The Villainess Has No Regrets in this Life - Chapter 10

“Why did you trade with the spirit? How did you know about the fact that you could trade with a sellionrus and the spirit? Answer me!”

He didn’t seem to have any intention of answering my questions.

Why should I tell someone who doesn’t even know who I am why I traded with the spirit…

No, how did this person know in the first place that I traded with Mafi and the spirit?

I didn’t really like the idea of leaking information about myself to him, but it didn’t seem like he would leave without hearing my answer, so I finally sighed and answered his question.

“To protect myself.”

The man’s expression wasn’t clearly visible, but he seemed to be staring at me intently after hearing those words.

I looked around cautiously.

I still couldn’t see anything because of the fog.

I was confident that the tracking magic placed on my body would activate and protect me if needed, but I couldn’t help but tense up, not knowing what this unidentified man might do.

So I decided to act boldly instead.

Somehow, it’ll work out…

“Did you create this fog? It doesn’t make sense for such a thick fog to suddenly settle on this small hill.”

The man just snorted instead of giving the answer I asked for.

“Do you think you have the right to question me?”

“…Who are you?”

At my words, the man flinched and then turned his gaze elsewhere.

Well, I couldn’t see clearly because of his cloak, but it seemed like he was looking away.

“But how did you find out about the spirit trade with sellionrus? It’s not included in the Empire’s curriculum, so it’s not something that ordinary people would know about.”

“You’re asking questions without answering mine.”

“If you answer my question first, I’ll answer yours.”

“…Surprisingly, the answer was close by. Fairy tales, myths passed down from long ago – no one noticed because society believed they couldn’t possibly be true.”

The man nodded at my words.

“Fortunately, it seems the confidential information hasn’t been leaked.”

What is he mumbling about to himself?

…I think I’ve heard about treasure hunters searching for stories from old myths before. Could he be one of those?

Gasp, then am I in serious danger right now?

As I was rolling my eyes around in confusion, trying to figure out how to get out of this situation, the man burst into laughter, as though he had read my thoughts.

“I can guess what you’re thinking, but I’m not the kind of person you’re imagining.”

“You won’t tell me who you are, you keep asking about the spirit, and even ask how I knew… How can I not be suspicious…!”

The man’s eyebrow twitched at my words.

“Not be…?”

“Ahem… You spoke informally to me first!”

The man looked at me for a while after hearing my words, then nodded as if understanding, saying “Ah.”

…He really seems like a strange person.

“I… came from the imperial palace. I heard there are many treasure hunters targeting the treasures mentioned in myths these days, so a new enforcement team was formed to crack down on them.”

“I… no, I’m not some treasure hunter aiming for treasures. I have even less intention of selling this spirit.”

The man then quickly looked me up and down before nodding.

The quality of my expensive-looking clothes and accessories didn’t seem to fit the appearance of someone who would be a treasure hunter.

That’s right.

My appearance is that of a noble lady who has been raised in luxury, anyone can see that.

It was clear that I wouldn’t look like someone who lacks money.

“It seems I’ve made some kind of mistake. These days, there are many people using spirits traded from sellionrus to sell spirit stones for profit, so in my haste, I seem to have been rude. I’d like to apologize for that part.”

He gave a light nod in apology, though it didn’t really seem like an apology, and then disappeared.

What, he’s just going to say what he wants and disappear like that?

I let out an incredulous laugh and turned my head back to where he had been, but he was gone and only the fog was slowly lifting.

So it was that man who created this fog after all!

As the fog completely lifted and some time passed, I heard voices calling my name from far away.

Only then did I realize that quite some time had passed while talking with that man, and I hurriedly got back on my horse and headed towards the direction of the voices.

As the voices got closer, Grace and Young Duke Posilia, who were searching for me with pale faces, came into my view.

“Grace! Young Duke Posilia!”

Hearing my voice, Grace collapsed on the spot as if all the tension had left her body, and Young Duke Posilia also let out a big sigh, catching his breath, before running towards me.

I looked at them with the most clueless expression I could muster.

“Did something happen while I was gone?”

Hearing my words, Young Duke Posilia wrapped a thick blanket around my shoulders and said,

“Fog suddenly started to cover one side of the hill, so most people came down… Grace said it looked like the fog was… swallowing you up.”

Grace, who had approached by now, added,

“It looked like the fog was trying to take you somewhere…! I tried to follow, but I couldn’t find you in that fog at all…”

I wiped the tears hanging from her eyes and said,

“I’m fine. I was surprised when the fog suddenly got thick, but I got off the horse and waited until it cleared. Look, I’m not hurt anywhere.”

Hearing my words, Grace hugged me tightly and started crying profusely, saying she thought I was going to die.

Young Duke Posilia and I looked at her, trying hard not to laugh at her cuteness, and comforted her as we made our way into the mansion.

“Oh, but did my brother and Leila make it down safely…?”

Young Duke Posilia sighed “Hah…” at my words.

“Lord Bershua… The child who came with him injured her leg, so he’s treating her inside the mansion.”

After saying that, he quietly glanced at me.

I gave him a bitter smile.

“Was she badly hurt?”

“No… It seems to be just a slight scrape…”

Sigh.

My brother went into the mansion to take care of Leila when he didn’t even know if his own sister was alive or not.

With these useless thoughts, I followed the butler who was guiding us to the dining room of the villa, saying that dinner was prepared.

There, I saw Brother Bershua and Leila already seated.

“Ah, you must have had a hard time.”

Bershua, who was sitting, stood up to greet us as we entered.

No, to be precise, he greeted Young Duke Posilia and Grace.

“…And Rowenloa, I’m glad you returned safely.”

He seemed to not even look at me, but then, unable to withstand the gazes of Young Duke Posilia and Grace, he reluctantly added a greeting about my well-being at the end.

Grace seemed very displeased with Leila, who remained seated next to Bershua.

“That child seems to have injured her leg badly?”

“I’m sorry… I hurt my knee and it’s not easy to stand up…”

Grace walked towards her seat without even listening to the end of her words.

Since she was linking arms with me, I had no choice but to sit next to her, not near Brother Bershua.

And so, dinner began.

Before the meal started, I could see through the window that it was snowing heavily outside.

Starting with warm soup, various dishes were placed in front of us, and we warmed our cold bodies while eating the warm food.

As our bodies warmed up and our stomachs filled, a lot of conversation started to flow between us.

Starting with anecdotes about Brother Bershua and Young Duke Delian’s life at the academy, the stiff atmosphere between the Masipacius and the Posilia family seemed to loosen up a bit.

Just as the conversation was heating up, Leila, who was sitting next to Bershua, opened her mouth.

“Um… Sister Rowenloa. I’m sorry I couldn’t join in searching for you earlier and returned to the mansion first… I ended up causing trouble for Lord Bershua as well…”

I couldn’t hide my surprise at her sudden apology, but not wanting to break this warm atmosphere, I quickly put a smile back on my face.

“It’s alright. I heard you were injured, but I’m glad it doesn’t seem to be serious. By the way, Leila, may I ask why you call me ‘sister’? We’re not family, you know.”

“Ah… the Marquis said it was okay to call you sister…”

“Hmm… But you just addressed Brother Bershua as ‘Lord Bershua’, didn’t you?”

“Oh, that’s…”

But then, suddenly, as if he had made up his mind about something, my brother stood up abruptly.

“I’m sorry to interrupt this atmosphere, but… there’s something I’d like to say.”

At my brother’s words, Grace, Young Duke Posilia, and I looked at him.

Everyone had expressions asking what was going on.

…I had an idea of what he was going to say since it started snowing, though.

What I’ve realized living this second life is that it’s easy to make things happen that didn’t happen in my previous life, but it’s difficult to prevent things that did happen from occurring.

And I think I subconsciously knew that this fact – Leila becoming a member of the Marquis family on the day of the first snow after she came to the Marquis’ residence – wouldn’t change either.

Now, as in my previous life, it seemed that the Masipacius family was always revolving around Leila as the main character.

“I know that there have been unfavorable rumors circulating among the nobles about our family lately.”

Grace and Young Duke Posilia, hearing Bershua’s words, tried to avoid his gaze.

Probably… because the main culprit of those rumors is the Duchess of Posilia.

But Bershua gave them a somewhat benevolent smile.

Inwardly, I thought, ‘Why are you smiling like that…? You’re the ones who did wrong. Father, who brought Leila to an important occasion, you, who brought Leila along to this gathering without even being invited, and the siblings who allowed it – you’re the source of the rumors…!’ but I decided not to say it out loud.

“I suppose it doesn’t look good… a child who isn’t even a noble lady attending dinner with other nobles and mingling with our Marquis family members.”

If it had been my previous life, I might have felt sorry for Leila, who was socially disregarded simply because of her status, as my brother was saying…

But not now.

I didn’t have that kind of understanding left in me anymore.

Delian and Grace looked up at Brother Bershua with somewhat bewildered expressions upon hearing his words.

Their expressions seemed to say, ‘You don’t really think that’s the reason for the bad rumors about Leila, do you?’

I seemed to have developed a skill to somewhat accept things even if I didn’t understand them, having grown tired of such ways of thinking.

In other words, I was able to be less shocked than Delian and Grace.

“So… our father, the Marquis of Masipacius, has formally welcomed Leila to our family…”

As Brother Bershua was saying this while looking at Leila, suddenly my vision seemed to completely invert, and I started to hear screams from beside me.