I Reincarnated As A Villainess, But Why Did I Become A Cat Butler Instead? - Chapter 290

Chapter 145.2

Their expressions were as if they were hearing a story of a painful, unrequited love from their youth, regretting their inability to distinguish between love and mere infatuation, and were foolishly swayed.

I shuddered, letting them misinterpret it as they pleased.

‘D*mn it, why did Rowaine like such a person?’

I drew a firm line.

“It’s a story from the past. Now, we’re more like enemies, let alone friends. In fact, I never really knew him well, even back then. We never had a truly deep relationship!”

I vented my frustration, and Avila patted me on the shoulder.

“Those who are gone from our lives are all like that. There’s a reason why they pass by.”

Herman wasn’t even my ex or anything, but it was truly unfair. Still, there was nothing I could do. There was no clearer or simpler way to explain that we were no longer friends.

I sighed deeply and ran my hand over my face.

“Anyway, since his behavior is suspicious, it would be best to keep a close watch. And once the punishment for Cadis is decided, as a person involved in the case, I’ll be informed right away, so I’ll try to prevent it by any means.”

“Can you do that?”

“I’ll take responsibility and rescue Cadis, Elaine. I promise.”

It was because I had been responsible for intercepting her plan.

Elaine thanked me and took both of my hands, and as a result, her wide sleeves fluttered slightly, revealing her wrists. In that moment, Avila noticed the bracelet she was wearing and muttered quietly.

“It must be something that looks just like that…”

At her words, Elaine unclasped the bracelet and showed it, asking.

“Do you know what this is?”

“Yes? Isn’t that the Princess’s bracelet?”

“No. I found it recently near the imperial palace’s laboratory and kept it because it might be important. Avila, you’re a wizard, right? Can you tell what it is?”

“Near the lab?”

Avila carefully examined the bracelet Elaine handed her.

It was a bracelet with a diamond-shaped, unidentified stone attached to the end of a leather string. Seeing that the leather part was quite worn, it seemed to have been used frequently by someone.

“I’m not sure either… but it seems like the key to open a sealed book I have would be exactly that shape and size…”

Her eyes widened in surprise.

“…Could it be?”

She suddenly rummaged through her belongings and pulled out a book.

“I recently received a letter saying that my senior, an imperial wizard, suddenly disappeared. This is her belonging. The contents can only be viewed after breaking the seal. The seal requires a key…”

Saying so, she pointed to a tiny groove at the back of the book.

It looked like the stone from the bracelet Elaine brought would fit perfectly. Sensing she was on the right track, she inserted the stone of the bracelet into the groove and infused it with mana. Then, to everyone’s amazement, the book began to glow with a golden light, and words that had been invisible before appeared.

“….!”

She stared blankly at the book with a dumbfounded face, even though she had done it herself.

“Could I take a look at that?”

As Avila handed the book over willingly, Elaine began to flip through it quickly. Soon, her hands started to tremble.

“Curse… The secret of the curse is written here.”

I asked in surprise.

“By curse, do you mean the curse engraved on the hearts of the hounds?”

Elaine nodded. Her eyes scanned the letters intently.

Avila clutched her head.

“Senior Tara… must have discovered that secret.”

Elaine spoke with a dark expression as if she had realized what was going on.

“If you’re talking about the owner of this bracelet, she probably isn’t alive anymore. I saw her being dragged away by the knights.”

Avila sighed.

Elaine spoke to the distressed woman with eyes filled with many emotions, including excitement, anger, and hatred.

“To train the hunting dogs, not just dog shapeshifters but many others have been sacrificed. We need to stop this immediately.”

Her eyes gleamed viciously.

“Listen, there’s something I’ve been planning for a long time. If we can break this curse and thus neutralize the Emperor, I intend to start a rebellion without delay.”

“….!”

Although I knew this from reading the novel, Avila, who was hearing it for the first time, shuddered.

“I have forces aligned with me. Can both of you trust me and join in my cause?”

Leaving Avila, who couldn’t answer right away, behind, I nodded.

“Just as Your Highness has trusted me, I, too, will trust and support Your Highness.”

Elaine would become the Emperor.

And with the right beliefs, we would change the world.

“I want to live in the world that Your Highness will create.”

Avila also nodded at my words.

“I don’t want to live in such a cruel and frightening world.”

Elaine looked down at the book containing the secret of the curse with a complicated gaze. That day, with astonishing concentration and memory, she memorized the vast amount of information written in the book and returned to the imperial palace.

Promising the day we would meet again.