I Am Troubled That My Fiance Is a Villain epilogue

“Bernhardt Youth Brunsmeier had to die.”

My husband said in a quiet voice as he traced the rim of the cup.

“Coercion, falsification of facts, reporting misinformation to the King, and on top of all that, murder. An awfully evil man.”

Although it's barely the beginning of spring, the wind passing through the courtyard was a little cold, but when the sun came out, it's actually perfect.

On top of the small table was black tea with steam rising from it, smelling of citrus, and the butterflies fluttering about the flowers in the courtyard. It's quite a peaceful and gentle scene.

“Jeez. Why are you talking bad about Bernhardt?”

“It's true though.”

“Then does that mean Bergriet Rietberg won't do the same thing?”

It's no use. This name makes me laugh every time I say it.

“…No. I'll do something even worse just to protect you, Lizzy.”

Although I would have preferred him to say that he wouldn't, it still made me happy that he's thinking about me as always.

Guessing my complicated feelings about this, he showed a troubled smile and asked the usual question.

“Do you hate me?”

He's repeatedly asked this question again and again ever since I've met him.

Although I would have liked him to believe me, there's no helping it as long as it eases him with just one answer from me. I gave a wry smile.

Regardless, I've always had a sweet spot for him.

“I could never hate you. But I would like you to stop talking bad about Bern.”

“Is that so? I'll try my best.”

I have a feeling you won't.

Well, that's one other thing that can't be helped. No matter how many times I tell him I won't, he'll do his own thing.

On the contrary, I'll just push on forward as if nothing happened.

Just like right now.

Already knowing what my answer was, my husband, Marquis Rietberg, the Bernhardt that had supposedly died, smiled in slight satisfaction.

It was an innocent smile that didn't match his extremely beautiful face.

The day we settled things, Bern easily snatched the dagger that Alois charged at him with and had stabbed his arm useless instead. This time though, the patrol rushed over and took away Alois who screamed in pain and bitterness.

And as to why Bern had to die is a little complicated and goes back to his mother.

His mother's name is Emilia Isabel Rottger.

Yep, she was Lucas' stepsister. Additionally, Lucas' so-called first love was Emilia.

In the game, they never explicitly wrote her name, and it seemed that records of Emilia were strictly hidden, so Viola never took notice of it.

On top of that, Duke Rottger has an absurdly large family.

Speaking of which, this Duke Rottger was a big imposter.

His position in the Historical Records Department was just for decoration, and the old Duke that was generally thought of as carefree was actually the head of the Intelligence Bureau. It's been said that the Intelligence Bureau was an urban legend, but surprisingly, it actually exists.

By the way, Titus, who was Prince Edwin's observer, is actually a member of the Intelligence Bureau and three years older than us.

That's why despite the extremely capable Duke Rottger and Bern not being blood-related, they still had a grandfather-grandchild relationship.

I've gone to greet him once, but how should I say this? He felt like a big, cuddly bear*.

Duke Rottger was surprisingly an emotional person. He was worried about the young Bern, who Emilia gave her life for, and sent Lucas to the Brunsmeier family as a private tutor for several years. Because of that, Bern survived thanks to Lucas, who was both his uncle and his teacher, which makes him my benefactor but… This is a little rude of me, but I feel somewhat conflicted about this.

As for the finishing blow that Bern told Alois about how their statuses were different, it was exactly just that.

In addition to having royal blood in him, his step-grandfather was also the top of the Intelligence Bureau, what's with that?! Rather than a villain, isn't he more like a final boss?!

Among other things, the enthusiastic Bern who was all set up to one day become the demon king seems to have thought that he'll be king someday.

By the way, his reasoning was,

“It just feels like it.”

Though that was probably a lie.

I mean, it's a given that Bern didn't go through with his plan of becoming the king, but in return, he thought of faking his death instead.

By the way, his excuse was,

“It hit me when you said, ‘It'd be nice if you could just stop being a noble.' As for the dying part, I would have to be adopted into a suitable noble house, so I just had to be taken in by the Rietberg's.”

Unfortunately, I don't remember saying that. I don't remember, but it's something I would say. Which is really unfortunate.

And with a headache-inducing reason, Bern, who had thought of making a plan to fake his death, slowly developed it and would sometimes get support from Duke Rottger. It's no wonder that he was able to create a frightening club like the Hidden Student Council.

It seemed that from the beginning, they planned on having Katerina's engagement with Prince Edwin broken off and for Bern to have an accidental death. That's because if Duke Brunsmeier didn't die, a lot of problems would arise.

Which meant that when Viola and Alois did unnecessary things, they had to let them think they achieved their goal… Which was extremely ironic.

Well, Duke Rottger knew how to get in the way of their unnecessary scheming, but instead of doing so, he thought of reducing the power of the Queen faction by creating a huge uproar.

And that was to circulate false information that Bern was killed by Alois.

On that decisive day, Titus and Bern had a meeting beforehand.

Bern would knock down and provoke Alois. And along with these devilish whispers, ‘Actually, this information has yet to reach the King. If you kill Bernhardt now, you can cover it up,” and a dagger handed to him by Titus, he'd attack Bern.

Of course, Bern knew that Alois was going to attack him, so he had prepared to turn the tables on him.

The only one who didn't know was me.

By the way, Bern's excuse was,

“If we don't have at least one person seriously panicking, our trap might be exposed.”

Wait, but why did it have to be me!?

As a result, a murder charge was added to Alois' crimes, and Prince Edwin lost his standing. And the suspicious mastermind Queen and the Queen faction also declined in power. Although the theory about the Queen being the mastermind was due to fake evidence that the Intelligence Bureau had prepared.

Also, one of the two promises that Bern gave when he succeeded the Brunsmeier Dukedom was that he would prettily wrap it up for Katerina to succeed it.

In conclusion, it only seemed that Bern's death was a consequence of everything, but in reality, it was due to Bern and Duke Rottger's grand scheme to fake his death that overturned the fiancée feud.

That's kinda scary.

Well, a lot of things happened, but after half a year had passed after Bern died, we left the royal capital and traveled. After coming back, we chaotically prepared his adoption into the Muller family and the marriage, and quite recently, we finally managed to happily have the wedding ceremony.

Speaking of his adoption, when we got the new family register, his alias ended up being such a weird name thanks to him putting it as Bergriet.

As for how Rietberg became Bergriet, it was already too late by the time he realized it after it had been formally submitted. That's why I told you, you should have picked a suitable one…

We thought of just not talking about him instead of saying he came from a strange place.

Of course, this wasn't the only good thing that happened.

I also had to keep appearances, so I dropped out of the Royal Academy. I had a feeling Bern did some horrible things for that to happen.

I mean, I also wanted to properly graduate, but there was no comparing between my graduation and my marriage with Bern.

Both my father and my mother told me that as long as I was happy, they were fine with it, so he was also able to quickly succeed as the Marquis. In a way, I've managed to attain my goal from way back of giving back to my parents to some extent, I think.

By the way, as Ionius worked at the Auditing Department while helping Katerina with her work as Duchess, she would complain to him every time they met by saying, ‘I'd be troubled if you can't quickly become a distinguished person. The way things are proceeding, wouldn't it be too late for me to marry already? It's hard admirably waiting for you.”

Since it seems like Ionius is doing his best in his own way, I don't have to worry about those two.

Lila was brainwashed by Alois and Viola, so she was pardoned, but due to her request, she entered a monastery instead. When I visited her once, she looked healthy, and it's not like she can't ever leave her entire life once she entered. Once she feels at ease with herself, we might meet again.

Johann, who had been charged with battery among other crimes, had his sentence suspended with help of his father, Count Drexler who resigned from his post as the Knight Commander. Nowadays, the Count looks dispirited.

Darius is still enrolled in school, but he became an apprentice to Duke Rottger, who he became acquainted with during the fiancée feud, and is being worked to the bone by him.

Seems that his dream is to be the youngest prime minister. Hmm, well, good luck with that.

And speaking of the person that I dislike the most…

“Oh my, you guys are so close! I guess I'll be quickly meeting Emilia, wouldn't I?”

I'm fine with you randomly entering people's courtyards. I'm also fine with you making fun of me. But there's only one thing that I find unacceptable.

“Rottger-sensei, please stop casually naming other people's unborn child!”

All the more, to name her Emilia!

Lucas, who we never asked if we should name our child Emilia if we had a girl, was grinning for some unknown reason. This is one thing I never understood about him.

Also, the distance between the Marquis territory and the Royal Capital shouldn't be a distance that you can so easily traverse.

“That's no good, Lizia. Instead of sensei, didn't I tell you to call me uncle instead?”

I really strongly wish you'd listen to me.

“Ah, but then about calling you my mother-in-law…”

“W-wait a minute!! What're you saying, you–!”

Awful. He's just too awful.

I unconsciously clung to Bern.

“Uncle, please keep your jokes to a minimum.”

“Sorry, sorry.”

Without flinching at Bern's cold voice, Lucas cackled.

“Either way, they'll still be important to me regardless of how many there'll be. Of course, it's the same for you two, I bet.”

Lucas said this with a sudden shadow over his serious face and drank a copious amount of tea. He then handed over a letter from Duke Rottger, which was his reason for coming here today, and went home.

He's such a weird person as always, and I may dislike him, but unlike before where I couldn't understand him, at least I didn't feel as uneasy around him. We're more or less family now.

But I just wish he'd stop naming our child Emilia. This is not a laughing matter.

“I'm worried…”

Lucas left like a hurricane, and around the time the sun started setting, Bern lamented these words.

“About what?”

“If our child takes after your kindness, I'll have to be on guard so that they don't get deceived by some bad guy. By bad guy, I mean my uncle.”

“What's with that? Do you think I'm stupid enough to follow a bad guy?”

“It's true though? There was one time you were caught in front of me by a bad guy.”

As I thought, ‘What?' Bern made a face as if he ate something extremely bitter when I asked him if there was a second time since he said ‘one time.'

“…Wehner.”

As always, they never get along.

I feel bad for Darius. Even though I think he's a good guy.

“What does the letter say?”

Don't tell me he's asking you to join in on their next scheme? Ah crap, I'm hoping it's not something bad.

“It says, ‘Won't you both go together to the premiere for ‘Ligeia and Leonhardt?'”

“…”

“… We probably can't refuse.”

“I know.”

Grandfather, weren't you the type of guy that would be happy to finally be able to play with your grandkids? Do you want me to massage your shoulders as well? Hmm?

Ah, but to be honest, I definitely don't want to go.

Would faking illness work? Probably not.

‘Ligeia and Leonhardt' is the title of an opera that will soon be showing.

My guess is that it's based on the love between me and Bern.

I've been told that the school's Drama Club has an amazing playwright lady who was fully touched by our story and wrote about it.

It's a complicated topic, not knowing if we should be grateful or inconvenienced.

The plot's first half was the fiancée feud, and in the second half, Ligeia goes to the underworld to look for Leonhardt, who was killed. ‘Don't worry, it has a happy ending!' Katerina, who was apparently the director, said with a triumphant look on her face. Just where did she find the time to…

That aside!

“Don't you think the title's too much? It'll be exposed that it's us since the title's ‘Ligeia and Leonhardt!' Moreover, Marquis Bergriet is the resurrected Bernhardt. There are also people saying that your face is disfigured so you hide it.”

Actually, it'd be bad if Bern himself was exposed, so he never showed his face in high society, and whenever he had to, he wore a mask.

I mean, we thought those with good intuition would most likely notice it.

That's why we spread around that kind of weird rumor.

“Then what title would you give it, Lizzy?”

“Eh, even if you suddenly ask me…”

I'm not confident in my naming sense.

If it was Darius, I definitely wouldn't tell him since he'd just make fun of the weird name I'd say, but it's Bern who asked.

In the meantime, my gaze wandered about for no reason as I couldn't think of one.

At that moment, a strong breeze suddenly blew, and the sweet smell of the flowers flew through.

With my hair a mess, I unconsciously closed my eyes.

Then, the next time I opened my them, they met Bern's beautiful, silverware-like eyes.

He looked cool with his eyes giving off a cold impression, but when I looked at his drooping eyes closely, they increasingly turned gentle as he looked at me. I've never told this to anyone before, but I love his droopy eyes.

Bern's surprisingly slender, rough hands carefully straightened my hair.

His other hand had already been holding mine, and he pulled on it as he closed the distance between us.

As I naturally closed my eyes, something soft and warm touched my lips and slowly separated.

The first time this happened, I embarrassingly thought, ‘Isn't my face a little too hot?' but then thought that humankind's adaptability is really amazing. Now, it just feels really nice.

Suddenly,  I remembered the first time we met.

At that time, I paled when I remembered Bern was a villain, far from how things are now.

I was attacked during Thanksgiving, as well as at school… Aren't I being attacked too much?

Anyways, at that time, I felt like I was going to get into a lot of trouble, but I don't regret it one bit.

This is too abstract, but I thought of Bern like a ship with no anchor.

He would quickly go to far off places I didn't know if there was no one to stop him. That's why I thought it'd be great if I could become an anchor for him.

Ah, well. Even if I wasn't able to de-villainize Bern, there's nothing more I would want after all this time. The only thing I could do is to sway him as much as I can.

Hmm? Villain?

“Ah, I thought of one!”

For a moment, Bern didn't understand what I meant and looked blankly at me, but he seemed to immediately remember that he asked me about the title of the opera.

I thought of a title that couldn't be more perfect than this.

I was filled with excitement as if I was about to pull off a prank and unconsciously smiled.

I'm pretty sure that when Bern hears it, he'd smile, regardless of whether he found it troubling or was happy.

“I'm Troubled That My Fiance's A Villain.”

Don't you think it's a really good name?

With this, the story is now complete!

I would like to thank you all for following me on this journey!

From here on out, I thought that it'd be nice to write omakes little by little, like Bern's POV.

Since I'll be sending an afterword for those who subscribed, if you are not doing anything, please do check it out.

*It was initially written as tanuki, but I chose to write a big, cuddly bear instead cause that's what the author was going for.

I initially translated ベルフリートas Belfritz, sticking with the whole German naming sense, but after getting to the part where Lizia talks about Bern inputting his name on official records, I realized that it's actually Rietberg just switched around, hence why I translated it as Bergriet instead. It's a really weird name as well, so it fits lol.

WOOHOOOO! Main story is finally done. This makes me a little sad because wow, after like 20+ chapters, our couple finally got to live together in peace! It makes me a little nostalgic. This story has a very special place in my heart since it's such a sweet story. I can't believe their story ended just like that (even though we do get the prenuptial travel logs and omakes). Bern's POV will be after this. Another is this chapter is actually titled as the sequel in the raws, but it feels more like an epilogue than anything.

EN: And that's how we got the title of our story.

The main story's finally done, and we'll be off to the next part.

Author: adorkablerika

Name's Erika. For some dumb reason, I decided to major in Physics. I'm stuck in this major now. I used to translate manga and light novels a few years back, left, then came back cause I found some good novels to read. I'm the only TLer on my site, so rip. I'm apparently also good at drawing, and I also like kpop (BTS, I mean, I have Hobi as my pic). I don't bite, so feel free to chat me up on here or on NU @adorkablehiko. If you see my translations on other sites, please do consider reading it on my Wordpress @ crappyasstranslations.

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