The Villainous Family is Against Independence

‘Does she want to get her reputation destroyed again?’

I have nothing to lose in a confrontation, so why does she keep provoking me?

I wasn’t necessarily seeking conflict, but I’ve never been one to shy away from a fight that comes my way.

‘I’m tired of making enemies.’

However, Dorothea seemed to have no intention of being friendly or accommodating towards me. She didn’t even acknowledge my existence before I recovered my memories, and now she’s acting like this.

Perhaps Dorothea is also involved in Duke Angellus’s attempt to kill me.

If I treat someone like that kindly, wouldn’t I be the only one who becomes a fool?

‘Fine.’

I made up my mind on what to do.

[Good! Teach them a lesson!]

Cheered on by Greed, I walked over to the group of Dorothea.

“Hey, do you think she’s coming here?”

“Of course not.”

“I’m not kidding!”

“What should we do?”

They seemed genuinely surprised that I approached them. Well, it’s not surprising since I always kept to myself and stayed out of sight during formal events.

When I stopped in front of them, one of Dorothea’s close associates, Lady Polworth, stepped forward.

“What’s the matter, Lady Elodie?”

“You all seem to be having an interesting conversation. Since I’m free and without a partner, would you mind sharing it with me?”

“It probably won’t be an interesting story for you, Elodie.”

“I’ll listen and judge for myself.”

I silently observed as they exchanged glances with each other.

They must be at a loss for words. After all, they were openly discussing my personal matters, practically shouting for me to hear. They probably didn’t expect me to approach them like this.

As someone who never cared about reputation, I always listened to what others had to say and let it slide. It didn’t bother me.

Lady Polworth, with a determined expression, spoke up as if taking the lead. “Actually, we were talking about Lady Elodie, because we’re always interested in her, and we want to make her acquaintance.”

“I never realized you wanted to make my acquaintance; you always talk behind my back in a hushed voice.”

Lady Polworth’s smile faltered slightly at my blunt comment.

I wonder if she realized by now that it would be useless to try her best socialite tactics against me.

I smiled and asked again, “So, what were you all talking about?”

Do you want to tell me about how you’ve been talking behind my back?

This time, Lady Pele stepped forward instead of Lady Polworth, who kept her mouth shut.

“We heard the news, Lady Elodie. You broke off your engagement with the First Prince?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“What led to the break-up?”

It was a question that demanded an answer. I wondered if they were hoping to hear me say, “The first prince was the one who broke off the engagement.”

‘Well, that’s fine, but I don’t want to do whatever they want.’

So, I deliberately gave them the straightforward answer they didn’t want.

“It was a decision reached after a long conversation with His Highness, the Crown Prince.”

Perhaps sensing that I couldn’t damage my reputation by remaining vague, Lady Pele’s question became quite rude.

“Did His Highness the Crown Prince propose the annulment to Lady Elodie first?”

In response to the question spoken with a somewhat condescending tone, I answered vaguely.

“Well, I’m not sure…”

“Please answer accurately, Lady Elodie. Many people are curious about the annulment.”

Whether that statement was true or not, there were indeed people nearby subtly eavesdropping on our conversation.

Despite maintaining some distance, they were still within earshot.

‘Phew, my unstoppable popularity.’

[Envy.]

Greed and I had only exchanged a few words, and perhaps thinking that I had lost my words, Dorothea’s group suddenly became cheerful.

“So, you’ve been spurned by the prince after all, my lady, how sad…….”

“Don’t be too sad, Lady Elodie. There will be someone willing to be engaged to you somewhere.”

I didn’t say anything, yet they reached their own conclusions and continued to console me.

It was amusing to witness how they eagerly discussed and speculated without any input from me.

Greed asked a curious question.

[Is it possible to have a conversation without saying anything?]

‘I guess so?’

[Humans are funny.]

After a while of pretending to console my broken heart, the young ladies became disheartened when they realized I had no reaction.

“By the way, I read that article. Miss Elodie, that…….”

” —The savior, right?”

All eyes around us turned to us again.

The Duke of Perdia seemed to have taken down the article after the temple’s rash publication, but I hadn’t spoken up myself.

The inquisitive members of Dorothea´s group bombarded me with questions.

“Was it a lie?”

“From the way the article went down so quickly, I’m guessing so. What do you think? It would be better if the person involved spoke up.”

“I don’t know…….”

“Well…”

“Did your father help you gain access to the temple, even though you’re not directly related and have no power?”

“Hmm……?”

“I’ve heard rumors that your father assisted you in entering the temple. Is that really true?”

“I don’t know about that.”

I could tell their patience was wearing thin as I gave vague answers to a series of questions.

Funny, there’s nothing better than saying “I don’t know” and “I guess” to irritate your interlocutor.

I remembered how in a previous life I used to answer my relatives’ questions about studying, working, and dieting at the holidays with a steady stream of “yeahs,” and after some back-and-forth, they finally gave up.

“Miss Elodie never has a straight answer to anything.”

“Is that so?”

“……Indeed!” Lady Pelle exclaimed exasperatedly, turning to look at someone behind her.

It was none other than Dorothea Angellus. Dorothea, who had been stubbornly silent throughout this whole Elodie Perdia hearing, finally spoke up.

“It’s been a while, Elodie. But it doesn’t feel like we haven’t seen each other for a long time, considering how often I hear about you.”

“I feel the same way, Dorothea. I’ve read about you frequently in the articles. It feels like we just met yesterday.”

I’m not the only one caught up in the vicious claws of the gossip rags.

In fact, Dorothea seemed to be attracting more attention in the articles. The news about the Angellus mother and daughter kept persistently resurfacing.

Perhaps the culprit was the Duchess of Perdia herself.

The Four Families and the Imperial Family were the only ones who could put that kind of pressure on a newspaper.

Dorothea’s expression briefly hardened, as if she hadn’t expected to be targeted, but she quickly regained her composure and smiled kindly.

“I haven’t been feeling well, so I took some rest. But it seems like nothing has changed.”

Yeah, maintaining good skin health is also a form of health.

“You look healthy, which is a relief, Lady Dorothea. I was worried.”

As I spoke, staring at one of her earrings, Dorothea met my gaze without avoiding it.

“Of course. Thanks to your concern, I’ve fully recovered.”

“That’s good to hear. Take care of yourself, Lady Dorothea.”

So, they managed to neutralize the poison, which couldn’t have been easy since it was the Duchess’s poison.

But it didn’t matter that they had managed to detoxify it, because the Duchess was probably only intending to lightly torment them.

Still, it was a shame that I had to keep seeing Dorothea’s face as she tried to be popular again.

[It’s alright. I find it entertaining.]

‘Of course, you do. You’re a dopamine addict.’ 

(T/N: Dopamine is a type of neurotransmitter. Your body makes it, and your nervous system uses it to send messages between nerve cells. It plays a role in how we feel pleasure. It’s a big part of our unique human ability to think and plan. It helps us strive, focus, and find things interesting.)

That was the perfect moment to say something to Greed, who was always eager to satisfy his curiosity.

In the midst of the bustling crowd, a familiar figure passed by fleetingly.

“Huh? …The First Prince?”

Adenmir, who rarely attended public events, was at the tower.

For a moment, I locked eyes with Adenmir and instinctively averted my gaze. But then I remembered that there was no reason to.

‘Oh right, didn’t we promise to be friends?’

Realizing that fact, I looked back at Ademir, and I couldn’t help but feel stunned.

“Huh?”

Adenmir was walking towards me and the group of Dorothea and her entourage.

Why is he walking up here, why is he coming?

‘Go away!’ I shouted inwardly, but…….

“So, you’re here, too, Lady.”

“…….??”

Ademir boldly approached me and struck up a conversation.

A meeting between the First Prince and the Young Lady of Perdia, the subjects of the imperial marriage break-up story!

Naturally, all the attention and curious gazes of the people converged on the vivid gossip unfolding right before their eyes.

“I greet Your Highness, the First Prince.”

After greeting him, I mustered a smile, forcing the corners of my lips to lift.

‘Ah, it feels burdensome!’

***

As expected from Count Hicklemeyer, the banquet to celebrate the demonstration of the magic tools was well attended.

Amidst the bustling crowd of those hoping to make purchases, Ademir quietly revealed himself. However, the people around him, who recognized him, hastily stepped aside.

‘So, I made it all the way here.’

Upon hearing that Elodie would be attending, he impulsively cleared his schedule for the day.

He himself didn’t even know why he did it.

Now that they were no longer engaged, they could only meet at official events. After thinking about it, he asked himself a question.

‘So, have I ever met her outside of a formal event before?’

No, hardly ever. So, that line of thinking was an excuse.

A clumsy excuse born out of contradiction, hastily trying to hide emotions and make excuses. So, the only explanation was that it was purely impulsive.

He just needed an excuse to meet Elodie again.

Finding Elodie in the tower was easy enough. All he had to do was follow the gaze of the crowd.

Her pale golden hair that seemed to melt to the touch, and her eyes cast down to the floor as if lost in thought – everything about her was beautiful.

Captivating enough to capture everyone’s attention at a glance.

Adenmir’s thoughts were the same as everyone else’s.

However, there was something strange.

‘Where did the mercenary go and why is she alone?’

There was no sign of the mercenary that had been accompanying Elodie recently. Why was she by herself?

It was at that moment when Adenmir took a step forward to speak to her.

“I heard she was dumped by the crown prince.”

“Oh, poor thing.”

Someone, unaware of Adenmir’s presence here, giggled and chatted. Elodie remained still, even though she could hear the insults being hurled at her.

‘Why are you staying still?’

There was no way she was going to stay still when she had a temper that would rip the hair out of the heads of those people.

Come to think of it, Adenmir had never heard of Elodie having conflicts with women from other noble families.

‘Is it limited to men?’

Just as Adenmir was wondering, Elodie finally made a move.

She approached the group that was mocking her and started to make them feel uncomfortable with a smile on her face.

Seeing Elodie play with the noblewomen with an innocent face, Adenmir smirked.

‘Not bad.’

She was quite skillful at pissing off her opponents without even using a single word.

It was a new side of Elodie that Adenmir was unaware of.

While observing the situation, their eyes coincidentally met.

But she immediately averted her gaze. For some reason, this made him feel uncomfortable.

So Adenmir strode boldly towards Elodie.

“There you are, Lady.”

His sudden appearance startled the group of Dorothea.

“Your Highness…..?”

“I greet the First Prince.”

“I have something to say to the lady, may I take her with me?” Adenmir said nonchalantly as they hurriedly greeted him.

“……Yes!”

Nodding eagerly, the ladies looked at Adenmir. 

He was observing them discreetly, and then spoke with a serious tone.

“Oh, and I need to make a correction.”

“Yes?”

“The breakup was her doing.”

“What? What did he just say……?”

“I’m the one who got dumped. Not the lady.”