The Villainess Has No Regrets in this Life - Chapter 14

“What?”

I reflexively shifted my gaze outside the window upon hearing those words.

And with extremely bad luck, my eyes met directly with the Crown Prince who was looking in my direction.

The Crown Prince who met my eyes seemed surprised for a moment, then soon smiled broadly.

Why…

Why is he smiling…?

No, why is the Crown Prince here in the first place…?

In this world where meeting a member of the imperial family once in a lifetime is like reaching for the stars, what’s the Crown Prince doing here!

The Crown Prince seemed to say something to Father, and as soon as he finished speaking, Father sent all the servants inside the marquis mansion.

And… the Crown Prince also started entering the marquis mansion.

Oh my…

If that person is really the Crown Prince…

If he’s the Detrian Crescent I know…

He becomes the most merciless emperor in the history of the Gellions Empire.

Emperor Detrian Crescent.

Famous for ruling the empire rationally and logically while being warm to people, but a righteous king who would disown even family members when it came to those who committed unethical acts or corruption to fill their own pockets.

Commoners called him a fair and wise king, but among the nobles, he was just an object of fear.

Because there probably wasn’t a single noble who hadn’t done something dirty to fill their own pockets.

I remember that when Detrian Crescent became emperor, even the Masipacius family suffered quite a loss as they had to clear out all their underworld-related businesses.

Fortunately, my quick-witted Father disposed of all related businesses before the audit began, narrowly avoiding being caught, but Father had to work day and night to make up for that loss.

So, this means…

There’s nothing good about catching his eye if you’re a noble.

Even if he looks at me favorably, he’s someone who completely separates emotions from work.

Of course, I don’t have even the slightest intention of inheriting Father’s business or wealth, but it’s best not to get involved with someone like that.

It’s better for him not to know me at all than to think well of me and keep an eye on me.

I deliberately pretended not to see him entering the marquis mansion and lay down on the bed.

I need to fall asleep quickly.

I need to fall asleep before someone comes to call me.

I need to fall asleep quickly…

Knock knock–

Unlike my efforts to try to fall asleep, time didn’t wait for me.

After the knocking sound was heard, head maid Mollin opened the door and entered.

I couldn’t hide my disappointed expression upon seeing her.

If only she had come 3 minutes later…

I would have given an all-out performance of sleeping deeply with a drool.

“…Were you sleeping?”

I just nodded expressionlessly towards her.

In the past, I would have greeted her with a smiling face when she visited my room, but now I had no reason to be kind to her as I no longer thought that my gentle behavior was a thread of hope for getting along well with Mollin.

Mollin seemed flustered by my suddenly changed behavior, her eyes rolling around, then soon regained her sneer.

“The Marquis is looking for you. Please dress neatly and come to the dining room.”

So Mollin delivered the Marquis’s message to me and then turned around swiftly to leave the room.

“Mollin.”

And I stopped her in her tracks.

“…Yes?”

“Aren’t you going to greet me?”

Hearing my words, Mollin seemed to make a displeased expression, then bowed her head towards me.

“Alright, you may go.”

She turned around irritably and quickly left my room.

After she left the room, with Mylene’s help, I changed into a lavender dress and neatly tied my hair, then carefully moved step by step towards the dining room.

If I make even one mistake today… it’s the same as being marked by the future emperor.

I must avoid that at all costs.

When I went down the stairs and reached the hall of the marquis mansion, unlike usual, I saw servants who were extremely tense.

I could see people whose hands were trembling.

This is what the imperial family means in the Gellions Empire.

A presence that overwhelms just by being in the same space, even if you can’t see them.

Finally, when I entered the dining room, I saw the Crown Prince sitting in the seat where Father usually sat.

Snow-white hair and sparkling eyes that seemed to capture light itself.

I took a step back towards him, slightly lifted my dress, and bowed, gathering all the manners I knew.

“I greet Your Highness, the Crown Prince of the Gellions Empire.”

He was looking at my actions with such mysterious eyes.

For once, I was grateful to Leila for taking my place.

If she hadn’t taken my place, I would have had to sit in front of that Crown Prince.

“I hadn’t heard that there were two ladies of Masipacius.”

Well, it just happened yesterday…

What would I know even if you look at me like that…

Please take your eyes off me.

Look at Leila sitting in front of you instead!

I swallowed my inner thoughts and raised my head with a smile on my face.

…But why does he look familiar?

“Haha, it hasn’t been long since we adopted her, so we haven’t reported to the imperial palace yet, but a child named Leila has become our new lady. She’s such a bright child…”

Hearing those words, the Crown Prince looked at Father and said,

“Bright, you say… Is the lady who just came in the child named Leila?”

At the Crown Prince’s words, Father seemed flustered for a moment, then pointed to Leila sitting opposite him and closest to the Crown Prince, saying this is Leila.

The Crown Prince seemed to look her over, then tilted his head.

“If we’re talking about wisdom, the lady who just came in seems wiser.”

Hearing those words, Leila looked at Father in confusion, but Father seemed even more flustered than her, and soon finished the situation by smiling and saying that all his daughters were truly wise.

But… why did he call everyone to the dining room?

Usually, when a guest comes, aren’t they guided to the reception room or banquet hall rather than the dining room?

Just as we were about to suffocate in the awkward atmosphere in the dining room without any food, the Crown Prince opened his mouth.

“The reason I visited the marquis mansion today is because I wanted to introduce a charity project to the Marquis.”

Father’s eyes sparkled at that.

Now that his relationship with the Duke of Posilia has become ambiguous, he must think there’s no better source of funds than the imperial family.

But the Crown Prince I know is not someone who would propose something to a marquis first.

Does he have some other business?

While I was looking at him with suspicious eyes, several imperial knights hurriedly burst open the doors of the dining room.

“There’s a fire behind the marquis mansion!”

The faces of the Masipacius family turned to bewilderment at those words.

I’m not sure because there’s no mirror, but my face probably looked the same.

No, isn’t this strange?

How can there be a fire on the mountain when it snowed so much yesterday?

Unless someone deliberately poured oil and intentionally set it, or unless it’s a flame imbued with divine protection…

Through the large window in the dining room, I could see flames flickering on the mountain not far behind the marquis mansion.

Even if the flames had unfortunately caught on the trees, they would have naturally gone out due to the accumulated snow.

But the fact that the fire is growing larger like that means that someone, for whatever reason, deliberately set fire to that mountain with the intention of burning it.

A flame strong enough to consume all the accumulated snow won’t be extinguished with a normal amount of water.

I thought about the water spirit I had obtained through the deal with Mafi.

I can’t meet it in my right mind…

As someone who hadn’t even practiced controlling spirit power, thinking I wouldn’t need to borrow the power of the water spirit for about a year, the current situation was extremely troublesome for me.

But I couldn’t just stand by and watch the mountain burn in flames when I could use the water spirit’s power.

Sigh…

How can I meet the water spirit that I can’t meet in my right mind?

I can’t ask someone to knock me out by hitting the back of my neck.

As I was looking for a way, something placed in front of Father caught my eye.

Alcohol…

If I drink strong alcohol…

I would definitely pass out…

But I couldn’t drink alcohol and collapse in front of the Crown Prince and Father.

I quietly slipped out among the people murmuring while watching the growing flames.

Then I quietly headed to the kitchen.

When I opened the kitchen door and entered, the people working inside looked at me with surprised eyes.

It was common sense that a noble lady doesn’t set foot in the space where servants work, so I could feel everyone flustering, not knowing how to treat me.

I calmed them down.

“Could I perhaps get some moltria tea leaves and fenut berries?”

“If you needed them, you could have asked the servants… I’m sorry for making you come all the way here. Where should we deliver them?”

“Ah, no. I’m going straight to my room anyway, so you can just give them to me.”

“But…”

“It’s okay. His Highness the Crown Prince is visiting now, so you must be busy enough. I can do this much.”

Hearing my words, the chef seemed to gesture something to the people, then handed me a basket containing tea leaves and berries.

“No matter how I think about it, having Miss carry this basket herself is a bit… If it’s inconvenient for us, why don’t you order someone from upstairs to come and get it?”

Absolutely not…

My brothers might not know, but Father, the Crown Prince, and the people in the imperial palace would know what reaction occurs when these two are eaten together…

“Ah, it’s okay… Thank you for your consideration, Chef…sir.”

It would be better to speak respectfully as a sign of respect since he’s the chef, right?

So I received the basket he was holding, and as I nodded lightly as a greeting, the chef froze for a while, then bowed 90 degrees to see me off.

From there, I left the kitchen, hiding the basket under the voluminous skirts of my dress, and returned to my room.

There was no time to brew tea with the tea leaves, so I shoved the tea leaves and fenut berries into my mouth all at once.

The bitter taste of the tea leaves and the sweet taste of the fenut berries were so disparate that my face wrinkled involuntarily.

So I started to brainwash myself earnestly.

I’m doing this for the poor animals on the mountain behind…

I can’t spit it out just because it tastes bad…

After eating the food in the basket for a while, drowsiness gradually began to set in.

Moltria tea leaves and fenut berries can be enjoyed as just delicious tea and berries when eaten separately, but when eaten together, they contain ingredients that confuse a person’s mind and soon force them to fall asleep.

Of course, just eating them normally isn’t enough.

You have to eat a lot.

In my past life, there was a time when I had to undergo surgery due to a severe injury, and this was the method a doctor used on me when he couldn’t find anything to substitute for anesthesia.

There are times when experiences of being injured can be helpful.

Wow, I’m really sleepy.

Yes, if I fall asleep like this, I’ll be able to meet the water spirit…

But… after falling asleep, how am I supposed to call the water spirit…

I should have found out about that… before… falling asleep…

So, in my haste, I fell asleep without knowing how to call the water spirit, and literally became a person who just ate tea and berries to the point of bursting in their room and fell asleep while there was a fire.

What am I going to do…