Chapter 30
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 30
The flustered guard tried to help Daisy to her feet.
“Please, just tell me where she went. I have to see her.”
“Look, how should I know? Her carriage left ages ago.”
Daisy felt the strength drain from her body. She had believed that coming to the Rohanson estate would solve everything. Why had she been so foolish?
“Don’t just stand there looking so troubled. Why don’t you come back after the Young Lady returns?” the guard urged, clearly uneasy. “Shall I call a carriage for you?”
“No… I’m fine.”
She didn’t even have the money for a carriage. Daisy forced her staggering body upright. She had thought it would be better to go to the Temple anyway. Her priority was to find the knights she had seen before.
First, I’ll go back to the inn, grab my money, and change into my nun’s habit. It will be much easier to enter the Temple that way.
Daisy turned away from the Rohanson estate and headed toward the inn, her legs throbbing from the run. Strangely, the frantic sense of urgency had vanished, replaced by a dull ache.
As she walked, dark spots began to dot the pavement. Daisy looked up. Dark clouds had gathered unnoticed, and the first drops of rain were beginning to fall. The water hitting her eyes mingled with her tears, trailing down her cheeks.
“It’s raining! Hurry!”
“Ugh…!”
“I’m sorry!”
A group of children running for cover collided with Daisy. The impact was minor, but her legs were so weak that she collapsed right there on the street. Fearing she might be angry, the child who bumped her apologized before running on.
Daisy remained slumped on the ground, lacking the strength to be angry or the will to stand. Sitting there, she remembered how she had nearly been hit by a carriage earlier. I should have just let it hit me…
As she sat with her head bowed, a shadow fell over her.
Right, this is a shopping district. I’m blocking the path.
“I’m sorry. I’ll move.”
“Daisy.”
Daisy’s head snapped up at the familiar voice. The person casting the shadow was a vision of pure, radiant white—the very antithesis of the darkness Daisy had wrought. It was the one person she had been so desperately searching for.
“Lady… Evangeline.”
Perhaps because she had said it once before, calling the woman ‘Evangeline’ was no longer so difficult. It was absurd how relieved she felt, even as terror and resentment churned within her.
The world went silent, as if the downpour had been swallowed whole. She thought the rain had stopped, but it was merely an umbrella held over her head. It was tilted so far toward Daisy that Evangeline’s own back was getting soaked.
“How… How are you here…?”
“Because I was looking for you.”
She really appeared just because she was looking for me? Like magic?
The thing wearing Lady Evangeline’s skin offered a benevolent smile, a perfect imitation of the one worn by the Lady Evangeline whom Daisy had once cared for.
“I have a favor. You said you would grant me a wish.” Daisy gripped Evangeline’s dress, clinging to it desperately, as if it were her only lifeline.
“I did. Though there will be a price.”
You know what I want, don’t you? Evangeline’s eyes seemed to ask.
A price… Daisy knew exactly what that meant. When she had summoned the demon, it had looked at Priest Berga and called him a sacrifice. It had also promised to collect its full due next time.
“I’ll… I’ll give you myself.”
Even if she wasn’t as ‘clean’ as a demon might prefer, not after she’d already killed someone, she was all Daisy had left to offer.
“So please, please help me.”
“Alright. Very well. I’ll grant it.”
Evangeline reached out a hand. Though she knew she shouldn’t, Daisy took it. A coldness coiled around her arm like a snake, slithering up to her throat. Daisy had just thrust her own head into the serpent’s maw. And yet, tragically, the serpent’s mouth felt warm from the inside.
* * *
A thought occurred to me as we rode in the carriage.
Wait. We’re going to an orphanage right now, aren’t we? Even if the goal is to find Daisy, we’re still going to an orphanage. Is it okay to show up empty-handed?
Whenever I saw people volunteering at orphanages, they always brought piles of food and gifts. It felt wrong to arrive with nothing. Both for the sake of basic etiquette and my ongoing image management to escape the ‘villainess’ label, I needed to buy something.
“Let’s stop at a shop nearby.”
“Yes, My Lady.”
I hadn’t even spoken to the coachman, but the carriage pulled up in front of a bakery as if he’d read my mind.
“I’ll go, My Lady,” Canna offered.
“Then could you buy enough bread for the children to eat their fill?” I said, pressing a gold coin into her hand.
“Are you planning to buy out the entire shop?”
Ah, right. The cost of living here was quite low. But what was I supposed to do? I only had gold coins.
“Just buy a reasonable amount. Keep the change as a tip for your trouble.”
“Thank you so much!”
Canna’s face lit up as she hopped out of the carriage. I could hear her humming; she must have really liked the idea of a tip. Maybe I should start giving her pocket money for small errands.
“Jelly, go help her carry it.”
“Fine, fine.”
Jelly shot me a disgruntled look as he dumped Pudding onto my lap and climbed out. Was he acting out because he didn't get any money? Canna was actually doing work, while he was just a freeloader who wanted an allowance for doing nothing. Pudding seemed to agree, letting out a soft meow as if to say the man had no shame.
Soon, Canna and Jelly returned with their arms full of bread. It looked like they had, in fact, cleared out the entire shop. A savory, delicious aroma filled the carriage.
My mouth started watering, so I snatched a piece of bread from Jelly’s pile. Hmm, it just tastes like bread. The smell was incredible since it was freshly baked, but the flavor was plain. It seemed my palate had been spoiled by the talented chefs at the Rohanson mansion.
“Next, a ready-to-wear clothing store.”
“More shopping? Is this really necessary?” Jelly grumbled.
He really didn’t get it. If you want to win someone over, you have to target their family first. Of course, I wasn’t going there to ‘win over’ Daisy; I was going to get on my knees, apologize, and beg her to tell me what on earth she said to Hena and Gabriel.
When we reached the clothing store, I got out as well. To think, since I’d been possessed, I hadn’t even bought clothes for myself, Canna, or Hena, yet here I was, buying clothes for strangers. I wondered if they felt slighted.
I stole a glance at Canna, but she just seemed to find the tiny clothes—less than half her size—absolutely adorable. As expected of the female lead, she was truly magnanimous.
“Is looking at clothes fun?” I asked.
“Yes… I’ve never really had the chance to go shopping properly before,” Canna said bashfully.
The backstories of dark RoFan female leads are just too much. If the male lead were here, he would have grabbed her hand and declared, “Give me everything from here to there.”
But since I was just a lowly villainess, I couldn’t exactly drop everything to take Canna shopping.
“Let’s come back together next time. You, me, and Hena.”
“My Lady, I’d love that!”
It was just a consolation prize, but Canna looked as happy as if she’d been given the world. Yeah, maybe I should just buy an entire shop. Just imagining Canna and Pudding in matching outfits was enough to make me feel full. I was smiling warmly when I locked eyes with Jelly.
“What?”
Jelly’s mouth hung open for a second before he muttered, “Never mind,” and went back to piling up clothes. Just how many outfits was he picking out?
The mountain of clothes he gathered barely fit into the luggage compartment. Seeing me buy so many children’s clothes, the shopkeeper gave me a deeply suspicious look.
Sensing an opportunity, I made a point of mentioning that Evangeline Rohanson was buying these clothes to volunteer at an orphanage. This wasn’t a shop frequented by nobles, so the impact would be small, but surely the word would spread a little.
“My… My Lady, please take this umbrella as well. The sky doesn’t look good…”
Perhaps my PR effort worked, because the shopkeeper kindly offered me an umbrella. His hands were shaking, he was tripping over his words, and his head was bowed so low it looked like I was extorting it from him.
The umbrella looked well-used, likely the shopkeeper’s own. If it was going to rain, how would he get home? I was about to decline, but then I just took it. If I refused, a new rumor would probably start about how Evangeline Rohanson was too arrogant to accept gifts from commoners.
“I’ll make good use of it.”
“Yes! Thank you!”
Wait, you’re the one giving it to me. Why are you thanking me?
The shopkeeper’s expression brightened the moment I accepted the umbrella, though it slumped back into its original dejected state five seconds later.
As we stepped outside, raindrops were indeed beginning to fall. Canna smiled broadly and opened the umbrella. It wasn’t very large, so it only barely covered the two of us. I wondered if Jelly would get sulky again, but this time he didn’t seem to care, walking through the rain and climbing into the carriage. Do RoFan male leads just not use umbrellas? Not even the second male leads?
The mystery was solved once I was inside. Jelly was perfectly dry. Come to think of it, he was a werewolf shaman. He probably had some kind of magic to keep the rain off. I’d worried for nothing.
“That’s everything, right?”
“Yes. Now, let’s go find Daisy.”
The food and the clothes in various sizes should be enough. It’s not like I knew what kind of toys even existed in this RoFan world.
The rain grew heavier, drumming against the windows. Leaning back and stroking Pudding, I felt a wave of drowsiness wash over me. I must have drifted off, because the next thing I knew, Jelly was waking me.
Are we there already? I looked out the window, but we were in an area crowded with narrow, tightly packed buildings. It didn’t look like we’d traveled very far. I didn’t see any large structures… Shouldn’t an orphanage be a bit bigger? Or was there class discrimination even in things like this?
“Is this the Ainoa Orphanage?”
“No, it’s not…” Canna shook her head.
Then why had we stopped? Just then, Jelly pointed toward a figure slumped on the ground outside the window.
“…Daisy?”