The Crazy Villainess in This Area Is Me

After being trapped in this dark dungeon, she has lost track of the days. Kriella’s eyelids slowly lifted before sinking heavily. For the past few days, all she had had was a sip of water and a piece of dry bread. Even that was moldy, causing me stomach troubles. Was that all?

Due to being hit on the head, her scabbed scalp throbbed incessantly. But that wasn’t enough to make her give up. She fluttered her hands that were tied in front of her.

There’s a saying that if you keep your wits about you, even if you’re caught in a tiger’s den, you can survive. Though her physical condition was at its worst, she was determined to survive.

With resolve upon resolve, Kriella groped around on the floor. Since the day she was captured and brought here, she had been slowly cutting the cloth binding her hands with the edge of a stone.

While she was focused on cutting the cloth, she heard someone coming down. Kriella quickly put down the stone. Soon, a figure appeared at the bottom of the stairs. Usually, only one man wearing a mask would come down, but today, there were two masked people. One of them was holding a piece of dry bread.

Without realizing it, she focused on the bread and spoke arrogantly. “If you release me now, I’ll give you a fortune you couldn’t even dream of touching in your lifetime.”

Contrary to her haughty tone, the sight of the moldy bread involuntarily made her salivate. A rumbling sound came from her stomach.

Without a hint of shame, Kriella kept babbling. “Just hand over that bread quickly. Or perhaps prepare a proper meal. If you want to extort more money from me, that is.”

“

…!”

The man let out a disbelieving chuckle.

“What a remarkable woman.”

Even in such dire circumstances, she never backed down.

He threw the dry bread through the bars as if giving alms to a beggar. Despite being starving for quite some time, Kriella leisurely picked up the bread and began to eat it as if enjoying a feast.

The masked man shook his head in disbelief. “Well, that explains why you killed my father.”

“…What?”

Kriella slowly lifted her head while focusing on eating the bread. There were so many servants she had killed that she couldn’t recall who it was, but now she was beginning to piece things together.

“It wasn’t about the money, then? You’re saying I killed your father?”

“Do you not remember? How many people have you killed?”

“If I did kill him, he would’ve been just a commoner. How could I remember?”

Her eyes, tinged with bloodlust, slowly turned towards the man. She giggled as if she had lost her mind, but then her expression turned cold.

“You wish to follow in your father’s footsteps.”

“…What?”

“Soon, my son will find me. Then, it will be your turn to die. So, before that…”

“Who’s going to die?”

At the sound of a very familiar voice, Kriella’s head snapped around. A woman standing beside the man slowly removed her mask. Behind the mask’s attached cloth, platinum blonde hair cascaded down abundantly.

“You, you…?”

“How nice to see you here, Grandmother.”

Kriella’s mouth fell open. Standing before her was none other than Lobelia.

“Why are you here…?”

“I thought you were peacefully residing at the villa, but shortly after I arrived at the villa, you disappeared. All the servants had fled, and I only found out just now.” She spoke innocently while fiddling with her neatly manicured nails.

“The two of you were in cahoots!”

“Oh my, no. Isn’t that right, Phil?”

“Yes, Little Madam.” Phil, the man, bowed his head.

Indeed, that was the case.

I had rushed down to the villa immediately after the swordsmanship competition because of what Chelsea had told me. There, I found out that all the servants had fled and that Kriella had vanished without a trace.

But upon reflection, Kriella was not the type to seek help or return on foot to the march.

During my contemplation, I recalled Chelsea’s words. Sure enough, my intuition was spot on.

“After discussing, we found our interests aligned.”

“Our interests? What do you have against me?”

“I heard you killed Phil’s father.”

“I don’t remember!”

“You tried to kill me too, right? You didn’t succeed, though. Are you going to pretend that you didn’t remember that either? It was only five years ago.”

“You…!”

A flash of determination crossed the emerald eyes that often feigned forgetfulness. Kriella swallowed dryly as she trembled. If both their grudges were combined, her chances of leaving this place alive were slim.

“If my son finds me, I won’t let you off.” She gritted her teeth, still under the delusion she was at March Hamilton.

I smirked condescendingly at Kriella. “Sadly, Endimion has no interest in you. He’s busy trying to win Duke Gracie’s favor.”

“My son wouldn’t do such a thing! Once I return to the march, you’ll see!” At that, she raised her voice in disbelief.

“Oh dear. Well, you’ve been locked up here, so you wouldn’t know anything.” I kindly continued to explain to the ignorant Kriella. “The empress you so trusted is dead.”

“…What?” Kriella’s eyes, which had never faltered, now wavered like leaves in the wind.

“She died trying to poison the first prince, caught in her own trap.”

It was unbelievable. Wasn’t she getting along fine with Frinel?

“Lies… Do you think I’d fall for your wicked schemes? The empress is not such a person!”

“Really? I guess you were the only one who thought you were friends.”

“Lobelia!”

“Don’t say my name with your filthy mouth. My mother gave me that beautiful name.”

“The filthy one is your mother! A commoner dares to be pretty…!”

Kriella was about to hurl more insults about Lobelia’s mother when suddenly a loud crashing sound, like thunder, struck.

“

!” Startled, she flinched.

At the same time, I approached the bars. My eyes turned icy as I whispered menacingly.

“If you’ve done trashy deeds, better keep your mouth shut.”

“You, to someone like you…!”

“I feel like tearing that mouth right now, you murderer.”

The eerie atmosphere and the sense of doom made Kriella experience her old fear, prompting her to clam up. Her lips trembled as she bit them shut.

Meanwhile, I turned to Phil. “How many people did you say had a grudge against this woman? Eight?”

“…Yes, that’s correct.” Phil clenched his fists. “All of them suffered terrible torture before they died. They were all good people…!”

They had gathered near the villa, waiting for a day of vengeance. Then, as if sent by god, she appeared at the villa without any guards. The people at the villa already knew his circumstances. That’s how he easily restrained Kriella.

“Even normally, she treated commoners as if they weren’t human, always looking down on them.”

“In any case… It’s wrong to use violence against people.”

“Little Madam…”

“But…” I deliberately trailed off, then added with a slight smile. “What’s in front of us is not a person, though.”

“That means…?”

“I don’t agree with the saying that revenge breeds more revenge.”

I stared directly at Kriella, lifting one corner of my mouth in a smirk.

“You shouldn’t have done things that warranted revenge. That should have been the priority.” My tone and voice were unexpectedly gentle for someone inciting vengeance.

I patted Phil’s shoulder as if to comfort him and spoke firmly. “Make sure you deal with it.”

“Yes, I understand.” He pulled out the keys to the dungeon with a darkened expression.

“W-wait, Lobelia, Lobelia…! It’s my fault. I was wrong!”

The sound of the door opening was eerily chilling. Kriella, finally realizing the gravity of the situation, stretched her bound hands towards Lobelia.

“No, please! Lobelia…!”

However, Lobelia had long since disappeared from sight, as if she had no regrets at all.