Revenge of Reborn Villainess

A price. Sella had given him the recipe, and he vaguely remembered her making it for him for breakfast.

Sella wasn’t a maid with a backer, at best a maid who served the Lady, and if she protested, she was ignored.

“I didn’t want trash made by you with your eyes half-closed. I hoped to obtain food with precise measurements and blends that would produce the appropriate effects”

“Madam…”

“So, you’ve practically stolen my pearls. Moreover.”

The foot on Hermos’s hand pressing down became stronger.

“Since you still covet the treasures of the nobility, even now, cutting both wrists is a moderate punishment.”

A cold sweat ran down Hermos’s back.

Stealing from the nobility results in a severe punishment of having one’s wrists cut.

In the past, he would have confronted the lady with confidence in her authority, but the lady, who had changed her mind, no longer paid attention to him. 

‘Was the lady… always like this?’

The lady he briefly saw before was a naive and innocent woman who didn’t seem to match with Klaus.

However, the woman in front of him now, with the intense aura she emitted, created confusion in his memories.

“…Alright, I apologize. But why did you come to the kitchen to ask me what you want…”

He finally asked Eshika.

Eshika pursed her lips with an arrogant glare.

“I’m not afraid of the Duchess.”

“…This… This is absurd.”

“Whether it makes sense or not, you’ll find out if you resist. Anyway, if you show me true loyalty…”

When Eshika removed her foot from his hand, he clasped his tingling hand with the other.

Contrary to the painful sensation, her voice was as sweet as rolling gemstones, and it was also dangerous.

“Perhaps what you gain will be much more than what you lose.”

Pearls were rolling in the place where the hand was released.

It didn’t require much skill to pick up what was abandoned.

“But if you don’t choose anything, cutting the wrists of a stubborn cook who has lost his way is not a difficult task for me.”

The end of her lips rose thinly with a cruel expression.

**

“Watch closely to ensure that Eshika’s food is coming out correctly.”

From the balcony, where she was having a maid trim her nails, another maid bowed in response to Leona’s words.

“Yes, madam.”

According to the maids, Eshika’s complexion was getting better and better.

How can the complexion improve when you eat only rotten bread?

Unless someone pitied her and helped her, it would be impossible.

If there was anyone daring to defy my orders within the mansion, I wouldn’t let it go unnoticed.

When the maid left with the order, Leona gave another command to a different maid.

“Annie.”

“Yes, madam. Please speak.”

“Arrange for a musician to play a song. I imagined an unpleasant face, so…”

Leona’s fine brow furrowed.

“We need to soothe our hearts with a song.”

The maid bowed immediately.

“Understood, madam.”

The maid went back outside.

After the maid left, beautiful music began to be heard from below the balcony.

Rianna closed her eyes and listened to the music.

The faces of the vulgar merchants who had crawled into the aristocratic mansion and the annoyance she felt were blown away by the gentle melody.

“Prepare a dress. We need to choose an outfit suitable for tomorrow’s tea time.”

“Yes, madam.”

The maid who was trimming her nails replied.

**

Lesvan’s gaze lingered on the white butterfly in the garden.

Waves rising above the lake, flickering pupils, swaying hair.

And… a dream that had been persisting for a very long time.

Since the day he first met her during his painful childhood, he had been wandering for a long time, trying to find the back of her in his dreams.

From some point, he didn’t even know if she existed in the world.

“Your Highness.”

The subordinate who was in charge of the investigation reported.

“We have completed the investigation into Lady Eshika Klaus.”