The Villainess Who Accidentally Stole Their Hearts - Chapter 19

Chapter 10.1

My heart raced.

‘First, let’s take another look at Alice’s profile.’

Since Alice wasn’t someone with special abilities, I wouldn’t be able to check anything specific regarding that. Still, there was no harm in seeing how it looked.

— Name: Alice
— Gender: Female
— Age: 22
…
— Personal Relations: Nikaearsha (Master), Arnold (Friend), Lena (Friend)…
— Talents: Service (B-rank) / Observant, Attentive, Dexterity

I was a bit surprised by the list of talents that appeared.

‘Surprisingly, she has a variety of skills.’

I had only expected one talent to show up. Seeing them listed separately, it seemed there was a distinction between primary and secondary talents.

Suddenly, I grew curious about Emma’s profile so I brought up her profile.

— Name: Emma
…
— Talents: Trickery (F-rank)

‘Trickery?!’

Emma had no talent for serving at all; instead, her only skill was labeled as trickery. Could something like that even be considered a talent?

‘…And only F-rank at that.’

Well, to be honest, Emma wasn’t even good at trickery. Her hot-headed nature and tendency to get overly confident often made her easy to handle. Even in this recent issue, she’d played right into my hands. Still, remembering how I’d once fallen for the tricks of this F-rank trickster…

‘…Even if I was desperate for affection.’

Years of her gaslighting had left me unable to tell what was real anymore. Everyone around me had only been deceiving me.

“My lady.”

“What?”

“I’m truly honored to be your personal maid. From now on, I’ll serve you with all my heart.”

Alice smiled shyly.

Seeing that smile, somehow…

‘…The people around me have changed.’

The thought struck me deeply.

̊ · : * ✧ * : · ̊

The next day.

‘What is this? The water is exactly the perfect temperature.’

‘Has brushing my hair always felt this refreshing? My headache is practically gone.’

‘Drinking the tea she recommended instantly settled my stomach! Could I have had indigestion all this time?’

I looked at Alice, my eyes sparkling.

‘B-grade… Amazing!’

It was a much higher grade than I’d expected.

“My lady, would you like to take a walk?”

I wasn’t usually one for walks… but despite that thought, I stepped outside.

‘This feels nice!’

The sun was warm and gentle, and the breeze was cool and refreshing.

I glanced at Alice with sparkling eyes once again.

‘Wow, B-rank…!’

“Hehe, it’s nice, isn’t it? I checked everything: sunlight, temperature, humidity, wind speed, wind direction. Based on the subtle changes in your usual expressions, this is the weather you seem to like best.”

“….”

‘B-rank really is something… but to this extent…?’

The sparkle in my eyes faded, replaced by a growing unease.

‘…It’s probably her observational skill as a secondary talent. She can’t be a stalker… right?’

For the first time, I had someone normal by my side.

Definitely not a stalker.

“Now, let’s return to your room. If you walk any longer, you’ll feel tired by afternoon. When you’re slightly fatigued, you tend to tilt your head about five degrees.”

“….”

‘She isn’t… a stalker, right?’

Please no.

̊ · : * ✧ * : · ̊

The sight that greeted me upon returning to my room was a mountain of presents.

“What… is all this?”

“These are gifts sent to you, my lady. And here.”

Somehow, Alice had a newspaper ready and spread it out in front of me.

[ Lady of Delosif Prevents Tragedy at Vess Dam! ]

[ Nikaearsha Delosif: A Heroine Saving Lives and Preventing Disaster! ]

[ The Jewel of Delosif: The Youngest Aristocratic Princess¹ ]

It wasn’t my first time seeing articles about myself in the paper. However, after facing constant criticism, reading such favorable articles felt more unsettling than satisfying.

What’s going on? Why?

‘Of course, even before I returned, there were articles like this when Mikarin brought Akitane before the regression…’

[ Key Figure Turns the Nearly Failed Akitane Deal into a Success! ]

[ Nikaearsha Delosif, Who Played the Pivotal Role in Closing the ‘Final Chapter’ of the Deal! ]

[ Eyewitness Report! ‘Nikaearsha, the Queen of Melodrama!’ ]

[ Nikaearsha Delosif: The ‘Goddess of Melodrama’? ]

‘This is… over the top! Way over the top!’

And what was with the whole ‘melodrama queen’ thing? They weren’t even talking about the ‘final chapter of the deal’ in the way I meant it! It seemed like the reporters, unaware of the real ‘scandalous love affair drama,’ had twisted the witness’s statement to fit their narrative.

‘It wasn’t like this with Mikarin.’

Even in the capital, there hadn’t been dozens of headlines like this. Naturally, in the Delosif domain, it became big news, and Mikarin was revered for it.

‘Besides, this only happened yesterday.’

It wasn’t even at a big event, just a family matter, so why had the simple news about me saving Akitane already caused such a splash?

“The real scandalous love-triangle confrontation, on the other hand, is staying quiet…”

“Oh, are you talking about Emma? Did you want that to be in the papers?”

“No. That’s something that’ll never make it to the news. They likely ordered everyone to keep it quiet for the family’s honor.”

An offshoot family planting a spy to toy with the main family… If word got out, it would only tarnish the Grand Ducal family’s reputation.

“It seems more like it’s for your sake rather than the family’s, my lady…”

“You’re really too kind.”

Even when I told her to leave, she took it as a suggestion to rest, and it was still the same now.

“Well, it worked out for me in the end.”

Ever since I failed to manifest as an Awakener, my reputation had been in the gutter. If word got out that Mikarin tricked me, I’d only become an even bigger target for ridicule.

‘At this point, there’s not much to say about Mikarin except that she’s a branch member of Delosif.’

The kind cousin standing beside Delosif’s notorious troublemaker, that was all Mikarin amounted to right now.

To fall from grace, you have to be high enough first.

‘…Though things will be completely different later.’

Alice must have noticed my darkening expression because she quickly changed the subject.

“Come to think of it, I heard Young Master Akain personally question Emma.”

“My brother did?”

“Yes, it’s rare for the young master to conduct an interrogation himself, especially since…”

“Yeah, right. He’s usually…”

We fell silent for a moment.

“It seems he didn’t hold back in the interrogation. He must have been really angry about her deceiving you.”

‘Oh, sweet Alice, that’s unlikely.’

He cared far too much about the family’s reputation, which was likely why he went out of his way to handle the interrogation himself. Or maybe he just wanted a glimpse of the scandalous drama he missed witnessing firsthand…

‘How badly did he want to witness a trainwreck?’

…Was there something strange in my family history? Was catching cheaters some kind of hereditary family skill?

“Hehe, actually, I heard someone went behind the scenes to help with these articles.”

“Helped with them?”

“They must have been bothered by it. Lately, every article about the lady has been… well, you know.”

Nothing but insults.

“They must’ve been secretly upset about it as well. That’s why they went out of their way to help you like this.”

“Going out of their way to help…”

There was only one person who would quietly intervene behind the scenes out of concern for me like this.

‘Viscount Barento.’

¹ [ The title ‘공녀’ refers to daughters from aristocratic or royal families but doesn’t necessarily imply they are princesses by birthright—it translates as ‘a princess of an aristocratic family. ] ↩