The Villainess Who Accidentally Stole Their Hearts - Chapter 10

Chapter 5.2
 

“You don’t need to do that, Mikarin.”

‘See?’

Mikarin inwardly smiled with satisfaction.

‘There’s no way my brother would let me walk barefoot because of Nikaearsha.’

The people watching this must be thinking the same thing.

‘In the Grand Duke’s family, I’m the one they value more than my sister… huh?’

A shimmering fabric fluttered softly before her eyes.

It was the hem of Nikaearsha’s dress.

Mikarin’s eyes wavered in disbelief.

‘Did he just… pick up Nikaearsha? My brother?’

However, there was someone even more shocked than Mikarin. Nikaearsha looked at Akain with an expression that clearly said, ‘Has he lost his mind?’

Akain, on the other hand, seemed completely unfazed.

‘No, he’s not as unfazed as he seems.’

Nikaearsha thought, still staring at her brother.

‘He’s too embarrassed to even look me in the eye.’

He must have realized she was looking at him like he’d lost his mind. Still, to everyone else watching, Akain carrying Nikaearsha across the hall appeared nothing short of graceful.

“What… I thought Nikaearsha was on the verge of being kicked out of her family.”

“I don’t know. What should I do? I made eye contact with the Young Lord earlier.”

Amid the whispers and chatter, Mikarin stood alone in a daze.

Her bare feet, still exposed, felt cold.

 ̊   · : * ✧ * : ·  ̊     

I sat in the carriage, still feeling a bit bewildered, and glanced at Akain.

He still wasn’t meeting my eyes. Instead, he pretended to rest his chin on his hand, covering his mouth, as he gazed out the window.

“….”

“….”

“….”

“It’s not like I stepped in to help you, or that I’m suddenly acting like your brother now, or even that I did it to protect the family’s name.”

In the end, Akain couldn’t bear the silence any longer and spoke up.

“I was simply correcting the facts.”

Ah, I see.

‘It seems he was still bothered by what I said earlier.’

Although he didn’t seem the type, but I guess he could hold a grudge.

‘…But if I take out those three things I said back then, what else is left?’

I couldn’t quite remember.

But why was he glaring at me like that? He was avoiding my eyes earlier. Yet now, it looked like he was saying, “Do you understand now?”

‘I have no idea.’

I shrugged and asked what had been on my mind the whole time.

“Why did you come here?”

“I came to pick you up. Attending a party without a partner—are you trying to embarrass the family?”

I was dumbfounded.

Since when did he care about me going places alone? Even when I wanted to ask him to come with me, he was already off laughing and happily holding hands with Mikarin.

After a brief silence, Akain spoke in a quieter voice.

“…It wasn’t just about embarrassing the family.”

“….?”

“I was worri—”

“Worri?”

“Worried that you’d cause another scene there again.”

…So, in the end, he rushed over because he was afraid I’d embarrass the family again.

‘I needed proof that the heel of the shoes Emma picked out for me was broken, so this worked out well.’

I shrugged.

Whatever the reason, Akain has been helpful to me today.

‘Thanks to him, I got to watch Mikarin put on her ridiculous ‘barefoot show’ and still get completely ignored.’

Her expression back then was priceless. So, as a token of appreciation for the rare sight, I gave a brief bow and thanked him.

“Thank you.”

Akain’s eyes widened so much that they looked like they might split. He opened and closed his mouth in shock for a while before finally managing to speak.

“You really…”

“…Really?”

“Really… going to di—”

“….?”

“…Forget it.”

He then shot me a really annoyed look all of a sudden. If we weren’t related, someone might have mistaken it for a wistful expression.

‘Yuck.’

I felt nauseated.

 ̊   · : * ✧ * : ·  ̊     

As soon as I got to my room, I received a heart.

‘Looks like they had a great time at the party.’

Well, aside from the people who openly trashed me and ended up on Akain’s bad side. For everyone else, it must have been quite the spectacle—some publicly picking fights with the notorious troublemaker at the center of all the gossip, and then Mikarin suddenly running around barefoot after taking off her shoes.

‘It must’ve been quite entertaining.’

My employees?

Hmm, it seemed they had witnessed something so unbelievably shocking that they’d never think to see in their entire lives that their brains must have gotten a little overstimulated.

And for good reason…

‘Akain insisted on carrying me all the way to my room.’

Even though we were home, and I asked the maid to bring me another pair of shoes, he refused to listen.

“Walking… might be too much for you.”

It really annoyed me that he said those words while looking at me like I was some pitiful beggar who hadn’t had enough to eat. Every single employee we passed on the way to my room stared at us with expressions like their jaws had unhinged.

‘…Why him? Did he get a kick out of making those snide remarks about lawsuits and money?’

Well, anyone would feel their heart race when there was talk of paying ten million gold.

“….”

For a second, my brain stopped working.

‘I don’t want it. Go away. I’m not accepting it.’

So what?

And then what.

Like?

“….!”

“….”

Why does it have to be ♥ of all things?

It felt uncomfortable.

‘Yes, a true conqueror takes the bones of their enemies and uses them as weapons.’

I have to make use of everything I can.

It was obvious why that piece of trash got a dopamine rush.

‘He probably got pissed because I did something unpredictable when he thought he had me in the palm of his hand. What an unlucky jerk.’

Is it over now?

Still, I earned more ♥ than I expected.

‘This should let me make even better use of the agency.’

The more information I gathered, the more useful it would be. Even seemingly unrelated details could connect and lead to new answers.

And if upgrading would bring ‘many good things,’ then…

‘Maybe… the detective agency’s abilities aren’t limited to just digging up people’s personal details.’

Just then—

A notification popped up, just when I thought it was over.

‘What… is this?’
 

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