Rehabilitating the Villainess

“Hmmph!”

When I called her name, Shael replied with a snort full of complaints, and then pouted to show that she was angry.

Some might find it a bit harsh, but it didn’t seem that way to me at all. I only saw a grumpy cute woman.

“If you don’t want to eat it, then I will give it to someone else.”

“You can’t do that!”

Shael, who was acting as if she wouldn’t talk to me, snatched the dessert from my hand.

“Is it delicious?”

“Yes… no! No.”

Shael tried to hide her true thought that she instinctively revealed. 

I barely held back my laugh and continued to walk along with Shael.

Before long, I spotted an accessory shop beside the road. Well, since I had teased Shael a bit too much, I guess I should also give her a gift to balance things out.

With that thought in mind, I walked towards the accessory shop, but Shael asked, “Why are we going there all of a sudden?”

“Just wait.”

Telling Shael, who expressed her doubts, to be patient, I turned my attention to a pair of rings.

The pair of rings would go exceptionally well with Shael and me. They each had a softly shining blue gem embedded in them.

“This is perfect. I would love to share them.”

“Yes, I see.”

Shael also nodded her head as if she had forgotten her anger. 

Satisfied with her reaction, I proudly checked the price tag.

[5 million gold.]

They were expensive, but not for me. 

The Baslett family was a ducal family with high prestige, and immense wealth. Moreover, the value of the numerous heirlooms in the family must be enormous as well.

Therefore, the amount of gold I received every month for maintaining my dignity was quite a huge amount.

After completing the transaction, I handed the other ring to Shael.

“You like it?”

“No… yes.”

Shael tried to deny it at first due her grumpiness earlier. But because the ring was so pretty, she didn’t do that in the end. It was also thanks to the sweet dessert that might have relieved her anger a little.

“Then let’s go back to Azbel Estate.”

“Yes.”

After some time we arrived at the Azbel family’s mansion. 

Duke Jespen, being quick-witted, smiled as he recognized the rings that Shael and I now shared.

Shael must have been annoyed by that, so she grabbed my arm and headed for her room.

That’s how time passed. 

And, our everyday life continued as usual. 

I continued to enjoy my days while drinking tea with Shael.

Shael, who used to bully me, had changed quite a lot.

In fact, it wasn’t that Shael didn’t try to bully me anymore. It’s just that I was able to accept Shael’s bullying as a cute prank.

However, just like everything else in the world, even Shael and my happy days didn’t last forever.

Because sadness was meant to come in between happy days.

[Please allow him to carry the poison detection magic, so that he can detect poison no matter how stong it is.] (G: Again in the background.)

“Young Lord, I have brought you some tea.”

“Yes. It seems that the scent is different from usual?”

It was a strange scent. It seems to be similar to the tea I drank in the imperial palace when I was young.

At the moment, I was waiting for Shael, who had gone to have a talk with Duke Jespen. 

So, in order to pass the time, I decided to have some tea.

***

The memory abruptly stopped! 

Covering my throbbing head, I tried not to miss a certain blurry scene.

Then, I saw an expressionless Duke Ezran kneeling down on the ground in front of a dark silhouette.

I saw the dessert shop that Shael loved to death in the original novel. There, Shael sobbed while receiving something from Duke Ezran.

I saw the villainess struggle while trying to steal the bracelet of holy power from Clie. 

Then, I saw a piece of paper and a journal with my handwriting placed in front of Shael, who had managed to take the bracelet, and she was writing something down on the journal.

And then, the memory came to an end.

***

My body felt stiff and my head ached. 

I opened my eyes with difficulty, and I found myself at the Baslett family’s hospital room.

After breaking Clie’s bracelet, I must have fainted for a while.

“…?”

I saw Shael sleeping with her head propped up on my stomach! 

I wanted to hug Shael right away because of the memories I had just seen in my dream, but I didn’t.

Because Shael looked very tired and emaciated.

I left the room after carefully placing Shael on the bed. Even though it was quite early in the morning, the physicians belonging to the Baslett family were all busy working.

“Ah, Young Lord!”

“What, why?”

Suddenly, a doctor exclaimed with shock, and came up to me after taking a deep breath.

“Young Lord, are you feeling well?”

“Of course I’m fine. Why are you acting like that?”

“You have been unconscious for 15 days!”

“What!?”

So, I’ve been passed out for 15 days?

‘Was the aftereffect of breaking the bracelet of holy power that great?’ 

Well, I didn’t mind it that much, considering it allowed me to experience some really happy memories.

“Young Lord, you need to rest!”

“Okay, stop making a fuss and go.”

I came back into the hospital room from earlier. I sat next to Shael, who fell asleep, and looked at her.

I didn’t know how worried she must have been since I had remained unconscious for 15 days. 

‘No, would the villainess even worry about me?’

I would know the answer to that question soon enough. 

Because a pair of sky blue eyes were looking directly at me.

Shael made an expression of disbelief for a moment, then let out a cute cry.

“Ah!”

“Did I wake you up? You look tired. Get some more sleep.”

As expected, there was no way the villainess would listen to my words.

Instead of going back to sleep, Shael suddenly pounced on me and gave me a hug!