20 years had passed when I woke up! ~ The villain's daughter’s thereafter and after that ~ - Chapter 16

Translator: Darling | Editor: Nebosuke

This is the epilogue of Chapter 2.

After the rebellion of the Duke of Canossa, many guests came to the villa of the Duke of Florence.

They all wanted to meet Fioria. Her schedule was fully booked for the coming week. 

“You must forgive me for what I did to you 20 years ago! I was still young!”

Most of the visitors were male aristocrats who were Annerose’s companions.

They were all frightened. 

The demolition of the Isolute Kingdom.

The termination of the Duke of Canossa’s family.

Just recently, Oswald and Kenneth were also hung in the plaza.

Since Fioria awakened, the people who were close to Annerose were eliminated one after another.

They all thought, “I might be next…”

Such fear dominated these aristocratic men, and so they visited Fioria as if they were competing against each other. 

They apologized for what they did 20 years ago and begged for forgiveness.

Dario de Saffron.

This male nobleman, who was currently meeting with Fioria, was one of Annerose’s followers. 

“I regret that I told Annerose the sensitive information of the kingdom, my family, and others. I really do!”

“… I won’t bring that up again. It was 20 years ago.”

“Is that so? Thank you Fioria! You’re just like a goddess!”

“But you seem to be teaming up with the Duke of Canossa behind closed doors.”

“What do you mean by that …?”

“Give me a break. It’s already been investigated. There seem to be many cases of disappearance of young women in your territory. Did you “export” them all abroad? I can’t overlook this. But if you plead guilty right here and now, I may consider not demolishing your family.”

“It… it’s not my fault! It isn’t! Conrad the bastard told me to provide the products if I wanted to meet Annerose…”

“Conrad did everything. Is that what you are saying?”

“Oh, yes! That’s right! I just got caught up in it! I’ll willingly confess to you all the people who got involved in the deal! I don’t want to get executed.”

“You are a piece of junk,” Fioria said so brutally, with her body sinking into the sofa within the reception room.

Dario’s expression froze in despair.

“You don’t admit your sin, and you try to deflect your misdeed onto others. On top of that, you don’t mind sacrificing others in order to save yourself. Is that what a nobleman should do?”

“No, no, I didn’t mean that. I just blurted out…”

“So, you can’t even take responsibility for your own words? You’re done for. A pitch-dark jail cell suits an asshole like you more than a glittering mansion.”

“Oh, no…”

Dario didn’t know what to say or do and showed a dismayed expression. 

“Don’t you have any compassion or sympathy! I’m apologizing so many times already. Moreover, I’ve brought over a gift to you…!”

A table in the reception room.

A gift from Dario was on top of that. 

It was a gold pendant.

Its pedestal was decorated with an emerald, giving off a tranquil jade glow.

“Do you know how expensive this is!? It’s an import from the new continent!”

“Really?”

Fioria picked up the pendant.

She pinched the emerald on it with her fingers and slightly put her strength into it.

The jade shattered into pieces.

“It’s a very fragile emerald… Dario, this is a counterfeit. Alchemy faked it to look like an emerald. It’s gold-plated too. It has no worth.”

“What? I bought it even on a debt …”

“I’ll catch the merchant who sold you this pendant. So, relax and go to jail.”

“Oh, no! No, no, no! Forgive me!”

“… Lex, would you mind keeping this man quiet?”

“Yes, My Lady.”

The young man who remained silent behind Fioria moved.

Gracefully and quickly.

He went behind and knocked out Dario with one single blow. 

“What would you like me to do with this guy then?”

“As usual, give it to Mofumofu.”

Fioria’s treatment of her visitors had roughly two patterns. 

She welcomed them with open arms if they were descent nobles nowadays, even if they were teaming up with Annerose back then. 

However, if they were committing some crimes despite their nobility, she interrogated and handed them over to the Knight’s headquarters with evidence.

Speaking of which, they were transported by a joint operation of the 4th Knight Regiment and the Mofumofu family.

The female knights of the 4th Knight Regiment apparently loved this duty. They seemed to be arguing and scuffling every day over who to carry out this duty. 

“I should open a Fenrir cafe, just like a dog or a cat cafe?”

Fioria was murmuring as if she was joking.

This idea would later become a reality.

**

“Well, I will be the Prime Minister again.”

A few days later.

Graham De Florence, Fioria’s father, told her so just before dinner. 

Recently, a number of aristocrats were arrested and thrown into jail, in conjunction with the reveal of all the crimes that the Duke of Canossa conducted. 

This meant multiple positions in the imperial court were open to young ones where they could play active roles in politics. However, their lack of experience was apparent and unavoidable. 

Graham was called in as a veteran who could lead the fresh-faced. 

“… Don’t put too much pressure on them just because they’re promising young politicians. You overdo this every now and then.”

“Are you saying that to me, Fioria? … I know what exactly you did in the battle with the Duke of Canossa’s army.”

Gregory Plain.

It was the area where the Kingdom Army and the rebel of the Duke of Canossa crashed and turned it into a lifeless wilderness. Even a single shoot of grass didn’t grow. 

Fioria let her power out perhaps far more than needed and repeatedly fired << Wand of Divine Punishment >>, even though she had to defeat her epic foe, the archangel. As a result, the scenery turned into something like a deserted land.  

……However, no devils and demons came into or near the area now, perhaps because the light-magic-power remained in high concentration. The area had become a popular spiritual healing spot for many people.

“You are just like Flora.”

“Are you having fun with your fabricated memory again?”

“It really happened. At the northern end of our domain, there stands the Firentia Valley.”

“It’s a border with the Kingdom of Valois.”

“Yes, and Flora created that valley.”

It happened just after Flora passionately proposed to Graham and captured his heart. 

The Valois Kingdom had long been plotting to invade the Tristan Kingdom. Their army finally advanced over the Firentia Mountains (at that time), and launched a surprise attack.

“Flora got excited and headed off on the spot. She was likely to want to show me how cool she was.”

Partly as an engraving of her own engagement celebration, she fired massive destructive spells numerous times and reshaped the Firentia Mountains into a deep valley.

The mother and her daughter.

They weren’t so friendly to nature. 

“… My heart trembled. I couldn’t be a half-hearted man because she revealed her affection that could knock off mountains.”

At that time, Graham had no ambition.

Once he succeeded to the Duke of Florence, he intended to have a relaxed life in his territory and live with his fluffy pets.

However, meeting with Flora totally changed the course of his life.

Graham transformed himself like a different person, and in just a few years, he got appointed to be the Prime Minister.

“After all, my father and mother were both crazy.”

“And you are a daughter of the crazy parents.”

Graham laughed out loud.

He was feared as the “Ice Minister” at the imperial court, but lately he became unhesitant to show his meek and laid-back attitude when his daughter was around.

Apparently, Graham sometimes enjoyed playing with Fenrir cubs. It might give him some animal therapeutic effects.

“By the way, Fioria.”

“Yes, father.”

“I have received a permit from His Majesty. When I come back to the court as the Prime Minister, one Fenrir, only one, can come with me as my escort.”

“Dad, how much do you love Fenrir …?”

Graham would start commuting to the court with the 49th of the 99 offspring, Choco-choco.  

Choco-Choco was quick and agile. He would be very useful for carrying documents around in the court.

Afterward, the court servants would all long for him like their idol, but that’s another story.

After finishing dinner, Fioria was drinking tea in her room.

Lex was waiting for her as usual.

“How about the taste of tea tonight, My Lady?”

“… Can I be honest?”

“Sure. Go ahead.”

“Sorry, but it’s my first time tasting such bitter Orange Peko. The more I drink, the thirstier I get.”

“Thank you for the valuable feedback. Let me fix it next time.”

“Is it easy to fix?”

“Please look forward to it. Oh, I have something to tell you.”

Lex pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket.

“This piece of information hasn’t been published yet. It seems that the Crown Prince of the Regalia Empire will visit our kingdom shortly.”

“Right, from such a faraway country…”

The Regalia Empire was located in the northern part of the continent, and in recent years it had been rapidly expanding occupied territory.

On the other hand, the Kingdom of Tristan was located at the southern end of the continent. The two countries were far apart from each other. 

“The prince apparently has a fiancé. She seems to have a desperate desire to visit the Kingdom of Tristan. She is reportedly very much interested in you, My Lady.”

“Sounds like an eccentric princess. What kind of person is she?”

“Originally, she was raised by a commoner. One day, it became clear that she was from a fallen Baron family, and so she was adopted.”

“……fallen Baron family?”

Fioria tilted her head.

Wait a minute.

She heard that somewhere.

Specifically, 20 years ago.

“The crown prince once had another fiancée, but he called off his engagement a while ago. He then was engaged with his new fiancée shortly after. Her name is….”

Annerose. 

After the intermission, Volume 3, Annerose Compilation, will begin.