The Baddest Villainess Is Back
Chapter 5
“You—you! I will kill you! How dare you, to me…!”
“I told you… why did you bother touching it, Lady Carmel?”
“I’ll kill—!”
At the taunting voice, Carmel’s face turned a mottled red until her eyes suddenly rolled back.
The Butler, unable to bear her raising her voice any further, had struck her hard on the back of the neck.
She collapsed onto the floor.
“Master.”
At the Butler’s call, the Duke of Bellion nodded.
‘Finally, all the nuisances are cleared away.’
She rubbed her eyes, looking a bit weary.
Over the past few days, she had lacked sleep from running around personally to investigate and think through various matters.
Roselyn noticed the others were now watching her with meaningful gazes.
“I apologize for causing a sudden disturbance.”
“Khahaha!! No, it’s fine. Disturbance? Nonsense, you did a great thing. I had a bad feeling about that woman from the moment I saw her.”
Aegis laughed heartily and waved his hand dismissively.
Roselyn gave a faint smile and nodded at his comment that she had been a big help.
“Yes, I’m glad it was helpful.”
Roselyn replied with appropriate courtesy.
Aegis had never held any particular ill will or prejudice toward Roselyn, making him an easy person to deal with.
‘One of the two reasons I attended this formal dinner has been handled… now for the last one.’
She opened her mouth without hesitation.
“And I would like to leave this mansion soon, but upon looking into it, it seems I have no private assets to my name.”
She had been quite bewildered to find that a lady of a ducal house possessed no personal wealth.
Fortunately, it wasn’t due to embezzlement; she simply had nothing to begin with.
“If it’s alright, may I take a few pieces of jewelry when I leave? I’m thinking of a timeframe of about a month… once a place to stay is decided and safety is secured, perhaps sooner….”
Roselyn felt the atmosphere grow cold with every word she spoke. She lifted her gaze, which had been cast slightly downward.
“…Was I speaking too fast?”
She fell silent for a moment, as if inviting them to speak if there were other issues.
“Why… do you intend to leave the house?”
The voice that broke the silence carried a very faint sense of bewilderment.
Roselyn had almost no attachment to her family.
In her childhood, she was sick and rarely left her bed, and her father rarely visited her.
Roselyn’s only friends were books and her maid; she had learned the world through printed words.
At best, Aegis was the one who had occasionally greeted her in passing.
Aegis was not the type to be swayed by laws or the standards and prejudices set by others.
Regardless, Roselyn was now feeling a rare sense of perplexity.
She hadn’t expected those words to come from her father, of all people—a man she had spoken to only a handful of times in her life.
She struggled to find words, her lips parting and closing wordlessly.
After chewing over his words for a long time, Roselyn finally realized the intent behind them and quickly organized her thoughts.
“I have no intention of bringing dishonor to the family. I plan to leave the Empire immediately and settle in another country with decent security.”
She spoke while looking at her father, Cherti Bellion, whom she hadn't seen properly in a long time.
As always, his long, wavy hair was tied back loosely in a single ponytail.
His face was handsome enough to make it clear where Roselyn’s own beautiful appearance originated.
He had a cold impression, with indifferent eyes that were slightly sharp like a cat’s.
His tightly closed lips were subtly shadowed by his long hair.
With his black hair and red eyes, he exuded an almost gloomy aura.
Roselyn took him in slowly before continuing.
“Naturally, from the moment I leave this mansion, I have no intention of using the Bellion name.”
“…I am asking why you have made such a decision in the first place.”
Roselyn faltered at the somewhat persistent questioning from her father, who normally would have just nodded in silence.
“You must know your health is not good. Haven't I told you repeatedly? You are….”
“That it’s more of a nuisance for me to move around? I know.”
When Roselyn answered casually, Cherti froze.
The father saying such things was more familiar to her than the bewildered one standing before her now.
Since Roselyn had been used to her father’s cold treatment since she was a child, she found it more comfortable when he acted this way.
“That is why I intend to leave and completely sever ties with the Bellion Ducal House. I understand my name isn't even recorded in the family registry or under yours anyway.”
“…….”
At Roselyn’s words, Cherti’s lips twitched before he clamped them shut.
His wavering gaze clearly revealed his agitation, so Roselyn tried to emphasize that she had no intention of being a burden.
Even if there was no love or attachment, it wasn’t as if she didn’t feel sorry for not being able to help when things were most difficult.
The funeral she couldn't attend had remained a long-standing regret for Roselyn.
As she grew older, she realized that simply raising a sickly child without abandoning them was something to be grateful for.
She also realized that no matter how much money one had, taking responsibility for a person was no easy task.
Even if it was close to indifference, thanks to that, she had been able to receive consistent treatment until she left the house.
「Don’t you sometimes have regrets? Thinking it would have been better if you’d made a certain choice then. Or that it would have been nice to develop a different relationship with a certain person.」
「…….」
「I’ve decided it would be a bit of a waste to let you die as a villainess. Don’t you want to live, Roselyn?」
She didn't know what Gerran Wilbrid had been thinking.
However, Roselyn had been worn down by a long life of flight and the constant finger-pointing of others.
Her ability to feel joy had greatly diminished, and even sadness had long since lost its impact.
That didn't mean she wanted to build new relationships, either.
“Still, I have been a nuisance to the Little Duke and the Bellion family for a long time, so I wish to fulfill my minimum obligations before I go.”
As Gerran said, certain relationships were accompanied by regret.
Perhaps if all these miracles had happened just a few years earlier, she might have still harbored some faint hope.
“I will handle the breaking of the engagement with the 3rd Prince myself. I’ll settle it well so that no trouble falls on this house, so you needn't worry about that.”
It wasn't that Roselyn had no emotions.
Once, she had craved affection, wanted it, and even loved.
Before coming to this world, Roselyn had lived her best for the past twenty-seven years.
So now, she wanted to rest.
After leaving for a place where no one knew her.
‘I also need to meet that bastard Gerran.’
Organizing her thoughts, Roselyn slowly closed and opened her eyes.
“I will wrap things up as quickly as possible, so once the matters are settled….”
“No.”
Cherti cut off Roselyn’s words and stood up abruptly from his seat.
“I will not permit it. Do you think an engagement with the Imperial Family is something so trivial?”
“That part, I will….”
“Stop this nonsense and go inside at once to take your medicine and sleep. After making such a ridiculous scene and making a fool of everyone, now you’re truly….”
Cherti snapped coldly with heated eyes, his voice trailing off before he walked straight out of the dining room.
“…?”
She watched the door slam shut with a bewildered face, her brow furrowing.
Rubbing her temples with a tired expression, she let out a sigh.
He was someone who had always been displeased with whatever Roselyn did, so this wasn't exactly new.
It was just that it had been so long since she'd experienced it that it felt fresh.
‘How many years has it been?’
Since they’d had almost no contact after her childhood, it had probably been over a decade.
‘Well, he did care quite a bit for the Bellion Ducal House.’
With a strange sense of reflection, Roselyn turned her head again.
“Anyway, I’ll speak with the 3rd Prince about this matter, coordinate, and then tell you again.”
“Ugh, are you really planning to leave?”
“Yes. Father is probably worried that I’ll go somewhere and become a nuisance to the Bellion family.”
Roselyn rose from her seat, sugarcoating her words appropriately.
“Then, as I am tired, I shall take my leave first.”
“Hey, niece-nim.”
“Yes, Young Lord.”
At Roselyn’s formal address, Aegis shuddered with a look of horror.
“…Tsk, cut out that 'Young Lord' talk. You were calling me uncle and great-uncle just fine until a moment ago, so why are you being so creepy?”
“That’s because….”
Seeing Aegis's fed-up face, Roselyn gave a bright smile and spoke casually.
“My soon-to-be stepmother was annoying, so I wanted to get under her skin a bit.”
