20 years had passed when I woke up! ~ The villain's daughter’s thereafter and after that ~ - Chapter 15

Translator: Darling | Editor: Nebosuke

The army of the Duke of Canossa was no longer able to fight.

Their mud dolls and golems were totally wiped out.

Their mercenaries and sorceries had also completely lost their will to fight, and most of them chose to surrender.

The Canossa men were arrested and dragged in front of Fioria and Vincent.

“P… p… please, forgive me! I just gave in to temptation!”

The Duke of Canossa, Conrad, was tied up with his limbs, still kept struggling, and desperately and repeatedly begged for his life. 

The cocky and bossy man was gone by now.

After all, under his arrogant mask was a miserable middle-aged man rolling side-to-side without any dignity. 

“Fioria! I’m deeply filled with remorse! I will never do this again! So please, let me go …! We were friendly classmates, right?”

“I once tried to compromise on you since you were one of my classmates. I told you that if you pleaded your own guilty, the Canossa family itself would be intact and safe. But you didn’t listen to me.”

“You’re right! I admit everything. Not only that. I’ll tell you all about what happened 20 years ago, and where Annerose is today! That woman is on the new continent.”

“It’s false information.”

“What………?”

“Annerose doesn’t seem to trust you. She will probably desert you because you are so incompetent. I’m chasing her whereabouts, but she doesn’t appear to be on the new continent.”

“Well …”

Conrad hung his head in despair.

“I honestly regret what I’ve done. I’m a different person now. Let me start with a clean slate and work for the Kingdom of Tristan. Give me another chance…!”

Hey, Conrad, don’t you get it?”

Fioria cocked her head.

She didn’t understand why Conrad was begging her. 

“You were fighting the Kingdom of Tristan? Who’s the Supreme Commander? I’m just a soldier under his command. Is that right, His Majesty?”

“As the daughter of Duke Florence says.”

Vincent took a step forward and spoke in his emotionless voice.

He was holding his sword.

“You shouldn’t have begged mercy from her. You should have done so to me. Well, either way, you cannot get away from the beheading.”

“Curse you! I’ll curse you!”

“Do whatever you like. I won’t stop what’s been decided anymore.”

He swung his sword. 

Then, Conrad de Canossa never said a word again.

The eldest son, Bruno, and the second son, Heinrich, were also beheaded immediately.

Vincent himself executed these three men with his own sword. 

“Why couldn’t you take his sons as prisoners? Conrad was the mastermind,” Fioria asked.

Her intention was not to accuse Vincent – it was a pure question.

This battle was a kind of demonstration.

These men needed to be sacrificed in order to let the people know about what Vincent was trying to do – reforming the kingdom.

That role was given to the Duke of Canossa and his sons.

Therefore, a wise option was to bring his two sons back to the royal capital as “loot” and hang them on the gallows after being routed around the city.

The impact would be huge, and the people would come to see it.

The number of King Vincent’s supporters should skyrocket.

Why did he kill Conrad and his sons right here?

Vincent returned to his own tent without answering her question.

**

“… That’s because they targeted you.”

Inside the curtain-

Lying on a cot, Vincent muttered alone.

Bruno, the eldest son of the Canossa family, called the archangel using a fragment of the << Holy Grail >>.

Even Fioria withstood the attack, she still took some damage. 

He couldn’t forgive him.

It was especially out of the question for the second son, Heinrich.

A few weeks ago, an incident took place at the Knights Training Center.

Although he was holding a training sword, Heinrich slashed at Fioria.

On top of that, he apparently said to her, “We’re going to assault you.”

Heinrich was nothing but unforgivable.

If Vincent could use some reanimation magic, he would kill Heinrich 100 times or more.

“I’m getting a little crazy.”

He had a mad feeling that couldn’t be described with words like lingering affection or obsession.

He had given up on her.

And because he did so, he might monstrously love her.

“Oswald, my brother. I’ll hold a grudge against you until I die.”

There could be another future if that man wasn’t haunted by Annerose.

Vincent fell asleep, imagining some possibility of some turnaround…

**

Fioria was wondering one thing. 

“The Duke of Canossa moved too fast.”

Conrad took less than one month from his jailbreak to the rise of the rebellion.

The preparation period was too short to gather a little less than 10,000 soldiers.

“Was anyone working behind the scenes and plotting it well in advance …?”

She got the answer shortly.

“I did it all.”

The Duchess of Canossa admitted and confessed. 

Hannah De Canossa. Her maiden name was Syracuse.

Her sweet and relaxed smile suited well with her caramel-colored and loose-wavy hair. 

Hannah was a 36-year-old lady and one year younger than Fioria.

Actually, she had a supporting character in “Amnesia of Deep Sleep”, and was a classmate of the main character, Annerose.

The so-called best friend position.

Hannah cheered Annerose up when she was down. In some cases, Hannah even mediated between Annerose and men whom she was trying to seduce.

Hannah was a kind and attentive girl.

Hannah and Annerose were best friends in the real world as well.

Their friendship seemed fell apart when Annerose began to form her reverse harem.

“It’s been a while, Fioria, How are you doing?”

“I’m feeling great. Hey Hannah, wasn’t your hair silver before?”

“Your observation is always keen. My husband Conrad told me to dye my hair. Make it the same color as Annerose.”

Hannah’s response somehow lacked reality and sounded beyond the reach.

“I’ve changed my hairstyle too. It just looks like her, right? Do you understand what that means?”

“Conrad was still obsessed with Annerose.”

Hannah nodded with an unfocused look in response to Fioria.

“My husband’s heart was trapped in Annerose all the time …. he was calling her name even in bed, instead of mine.”

“… It’s terrible.”

Fioria painfully looked down.

If she could use reanimation magic, she would have killed Conrad 100 times more.

That man trampled upon everything regarding a woman named Hannah, including her personality and dignity. 

“Why didn’t you divorce?”

“Of course I thought about it so many times. But I am from Count Syracuse’s family. My grandfather went bankrupt in the business, and my family hasn’t been wealthy since then. We’ve even sold off as household goods to live on. I had no choice but to accept the marriage with the Duke. I couldn’t divorce since I needed to keep on financing Syracuse’s family.”

Hanna looked powerless with a self-ridden expression. 

“Do you mind if I whine a little?”

Fioria nodded.

She was willing to listen to her as much as Hannah wanted if she could comfort her even a bit.

She had always admired Conrad since she was little.

When he stared at her with his serene eyes, her heart ached… Just remembering him gave her that tingling sensation.

That was why, even if it was a political marriage, she was happy because she could be Conrad’s wife.

However, everything turned messy 20 years ago.

Annerose de Isolute.

Conrad was seduced and deceived by her and became a completely different man.

He started collecting heavy taxes from his people, and he violently abused his subordinates and servants. He turned into a vicious aristocrat just like in the storybooks.

Nevertheless, Conrad always pitied himself.

“Oh, dear Annerose, why were we torn apart? No man can be as sad as me. I have a lot of sins, but it’s all because I can’t see you.”

“Every single night, he talked to me as if I was Annerose. That was so creepy.”

Conrad, whom she loved, had long gone. 

Someone else was there who just looked like Conrad.

Anne Rose’s hand-me-down.

She was unhappy about her marriage.

She had suicidal thoughts numerous times. 

Then one day, she saw an astonishing thing from her window.

Golden glitter.

Fioria’s magic, << Wand of Divine Punishment >>.

It was the one she discharged upon the Kingdom of Isolute perhaps.

Hannah conveniently took it as if that was encouraging and motivating her.

Because Fioria beat Annerose in a sense.

Fioria undid her fate of death, eradicated Annerose’s family members, and punished her former fiancé Oswald.

Hannah didn’t expect to be Fioria, but she had an urge to do something.

That was why she helped Conrad’s jailbreak and agitated him to raise the rebellion.

Not many knew, but she had two special skills.

She put on makeup to make her look younger and disguised herself as someone else. 

She dressed up like Annerose and whispered to Conrad in Annerose’s voice. 

“Yes, you can do it. You can be the King.”

“If you don’t use the hidden treasure of the Canossa family now, when will you use it?”

“Come on. Stand up, Conrad. You’re going to defeat King Vincent and Fioria.”

Then, Conrad danced well just as she choreographed it.

The Duke of Canossa was gone, and his notorious reputation would be continuously told in generations to come. 

He wouldn’t be in any history book if his sin was merely corruption, but he actually led a rebellion. He would be an infamous figure throughout history. 

Hannah wanted her husband who was so humiliated in his afterlife.

He was like a puppet who acted in Hannah’s hands and let the Duke of Canossa be demolished.

“Phew, I feel good.”

“It’s been a long time since I felt so joyful and satisfied.”

“Hey, Fioria.”

“I’m not the only woman whose life has been messed up by Annerose.”

“I guess I’m just complaining since I’m a weak woman.”

“But, please… please …”

“Please punish Annerose. She is still alive somewhere on Earth.

“That is my last wish for life.”

As she told everything, Hannah collapsed as if her tension went away.

She poisoned herself beforehand.

It was the same drug that once took Fioria into a long coma.

The miraculous recovery was possible for Fioria de Florence, and Fioria only.

Hanna, who was an ordinary person, was waiting for nothing but her fate of death.

“… I don’t admit this.”

Fioria caught and held Hannah who gave in. 

“… I don’t accept an ending like this.”

Hannah’s dignity was still lost. 

Her violated life was never to be recovered.

Life was like a teeter-totter that slightly leaned on the negative side.

If you want something, you have to give up something else. If something is taken away from you, you should grab something else equivalent.

That was one of her principles that disciplined Fioria.

So…

“I will definitely help you. Hannah.”

She focused. 

Since the day she regained the memory of her previous life, her magic developed and expanded steadily.

However, detoxification and treatment were not yet her specialties. 

“Don’t be silly. It’s not time to whine about my weaknesses.”

“Let me bring about a miracle or two.”

“Because I’m Fioria de Florence.”

It didn’t make sense at all.

An over-estimation of her capability. 

Even arrogance perhaps.

…… However, she was a sort of existence who made something impossible, possible. 

“It looks like it worked.”

In Fioria’s arms, Hannah was peacefully sleeping.

Detoxification seemed to be successful.

“I don’t know when she wakes up, but yeah, she’s going to be okay.”

“Yes, because I helped her!” 

While she said so, Fioria’s consciousness was fading away.

She repeatedly fired << Wand of Divine Punishment >> and she just created a miracle to revive Hannah’s life.

Her consumption of magic power had been enormous even for Fioria. She too fell into a deep sleep, although she felt fulfilled. 

This concludes(almost) Volume 2.