A Painting of the Villainess as a Young Lady

Despite her dress being uncomfortably tight around her waist, which didn’t suit her at all, Alesia carried herself with confidence. She seemed short of breath, but Violet didn’t point out this discomfort.

“Rather than that, may I ask why you were listening to the nonsense of a fool?”

“Because I didn’t want to jeopardize the Marchioness’s favor.”

“…You’re being much too stiff. Just speak casually, won’t you?”

“I merely matched my manners to the one who wasn’t showing any courtesy. I find this more comfortable.”

“…You seem to have a certain fondness for our mother.”

“We are actually close, after all.”

Violet chuckled. Alesia, with a touch of emotion in her expression, lightly whacked Alec’s head again. The unconscious eldest son of the Leshan family grew one more bump for a total of two.

“Do you always find joy in living this way?”

“Hmm?”

“You had several opportunities to explain yourself to me properly, yet you only evaded the subject without saying a word. Why?”

Alesia’s resentment was still apparent.

Violet vaguely trailed off in her response, thinking about Alesia mentioning her troublesome actions during the debutante toward her younger sister, Aileen.

“Opportunities to explain myself…?”

“Then pretending to be good afterward. Well, I don’t even know which side is your true self…”

Somehow, Alesia had an angry expression.

The reason Violet hadn’t explained her past to Alesia was simply that she didn’t have much to explain. She had harassed Aileen because she didn’t like her. What more could she add to that explanation?

No matter how complicated the circumstances, the proposition was overly clear. She had no intention of airing her dirty laundry to others.

So, Violet didn’t point out Alesia’s rudeness. There was no point in provoking the siblings further.

In the end, Violet, who hadn’t brought up the topic of Aileen, smiled gently.

“In any case, thank you for helping me.”

“……”

“Then, could I excuse myself and leave, as I’m getting tired?”

“……”

Alesia didn’t respond, and Violet didn’t care, as she wasn’t expecting an answer.

.

.

.

Before the end of the first day of the banquet, such an incident had occurred. It was something she hadn’t told anyone, given the awkwardness of the situation and the potential for more trouble.

The corridor remained quiet.

As Violet followed the servant, she thought casually about Alesia Leshan. She resembled Cairn but lacked the grace and appeared to be straightforward. Trapped in the role of ‘the marquisate’s esteemed daughter’, she had not yet spread her wings.

Violet didn’t dislike Alesia. However, what could she do when she was naturally drawn to someone who was showing hostility and was rude to her? Her feelings were in the realm of incomprehensibility for the current Violet.

Perhaps it was due to her prolonged contemplation. She didn’t even notice that someone was approaching her. This led to her surprise when someone touched her shoulder.

“What are you doing here?”

Violet was on the verge of instinctively pushing her assailant away, but she managed to restrain herself when she heard the voice. It was Cairn.

If she had attempted to push him away, she would have been the one sprawled on the ground.

“—I don’t know where to start with your etiquette, but first, I’ll ask you where you’ve been.”

“Huh? I’ve been calling you since earlier. You didn’t hear me?”

“……”

“Where is your mind that you can’t hear me when I call you? You might get into trouble if you keep this up.”

“……”

Purple eyes silently swept over Cairn. Unable to comprehend the meaning behind that gaze, Cairn quickly redirected the conversation to his own matters.

“No, I wanted to stay by your side as much as possible… But suddenly that cursed Crown Prince…”

“Shush.”

“That cursed Crown Prince…”contemporary romance

“Shush.”

“…The Crown Prince called for me. I had no choice but to go.”

“……”

“It’s not an excuse—it’s the truth!”

Cairn defended himself, feeling wronged. Violet ignored his defense. It was only later that Cairn noticed Violet’s wine-stained clothes.

“What happened to your outfit?”

“…Haa.”

“No, seriously, why?”

The servant who had been guiding her earlier became even more timid. Violet lazily answered with a simple ‘How should I know?’ as she couldn’t be bothered to explain. Cairn’s expression crumpled.

Ignoring her younger brother’s questions, Violet followed the servant’s guidance.

“Kyahh!”

Suddenly, from a corner of the hallway they were passing through, they heard a scream. The sound wasn’t deafening, and the corridor remained quiet.

Clearly, something had gone wrong. The servant, who had been guiding them, froze in her tracks. Cairn stood up abruptly.

“…Are you going to see what happened?”

“Then are you just going to stand here and watch?”

As Cairn asked if she was just going to look, a slight hint of disdain filled his eyes. Violet understood what that expression meant but simply smiled.

Helping others was something one could only afford to do when they had the leisure. Those who always had an excess of leisure couldn’t comprehend those who didn’t even have the capacity to help others.

“…Ha, fine, forget it. Even if you don’t go, I will.”

Cairn spoke impatiently and quickly ran toward the source of the commotion. The servant still looked indecisive. Violet sighed and waved her hand.

She followed Cairn at a slower pace. As expected, she found the incident they had anticipated taking place. In one of the rooms designated for resting during the banquet, a vile nobleman was attempting to overpower someone using his influence, and…

“Absolute buffoon!”

…A noblewoman, Alesia Leshan, was kicking a molester right between his legs.

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