Chapter 44: The villainess strikes back I (part 1)

[Eran’s POV]

“For what reason?”

[That child showed us the Azbel family’s magic and the Baslett family’s swordsmanship.]

Clie was saying that, Ruelle claimed to be my daughter at a tea party where all the ladies were present. 

To be honest, it was indeed very shocking. If she claimed to be my daughter in front of all the guest at the tea party, I don’t know how many people had seen it.

But I remained calm at Clie’s words. 

There must have been a reason why Ruelle did that. So I couldn’t hastily say anything since I didn’t even know why Clie was saying all this to me.

“Let’s talk later.” So I ended the conversation and put the bracelet, which was still active, back into the envelope.

That incident will happen before long. I thought about the incident from the original novel, where Clie and Shael would come face to face.

Anyways, for now, I lay down on the bed. 

‘Fortunately, Duke Ezran is not at home.’

Perhaps we won’t be seeing each other for a while.

As the head of the Baslett family, Duke Ezran was very busy.

Thanks to that, I had no need to make excuses about the rumor. So, I felt no immediate urgency.

‘What the hell is the meaning of the advice written in the book?’

And, thinking about why Ruelle would do something like that, I fell asleep.

***

The next day.

“There are rumors going around that you and I have a daughter.”

“…?”

Shael tilted her head. 

Certainly, it was an absurd rumor, and I had my doubts about why it was spreading so fast.

Even though Ruelle actually claimed to be my daughter at the tea party, I didn’t expect rumors to spread this fast.

Shael and I, belonged to mighty ducal families. So I thought the rumor would spread in secret… but that wan’t the case at all. 

The rumor had spread all over the place. To the extent that even I, the party involved in the rumor, had heard of it. It was thanks to the quick-witted informant of the Baslett family.

The rumor was more detailed than I thought. 

Shael usually didn’t appear in public that much. And apparently, the reason was because of the child. People found it very suspicious. And several other reasons were added to it as well, which reinforced the rumor even more.

When Shael heard about the rumor, she frowned, and along with a slightly puzzled expression.

Of course, anyone would feel bad feel if they suddenly heard that there was a rumor that they had given birth to a child in secret.

But soon, Shael’s expression improved.

“Aren’t you in a bad mood?”

“Why would I be?”

Shael asked back as if she didn’t understand why. 

‘What do you mean why? You were the one who was frowning a moment ago!’

I had to know what she was cooking in her head.

“How do you feel about being accused of having a child you don’t even have?”

After thinking for a while, Shael just nodded her head with a sneer on her face.

It was the look she showed when she bullied me.

So I asked again.

“Are you really okay?”

“Yes.”

“The rumor wrongly accused you of having a child you don’t have. Maybe there are even more strange rumors going around.”

Shael smiled and confidently raised her head.

“No way, do you care about rumors like that? It’s not like we really have a child.”

“…”

Originally, Shael should have been more upset than I was. But when she said that, I didn’t give a reply, instead, I asked Shael, who was grinning at me.

“You are acting as if the rumor is a good thing. Isn’t it?”

“Am I?”

Still, Shael didn’t bend.

Then how could I make the villainess bend?

Simple. I had to make her hear the rumors herself!

After thinking about it, I got up from my seat.

At the same time, I took out a dessert, and shook it in front of Shael.

“I’ll give it to you if you go somewhere with me today.”

So it was natural that the villainess would follow me.

***

The place Shael and I headed to was a dessert shop belonging to a famous merchant.

It was a place where only wealthy nobles and commoners came to buy desserts. And, most of them would know about the rumors about me and Shael.

Since it was about the hidden daughter of the two engaged nobles from two ducal families, the rumor was already widely known to the public. 

Indeed, numerous high-ranking noble families had seen the magic of the Azbel family and the swordsmanship of the Baslett family that Ruelle had used. So no matter how absurd the rumors were, people had no choice but to believe them to some extent.