I Want a Happy Ending Even as a Villainess

Chapter 17

“Are you talking about Marquis Brock?”

Marquis Broke refers to Tain.

The Brock family is a prestigious family of mages, known as the founders of the academy and for producing numerous great mages.

However, this reputation declined significantly after the previous marquis died in an accident and the current marquis, a playboy, inherited the title.

Despite the family’s still considerable power, its image had deteriorated uncontrollably.

“I heard that when you presented your argument, the marquis threw a tantrum and cried like a child when things didn’t go his way.”

“I heard he was so frightened he even fainted.”

“I heard he even challenged you to a duel on the spot and lost.”

A duel? Talking about swordsmanship? Just how far has the story of the banquet been twisted?

Usually, such talk about swords or duels would be absurd for a young lady. But given Lilith’s previous behavior, it seemed that such rumors were easily accepted.

It wasn’t surprising that such rumors had taken hold, considering Lilith’s history of unsparingly wielding a sword whenever things didn’t go her way.

“I heard it was over in just one round.”

“It was a decisive victory that happens once in a hundred years.”

“Oh my, is that true, Lady?”

As soon as the Hyacinth lady’s words ended, everyone’s attention focused on me, eager for a clear answer.

Listening to tales of my own prowess, my hand trembled slightly as I sipped my tea.

“It was nothing special.”

I provided a suitably vague answer, and the conversation picked up even more.

“Did you know he came down alone, continued to rage, and was eventually kicked out?”

“Yes, it would have been nice if everyone had seen how he was almost dragged out.”

“Whenever we saw him at parties, he would cling on so persistently that it was impossible to outright refuse.”

“He even did that with my father beside me.”

“Oh dear, he sounds like trouble.”

They all added their own experiences with Tain’s behavior. It seemed that many had encountered his outbursts more than once. It wasn’t only Oliva who had faced his behavior.

“I hope this chance with you will help him get his act together.”

“I wonder if he even knows his reputation is so terrible.”

“Of course he doesn’t.”

The open mockery spread across the table. It seemed that Tain had been the subject of widespread scorn for a long time.

‘Calix referred to him as a piece of trash.’

Seeing this, it made sense why.

“Lady Crescent, weren’t you scared? I mean, even though Marquis Brock is a strong man, you know.”

“Yes.”

One of the young ladies asked me with concern. The other young ladies joined in, adding their opinions belatedly.

In trying to build a normal image here, would showing strength be more helpful, or would showing vulnerability be better?

After a brief consideration, I decided that I needed to tone down the overly exuberant energy.

“Well, actually…”

I trailed off, speaking weakly.

“…I pretended not to be scared, but I was afraid of retaliation. I still can’t forget the way he glared at me as if he wanted to kill me.”

What I actually saw were Tain’s pathetic eyes, but a suitable lie was sometimes necessary in such situations.

“Oh, what a shame.”

The young ladies sighed. I lowered my eyes and tried to think as sadly as possible. As tears almost formed, I pretended to wipe them away and observed their reactions.

“Lady Crescent, don’t worry too much.”

“Exactly. People like him will eventually get their punishment!”

Seeing their eyes blazing with a fierce determination to tear Tain apart, it seemed they were already on my side.

* * *

“It’s been a while, Lady Crescent.”

“It has been a while, Sir Lake…”

As soon as the carriage door opened today, Lake was standing right in front of me. I took his hand and stepped out of the carriage.

“I regretted not having much of a conversation that day. I didn’t expect my sister to behave like that.”

“It seemed like you and your sister got along well.”

“Does it look that way?”

We chatted lightly as we walked. To my surprise, Lake had come out to the carriage but was leading me towards the temple rather than the orphanage.

“Are we heading to the temple?”

“Yes. Today is Erik’s Day, which occurs every quarter.”

Erik’s Day. I had heard of it in passing while investigating the temple. Was it a day for relief of the poor? That seemed to be the gist of it.

“Doesn’t the temple handle poor relief regularly?”

“That’s right, but today’s event is larger in scale than usual.”

The notion that the scale was large didn’t quite resonate at first. But as soon as I entered the temple, that question was completely resolved.

The place was packed with people, except for a narrow path barely wide enough for one person to pass through. There were no worshippers or petitioners. Everyone was there for Erik’s Day relief.

The temple was bustling as if it were a market, with numerous volunteers present. There were many unfamiliar faces among the priests and clergy, perhaps brought in from other temples.

“Usually, if someone is sick, they would go to a priest, or if they are hungry, they would head to a distribution center. But resources are always limited, and most people end up leaving after waiting all day,” Lake explained, guiding me by the hand.

“So today, the goal of the temple is to ensure that everyone leaves fully fed and without any ailments.”

We finally arrived at the makeshift changing room of the temple. It seemed that just an apron over my dress wouldn’t suffice for the day.

“I’m definitely going to catch a cold tomorrow.”

With so many eyes on us, it didn’t look like I could offload any of the tasks to Lake and take a break. Even though we hadn’t started yet, I was already feeling overwhelmed.

The volunteer tasks were straightforward: bringing holy water to the healing priests, delivering food to the hungry, cleaning the floors, and being shuffled around wherever needed.

“Don’t eat that!”

I rushed over and managed to stop a child from chewing on soap. Just moments ago, I had been cleaning the floor, but I couldn’t leave that alone.

Despite the large number of volunteers, it seemed there was even more work to be done. Lake, while nominally there as a guard, followed me around but couldn’t avoid the labor either.

When we finally reunited, he looked exhausted and worn out.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, it’s not too bad. It seems more rewarding than farming, though.”

We barely managed to escape through the back door of the temple and collapsed onto the grass.

“Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.”

“You look quite exhausted for someone who says they’re fine.”

“Haha.”

Lake laughed dryly. It seemed he was indeed tired.

The cool spring breeze brushed against my forehead. I wiped the sweat from my brow and leaned against the wall. The sky above was incredibly clear.

The pastel-toned sky was dotted with fluffy clouds. The sounds of birds and the occasional scent of earth reached me from below.

I savored the serene peace and glanced at Lake without thinking.

My gaze fell on his firm forearms revealed beneath his rolled-up shirt. Seeing his relaxed smile made me awkwardly turn away, feeling a blush rise to my ears.

‘I must really be smitten.’

Revisiting what I already knew, I slapped my cheeks with the palms of my hands.

As always, Lake was incredibly kind, almost excessively so. With his appearance and gentle personality, how could anyone not be attracted to him?

But I mustn’t delude myself.

That person is kind to everyone! His indiscriminate kindness is just a basic trait of the noble knight character in stories.

So, I shouldn’t mistake his general affability as something personal just for me.

“What made you become a holy knight, Sir Lake?”

I started a new topic to avoid getting lost in thoughts and possibly misleading myself.

“Most people aim for the Royal Knight Order, don’t they?”

Indeed, holy knights were high-ranking in the temple, but since the Holy Knight Order often included commoners, the norm for nobles was to aim for the Royal Knight Order.

“The Royal Knight Order is certainly an excellent place.”

He wiped the smile from his lips and responded seriously.

“But I have always enjoyed helping others.”

Lake began to speak calmly, like the gentle spring breeze.

“As a child, I wanted to become a priest. As I grew older, I wanted to become a soldier on the front lines to protect others.”

His warm gaze settled gently on me.

“But I had to take over the family name, so those paths became impossible. Instead, I volunteered for the Holy Knight Order.”

His values seemed distinctly different from those of others.

I waited quietly for him to continue, but his story abruptly cut off. He didn’t seem reluctant to speak, just choosing his words carefully.

“However, it seems that it wasn’t a futile choice.”

After a long silence, Lake continued and stood up, causing me to blink in surprise.

It seemed like he had skipped over some parts of the story and hastily concluded.

“If I had become a priest, I would never have been able to do things like this.”

Lake added with a smile as he looked down at me, who was still confused.

“Things like what? Escaping from volunteering to take a break? Or taking over my share of the work? What?”

“Come on, if we stay here any longer, the head priest will scold us.”

His urging interrupted my thoughts. I took his outstretched hand and stood up quietly. It was time to return.