The Villainess Is Annoyed by the Male Leads Again Today - Chapter 2.1

The next day, the newspaper content was published in bold headlines as it was.

I sipped tea and nibbled on cookies while poring over the newspaper again and again. A smile naturally formed on my face from the rising sense of happiness.

Grinning while reading such serious articles would certainly seem strange, but that wasn’t an important issue.

Skincare had been removed from my schedule. Of course, all the meetings with the strange young nobles carefully selected by Lindel were also removed.

The meals also returned from weeds to luxurious menus.

As I chewed on a perfectly cooked steak, a smile of pure happiness bloomed across my face.

“Ah, this is so nice. I’m not going to do anything today.”

“My lady, there’s a family dinner today.”

“I don’t want to go.”

Irena just chuckled and when dinner time came, she mercilessly prepared me and sent me to the dining room. Her hands were ruthlessly efficient as she dressed me up.

***

At the family dinner, Lindel put on airs. He said it was really a shame that things turned out this way when he had countless young nobles prepared, but he was glad that his sister seemed to have accomplished something, albeit small.

My expression, of course, soured.

He was really serious about trying to mess with me.

And to call it a small accomplishment, no less.

I didn’t even know where to begin criticizing him.

I opened my mouth, wanting to return the same feeling to him.

“Hahaha. The meetings with the young nobles that my dear brother prepared were quite a good experience. They were such admirable people, so similar to you, brother. How could they be so much like you? I truly thought each one of them was you! Hahaha.”

“What? Similar?”

Lindel glared at me as if he wanted to kill me. His reaction improved my mood again.

“Of course. They were exactly at the same level as you, brother!”

“You little-!”

“Lindel Epine.”

As he was about to start up, snorting steam, the Count intervened to stop him. His face was very stern.

Lindel hesitated, and I felt a bit disappointed.

It was just about to get really fun.

Anyway, Lindel, who was about to hurl insults at me, stupidly concluded with words of relief due to the Count’s intervention.

“Ahem, well. If that’s the case, I’m truly glad.”

“Pfft.”

I looked him straight in the eye and slightly raised just the right corner of my mouth.

Crunch-

As he gritted his teeth, the second round began.

“Oh my, brother, why are you grinding your teeth like that? Did you eat something bad?”

“…It seems so.”

Crack-

“Oh my, brother. Your fork broke! It must be defective.”

“…Right, you there, bring a new one!”

Screech-

“Oh my! Brother, the plate-“

“Lorazie, what are you doing? Where are your manners?”

This time, the Countess stopped me.

I lightly brushed my hair back and grinned.

“It seems like fire is coming out of my brother’s eyes. Please stop staring, it’s embarrassing. I hear that in society, staring at others while they eat is considered the most unsightly thing.”

When my mockery ended, Lindel glared at me with clenched teeth. His trembling in front of the new fork and the plate split in half looked like an angry small dog.

It wasn’t scary at all.

After contentedly watching him fuming, I stood up first. This was enough for today.

“Brother’s gaze is so hot, I think I might get indigestion. I’ll excuse myself first. Enjoy your meal.”

“With your poor upbringing, even your basic table manners-, “

“Yes, yes. I have none, none at all! Well then, goodbye.”

He opened his mouth as if he had caught onto something, but in a war of words, one doesn’t wait for the other person to finish speaking. Lindel was far from my level.

“Gasp!”

Thud-

Leaving his enraged expression behind, I left the dining room humming happily.

This refreshing feeling I hadn’t felt in a long time.

“That feels so good.”

However, if you think all my resentment has been resolved with just this trivial war of words, you’re mistaken.

“Look forward to it, Lindel. I’m preparing a very, very big event for you too. Well, me becoming filthy rich and leaving this house to live freely would be revenge enough for you.”

Excited, I muttered like a madman while walking down the corridor, and naturally, the passing servants and maids flinched.

Irena quietly followed behind me.

And as we entered the corridor to my room, Dawson was anxiously biting his nails in front of the door.

“Dawson? What are you doing?”

As I called him, he rushed to me urgently. Seeing his serious expression, I broke out in a cold sweat, sensing that it wasn’t good news.

He began to explain the situation rapidly.

“My lady! Something terrible has happened! The carriage carrying dry oak trunks was attacked by monsters on the way to Sera territory!”

Dry oak trunks come from Snubia territory in the mountains near the north. Snubia territory doesn’t have a teleport gate.

Therefore, they must be moved to the nearest territory with a gate, Sera territory, and then teleported from there to transport the goods.

And the route from Snubia territory to Sera territory was originally a peaceful place where not even birds, let alone monsters, appeared.

“But why are there suddenly monsters there? Let’s go inside and talk.”

I calmed him down for a moment and then we entered the drawing room together. Dawson still looked at me with an uneasy and serious face.

‘Ah, I hope the business doesn’t fail.’

“So, what’s the extent of the damage?”

“……”

“It’s okay. Tell me.”

He clenched his fist solemnly.

“The damage is equivalent to 3 carriages.”

“What? The damage is that sev-, wait, what did you say? 3? Not 30?”

“Yes. As many as 3… I’m so ashamed.”

He was now almost on the verge of tears. I was dumbfounded.

Deflated, I leaned back against the sofa, relaxing my previously straight posture.

“How many carriages of oak were there in total?”

“A total of 40 carriages worth. It’s a tremendous loss.”

“What kind of monsters, and how many appeared?”

“According to the report, 8 ogres appeared. It’s my fault for being careless, thinking this level of escort would be sufficient. I should have anticipated…”

Ogres are higher-level monsters than similar-looking orcs or trolls. Moreover, it’s rare for multiple of them to move in groups like this. For 8 such monsters to appear in a route where monsters usually don’t even show up, and yet the damage is only this much?

“You did an excellent job, actually.”

“Pardon?”

“How meticulously did you arrange the escort for only 3 carriages to be damaged? What about human casualties?”

“About 6 knights were injured, and the remaining 15 injured have only minor bruises.”

“I see. So, you used knights to escort the oak carriages.”

I was utterly perplexed.

While 40 carriages is quite a large quantity, the current unit price of the goods is low, so when converted to money, it wouldn’t amount to much. The cost of the escort probably exceeds the total value of the oak.

“Anyway, you did well. If you hadn’t prepared to this extent, the damage would have been much worse.”