“Milady! Milady!”
The maid, Dorothy, cried out in a great fuss.
Her tone sounded as if a god himself had descended.
“It seems Sir Felix has decided to forgive you!”
Having just woken up, I forced my groggy brain to start working.
This would be the first time I'd seen Felix since graduation day.
There was no way I could have recovered from that shock already.
What if I see him now and end up trembling like a fool again?
I was anxious, but I couldn't avoid him forever.
Besides, there were things that still needed to be settled between Felix and me.
“Tell him to wait a moment.”
“What?! But...”
“I can't receive a guest looking like this.”
“Well... that's true.”
Dorothy swept her gaze over me from head to toe.
The openly rude scrutiny was familiar.
And until recently, I had never even thought it was rude.
Ever since I realized Felix and Uncle had been deceiving me, everything looks different.
Felix. Lorena. My uncle. The servants.
Ever since the day my grandfather and parents died together, everyone around me had treated me like this.
That's why I never recognized it as contempt.
No... I refused to recognize it.
Like a row of dominoes.
If I admitted that even one person had never truly cared for me and had only been deceiving me, then I'd have to admit everyone else had been doing the same.
I opened the wardrobe to throw together a decent outfit.
Then—
“Ha.”
A bitter laugh escaped me.
The wardrobe was almost completely empty.
“Oh, Master said he would confiscate not only your allowance, but also everything you purchased with that allowance.”
Dorothy said it as if it were nothing.
I was speechless.
Apparently, after Uncle slapped me, he had expected me to come crawling back and beg for forgiveness. Instead, I went out on my own, which must have offended him.
I can't believe I spent my life respecting such a petty man as my uncle.
I felt pathetic all over again.
“And he said meals will only be provided through today. From now on, you'll have to pay for your own food.”
What a filthy, miserable excuse for a person.
The mask of the "strict but self-sacrificing uncle who devoted himself to his niece and family" had finally come off.
What remained underneath was ugly beyond words.
For now, I needed to solve the immediate problem.
I threw on what little clothing remained and headed down to the reception room.
Then—
“Hey! What took you so long?! Do you know how long I've been waiting?”
Felix exploded the moment he saw me.
He had always loved dressing himself up, but now he was even worse.
Gold bracelets. Gem-studded cufflinks.
Expensive accessories hung from him everywhere.
I heard top companies and noble houses were fighting to recruit the Academy's valedictorian.
Apparently he'd already collected plenty of gifts.
When I said nothing, Felix clicked his tongue and tossed a document onto the table.
“Sign it.”
It was a formal dissolution of engagement agreement.
“Ah. Let me save both your mouth and my ears some trouble. Don't even think about clinging to me. No matter how much you cry, beg, or grab my pant leg, I won't change my decision.”
“I just sign here, right?”
“Huh?”
“The signature.”
“Don't make things difficult—... What? Ahem. Yes. Right there.”
“Oh. Wait.”
Just as I lowered the pen, I stopped.
“What now?”
Felix snorted.
“Figures. There's no way you'd sign so easily. Let's not waste each other's time. I would never see you as a woman, even if I died. You know people call us Beauty and the Beast, right? Doesn't that hurt your pride?”
“That's not it.”
“God, you're pathetic. Even you know I'm way out of your league. Honestly, I don't think I'd react even if you stripped naked and threw yourself at—”
“That's not it!”
BANG!
I slammed my hand on the table.
Felix jumped.
“W-What?! Are you resorting to violence now? Do you want me that badly?”
“What the hell are you talking about, you lunatic?!”
“W-What? Lunatic?”
“The alimony isn't listed here!”
I pointed at the document and looked him straight in the eye.
Felix stared at me as though I'd grown a second head.
“Ali... what?”
“Stop pretending you didn't hear me. As you know, under Imperial law, breaking an officially registered engagement after a certain period requires compensation. And in this case, you're the one unilaterally ending it.”
Whew.
I didn't stutter.
Memorizing that little script before coming downstairs was worth it.
As I secretly breathed in relief, Felix's eyes widened.
“Compensation? Wow...”
He shook his head in disgust.
“So that's what this is about. I was wondering where you were going with this. You're trying to chain me down with money now?”
He glared at me as if he wanted me dead.
His eyes were savage.
“No wonder you're your grandfather's granddaughter. You really are that underhanded.”
His contemptuous tone made something hot surge inside me.
“Stop talking about my grandfather like that...!”
Most of my memories from before the day my parents and grandfather died together were strangely vague.
But the grandfather I occasionally remembered had been a very kind man.
Someone who truly believed I would have a loving family and live comfortably as a noble lady.
Felix scoffed.
“Like what? Am I wrong? That old man bound me before I was even born with that ridiculous prenatal engagement contract. Because someone like you kept obsessing over me as your fiancé, I never got to enjoy a proper school life. Do you understand that?!”
If he hated me that much—
Then he shouldn't have accepted all the help I gave him.
My anger shot through the roof.
But the angrier I became, the more my mouth refused to cooperate.
I just stammered and froze.
It was that pathetic habit of mine again.
The more upset I got, the less I could speak.
Tears threatened to come out too, and I bit my lip hard.
No.
If I let myself get pushed around again, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself.
Pipi, help me. Please!
[Affirmative! Launching "You Too Can Be a Villainess Ver. 1"!]
[Please select villainy intensity:]
[1. Mild 2. Moderate 3. Severe]
Intensity?
What would happen if I chose "Severe"?
Even while furious, I couldn't bring myself to make an extreme choice.
L-Let's start with Moderate!
The moment I chose—
My body began moving on its own.
One hand slid upward and supported my chin.
A crooked, arrogant pose formed naturally.
One leg crossed over the other.
It felt incredibly awkward after spending my whole life sitting properly, but hopefully the table hid it.
Felix blinked.
“...What's gotten into you all of a sudden?”
[Current villain data includes Duke Kaien Croitz, Felix Roheim, and the book "Chronicles of Famous Villainesses" read yesterday in the library.]
[Generating optimal response.]
“Hey.”
The exact same lazy, insolent tone Felix often used came out of my mouth.
“What?”
Felix's mouth fell open.
“What did you just call me? Hey?”
“Cut the nonsense and follow the law.”
“W-What?”
“Pay up. Compensation. Is your head filled with spaghetti? Do you not know what compensation means?”
I lazily flicked my fingers.
Felix's face twisted in shock.
“What? Hey, you're being ridiculously—”
“The ridiculous thing is your entire life, living off me. I'm simply asking you to honor the contract.”
“This arrogant little—”
“What is it? No money? Since when do beggars get to break engagements?”
“What did you just call me? A b-beggar?!”
“Hey. Do you think anyone can just cancel an engagement? If you break a contract, you pay the price. I feel sorry for your future child. With a father whose brain works like this... tsk, tsk.”
“You—! Gah—!”
Felix grabbed the back of his neck and started choking.
At this rate he might foam at the mouth and collapse.
Meanwhile, the disaster that was my mouth—currently controlled by Pipi—kept going.
“Instead of standing around here, shouldn't you be doing manual labor to earn compensation money? If the engagement cancellation gets delayed because you're broke...”
Ah.
This timing.
I instantly recognized the next line.
It came from the Chronicles of Famous Villainesses I'd studied so diligently at the library yesterday.
“...the baby in Lorena's belly might end up being born a bastard, you know?”
“You crazy bitch!”
Felix shot to his feet and grabbed me by the collar.
“Ugh.”
I was terrified.
But because I was synchronized with Pipi, I somehow managed not to show it.
Even though their young mistress looked moments away from being beaten, the servants only stared at me in shock.
Not one of them tried to stop him.
Fine.
Go ahead. Hit me. I'll use the bruises as evidence and demand even more compensation!
Even as I thought that, I tensed every muscle in my body.
Then—
“M-Miss Freesia!”
A servant burst into the room, practically rolling across the floor.
“There's a carriage outside to pick you up!”
He pointed toward the entrance with a trembling finger.
“A-And it bears the crest of the House of Croitz!”