Taming The Villainesses-Chapter 343.1

(EP-343.1) Of Hearts #12

343 – Queen of Hearts #12

The blonde nymph was furious.

She raged, saying that because of us, the plans she had painstakingly devised and executed for a long time were now on the verge of collapse.

“It was a perfect plan! Until you idiots barged in here with your insane scheme to capture the Queen!”

We could only stare in bewilderment. We had no idea who this girl was, let alone what plans she had been making.

More importantly—who even was she?

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Was there a nymph like this in the palace two years ago? From a quick glance, she seemed to have been living in this strange space between the walls for quite some time.

Her hideout couldn’t have been built overnight. If someone so suspicious had been hiding here for this long, there was no way the palace staff wouldn’t have noticed.

Then again, wasn’t this entire world constructed from Aira’s subconscious? If so, then chances were high that this girl was someone Aira knew.

“……”

Of course, the Queen herself wasn’t offering any answers. She simply curled up on the bed with a vacant look, turning her back on the world. I thought Aira might recover after a while, but there was no sign of improvement.

That was when Mirna spoke up.

“So, who exactly are you? Why are you living in a place like this in the palace? You don’t look like an ordinary palace maid.”

Her crimson eyes reflected the garments hanging on the wall. These were outfits worn by the palace servants, as well as hats and clothes used by laborers.

“That’s…”

Then her gaze landed on the numerous maps and drawings pinned to the wall. Among them was a big heart symbol. Mirna muttered the words written on it.

“Queen of Hearts…?”

“Wh, What do you think you’re looking at?!”

The nymph jumped like a coiled spring, yanking the papers and maps off the wall. Was she trying to keep us from seeing them?

She crumpled all the papers into a corner box, then said.

“I have no reason to tell you who I am. And you lot don’t look like ordinary maids either. Are you foreign assassins? Kidnappers? Traitors?”

Was she trying to guess our identities based on the fact we had Queen Aira with us? As she went on, Elga, who had been listening for a while, finally asked.

“You live in the palace, and you don’t know who I am?”

“Nope. Why would I?”

“What?”

Elga furrowed her brows, but from that brief exchange, I was able to form some guesses.

It was reasonable that she wouldn’t recognize me or Mirna. Yet not knowing Elga, who was quite famous in the palace at this time, was quite unusual.

Mirna seemed to realize this too, leaning in to whisper in my ear.

“This might be a variable caused by Narmi’s safe zones. Sometimes, anomalies like this appear.”

“I see.”

I gave a small nod.

Noticing our hushed conversation, the nymph scowled.

“… Don’t whisper in front of me! And this is my kingdom and castle. Since I saved you, you have to obey me from now on. Got it?!”

She was very prickly, though not that I could blame her. From this girl’s perspective, we were a bunch of strangers, and on top of that, we were trying to abduct the Queen.

If I were in her shoes, I wouldn’t have helped our group at all.

Of course, Elga grumbled, “What a rude brat.”

But we quickly fell silent again as a group of soldiers swarmed and searched the area around us. We didn’t make a single breath, fearing that our location might be discovered.

━Didn’t they disappear around here? This is a dead end. How could they vanish? Did they use magic?

━Maybe the rumors are true. Secret passages are hidden throughout the palace that were built during the old Angmar dynasty.

When the soldiers mentioned secret passages, Mirna, Elga, and I exchanged glances. If things came to it, we might have to fight our way out.

But the nymph, who seemed to own this space, looked completely at ease. She simply sat at her desk, casually grooming her nails.

Then, out of nowhere, she burst into laughter—Huahahaha!

Her sudden cackle startled all of us. The soldiers were still nearby, why would she laugh so loudly?

Just as tension in my body surged, the nymph wiped a tear from her blue eyes.

“Whatever you do in here, no one outside can hear it. And without my invitation, no one can find this place. That’s just how it works.”

A power like that existed?!

Was this nymph really in control of everything here?

As if reading my mind, she added.

“Like I said, this is my kingdom. Here, I’m the Queen. Yes, Queen! I like the sound of that. From now on, you will all call me the ‘Your Majesty.’”

At that, Mirna and Elga glanced at each other, their expressions saying, ‘Now what?ʼ

But for the time, what choice did we have except to play along? If we handled this right, our group might be able to get more help.

So, I bowed my head to the nymph.

“As you wish, Your Majesty.”

Serving a queen was nothing new to me, after all.

At that moment, the dazed Aira lying on the bed, turned her gaze toward me.

“……”

Her eyes were still hazy, but somehow they seemed to rebuke my act.

Aira, this wasn’t me cheating. Please understand…

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