Taming The Villainesses novel Chapter 450

The chill in the air had finally peeled away.

The imps, who had all curled up with their tails tucked in, were now starting to wander the streets one by one. A certain imp with striking red bobbed hair walked along the road.

Her eyes turned toward a small girl, flitting busily through the street—just like herself.

“Extraaa, extraaa! Read all about it!”

“Hoae-noia! This great Tartart demands a copy of your newspaper...!”

Imp intern Hoae-noi, who was working for the newspaper company and bustling through Monarch City—the royal capital of Angmar—was called over by the imp Tartart, wearing a bright red armband. Tartart bought a copy.

Rustle.

As she unfolded the paper, the front-page headline caught her eye first:

“Angmar's National Council Finally Normalized!”

“Celebrating One Year of Alliance Between Leones and Drayco...”

“Ahead of the One-Imp-Per-Household Act Launching in April...”

“Ugh! There’s nothing but boring news—! Just where in the paper did they put the Marumaru Doll advertisement!?”

The red imp doll Marumaru was the main revenue source of the Black Angmar Company. They’d recently spent a fortune running an ad, but couldn’t find which page it had landed on.

Flap, flap.

Tartart flipped through the pages, her red eyes skimming wildly through the print.

“Simultaneous Slump Among Magicians Worldwide?”

“Spring Comes a Bit Early This Year, Weather Warms Considerably.”

Just as her eyes were zipping across another article, they came to a stop.

“After a Clear Morning, Occasional Showers of Flower Petals Expected.”

Showers of flower petals?

Tartart let out a phuhuhu laugh. As if petals could really fall from the sky like rain. If such a thing were possible, it could only be called magic or a miracle.

Flit.

At that moment, something tickled Tartart’s nose. She reached up—and caught a soft, pink petal, delicate as a baby fingernail.

“Waaah—”

Tartart’s usually prickly face lit up in an instant. When she raised her head, she saw petals fluttering gently down from the sky.

Flutter, flutter. Sway, sway.

One by one, people walking through the streets stopped in their tracks. Windows all across the city swung open.

Children and carefree imps reached toward the sky, holding up big buckets and bowls.

Overwhelmed by the beautiful, fairytale-like scene, Tartart ran—she dashed straight toward the Black Angmar Company’s main building.

She wanted to climb to the 7th-floor window and take in this magical view with her sisters, all at once!

When she arrived, the wide company grounds were already filled with imps—colorful tails bristling—who had poured into the garden to look up at the sky.

Among them stood Comrade President Marmar.

Tartart called out to her,

“Marmar! It’s raining flower petals—! Someone must be up there on the clouds, scattering petals everywhere—! They’d be perfect for doll dyes...!”

At that, President Marmar’s eyes sparkled.

“Let’s gather them all!”

The imps all swarmed the garden, collecting the petals scattered across the ground. But no matter how many they gathered, the petals kept falling without end, and the imps grew more and more delighted.

Someone said,

“This weather feels like magic...!”

Magic.

Just as they said—this strange weather could only be described as magic. But then, who in the world could cast such a grand spell?

“It must be Queen Ayra of Angmar casting it—! Only Queen Ayra von Tarantella could handle magic on this scale!”

The queen of Angmar, known as the greatest magician alive?

“No, it must be the old grandpas from Highlord—! Even though Queen Ayra’s skilled, only those sage old grandpas could pull off something this wide-reaching!”

The Highlord elders, hailed as sages?

“Maybe it’s Prince Kasim casting magic to woo some pretty girl...!”

Or perhaps Kasim, the red jewel of Turki, wandering the world on endless travels?

If you asked, “Who is the strongest magician?”, the debate would rage on all day with countless opinions.

But Marmar knew.

If you asked, “Who is the greatest magician in the world?”—

Everyone would give the same name.

“...Comrade.”

Amid the falling petals, Marmar felt warmth. And perhaps the others did too, for they stopped gathering petals—and one by one, began running into the streets.

No special reason.

Just that their long-awaited master, no, their dear friend, was finally coming home.

***

Certainly. Here's the faithful continuation of Chapter 449 – Clear Skies, Then Occasional Showers of Petals #2 from Taming The Villainesses, English translation:

* * *

The court assembly of the Royal Palace of Angmar was always held under solemn and rigid atmosphere. The ministers and retainers could do little more than glance nervously at the queen’s furrowed brow.

“Mm-hmm.”

“Ahem.”

Not one of them dared to speak plainly; all were tiptoeing around. The only one who could be counted on during times like this was the formidable Chancellor, Reinhardt von Leones.

Normally, he would have broken the tension and spoken his mind regardless—but even he today wore a deep frown as he sat before the queen in silence.

Thanks to that, the ministers felt as though holes were boring into their stomachs. More than one of them contemplated quitting court affairs altogether, heading to the countryside, and living out their days watching their grandchildren and raising dogs.

“If only that man were here today...”

He had been resented in many ways—but no one could deny that when it came to handling the capricious queen, there was no man more suited.

Why had they worked so hard to slander and drive a wedge between the queen and that man?

Perhaps because, deep down, they believed he would never truly leave her side.

But now, it had been almost one full year since he vanished without a trace.

And so, the ministers who had once scorned him now found themselves missing him. If he were to return, they’d treat him better this time. They’d invite him to dinner, polish his shoes, and bring him gifts.

But—

Everyone in this chamber knew it was no longer possible.

And worse yet, they all knew: his name should never be spoken lightly again.

That was when—

“Well then—”

The one to break the long silence was none other than Lady Narmee. At her voice, the ministers all brightened as if glimpsing a ray of hope.

“Well then, seeing as we’re already ten minutes past lunchtime! Let’s wrap it up here and go eat!”

A few small sighs of relief echoed through the room. Right—despite all the work, couldn’t they at least be allowed a lunch break?

Even if there’s work to do, let us eat, was what everyone silently agreed on.

It had been a good while since the queen and her noble entourage had returned from what could only be described as a wild, runaway escapade.

Since then, the political situation in Angmar had stabilized remarkably. Crops and fisheries were booming, ushering in a golden age.

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