The Villainess Has No Regrets in this Life - Chapter 8

“Young Duke Delian, I think it would be best if you leave now.”

“Ah… Did I make you uncomfortable?”

“No, since you saved me from an uncomfortable situation today, I wanted to save you as well.”

He looked at me with eyes that didn’t understand my words, but soon saw Father coming out of the mansion and nodded at me with a smile, as if he understood.

“Then I’ll come to pick you up in two days.”

“Yes, please do.”

With that, Delian quickly got into the carriage and left the Marquis’ residence at my urging.

Father seemed to be walking quickly to maintain his dignity, but then looked at the departing carriage of the Duke’s family with a blank expression.

I approached Father.

“Did you come out to greet me?”

Father looked back and forth between me and the departing carriage, then frowned and turned around, starting to walk back to the mansion.

I opened my mouth towards him.

“In two days, I’m going horseback riding with Young Duke Posilia.”

“…Was the reason for your outing today also to visit the Duke’s residence? There’s still quite some time until the date written on the invitation.”

“I just stopped by a boutique to buy a hair accessory for the party I was invited to by the Duchess, and happened to run into the young duke and had a brief conversation with him at the Duke’s residence.”

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

“It’s almost mealtime, so let’s go in quickly.”

I entered the mansion with Father, wearing a triumphant expression.

When I entered the dining room with him, the expressions of my siblings and Leila were quite a sight.

‘Why are Father and Rowenloa together?’

I smiled at them and then sat down.

Although Leila still occupied my original seat, right in front of the Marquis and facing the eldest, Bershua, I was the main character of this dinner today.

Because I had the opportunity to pave the way for Father’s seemingly blocked relationship with the Duke’s family.

Just as I was about to take a spoonful of soup with a confident face, the words that came out of Father’s mouth were truly shocking.

“Ahem, so you’re going horseback riding with Young Duke Posilia in two days?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm… It might be a bit awkward with just the two of you, so how about taking your other siblings or… Leila with you?”

Although he mentioned other siblings or Leila in his words, his gaze was fixed on Leila.

Hearing this, Leila looked back and forth between Father and me with a surprised expression, then blushed and lowered her head deeply.

Goodness, it’s no exaggeration to say that a business deal was lost because of Leila’s actions, and now he’s suggesting taking Leila to a meeting meant to make up for that mistake? What nonsense is this?

When I talked with the Duchess today, although she didn’t say it directly, she hinted that she didn’t view Leila favorably.

“These days, nobles are just trying to increase the number of their children unnecessarily, aren’t they? I should say they seem to have overlooked the fact that this could lower the prestige of the nobles…”

“If a child like you was my daughter, I would never have made a choice like the Marquis-“

Although she didn’t mention it directly, it meant that she was quite upset by Leila’s existence and behavior.

I just smiled and nodded at her words.

Father should know best how Leila is viewed by the people at the Duke’s residence, so how can he say such a thing?

Has he really become so infatuated with Leila that his mind has gone strange?

So I stared blankly at Father’s words and Leila’s behavior for a while, then nodded.

Because a very good idea had occurred to me.

If they can’t realize on their own how ridiculous and deserving of criticism this situation is, where they care more about Leila than their own sister, then perhaps having others point it out might be one way.

Not that they would reflect and apologize to me, but at least I hoped they would realize that their behavior is abnormal.

“In that case, can Brother Bershua come along too? Is that okay?”

And so, the curtain rose on the second battle for position.

Ah, of course, this time it wasn’t just about a seat at the dinner table, but about power within the Marquis’ family.

* * *

Although things that I hadn’t experienced in my previous life had happened because of my actions so far, the big events hadn’t changed.

Leila coming to the Marquis’ residence, my family members, including my eldest brother, going from just being uncomfortable with me to disliking me, and falling helplessly for Leila.

Then… what should happen around this time according to the original timeline?

Let me think…

What was the biggest event that happened during this period…

“Miss, are you going horseback riding with Young Duke Posilia tomorrow?”

“Ah, yes.”

“I heard it’s going to snow tomorrow… I should pack a few thick blankets so you don’t get cold.”

Wait, did you say it’s going to snow tomorrow?

The day when it first snowed after Leila came to the Marquis’ residence…

That day… wasn’t it the day Father asked Leila to become a member of our family and expressed his intention to adopt her?

Time really flies.

But there was no mention of Father coming along for the horseback riding tomorrow, and judging by the pile of documents on Father’s desk, it didn’t seem like he had time to come along anyway.

Then… does this mean Leila’s adoption will be delayed a bit?

But if Leila’s adoption is delayed, it will cause big changes in the events that are supposed to happen in the future…?

With my head becoming complicated, I ignored Mylene’s words that I should go to bed now and pondered for a long time, but eventually acknowledging that there was nothing I could solve by worrying, I went to bed.

It’s my secret that no one knows that I had nightmares due to anxiety about the coming tomorrow.

And so the next morning dawned, and after having a simple breakfast in my room, I went down to the first-floor hall with Mylene, carrying a few bags of luggage.

I tried to stop Mylene, saying we weren’t staying overnight so why pack so much, but she said that since it would be cold today and it might snow, we didn’t know what might happen, so she packed the bags with simple food and thick blankets.

As I went down to the hall, what I saw was Leila, dressed in a fancy dress with eyes full of excitement, having a friendly conversation with Brother Bershua.

Next to Leila stood Mollin, the head maid of the Marquis’ residence whom Father had assigned as Leila’s personal maid.

Head maid Mollin didn’t like me.

And Father always told me to understand her.

He said she had unfairly lost her daughter, and because I resembled that daughter, I should understand her.

But I always found her puzzling.

If I really resembled her daughter, how could she look at me with such angry eyes?

Her gaze towards me was often filled with anger rather than sorrow or pity.

I didn’t pay much attention to it because Father told me to endure and overlook it.

She, who disliked me so much, really liked Leila who had recently arrived.

And probably until the moment I died, she continued to dislike me.

As I was looking towards Leila and Mollin, Leila, feeling my gaze, slightly turned her eyes towards me, and when our eyes met, she quickly lowered her head.

I just smiled slightly and waved at her.

…When attending a sports gathering, it’s an unspoken dress code to wear modest clothes.

Considering that, Leila’s dress was far too fancy.

There are two goals for this horseback riding.

First, to become good friends with Young Duke Posilia and create another connection between me and the Posilia family.

Second, to convey words well to the young duke in between so that Father can’t abandon me, and to restore the impression of the ruined Masipacius family.

In this situation, if Leila appeared in such a fancy dress, it was obvious that it would not look good to Young Duke Posilia, who hadn’t yet been blinded by love.

I considered explaining the situation to her and telling her it would be better to change clothes even now, but seeing Brother Bershua smiling at Leila in her fancy attire, I gave up the idea.

If I were to suggest now that it would be better for her to change clothes, it was clear that I would hear unpleasant words from him, saying I was looking down on her who didn’t yet know the etiquette of nobles.

I’m done with being scolded for no reason.

But… what incident made Brother Bershua look at Leila with such eyes?

I felt that things I used to think were natural now seemed strange when viewed from a new perspective.

Thinking that I was overthinking things, I went outside before them to clear my head, and soon after, I heard the sound of a carriage.

The carriage of the Posilia family arrived at the main gate, and Young Duke Posilia got out of the carriage.

He seemed to smile when he saw me, but then his face subtly hardened when he saw Brother Bershua and Leila standing behind.

I approached him with a smile.

“I’m sorry, my father is so worried… He thinks it would be good if my brother and Leila come along…”

Hearing my words, the young duke sighed once and then showed a smile on his face.

“It’s fine, it’s an opportunity to promote friendship with the Marquis’ family, so it’s not bad. Shall we go?”

With that, the young duke got back into the carriage and then extended his hand to me.

I glanced at Brother Bershua and Leila standing behind, then smiled and took his hand.

As soon as I sat down in the carriage after the young duke helped me in, he turned his back to the door and sat down next to me.

Just as Bershua was about to climb onto the carriage, a voice calling him was heard from behind.

It was Father.

Bershua ran to Father with a surprised face.

Seeing their gaze directed towards Leila as they talked about something, it seemed they were discussing Leila.

Brother Bershua nodded at Father’s words with a “Hup!” as if psyching himself up, and Father patted his shoulder.

Perhaps…

Just as I was about to get lost in thought watching them converse, Brother Bershua finished his conversation with Father and got into the carriage.

Then he extended his hand to Leila, who was talking with Mollin at the bottom of the carriage, and Leila was able to climb onto the carriage with my brother’s help.

It was very unexpected that Young Duke Posilia didn’t extend his hand to escort Leila.

Could it be that he was influenced by the Duchess’s dislike of Leila?