A Third-Rate Villain Tries Her Best Today 200

Side Story 2: The Story of Jean Emilia

Chapter 5

Year 24 of the Imperial Calendar.

Emilia married Gran Cesar after two years of courtship. Though it was debatable whether their six meetings could even be called courtship.

The Lopetrefer family was no longer a family of two.

Jean spent more and more time holed up in the basement. He had been attending the Imperial Palace Magic Department meetings regularly, but at some point, he had stopped attending even those.

The first time he emerged from the basement in months was the night before Gran Cesar was to become the Grand Lopetrefer.

He went to his sister’s room and asked her one last time,

“Emilia…sister, are you really going to get married?”

Emilia nodded, not even looking at her brother, whom she hadn’t seen in months.

“Yes, of course.”

“Is that what you want?”

Jean called his sister “sister” for the first time. Emilia finally looked at him, her face slightly surprised. His face, identical to hers, was pale and gaunt.

“Jean, I’ll say the same thing I said two years ago. Everyone else is getting married. Why would I be any different?”

“…Are you doing this for me?”

“…Think what you want.”

“…I see.”

Jean slowly closed his eyes. It was the same thing she had said two years ago. But unlike two years ago, he accepted her words. Emilia had always been different from him. He wished he had realized it sooner.

“Congratulations on your wedding, Emilia.”

The next day, Jean Lopetrefer didn’t attend his sister’s wedding.

---

A few days after Emilia’s wedding, Jean was summoned to the Imperial Palace. But instead of the audience chamber, the Imperial servants led him to the deepest level of the Imperial dungeon.

“Jean, welcome.”

The Emperor was already waiting for him.

“Your Majesty, this place…”

Jean couldn’t finish his sentence, looking at the scene before him. The Emperor chuckled.

“Why are you so surprised? It’s the divine beast you offered me.”

As the Emperor had said, the divine beast they had captured in Crimea was sleeping in the deepest level of the dungeon, its entire body bound.

“…Why did you summon me here?”

Jean felt a sense of unease, but he asked directly, instead of beating around the bush. The Emperor, his eyes fixed on the divine beast’s magnificent form, said,

“There’s a legend that the divine beast of Crimea can create an elixir of immortality.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Jean, I’m dying.”

The Emperor turned around, his hands clasped behind his back. His face, shrouded in shadow, came into view.

“…Your Majesty.”

Jean unconsciously clenched his fists, seeing his lifeless face.

He knew that face.

It was the same face Rem had made right before he had closed his eyes.

“You might not believe it, but I was born with this disease. It’s a miracle I’ve lived this long.”

“….”

“That’s why I attacked other countries so recklessly. And they fell so easily. I just… wanted to commit suicide.”

The Emperor confessed his sins calmly.

“But then… my recklessness worked. And I couldn’t just die peacefully after witnessing the creation of my empire, my own way.”

His eyes, filled with a desperate longing, were the only things that showed any life on his death-ridden face.

“Jean, I’m afraid of death. So I command you, create an elixir of immortality using this divine beast.”

“…That’s impossible.”

Jean, who had known what he was going to say, said firmly.

“I’ve never heard of a divine beast creating an elixir of immortality. …Your Majesty, humans cannot become immortal.”

“No, you can do it. …You have to do it.”

The Emperor declared. But it sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

“…Let me be honest, Lopetrefer. I don’t need you anymore.”

Jean saw the madness in the Emperor’s eyes. The once-brilliant man had finally lost his mind.

“Your immense power only threatens my position. You are in a position where you could be beheaded at any moment.”

He was afraid of death. He knew it, but there was nothing he could do about it.

“There’s only one reason why I’ve kept you alive. This.”

The Emperor pointed at the divine beast.

“Jean, you’re not loyal to me. I know that.”

“….”

“Then do you know why I summoned you, not your sister?”

The Emperor’s lips curved into a cruel smile. He was mocking Jean.

“It’s because you love your family so much. Emilia is more loyal to me than anyone, and she loves Lohn more than anyone. …Do you understand what I mean?”

“….”

“Jean Lopetrefer Kel, use your brilliant talent to save me. Otherwise, you’re useless, and I’ll just discard you. You, and your family.”

---

Late at night, the Yermel mansion was bustling with activity. Jean, the Duke of Lopetrefer, who had been Countess Karina’s disciple, was visiting.

Emilia often visited the Yermel mansion to see Karina, but this was the first time Jean had come to see her alone.

It was such a rare occurrence that Karina assumed he had something serious to discuss.

“The Emperor wants me to create an elixir of immortality.”

As she had expected, Jean, as soon as she entered the drawing-room, told her about what had happened at the Imperial Palace.

Karina’s jaw dropped. She was certain that no one would have been able to hear his story without being shocked.

First, she was surprised by the Emperor’s order. An elixir of immortality? She had thought he had been acting strangely for a few years now, but he had really gone mad.

Second, she was surprised that Jean had come to her for advice about something so important. She had assumed it would be about Emilia.

“…You’re the one who brought us here, Master.”

Jean chuckled, reading her mind.

It had been a joke, but Karina was speechless. Jean and Emilia were definitely her proud disciples, but she knew from Emilia that Jean had been struggling with life in the capital since becoming a “Lopetrefer.”

She even regretted introducing them to the Emperor.

“Don’t regret it. We would have ended up here anyway.”

Jean said, comforting her.

To be comforted by the disciple who had come to her for advice… Karina felt pathetic.

“An elixir of immortality… Can he even make something like that?”

Even Karina couldn’t come up with a solution to the problem Jean had presented.

An elixir of immortality was something that couldn’t be created by humans.

And the mad Emperor was threatening him, demanding that he create it… Even if an elixir of immortality existed, the Emperor shouldn’t be allowed to have it.

But… the problem was whether an elixir of immortality even existed in the first place.

What should she do?

No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t come up with a good solution. Karina, her face creased with worry, clutched her head. Jean, watching her, chuckled and stood up.

“I just came here because I had no one else to talk to.”

“…Jean, have you thought about running away?”

It was an irresponsible suggestion, coming from the person who had brought him here. Karina knew it, but what else could she do?

“You know how much Emilia loves this place.”

But Jean just smiled kindly, as if it was no one’s fault.

---

Year 26 of the Imperial Calendar.

As everyone in the social circles had predicted, Emilia’s marriage wasn’t a happy one.

Gran would often neglect Emilia and gamble away the Lopetrefer family’s funds. He would always reek of alcohol when he returned to the mansion, and he would sometimes even hit Emilia when she tried to stop him.

Emilia, who wasn’t the type to just endure it, would fight back fiercely. And when Gran tried to hit her, she would threaten him with weak magic. Gran would then run away, calling her a “cheater.”

The Lopetrefer mansion was stuck in a cycle of the same miserable day, repeating endlessly. Karina, unable to bear it any longer, had suggested divorce, but Emilia just smiled and neither agreed nor disagreed.

“It’s okay, Master, it’s the same for everyone.”

Karina had told her that wasn’t true, at her usual catchphrase.

Of course, there were many nobles who had arranged marriages, but not many had such miserable marriages, she had explained patiently.

“Hahaha, you sound just like you did when we were studying at the Yermel mansion.”

Emilia just laughed it off.

Karina had finally given up on trying to persuade Emilia and went down to the basement of the Lopetrefer mansion.

It was Jean’s private workshop, a secret space in the Lopetrefer mansion that was difficult to access because of the barriers he had set up.

Karina had started visiting the basement regularly after Jean had been ordered by the Emperor to create an elixir of immortality.

Since that day, Jean had become even more reclusive, spending all his time in the basement workshop. Emilia, worried about him, had tried to go down to the basement, but she had failed, as Jean wouldn’t open the barrier for her.

“He used to let me in, when did this start…?”

Emilia had said with a bitter smile.

The reason he had blocked Emilia from entering the basement was because he was afraid that she would be harmed if she found out about the Emperor’s orders, but unfortunately, there was no way for Emilia to know that.

Only Karina, who knew his secret, could enter the basement now. Emilia had allowed her to enter, as she was also worried about Jean.

Jean’s basement workshop was like a human anthill. It was complicated, vast, and most importantly, it made her feel uneasy.

And it seemed like Jean had been conducting forbidden experiments for a long time. Karina felt dizzy, looking at the various hybrid creatures trapped in cages.

‘Should I have brought these children here?’

But she knew it was too late to turn back.

She even agreed with the idea that the Lopetrefer siblings would have found their way here, even without her.

Her disciples had already become far greater than her, and that had been her wish. So their sins were also her fault.

So she believed it was her duty to watch over them until the end.