The Villainess Doesn't Want to Die (3)
"Hanna. You didn't steal this, did you?"
"Sniffle. I can't believe Young Master would doubt me so much. Do I look like that kind of bad woman to you?"
Hanna put on a fake cry, teasing him.
"No, it's not that… I clearly said I wouldn't accept any payment."
"It was left at the front door. Lady Robbins must have left it. Among nobles, stubbornly refusing a gift is also considered rude. You need to know when to accept things gracefully."
"Right. Thanks for the lecture on noble etiquette, Hanna."
I looked down at the pouch of gold coins.
When I opened the mouth of the pouch, countless gold coins glittered with a dazzling brilliance.
"Young Master. We're rich now! We won't have to work for the rest of our lives!"
"Hmm…"
It was true that with just this, I could skip all the bothersome farming and live in leisure until the day I died.
The gold pouch was certainly tempting. But this was wealth obtained through the power of Yongwang-shin.
If I took this much money and spent it on my own selfish desires, Yongwang-shin might become angry.
And if Yongwang-shin got angry?
I'd be lucky if the punishment ended with just losing my powers. In the worst case, Shinbyeong could return and never release me until I died.
If I wanted to live, I couldn't use this money.
"Yeah. I can't spend this money."
"Hmm hmm. I knew you'd say that, Young Master."
"Oh, you did?"
"You've never been particularly interested in money since you were little. Even the family head listed your lack of greed for money as your only flaw."
"I didn't know Father said that. But why is not being greedy for money a flaw? Isn't that a good thing?"
"Oh my, Young Master. The Valentier family is famous for banking. Father was so disappointed thinking you wouldn't be able to handle the family business because you had no interest in money."
"Ah…"
I never imagined that not being greedy for money would be seen as a flaw. Though I supposed for a child of a financial family, a healthy appetite for money would be a basic requirement.
"Haa. But I can't just send this money back either. If I did, Lady Robbins would probably scream, 'Are you ignoring my sincerity?!' and slap me across the face with the gold pouch."
"Couldn't you send it to the main house?"
"That does seem like the normal thing to do…"
Wasn't there a better idea?
After thinking for a moment, a brilliant idea came to me.
"Let's use it for everyone."
"Everyone?"
"We can use it to develop the rural village."
I hadn't realized it when I was at the count's estate. In this RoFan world, once you came to the countryside, the environment became quite harsh. Simply put, the toilets were outdated. I desperately missed the bathrooms and toilets at the main estate that rivaled twenty-first-century modern Earth.
"First, we need to overhaul the water and sewage systems."
While developing the entire village, I would benefit as a side effect. A perfect plan.
"Ah, my lady?! What on earth happened? Your makeup is completely ruined!"
"None of your business. Just fix my makeup already."
"Yes, my lady. I'll fix it right away."
Silvia surrendered herself to her maid and leaned back against the carriage seat. As the tension drained from her body, every action she had taken—and everything the other party had done—came flooding back with vivid clarity.
Aaaah! Why did I make such a spectacle of myself?! Crying in front of a man I barely even know!
Another black mark had been added to her personal history—one she would never forget for the rest of her life. The shame and humiliation were almost too much to bear with a clear mind.
He's such a strange man. How can someone act like a completely different person in a single moment?
Silvia recalled the first time she had met Rix, at the birthday banquet. That infuriating man who had cut her off mid-sentence the moment he appeared. At first she had simply assumed he was some raving lunatic. But then Rix had exposed the fact that her fiancé Fabian was having an affair. He had also put on that uncanny display of dredging up the servants' pasts.
I fell for his provocation and ended up revealing the contents of that call to everyone. Ugh… I was so shortsighted.
Even if she had learned about the affair, she should have handled it quietly behind the scenes. Instead she had let herself be goaded and, in a fit of temper, staged a full public reveal of the cheating. Silvia pictured Rix standing there shamelessly amid the chaos of the ruined banquet, and a sigh escaped her of its own accord.
Haa… He has no idea how hard I worked cleaning up after that banquet. He's utterly infuriating.
Rushing to wrap up the wrecked banquet and clamping down on the nobles' loose tongues had been exhausting. Of course, she didn't believe those gossip-prone aristocrats would keep the secret perfectly. Still—
Even so, they won't dare talk about it openly. Not when it involves me.
Villainess Silvia. That infamous reputation had been built precisely for moments like this.
Just what is he, really…?
Rix's bizarre abilities were more than enough to capture the interest of Silvia Robbins, the Academy's genius mage. A transcendent power that could see the past, the present, and even the future. The only person said to possess such power was Merlin the Archmage—a figure from legend.
He never even attended the Academy… Could he be from the Magic Tower?
In the Empire, there were essentially two ways to learn magic: the Academy and the Magic Tower. Silvia herself had attended the Academy, and she had never once heard the name Rix. That meant he must have learned magic at the Magic Tower.
…Just what is he?
As she turned over Rix's abilities in her mind, Silvia found herself picturing his appearance. Black hair, black eyes. And a tall enough frame to look down on her. She recalled the face of Rix looking down at her with his chin held high in arrogance.
Ugh. Thinking about it again just makes me furious! So annoying!
That face kept surfacing no matter how hard she tried to push it away. She couldn't forget it. Perhaps she never would for the rest of her life…
Aaaah! What am I even thinking?! I need to erase that good-for-nothing scoundrel from my memory this instant!
"Ah, my lady. If you keep shaking your head like that, I can't fix your makeup."
"Sorry."
Silvia offered a brief apology and closed her eyes. She decided it would be better to just sleep for a while and scrub Rix's face from her mind.
The maid fixing her makeup was thoroughly startled by what she had just heard.
My lady… apologized to me?
Something had already seemed off from the moment Silvia announced she would enter a stranger's estate alone, without even a maid. Just what happened inside that house?
Villainess Silvia was not the sort of person who apologized to her maids. Something significant must have happened at that estate to cause such a change of heart. The maid stared openly at Silvia's closed-eyed face.
The Empire's most dazzling jewel… With her mouth shut, she's absolutely perfect. If only she fixed her personality, she'd be the number-one marriage prospect without question.
She resumed fixing Silvia's makeup.
As if my lady could ever fix her personality.
This was trash that just happened to have a pretty face.
Robbins Duke Estate.
Silvia had returned home.
"Silvia. Where on earth did you go without a word?"
"It's none of your business, Brother. Stay out of it."
"What? I was worried about you—"
"Ha! You, worried about me? A passing dog would laugh at that."
"You damn little brat! You have no idea how terrifying your older brother can be. Don't you know your place?"
"Oh my. Isn't the one who doesn't know his place the brother who got expelled from the Academy?"
"I told you never to bring that up!"
"It slipped my mind for a moment. Well then, goodbye."
After exchanging this warm family greeting for the first time in a while, Silvia headed straight to her room. She recalled Rix's advice.
Silvia Robbins. Once you return to the estate, shut yourself in your room for three full days. Do not set foot outside during that time. If you do this, on the third night, around three in the morning, you will meet an assassin.
Doesn't sound too difficult.
The room-corner siege began.
Hmm. He said not to leave the room, so using the bathroom and toilet attached to the room should be fine, right?
"Maid. I want to wash up. Prepare everything."
"Yes, my lady."
She washed, read books, and spent her time in leisure. When evening came, the maid appeared.
"My lady. It is time for dinner."
"I'll be eating in my room for a while. I'd appreciate it if you brought the food up. Tell the others I'm unwell and can't go out."
"Y-Yes, my lady."
This was the convenience of being a villainess. Even when she issued strange orders out of nowhere, not a single person questioned her—they simply obeyed.
She ate, read books or played chess with her maid, and slept as much as she wanted. She spent her days living the life of a shut-in hikikomori.
The promised third day arrived. Silvia slept during daylight hours so she could stay awake at three in the morning. Night approached. She stayed up with her eyes open, heart pounding. Midnight, one o'clock, two o'clock… The clock hands seemed to move slower than a turtle.
At last, three in the morning. Silvia waited for the assassin with her eyes half-lidded, circulating mana through her entire body so she could counterattack at any moment, holding herself in a state of tension.
I wonder which way the assassin will come. A servant is guarding the bedroom door, so for now I should keep an eye on the window.
She poured every ounce of her attention onto the window.
Thuk. Creeeak.
A sound. The source was not the window—it was the bedroom door. The door cracked open, and a slant of corridor light spilled in.
The door? What happened to the servant guarding it?
Silvia kept up the pretense of sleep.
Creeeak.
The door opened fully.
Thud. Thud.
Footsteps far too bold and confident to belong to any assassin. The moment the intruder drew near the bed—
She shot upright!
Silvia opened both eyes and sat up. Red Lightning crackled in both hands, ready to incinerate the intruder at any second.
But the Red Lightning never fired.
"Silvia. You were awake."
A voice without the slightest hint of panic. A boldness unimaginable for someone who had broken in at three in the morning. Silvia's pupils trembled with agitation.
"…F-Father?"
The assassin's true identity was Silvia's own father.