The Villainess Is Annoyed by the Male Leads Again Today - Chapter 1.11

At my question, his confident demeanor suddenly faltered. He started to fidget uncomfortably.

“Ah, about that…”

“Don’t tell me you couldn’t do it? That would be troublesome.”

“A hundred-fold seemed too weak, so I wrote it as a thousand-fold. I thought this level would be necessary to avoid risks.”

“……A thousand?”

How on earth did he manage to include that in the contract?

I was about to feel a bit of distance. As I narrowed my eyes and looked at him, he tilted his head with an innocent face.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“It’s nothing.”

As I received reports and progressed with the work, ten days passed in an instant. The hellish matchmaking week had returned.

***

For the next dates, I secretly hoped that someone like Limpe would show up.

However, from the second one onwards, they were not pretenders but the real deal.

The second date was with Luce Hyman. The youngest son of the Hyman ducal family.

Not only was his appearance not to my taste, but his personality wasn’t either.

“If you become my wife, you’ll have to behave more properly than you do now. From what I’ve heard, you seem to have the makings of a terrible wife. I won’t tolerate such things, so be warned.”

He puffed out his muscular chest, raised his chin, and advised me in an arrogant tone. As soon as I sat down.

I was so dumbfounded that I couldn’t speak for a moment. He was the same age as me, but his way of speaking was completely messed up.

“Is this how young nobles greet people these days?”

“How dare you speak that way to your potential husband?”

It was ridiculous.

I had already bought all the trade goods and was just waiting for the Silk Road to close.

So I didn’t feel the need to put up with it.

“Who said I would become your wife? I’m not interested, so go find some other docile woman. I’ll be leaving now.”

“What?”

He stared at me blankly as I stood up to leave.

As I was leaving, I turned back, smirked, raised one corner of my mouth in a sneer, and walked out.

I could feel his gaze following me.

***

“My lady? You’re back already?”

Irena asked in surprise as I returned in less than an hour.

“Yes. Something came up. I’ll tell you about it later. Bring me some bath water and something to eat.”

“Yes, of course, my lady.”

Seeing me sprawl out like a zombie on the sofa in one corner of the bedroom, Irena followed my orders without saying anything else.

“I’ve done it and come back, but what if I’m summoned?”

What can I do? I’ll just have to face the consequences.

Even as I resolved myself, I was worried, but fortunately, there was no summons from the Count or any reproach from Lindel.

After another two weeks passed, I met my third date.

Orman Laure. The first son of the Laure viscounty.

Similarly, he was also hopeless.

For an hour, he sat with his arms crossed and legs crossed, looking at me as if appraising me.

Again, greetings were omitted.

At this point, what Limpe did at first seemed cute in comparison. At least Limpe had greeted me.

With a cold expression already honed by two previous matchmaking experiences, I stood up and walked towards the door.

“It seems you have nothing to say to me, so I’ll be taking my leave.”

This time, I didn’t even look back.

As I left the store and looked up at the window seat where he and I had been sitting, he was still in the same position, staring motionlessly at the empty space where I had disappeared.

“What’s going on? Why is he acting like that?”

Rubbing my arms covered in goosebumps from his strange behavior, I quickly left the café street and called for the family carriage.

The knights followed behind me.

After finishing the second date and returning to the Count’s mansion, I was so exhausted that I didn’t want to face anyone. If someone were to pick a fight with me, I was confident I would cause trouble.

Fortunately, no one bothered me today. Completely drained, I sprawled out on the bed in that familiar listless posture.

“Hah, they say the first impression is the lasting one.”

Although I still had no intention of exchanging marriage proposals, it’s true that after spending an unexpectedly fun day with Limpe, I had secretly hoped for some enjoyable introductions with peers my age.

But from the second introduction onwards, the young nobles that Lindel had chosen were really…

“Where on earth did he find such terrible ones? Wow, he’s putting a lot of effort into unnecessary things just to torment his sister. Argh.”

I buried my face in the soft goose-down pillow and screamed to relieve stress.

“Ah, I want to stop. When will we hear news about the Silk Road and war supplies? Should I just call it all off?”

In fact, it had been over a month since I started working with Dawson. We were already in the middle of autumn.

Knock knock-

Just as I was considering causing a scene, someone knocked on my door.

“My lady, I’ll go check.”

Irena, who had been watching me with concern, headed towards the door.

I nodded weakly, all my energy drained.

“My lady, the butler has come. It seems you should go out to meet him personally.”

“The butler?”

“Yes. Butler Demian. Since he’s here to escort you to the Count, I think…”

“It seems the news of me breaking off the second date has reached their ears.”

“What should we do, my lady…”

“Hmm, the Count probably expected this, didn’t he?”

Given that he knows Lora’s personality well.

For Demian, who is practically Count Epine’s right-hand man, to visit my room in the middle of the night, the reason was clear.

“Bring me a change of clothes. I can’t stand these dates anymore, so I need to settle this today.”

“Yes, my lady!”

I raised my sprawled body, got ready, and then opened the door leading out of the drawing room. Demian was standing there.

“The Count is looking for you, my lady. I’ll escort you to the drawing room.”

“Alright, lead the way.”

I followed him without further words. As we walked silently down the corridor, he suddenly spoke up.

“What are you thinking?”

“Huh?”

“…Never mind. Please enter.”

He shook his head after seeing my extremely tense state.

“Please go in.”

“Okay. Thanks for escorting me.”

“Yes, then.”

He turned and walked towards the opposite end of the corridor.