Taming The Villainesses

T/N: Changed Turkey to Tureuki. 투르키 is romanized as "tureuki" which sounds like turkey but the context it's in wasn't like the US and somalia. Unlike the latter two, this one is actually an in-world place and not just mentioned for comparison. Meaning, it's wrong for me to use Turkey.

(EP-14.1) Do You Dream Of Freedom? #2

014 – Does A Sheep Dream Of Freedom? #2

The central court of Angmar was one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Glittering marble floors and red carpets decorated the interior, covered by the high ceiling and carried by regal pillars.

All of the stylish furniture was woven from cedar and looked like works of art.

The white ivory statues were tributes made in honor of the old Angmar Rulers.

However, all of these were overshadowed by the Queen who sat on the throne.

“…….”

Queen Aira had her arms crossed as she stared down at everything.

Of course, this was no different than usual.

And yet, today was the worst day for the high-ranking Officials of the court, who were watching the Queen's mood.

Koheum-

Keuheum-

While everyone was only looking at one another, the Rank 5 Official, Chancellor Fargas, came forward and coughed.

“Cough, cough. Let's begin the regular court meeting.”

The meeting finally started with the sound of phlegm from someone with a chronic lung disease.

It did start.

But… nothing was happening.

"Okay… So, what is the order and agenda for today’s meeting?”

Only when Lord Belmott, who was in charge of the court's finances and treasury, asked did Chancellor Fargas unfold a long scroll that extended to the floor and carefully examined it.

Chwareureureureu-

“Let's see… So, the first topic is the continuous trend of the Black Robbers in causing damage to the nobles.”

“‘Robbers’? Wasn’t it ‘Robe’?”

"Aha! Yes, ‘Robe’! The *Trend of the Black Robe…* Uhmm, let's see… Why are the letters so small?”

“Hooo.”

“Hmmm.”

Everyone couldn't help but groan in pain.

Although Chancellor Fargas was an excellent man, that was something from 20 years ago.

However, no one in the court was willing to take Fargas’s place.

They didn't have the guts to do it, nor did they have to.

At least, it was until yesterday…

Meanwhile, Belmott looked around to find a certain man – no, a boy. Alas, his distinctive face was nowhere to be seen.

Someone then pulled Belmott's back.

Turning his head, he saw a bald Official looking at him.

It was Pilaf, the Foreign Minister. A cunning man who had managed to survive till this day.

“Lord Belmott, that guy is nowhere to be seen. You know, Tae-oh Gospel? Do you know what happened?”

“Why are you asking me that, Lord Pilaf?”

“Why? Because you hated Tae-oh the most, Lord Belmott! Could it be that you finally overthrew him with the conspiracies you were plotting?”

“What conspiracies? Watch your mouth! I am now with the Queen's as a member of the Royalist faction!"

“Hmm, I'm sure you are…”

Minister of Foreign Affairs Pilaf and Minister of Finance Belmott talked among themselves, as if they were having a meeting of their own.

However, without Tae-oh Gospel, the court meeting was just an empty shell.

Even Queen Aira had her eyes closed, as if in thought.

While examining the Queen's complexion, Belmott said.

“I have absolutely nothing to do with this. Rather, I also want to know what is going on… The seeds I had planted were all cut off by Tae-oh the other day…”

“Well, I heard that the Queen and Tae-oh secretly sneaked out in the middle of the night and wandered around the city yesterday.”

“They wandered around the city?”

“He must have made a mistake during that time.”

“I see…”

Although Belmott nodded his head, he knew that the man called Tae-oh Gospel would never make such a mistake.

That man, who was still new to the Court, quickly grasped the conspiracy that Belmott had been preparing for a long time, then proceeded to stomp it in the mud in just one day.

He even captured Belmott’s daughter, which had been hidden in a secret location, and held her hostage under the title of a ‘palace maid'.

How the hell did he know?

‘The hideout hiding Clara was a well-kept secret, so how!?'

Thanks to this, the seeds of rebellion centered around the Dawn Association were extinguished before they could even be ignited.

Belmott hated to admit it, but that guy was terrifying!

Did he really have the ability to predict the future like his nickname ‘Demon Monk’ suggested?

Was he really a slave?

Not to mention, there was no information about his past or identity…

The only thing Belmott could find was the link with the church originating from his surname ‘Gospel’, as well as the history of being purchased as a slave by the Lioness Family.

Events before that were just a blank void.

If you were a Human, there must be some traces of your life.

Unless he was later incorporated into society after living like a wild dog in the mountains, there should be at least one record or testimony from other people.

Tae-oh Gospel had none of that.

It was perfectly clean, as if it had been erased from existence.

It was creepy…

‘He seemed used to the social world. Despite being awkward at some points, he was very much a noble in both formality and demeanor. He wasn't the kind of guy who had been living as a bum in the wild. He was probably a fallen noble….'

A very ambitious fallen noble.

That was the identity of Tae-oh Gospel that Belmott had concluded.

Such a person had entered the palace and tricked the Queen, manipulating her.

It was no wonder that the country was faltering…

Maybe he did this to seek revenge against the country that ruined his family – that was Belmott’s thought until yesterday.

Yet, there was something he found out today.

“This isn't going anywhere. I didn't think I'd miss him at all."

“Indeed. At this rate, if anything goes wrong, it will be Lord Belmott's fault."

“Lord Pilaf, what do you mean ‘it will be my fault’?”

“Isn’t it Lord Belmott who worked the hardest to drive a wedge between Tae-oh and the Queen? The rumors that he's a Demon Monk or whatever. It was you who spread them."

“… There was no other way. For the sake of the kingdom, I had to separate Tae-oh and the Queen….”

“Then you haven’t failed. Thanks to you, Tae-oh was punished and is no longer in the Queen's sight. Well, I should congratulate you for this at least.”

“…….”

• • Edited by: Mochiusagi

• • Quality checked by: faker

[T/N: A big thanks to HypnoLover for the generous tip!]