I May Be A Villainess, But I Won't Live My Life That Way - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“Isn’t this a book we sell?”

The elderly bookstore owner looked at the book from various angles and then extended it back toward me.

Naturally, I frowned. As I stared at him, he hastily pretended to examine the book again. But soon enough, he cautiously offered the book back to me.

“I’m sorry, but the book you gave us is not from our bookstore.”

“What are you talking about? I bought it here three days ago.”

When I first pulled out the book from the shelf, I thought it was a history book. After all, it was titled *The Story of the Sprendo Empire*

Already having selected one cultural book and one humanities book, adding a history book seemed like a balanced choice in my mind. Although I knew the flow of imperial history well from my studies since childhood, history always remembered the stories of the victors.

Reading various history books was my way of gaining valuable experiences by viewing events from multiple perspectives. At that time, I was sure that inspiration was in that place, and I had personally paid for it.

Yet, he lied and dared to do it to me now?

“Three days ago I bought it here from you.”

With each word I spoke, the owner seemed to tremble every time my words broke.

“But that’s not true. The books we sell have a sticker like this on the back to prevent theft, as books are expensive.”

He took out another book and showed me the back cover, where indeed, there was a blue sticker.

“And when we sell a book, we mark it with this sticker. Just to avoid misunderstandings if a customer brings back a book they bought last time.”

He carefully tore off a corner, as if it had been prepared that way from the beginning.

“However, take a look. The book you bought with you doesn’t have our sticker, right?”

Just as he said, there was no such sticker on that damn book. The back of the bookshelf was smooth.

“But I’m sure I bought it here.”

“We didn’t sell it.”

“I’m sure I bought it right here.”

“Well then, I’ll show you the ledger. Normally, we don’t show it to customers, but…”

He cautiously took out the ledger and flipped to the date three days ago.

“We record the books we sell. This way, we know what’s out of stock and can reorder.”

His words made me narrow my eyes, and I carefully examined the ledger. The cultural and humanities books I had bought were listed as sold, but there was no such title.

“Moreover…”

The cautious tone of his words curbed my fervor for digging through the month’s worth of dates.

“I’ve been running this bookstore for 40 years, and this is the first time I’ve heard of such a title.”

“What?”

“You said you thought it was a history book, but usually history books have the names of scholars attached, like ‘The Imperial History by Ellementalo Scholar.’ And for romance novels, titles like that won’t sell at all.”

He took two books from the bookcase, and showed them to me, as if to say.

<The Intimate Private Life of a Duchess>.

<How the Slave Cried the Lady Who Woke Up>.

“…….”

Even just by looking at the titles, I could guess what kind of content they contained, and I kept silent.

Honestly, I was curious about the content, but these were titles I could never buy with my own hands. I was a reserved lady, completely unrelated to slaves, and certainly not one to shed tears.

“If it’s a title that could be mistaken for a history book, no one would buy it.”

“So, it wasn’t sold here?”

“That’s correct.”

“Can you swear by it?”

“What?”

“Can you swear on your life?”

I glared at him coldly as I spoke. Whether he knew my eyes were sincere or not, he swallowed hard. Then he stared back at me with a very sincere expression.

“Yes. It’s not our book.”

“…Alright.”

I had nothing more to say. Even though I was frustrated to the point of suffocation about the identity of this book, I realized that I couldn’t find out more by pressing him further.

“But.”

As I was about to leave the store, I turned around again and looked at him. The owner, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, was startled again when he looked at me.

“It might be better to make those stickers again, right?”

“What?”

“Secretly hide, tear off a part of the sticker with your body, claim that you bought the book before, and deny it while avoiding your eyes. Couldn’t you find out that way?”

“Uh… that’s…”

It seemed he hadn’t thought about that at all.

“Come to think of it, the book quantities seemed a bit off lately. I thought there were no thefts because of the stickers, but…”

He was rolling his eyes, and it seemed obvious what he was thinking. Stupid.

“If you’re going to remove a part of the sticker from the book, leave a mark on the sticker instead. So that thieves can’t copy it.”

I didn’t need to explain the specific method. I just mentioned it because it seemed like a foolish idea.

The moment he heard me, the owner’s eyes widened.

Whether his eyes popped out or not was none of my concern. I left the bookstore. The maid, who had been quietly waiting beside me, followed behind.

“T-thank you, Miss!”

His voice, hitting the back of my head, gently tickled my hair.

Whether he said it or not.

***

“It’s just a coincidence that our names are the same.”

I decided to ignore the book when I returned home.

Such a wretched book, with an unknown source, couldn’t possibly be a magical book.

Anyway, the content was nonsensical trash.

That noble Winkaiser, akin to a gentleman, falling for a maiden who was uneducated? Furthermore, I suddenly became a villainess and went mad with jealousy over a lowly girl from who knows where?

I knew myself best.

Smart.

“Who is it?”

Ignoring the book I was staring at, I asked carelessly as I roughly put it back on the shelf.

“Miss, there’s a charity banquet hosted by Lord Wensbury today. I’m here to assist with preparations.”

That’s right. I already knew this, but I replied as if I had just found out. The door opened, and three maids entered all at once.

Leaving myself to the maids, occasionally scolding them, the preparations for the banquet took a solid three hours.

It was a boring time, but it wasn’t a waste because my reflection looked satisfactory in the mirror.

“Am I really a villainess?”

Gazing at my dazzlingly beautiful self, I murmured unconsciously.

My golden hair, coated with oil, sparkled more than any jewel, and the face, expertly made up, was beautiful even when I looked at it myself.

The expensive and flashy dress was nothing more than an ornament to enhance my beauty. The precious metals and jewels were merely accessories to highlight my beauty.

And yet, in this novel, I’m supposed to become a villainess, rejected by Riccardo, and attempt to kill a lowly country girl who has appeared from somewhere.

Truly, it was a poorly written story.

“Miss, please put on your shoes.”

A maid holding a pair of lovely white shoes carefully kneeled before me.

“Bianca, Miss?”

When I didn’t lift my foot, she raised her head and called me.

“And you, do you think those shoes look good with this dress?”

I quietly questioned her. The dress I was currently wearing had red frills, but the shoes she was trying to put on me were sparkling white, adorned with white corsage at the front.

I was genuinely curious about why she thought these shoes would go well with this dress.

“Oh, th-that, well, you see…”

The maid’s face turned pale, and her lips began to tremble.

As a patient mistress, I just looked at her silently, waiting for her response.

Maybe she has a sense of aesthetics that I’m not aware of.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry, Miss!”

But instead of an answer, she bowed her head apologetically. She held the white shoes to her chest, tears streaming down her face.

No, really, why does she think these shoes match this dress?

“Miss, I will make sure to give this child a firm warning.”

An older maid, who seemed more mature, spoke while kneeling beside her. The maid, who I thought had an unusual sense of aesthetics, was now shedding tears.

I couldn’t understand why she was crying; it was just a question.

Of course, I was aware that our housemaids were afraid of me.

I had never hit them once. Of course, when they made mistakes, I raised my voice a bit. I glared at them.

“Yeah, do that.”

I just replied like that. I didn’t want to waste time because of a mere maid.

Suddenly, I remembered when these people started to be afraid of me.

One maid almost cut her finger while trimming my nails. When blood started to flow from her hand, I naturally got angry stood up, and glared at her.

In fear, she stepped back, breaking a vase, and the shards cut her hand.

Although all I did was glare at her for her mistake, the rumor spread that I threw the vase in anger.

I didn’t bother correcting the rumor. If the maids in the house were afraid of me, they would treat me more carefully, and at least in front of me, they wouldn’t make many mistakes.

“There, with the black shoes.”

Pointing my finger, I indicated the plain black shoes in the second compartment.

Another maid politely brought the black shoes and kneeled in front of me. As I extended my foot, she carefully put on the shoes, and I looked at my full figure in the mirror again.

Perfect.

Now, I just needed to wait for my fiancé, Ricardo, to escort me.

“Smile Love”