The Villainess Has No Regrets in this Life - Chapter 7

I could hardly adapt to his kindness towards me, and with my lips trembling, I barely managed to nod.

“I… was on my way back from the academy when I saw the carriage… It had been parked on the street for a long time, so I was worried if something had happened and was asking about it.”

“Ah, thank you for your kindness, Young Duke.”

“It seems you’re still uncomfortable calling me Delian. Since we’ve met like this… It’s almost time for a short tea time with Grace and my mother. Would you like to join us?”

I stared blankly at his sudden proposal, then thought I should express my intention to decline and was about to shake my head.

But then, I realized this could be a very good excuse for going out.

…Although the situation would be quite uncomfortable, it would be better to spend time with the Duke’s family and return home rather than arousing unnecessary suspicion at home, so I raised my trembling lips once again and nodded towards the Young Duke.

“…If I won’t be imposing?”

So the Young Duke told my coachman to return first, and had Mylene sit in the front seat of the carriage.

Then he got into the carriage and extended his hand to help me get in comfortably.

“If I won’t be imposing.”

He immediately repeated my words with a playful smile.

His smile slightly eased my tension, and I chuckled as I took his hand and got into the carriage.

The carriage of the Posilia ducal family started to move.
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* * *

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“…You want to monopolize my items, abilities… and even my spirit power?”

Mafi muttered towards the man with a surprised face at his proposal.

The man standing in front of Mafi, seeing his surprised expression, took off the cloak he was wearing as if to reveal his identity and hung it on a nearby chair.

White hair without a single blemish and eyes that were white with a slight tinge of sky blue.

There would be no one in the empire who couldn’t identify this person’s status with these two symbols.

“…A member of the imperial family has arrived.”

Mafi looked at the man with a completely different, stern face compared to when he was talking with the woman who had just left.

Hearing Mafi’s words, the man raised the corners of his mouth with a smirk.

It was a confident smile meaning he wouldn’t be refused.

“I’m sorry.”

However, the man’s face instantly hardened at Mafi’s words.

“You should know well that a sellionrus like me can never break a contract once made. Unfortunately, just before you came, I sold my abilities to someone else.”

Naturally, the man recalled the woman he had brushed past just before entering this shop.

“…Was I a step too late.”

“No, even if that woman had come a little later, I would have chosen her over you.”

“What does that mean?”

“Because she seems much more interesting.”

With that, the man left the shop and opened his mouth towards the soldiers guarding the alley.

“Tell them to bring a list of noble young ladies with blonde hair and red eyes to my office.”

* * *

“Yes, of course I’ve read it! So you’ve read it too, Duchess!”

“Oh my, it’s quite a difficult book, were you able to understand it? Even the title is so abstruse that it’s hard to pick up…”

“It was difficult, but there was more to learn than I expected. The perspective that blessings are not the power of god but a faith created by humans was more interesting than I thought.”

“Oh my, that’s right! I found that part interesting too!”

…I’ve been talking with the Duchess about a very, very difficult and very, very unpleasant book for 20 minutes now.

When we arrived at the Duke’s residence, Grace was out shopping at a boutique, and Delian was dragged away by the butler as soon as we entered, saying he had urgent matters to attend to.

So, left alone in the hall, I was led by the Duchess’s hand and am now enjoying a cozy tea time for two with her.

…If it was going to be like this, I should have just gone straight home.

As I was contemplating whether I should just faint here to escape this endless tedious conversation, the reception room door opened and Delian entered.

He looked back and forth between me and the Duchess, then seemed to understand the situation and nodded once towards me with an embarrassed expression, as if apologizing.

“Mother, you were talking about boring books with Miss Rowenloa again, weren’t you?”

“Oh my, Rowenloa is different from other young ladies, you know? She’s already read most of the books I’ve talked about! Goodness, why isn’t such an intelligent young lady my daughter…”

“Yes, yes, it’s truly regrettable. But Miss Rowenloa is my guest today, so please excuse us for a moment.”

With that, the young duke cut off the Duchess’s words that were about to get longer and took me out of the reception room.

I don’t particularly have good feelings towards him, but this time he felt like a savior.

To rescue me from that seemingly endless conversation…

He must be an angel.

“I’m sorry, it seems my mother is particularly fond of you, Miss Rowenloa.”

“Not at all, there’s always so much to learn when talking with the Duchess.”

So we exchanged a few words of courtesy and then walked through the garden in silence.

…We just kept walking.

It feels like I’m going to die from awkwardness.

And it was my voice that broke the heavy silence that I couldn’t bear anymore.

“My father asked me to convey his apologies for the rudeness at the dinner the other day.”

Hearing my words, Delian looked at me with a subtle expression.

“…It seems Marquis Masipacius knew that you and I would meet today?”

Ah, that’s right.

We met by chance.

“Ah… He always says that at mealtimes. That he seems to have caused great rudeness…”

Hearing my words, he slightly turned his head to the opposite side, and then started laughing with a “Haha-” sound.

“I was joking. You seemed too tense, so I tried to lighten the mood, but it seems I made you even more nervous. I’m sorry.”

“Haha… I failed to notice your consideration.”

Right, this must be the side of Young Duke Posilia that Leila fell for.

A solid background as a Duke’s family, a handsome face, a personality that tries to end situations flexibly when possible, and consideration.

If I had accepted this man’s heart in my previous life, would my end have been different?

No, that’s not it.

If he hadn’t come to like Leila, would my end have been different?

In the first place… how did this man who liked me end up falling in love with Leila?

Although it’s a question I shouldn’t dare to have, having rejected his heart.

“Um… Rowenloa, if you have time, would you like to go horseback riding with me this weekend?”

As we were walking silently along the path in the Posilia ducal residence, Delian opened his mouth.

Surprised by his proposal, I glanced at him and saw that the tips of his ears had turned red.

It made me feel a tickling sensation in my heart for no reason.

Gasp, what is this?

Is this that thing?

The butterfly effect.

The phenomenon where a small difference causes a big change!

It’s just that I’m feeling shy along with the young duke who’s feeling shy for no reason, right?

There’s no way I could have felt flutters for Young Duke Posilia!

In the first place, if you count my mental age, I’ve lived 10 years more than the current Delian!

After contemplating for a while with Young Duke Posilia waiting for my answer with a red face beside me, I nodded my head in agreement to accept his proposal.

…Well, even if my mind is that of an adult, my body is still a child, right?

Well… if I form a good relationship like this, it could lead to other good things…

That’s how life is…

No, but why am I making excuses like this?

“Then I’ll come to the Masipacius residence in two days. If we ride in a carriage for a bit, there’s a small villa with a neat riding ground, and there’s a small forest-like hill behind it that’s good for horseback riding.”

“Yes, I look forward to it.”

So Delian tried hard to break this stiff atmosphere by talking to me, and soon the atmosphere softened, and we walked along the path for a long time, chatting.

Our conversation continued even inside the carriage.

He insisted on getting into the carriage heading to the Marquis’ residence with me, saying that since he had brought me here forcefully, he should be the one to take me back.

Posilia’s carriage stopped in front of the Masipacius residence, and seeing this, Mylene hurriedly ran out to greet me with a thick blanket.

Then she approached me and quietly informed me that Father was preparing to come this way after seeing the carriage.

Hmm, if Father comes, the young duke will have to be held up for quite a while.

“Thank you so much for today, Young Duke Posilia.”

“Not at all, I’m the one who enjoyed spending time with you today.”

The servants of the Marquis’ residence who had rushed out upon seeing the Duke’s carriage looked at us with subtle gazes as they listened to our conversation.

It was a gaze implying, ‘Could it be that Miss Rowenloa and Young Duke Posilia are in that kind of relationship…?’

If it were me from my previous life, I would have been terrified by those gazes, but now such misunderstandings were not bad for me.

…No, come to think of it, even in my previous life, rumors about getting along well with the young duke wouldn’t have been bad.

I just avoided it because I was worried about hurting Leila if rumors spread about me and the young duke she liked.