The Villainess Returns with a System-Chapter 105: The Bloody Swan Strikes

Robert Moore showed up at the Applewood Manor, a residence on the city’s outskirts. While this place was lightly guarded, its original owner was unknown, but it was expected to be either the Temple or the Crown Prince, since it was where Matilda Ambrose and her family resided.

The guards of the manor were unique in that they were all privately hired. They belonged neither to the Temple nor the Prince, which meant they were mercenaries.

This allowed Matilda Ambrose and her parents to be under no one’s influence in their own residence. However, whenever any of those young masters who flock around Matilda show up, there is little to be done about them.

Robert showing up uninvited at such a late hour would invite trouble, but as those residing there didn’t want to cause problems with the nobles of Elgard, they allowed Robert in quietly and hid any traces of his arrival.

In the end, Matilda received Robert, who appeared to be in a sorry state, reeking of alcohol, and claiming to have faced unfair treatment.

Matilda listened to Robert’s story intently. He was frustrated by his failures and eager to prove himself, no matter what. However, how his father and sister kept pushing him down and denying him the opportunity was something he could no longer endure.

Matilda saw Robert at his lowest point, as he began to pity himself and spoke in a painful tone. Seeing him that way, Matilda could do nothing but console him and offer him help.

"If you wish to prove yourself and gain the recognition you deserve, you can only do that through a great deed. Something that forces them never to look down on you again."

"But how? I can’t expose Vivian for what she is, and she keeps getting in my way," Robert said, desperately holding his head.

"I don’t think... You need to," Hesitantly, Matilda said.

Robert looked at her with a puzzled frown, asking:

"Why? After what she has done to you, you should be the angriest with her?"

"Well, I was angry at one time, but now, I think if you want to prove yourself better than them, you should look past their mistakes and move on," Matilda said, looking at the ground and occasionally glancing at Robert.

Robert looked at her, unable to wrap his head around what she had just said. Still, a short laugh found its way through his foul mood as he leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling.

"That’s so like you, Matilda. I’m not even sure how you keep doing it." He said, and his gaze lingered, and after a long breath, he spoke: "The thing is, what you said only works if the other party feels bad about what they did. Vivian does not. She relishes every time she causes harm. I thought you, of all people, would understand."

She was about to say something, something that would get her out of this matter altogether. She was unrelated; if anything, she now had a deal with Vivian.

She shouldn’t get involved.

She should just tell him that she doesn’t want to get in between him and his sister, but...

"You are right," Matilda said and faced Robert, though looking down, "Lady Vivian can sometimes be... too much."

"Yes. That’s it!" Robert was overjoyed the moment he heard that from Matilda.

He gazed at her as if these words were the ones stuck in his chest. She uttered precisely what he desired to hear as if she possessed the same understanding of his sentiments. Of all the words in the lexicon, this young woman had an extraordinary ability to piece together just the right words for every situation.

The warmth of her presence was a stark contrast to the icy demeanor of his sister, Vivian, whose words, much like her personality, were invariably inappropriate and often laced with a biting chill. It was no wonder, then, that she was universally adored like a ray of sunshine in a world that often felt too cold.

"So... what should I do? There is something that must be done, I’m sure of it."

Robert stood up from his seat and started pacing back and forth.

"Most of my assets are tied up in investments now, but I can divest from a few businesses that no longer need my firm’s assistance. With enough assets, I can do something that obstructs one of her major projects. Let’s say that electricity project she’s investing most of her time in... that may teach her a lesson."

Robert started plotting his comeback against Vivian, but he wasn’t formulating a good plan on his own. He came here for Matilda’s help, and someone as talented as she ought to have something in mind to help him.

Matilda looked at him and, without even thinking, she found something he seemed to have missed.

"My lord, wouldn’t curing the illness that has confined your father to his bed be an accomplishment worthy of great praise in his eyes?" Matilda asked, offering a sincere piece of advice to him.

As if she said the last thing he expected, the look on Robert’s face shifted to one of downright fright.

"What? Why would I do that? What has he ever done for me?"

Matilda stared at him blankly and thought. Her father, if she could do anything for her father, despite everything, she would give her life to bring him back to full health if he were ever to get sick.

But what would her words be like? She asked herself that, and her tongue moved.

"My lord, if you look at it my way, there is much to gain from being on His Grace’s good side. It is a known fact that Count Moore is a man who repays his debts a hundredfold in both money and gratitude. But if it is his son who saves his life, and you ensure the public knows it, things will change dramatically in your favor."

Her words made Robert pause and think. He hesitated for a bit, then looked at her.

"Are you certain you can cure this new disease?" He asked.

"No. I haven’t even begun to research it yet. The clinic I am managing still hasn’t received any patients with the disease, but I plan to. The only problem is that the disease is prevalent in the poor areas of Archister, and my clinic... well... it is not something most people can afford," Matilda said with a sorry face before looking at Robert, her expression gradually brightening, "However, if you could sponsor a new clinic in the poor areas, I can help those in need, have the chance to research the disease, and you can proudly announce your support for the unfortunate by sponsoring this clinic."

Robert’s eyes narrowed, a flicker of calculation crossing his features. He shot her a sideways glance, weighing Matilda’s words with a thoughtful expression, then pointed a finger at her.

"That’s a very good idea. You are a talented healer; if anyone will get close to remedying Father’s illness, it is you." He said with a smile, but it gradually faded as he spoke, "While it is a brilliant idea, Vivian won’t leave us be, so we need to be on the offensive as well. People are mistrusting her new project greatly since all she speaks about is getting those lethal power lines into their homes. Oh, the damage she can do to poor folks. If we advocate against that, she’ll have a lot on her plate and will ignore us."

Matilda listened until he finished, closed her eyes, and was about to reply...

"Please don’t do that..."

"I’m sorry, what?"

As he looked at her with that same frown, he didn’t seem to have heard her, as it seemed she spoke with her inner voice. As for her, she composed herself and replied:

"It is a good plan... my lord."

"Fantastic! I’ll hire someone to investigate those poor people injured by her electricity and will send them to you for treatment. After that, we’ll get word on how badly that project is hurting people. I am sure your statement as a healer will carry weight."

"You can rely on me..."

Just as she finished her sentence, the two of them heard a commotion coming from outside, and they looked toward the door.

"What is that?"

As Robert questioned, looking at the door with an air of authority, the sound of heavy footsteps came from outside, and a man spoke angrily.

"Out of my way!"

Then the door was forced open, and an armored young man stormed inside.

"Robert, you lout!"

"Richard? What is wrong..."

As soon as Robert saw Richard Marshal barging in, followed by Edmond Black and Ronald Morgan, all his excitement vanished into thin air. However, when Richard started marching toward him with violent intent in his eyes, he began to step back with obvious fear.

"Fair Matilda, I beseech you to avert your eyes," Richard said before charging Robert like a bull.

"What? What’s wrong with you? Take your hand off me..."

Robert struggled as he was held by the collar of his shirt and tried to push Richard back, but it was simply impossible for the son of a businessman to overpower the son of the Knights’ Grandmaster.

"He’s drunk, Edmond. He’s as drunk as a fish. I told you. It must have been him," Richard said.

Behind him, both Edmond Black and Ronald Morgan stepped up. Edmond headed straight to Richard, while Ronald headed to Matilda to escort her out of this scene.

"What’s wrong, my lords?" Pale-faced and cold-handed, Matilda walked a couple of steps with Ronald before trying to return to the room.

"Miss Ambrose," Ronald Morgan wanted to smooth things over with Matilda, "It is a bit of ugly business. I wouldn’t recommend..." but she left him and headed straight for Richard.

"Sir, please. Resorting to violence first thing is not helping anyone. You can see he isn’t even aware of why you are here?" She said to Richard, holding the arm with which he had pinned Robert against the wall.

"Let... GO!"

With all the force he could muster, Robert pushed away Richard’s arm, but it was Richard who mostly let go for Matilda’s sake as if she had doused the devil’s fires in his eyes. Richard silently stepped aside, and it was Edmond who stepped up.

"So... Richard here thinks it was you who slipped, since we got news that you were drunk all night," Edmond spoke, gazing down at Robert coldly.

"What... the actual..." Robert wanted to curse at them, but as soon as he raised his head to face Edmond, rubbing his neck, he suddenly froze and seemed to feel something more threatening from Edmond than from Richard.

"Language, Robert. Language," Edmond spoke as his gaze slowly unnerved Robert.

"What happened?" Robert then realized that he was in deep trouble, deeper than he was already in.

"We supposed that you ran here for Miss Matilda to vouch for you, but it seems that neither of you is aware..." Edmond said, looking between Robert and Matilda.

Aside, Richard snorted as he looked at Robert, while Ronald approached with unclear intentions.

"Just tell me what happened, Sir Edmond," Robert spoke, shakingly.

Edmond preferred to keep Robert in suspense for a while before looking around the room and then facing Matilda.

"I apologize for the situation, Young Lady Ambrose. I know it is late at night to barge in this way, but please, find it in your heart to forgive us," Edmond said and bowed slightly.

"It’s alright, Sir Edmond. While my door is always open to you and the other lords, please be careful of the people around here. Most of them have suffered greatly." She replied, looking at Robert, "And don’t hurt a friend like that again... please."

"How noble of you, my lady!" Edmond bowed once again, this time picking up Matilda’s hand, and with his eyes locked on hers, he gave it a courtesy kiss.

The reactions of the other young lords were similar, as they didn’t like Edmond’s attitude one bit, but among the four, he was the dominant one.

"What about you, Robert? If you are not here to cover up for what you supposedly did, what brings you to Lady Matilda this late at night?" Edmond asked, looking at Robert.

Edmond was the one Robert feared the most, and for good reason. Still, as he hesitated to answer, Matilda was the one to speak.

"He needed help, Lord Edmond," She said.

"Help?" Edmond frowned.

"As everyone has heard, Lord Robert’s father is bedridden with an unknown disease. Since there is a lack of knowledge about it, he came to me for help, and we were reaching an agreement," Matilda explained.

"Oh!" Edmond looked at Robert with surprised eyes, "Congratulations, Robert. So you’ve finally used your head. I believe this is a great opportunity to secure the heir’s position."

With a shaken smile, Robert nodded, but that didn’t stop him from biting his lower lip nervously.

Edmond turned to Richard and then spoke with a lazy smile:

"I told you Robert is too busy to let such an important secret slip. He’s no fool."

"Hmph! I still think it is him," Richard replied.

"Well... if it were really him, he would have just made me a very busy man." Edmond said before turning to Robert, "Robert, did you just make me a very busy man?"

"N-No, Sir." Robert shook his head.

"And you know how much I hate being busy," Edmond said with a face devoid of any emotion.

"Yes, sir." Robert nodded like a chicken.

"Then you don’t know anything about the Bloody Swan hitting our convoy, right?" Edmond asked again.

"Wait, what?" Robert’s eyes widened, "By the convoy, you don’t happen to mean..."

"The Royal Treasury Convoy," Richard said.

Both Robert and Matilda looked at Edmond with eyes wide with shock.

"Please..." Matilda then held out her hand to Edmond, "Is it safe?"

Seeing that she was the more scared of the two, Edmond reached out to her and patted the back of her hand.

"Yes, my lady. Your secret is safe. Of all the carriages, your package was the one that made it out, along with Ronald’s," Edmond replied.

Ronald Morgan sighed and shrugged, saying:

"Well, I lost half of my package, but at least I got the important half, that is. The attack site was quite the mess, though." Ronald spoke.

"You don’t mean..." Robert looked at him with a haggard face, trying to piece together a sentence.

"Thank the Lord! Thank Athena!"

Meanwhile, Matilda collapsed onto a nearby seat and rested her head on her palms.

"Robert, only you had no package in the convoy this time, meaning that, aside from you, Miss Matilda, and Ronald, none of you took any losses. Since the two of them had a lot to lose, they were ruled out as suspects... which leaves only you, who happened to be drunk on such a crucial day."

Edmond explained.

It seemed that the Crown Prince’s faction—alongside Matilda—was having secret packages delivered through carriages bearing the royal sigil. These carriages were armored and made of special alloys; thus, no ordinary thief could simply blunder into them. However, the Bloody Swan had delivered a major hit, and now it was bound to be turned into a scandal.

A few hours earlier.

As Vivian got home from the meeting, she found a message sent by Jade-Eyed Lumi.

She had located both Mrs. Becky and Natasha Ivanov in a Royal Treasury convoy.

Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m