I may be too early, but…
To readers who celebrate Christmas, Merry Christmas!! And for my other readers who don’t celebrate Christmas, Happy Holiday and Happy New Year to all of us! YAAY!!
P/s: Suggestions to improve this translation will be highly appreciated and I do not guarantee the accuracy of my translation
Translated by: Empress || Edited by: Sam
ARNRBKM – Vol.2 Ch. 20
Novel Raw: Vol. 2 Ch. 20 || Manga: I’m a Villainous Daughter, so I’m going to keep the Last Boss || Manga Raw: 悪役令嬢なのでラスボスを飼ってみました [JPN] || 作为恶役大小姐就该养魔王 [CN]
Irene immediately found James shortly after she left the laboratory.
「President James! Please wait. Our conversation――」
「……Oh yeah, I have something to ask you as well.」
James, who had been moving along speedily, stopped beneath a streetlight and faced Irene.
Irene, who had been jogging to catch up with him nearly collided with him. At the last moment she managed to take a step back.
「Who are you?」
「As I have explained earlier――」
「Let me rephrase that. You know what I am.」
Irene didn’t answer. James continued, threatening her in a somber manner.
「Answer if you don’t want to be killed. Why didn’t you tell anyone? Why are you pretending to protect me?」
「……」
「You don’t want to talk, huh?――And you said you wanted to cooperate? Don’t make me laugh. What are you going to force me to do now that my weakness is in your hands?」
James’ jeering showed how much he had suffered. He must have been betrayed by someone he trusted.
Irene felt sorry for him. It was clear that he had no trust in other human beings. ――But Irene could only sigh.
「What an annoying trait……」
「……What did you say?」
「It was nothing. Well then, allow me to explain――Come out, Ribbon.」
Irene’s shadow grew as she stood beneath the street light. Irene called the Fenrir child’s name, and it hopped out of her shadow. From what Almond had interpreted, the child was a girl who liked ribbons, so Irene had named her after them.
The sudden appearance of the monster caused James to freeze on the spot, eyes widened in surprise.
Ribbon was in the middle of her growth period, and was rapidly getting larger, but she was still a child. With affectionate yips, Ribbon fawned over Irene. Irene smiled sweetly at the Fenrir pup.
「This onii-chan said he wants to play with you.」
「Kyuu!」
「Wha――Augh!」
The petrified James was pushed and pinned to the ground by Ribbon, who had happily thrown herself on him. James screamed as Ribbon began playfully licking his face.
「Sto……M-make her stop! Oi!」
「Good girl Ribbon! Do you want to play with onii-chan? Make sure to remember his scent.」
「Kyuu!」
「Wh-what are you thinking?!」
「If my hunch is right, I think the goal of person distributing the magic incense is to force you to turn into a monster. That’s why I want to protect you.」
James, who had been noisily struggling with Ribbon, stopped moving.
Puzzled, Ribbon stopped licking him.
「――Protect me? What is your aim? Why do you need to do that?」
「You’re asking why? It would be a pity to just let it happen, because you haven’t done anything wrong.」
James looked shocked.
「As you can see, I can summon monsters. But I understand if you don’t fully trust me――Well, I’ve told you my purpose. I also have a question that I want to ask you.」
「……What is it?」
「I am looking for Ashtart. Do you know him, President?」
James seemed to flinch a little upon hearing the question. He immediately put on his usual cynical smile.
「I have no reason to answer――St-stop, stop! Don’t sic your monster on me!」
「There’s no way I would do that. I’m sorry, but it seems like Ribbon has taken a liking to you. Right, Ribbon?」
「Kyuu~」
James crawled away as Ribbon was nodding to Irene in agreement. Still sitting on the ground, James gave an awkward look and sighed.
「――The monster called Ashtart, is my own name.」
「Eh? Liar.」
「It’s your own problem if you think I’m lying about it…… You’ve seen it, right? I’m a half-monster.」
With a self-deprecating laugh, James leaned back against the streetlight.
「To be precise, it was a name given by my father for my monster form. I’ve long since thrown away that name.」
「……That kind of setting exists……?」
「Setting?」
「Ah, nothing.」
Irene awkwardly cleared her throat after she blurted her thoughts out.
「Then, are you the current Ashtart who sent out advance notice prior to the monster attacks?」
「……That’s not me. I don’t know whether or not you’ll believe me.」
「No, I believe you. Otherwise, it doesn’t make any sense.」
James stared at Irene in wide-eyed wonder. Irene continued while stroking Ribbon’s head.
「I can’t see you wanting to become the Demon King. And most importantly, it isn’t possible for someone who collapsed from magic incense, to oppose the Demon King.」
Perhaps feeling embarrassed about collapsing, James scrunched his eyebrows.
It was rather amusing that the dim streetlight still made his wrinkles perfectly visible.
「The criminal distributing the magic incense intends to make you out as Ashtart. In other words, the Ashtart we’re looking for is a human using your name. We logic follows to that point. ……But it doesn’t seem like this was fully planned out……」
「Perhaps that person doesn’t know that the monster named Ashtart within the academy is me.」
James stroked Ribbon’s head as she approached him. Then he looked up at Irene.
「Oi, let this monster return. If someone sees it, things will get ugly.」
「Kyuu?」
「And you, don’t approach me so carelessly……I’m not your friend.」
His melancholic figure overlapped with Claude.
(……Is it because he’s the last boss? They seem similar……)
In the game, James had tried to become the Demon King of the monsters that were being hunted down after Claude’s death. Most likely, he did it for the sake of the monsters. But as expected, with Claude alive and well, James had no need or desire to become the Demon King.
Ribbon gazed at Irene with cutely blinking black eyes. Irene nodded, and Ribbon allowed herself to be swallowed by Irene’s shadow, clearly worried about James even as she left.
「……President James is similar to the person I love.」
「What？」
Extreme disgust showed on James’ face.
「How unpleasant. Are you saying that I’m like a woman?」
「Ah. …Well, it’s fine right? I’m just saying that it motivates me. So, I’ll do my best to protect you, so please cooperate. Meaning, don’t report this to the Principal.」
「I refuse」
「Come out, Rib――」
「Okay, fine! Don’t bring out monsters as shields. It’s an act of cowardice.」
Standing, James let out a long sigh.
「I will not report this to the Principal. …I also don’t want to get involved with the Demon King.」
「Why? Is it because you don’t want to kneel before him or something?」
All monsters held a deep respect and affection for the Demon King. But James laughed at Irene’s question.
「Bow to a ridiculous man who is swayed by the affections of a deeply jealous woman?」
「You ru―― …I mean, that’s――」
Irene clamped her mouth shut before she could blurt out an explanation.
Suddenly turning away from her, James’ profile was illuminated by the streetlight.
「Even though I’m only half-monster, I still have the pride of a monster――A Demon King who yields to the Maiden of the Holy Sword, is just a human. He is not a King, so I refuse to kneel.」
A King was someone who must meet their subject’s expectations. To help Claude achieve that, Irene would no longer stay silent.
(I must address the matter of concubines as soon as possible.)
Because, at the very least, Irene could become a wife befitting an Emperor.
- This mass release wouldn’t be made possible if not for Frowning Tea (chapter 14) and Sam for editing the rest of the chapters. Let us give them a round of applause!!! They are my saviour and I wouldn’t know what to do without them.
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