pressed his lips together. He couldn’t argue because her claim that it was “problem-free” was actually correct.

‘The fact that I’ve been in continuous contact with a priest of the temple weakens the link between me and the “People with Tangled Memories” on its own. It implies the temple watched me for a long time and found nothing suspicious.’

Furthermore, there was no need to worry about Idel’s identity being exposed. Even if the pilgrim priest he was meeting was revealed to be ‘Idel,’ it would be fine. Idel had, in fact, been officially recognized by the temple and was active as a pilgrim priest.

Watching Sigmund’s expression intently, Idel sensed that her proposal had been accepted.

With a faint smile playing on her lips, she gave a light nod, putting a period on the conversation.

“Tomorrow, at a dark hour perfect for a ghost to appear, meet me in front of the cemetery.”

“……Damn it, fine. I get it.”

Sigmund finally accepted Idel’s proposal, ruffling his hair in frustration as he usually did.

And then, the night after he made that promise with Idel.

Sigmund unexpectedly came face-to-face with the ghost of his twin brother in front of the grave.

No—to be precise, he actually caught it.