The Villainess’s Daughter Is Getting an Obsession - Chapter 20

“Ah, then would you please tell the first prince? He must have had a hard time because of me, but he took great care of me.”

“You don’t have to worry about that either.”

Valery’s expression grew darker and darker. I think I know a little bit why he’s making that face, but isn’t it too obvious?

“If Your Highness says so, I won’t bother you then. Above all, I’m most grateful to Your Highness. Thanks to you, I don’t think any scars will be left, and I felt comfortable during the treatment. Probably because I felt more awkward with the first prince.”

His stiff expression slowly loosened and melted.

“I’ll take you back.”

“Aren’t you busy?”

“This is the most important thing for me.”

After a bit of arguing, he managed to take me home. It wasn’t known whether the carriage I rode before, which had almost been destroyed in half, was still in the middle of the road or had returned home. If I wait a little while, they will send the carriage to me again, but Valery was a little faster than that. From the carriage to the house, his worries were endless. It was hard to prevent him from taking me to my room, saying he worried my wound would open.

After returning home, I immediately immersed myself in a bathtub filled with cold water that had no warmth. As I immersed myself in the freezing cold water, countless emotions that had sprung up like thorns quickly died down. Perhaps because it touched the water, the bandage wrapped around my wound was getting darker and redder. Blood spilled out of the knee that had been treated before.

Again, my wound was opened, so I looked at it and pressed it down. After seeing a little more blood oozing out, I stood up. Came out wearing the robe from my maid. Ian was waiting in front of the door.

“Lady, are you okay?”

Damn, he’s asking this question too soon.

“I’m not okay.”

Ian bowed his head.

“… I’m sorry. My thoughts were short.”

“Don’t tell my mother that I’m hurt. Even an idiot can do that, right?”

I shot back at him angrily, returned to my room, and sat down as soon as he closed the door. As I hugged my injured knee earlier, I finally felt the tolerable pain.

“I’m going to die from the pain.”

But I was so depressed that I hugged my knees and buried my head in my arms.

* * *

“Thank you for accepting my invitation.”

“Thank you for inviting me.”

Despite the accident yesterday, I attended a Juri del Chartero’s tea party the next day. Of course, with a little present for Juri. And wearing a fancy dress that Blake Ariandel would wear and gave a smile. Juri grabbed my hand and dragged me.

“Come on in. After that day, I had a lot of things I wanted to ask. I’ve been waiting for today.”

Today, the story of me with Valery will be the main one. I had a hunch that it would be a bit of a headache.

There were two other people at the tea party besides the host, Juri del Chartero. Coincidentally, like Juri, they were all the eldest daughters of the family. Meri Delphon, the eldest daughter of Marquis Delphon, who supplies weapons to the Imperial Palace, and Ellabrihi Hemel, the eldest daughter of Count Hemel, who is said to have a wide plain in the west. It may be just me, but the two seemed to be wary of me, but because Juri invited me by herself, they couldn’t say their words.

It didn’t matter. All I needed was Juri del Chartero. The other one is rather a nuisance. Still, if I need them, this is necessary. Since I had prepared gifts for five people in advance, I was worried about what to do if there were more, but three were perfect. I took out the gifts for them.

“Oh my.”

The first protagonist was Juri del Chartero. Asked why I had prepared for this, she immediately opened the box. Shioke’s little mermaid pearl shone in the small ring-sized box I handed over. Her eyes, which were laughing while asking each other’s regards, grew bigger, and finally exclaimed.

“I heard it’s going to be hard to get this year. I couldn’t find it anywhere else.”

Juri’s relaxed voice also went to a high tone as if she were making a fuss.

Of course, it’s because Sir Shubart bought all the Shioke mermaid pearls on the market. I smiled.

“That’s what I said before. The brooch will look good on you.”

My words said so, but the Shioke pearl I prepared only the pearl so that it could be put anywhere when it was needed at any time. It was the same for the other two young ladies. When I held out the boxes with a slightly different ribbon, their eyes grew bigger than before. It was obvious that they were already thinking about where and how to put it on.

“In some countries across the sea, jewelry made with small jewels connected in the shape of a flower is said to be fashionable. It is said that they are made with the Shioke pearls as a point, just like flower stamens.”

“Oh my, really? In the capital, bold and large jewelry is mainly used. Would that be okay?”

“Oh, really? The capital usually uses bold and large jewelry. That sounds good, too”

Ellabrihi Hemel’s voice, which showed the most vigilant gaze, changed like an oriole.

“I think it sounds good. I heard Count Ariandel struggling to get the mermaid pearl of Shioke for her daughter. I heard that his love for his daughter is the best.”

Meri Delphon’s vigilant gaze was helplessly broken, and she even praised Count Ariandel, whom she didn’t even know his face.

“The rumors are exaggerated. Actually, I was really nervous today. As you know, this is my first experience in the social world, and my father is also a very concerned person.”

“You can find out what you don’t know now.”

“Of course. Everyone has a first time.”

“Ah, can I really do that?”

Once the walls were completely destroyed, I could easily penetrate between them. Things that are fashionable in the capital, the interest of the nobles these days, rumors that Sir Shubart didn’t tell me, and countless information were poured out. Of course, they didn’t lose interest in my story with Valery. They put it around casually, but when the topic changed, I would come up with the topic.

I fully used Blake Ariandel’s personality and responded like a girl who found Treasure Island. Blake Ariandel was honest with her feelings, blushed often, and didn’t build up her pride in what she didn’t know. Surprisingly, they liked to divulge information from other empires they didn’t know. I thought it would be of no use.

I smiled brightly and rinsed my mouth with the fruit wine in front of me. Then I made eye contact with Juri. She smiled softly. Her eyes looked at me as if she was looking at a cute younger sister. They said she was kind to the weak and infinitely kind to the younger ones, which seems true.

After finishing the two-hour tea party, I deliberately hesitated a little. The two young ladies get home first, and I will be the last to leave. Juri del Chartero brought me a long box and held it out.

“It’s the wine you drank earlier.”

“Wow, are you giving it to me?”

“It’s also my favorite wine. I had a great time today.”

It seemed to have worked well to improve the quality of her tea party with Shioke mermaid pearls. I gave her my thanks, turned around, and stopped.

“The route to the North Continent will be open soon.”

“North Continent?”

“It is said to be a voyage route that directly connects with the Gulam area and Rawendel. They said they would be able to open it in a month.”

“Wow.”

“I remember when my father used to go there and said the wine there tasted terrible… Their winemaking skills are poor. He said that it was only when he came back here that his tongue seemed to have returned properly. He likes Blue Poise.”

Blue Poise is the second-class wine after Langwego, the wine that was delivered to the imperial family by the Chartero family. Juri smiled softly.

“Your father has good taste.”

Originally, the wealth gained by the Northern Continent route didn’t belong to Chartero. It was acquired by the Gerdo family, who is no less a rival to the Chartero family. That family is also famous for its wine. Still, their family is always behind Chartero and couldn’t be labeled as second-class.

Later, the Gerdo family turned to exports through the Rawendel route. However, as it became a hit, their power grew rapidly, and in a few years, they reversed their status with Chartero. According to the original story, it will happen two seasons from now on. Still, I don’t need the Gerdo family, so I will let Chartero move first.

“Hmm, is that so…?”

“It said that the number of people is as large as here. I think a bottle of Blue Poise would make me rich there!”

“Pft, that’s such a cute imagination. It’s interesting.”

“Right? Especially in Rawendel, many people enjoy meat that way.”

Unlike her old-fashioned father, Juri has the ambition to grow her family bigger.

I got into the carriage after a friendly greeting with her. On my way back, I laughed so hard that I pressed my tingling cheek.

“It’s been a while since I’ve done this, so I’m tired.”

I squeezed my eyes shut and, after that, looked out the window.

He pressed his eyes down to the window.

“Ugh.”

Suddenly, I felt pain, like my heart was tearing apart. Why does my heart suddenly hurt?

Don’t tell me…