I May Be A Villainess, But I Won't Live My Life That Way - Chapter 55

Chapter 55

“Maria! The cookies are ready!”

Running towards us with a bright smile from afar was Nicole. Her flushed face clearly showed her excitement about something good happening.

“Oh, hello, Bianca. I didn’t realize you were here.”

As Nicole approached closer and noticed me, she quickly bowed her head. Her tone was completely different from when she called Maria earlier, and her voice sounded somewhat stiff.

Today’s Nicole wasn’t acting strange. Most of the other children treated me similarly to Nicole. They clearly had a fondness for me, but they seemed uncomfortable around me.

And until now, I hadn’t given it much thought. People generally either treated me like that or were just afraid.

“Oh, really? Everyone must be waiting eagerly.”

“Yes, they’re practically dying of anticipation!”

As Nicole spoke to Maria, her tone of voice changed again. It was much brighter and sounded genuinely happy.

Perhaps Nicole herself didn’t realize it, but I did. And Maria did too.

“How about we go together?”

Maria turned her head towards me and casually suggested, as if we were close friends as before.

“It’ll be fun. We’ll make cookie dough, bake it in the oven, and watch as the cookies I made turn brown.”

“….”

To me, cookies were something you bought at a bakery. Or something exclusively made by the pastry chefs of the Croft family.

Despite knowing that as a noble heiress, or rather, not just any noble but the heiress of the Croft family, I wouldn’t bake cookies, Maria still said so.

She had also noticed how much more familiar Nicole was with her. She knew that despite my spending money on the children, they still liked Maria more than me.

She also understood that the children didn’t see me as an easy presence, and that such a day would never come.

“I’m good, thank you.”

“Oh, really? That’s too bad.”

Maria smiled with satisfaction. It was a smile that seemed to say she had won this time.

“Let’s go, Nicole. Is Lara coming too?”

“Uh-huh~.”

“If we don’t hurry, we might miss our chance to use the crown-shaped cookie cutter.”

“Woah~.”

While holding Maria’s hand, Nicole nodded eagerly, but Lara hesitated and looked at me. It seemed like she wanted to come with us.

But even if Lara looked at me with those eyes, I had no intention of going to the kitchen or baking cookies. I couldn’t do anything to diminish the dignity of the heiress.

“If you want to go, you can.”

“Princess, aren’t you coming?”

“Lara.”

I looked at my little girl quietly.

“I don’t bake cookies.”

Hearing my words, Lara widened her eyes slightly and opened her mouth in surprise.

“Why?”

She was always full of questions. Why is this? What’s that?

“Because…”

But my explanation was too complicated, and I couldn’t satisfy this little girl’s curiosity.

I had to admit it. Maria was much better at taking care of the children than I was. I didn’t have much talent for dealing with kids.

“That’s what princesses do, they don’t do the hard work.”

Maria explained, kindly but with a hint of mockery. And Lara nodded in agreement at Maria’s explanation.

“Hurry up, Maria.”

“Okay. Lara, come on.”

With Nicole urging them, Maria took her hand and disappeared inside.

“You should go too. You want to bake cookies, don’t you?”

“Yes! I want to bake cookies!” Lara replied with a grin.

In truth, I didn’t want to go. I hoped to tell the children that they could play with the princess instead of going to bake cookies.

“I think it would be nice if the Princess could bake cookies with us.”

“Wensbury Young Lady said earlier that the Princess doesn’t bake cookies.”

“Then maybe the Princess doesn’t know how to bake cookies.”

“Right.”

“I thought the Princess knew everything…”

“The Princess doesn’t know everything.”

Even though Maria might have phrased it differently, perhaps speaking at the child’s level to avoid hurting her feelings and ensuring she understood, I could only say it like this. I learned how to speak gracefully and politely, but I never learned how to interact with children.

“Princess.”

Lara tugged at my skirt, calling out to me. Was she going to say something? Bid me farewell?

“What is it?”

She was just going to bake cookies, and even knowing that, I didn’t look at her, annoyed that I felt like Lara was leaving me for Maria.

“Princess, Princess.”

Even though I just wanted her to speak, Lara looked at me as if she had to talk to me, calling out to me again. I reluctantly turned to look at her, and she smiled broadly as if she had been waiting.

“Even if the Princess can’t bake cookies, Lara likes the Princess the most. Because the Princess is the prettiest.”

Thinking that her words were very logical, Lara nodded vigorously.

It was a strange feeling.

The irritation that had built up until a moment ago suddenly melted away like snow, and I felt like a chuckle was about to burst out. In fact, I could feel the muscles of my face stretching into a grin.

“Lara, you shouldn’t judge people based solely on their appearance.”

Although I felt good, I gently reminded Lara of the manners of an adult.

“When you look at people, their inner qualities are just as important as their appearance.”

“Their inner qualities?”

Lara looked puzzled, as if she didn’t quite understand.

“What’s inside?”

Lara’s question came naturally, as if it were obvious.

“Inner qualities are, um…”

As I was about to explain, I paused and looked at Lara. She was young, and her knowledge was as limited as her height.

I had to explain it easily, very easily.

Intelligence, what should I call it? Knowledge? How should I explain it easier?

“So, it’s like if someone is smart or kind, things like that.”

“Oh~”

Fortunately, Lara nodded, and I couldn’t help but smile at her understanding my words in one go.

Of course, it’s me! I can do it if I try, right?

“So, it’s the Princess.”

…Wasn’t it? I thought I explained it so that Lara could understand!

What was difficult about it? Smart person? What could be a simpler or easier explanation than a kind person?

“Pretty, smart, and kind person!”

Lara grinned and pointed at me.

“It’s the Princess! The Princess is the best!”

I felt a wave of emotion as Lara spoke with a sunny smile.

And without realizing it, I hugged Lara tightly.

“Lara.”

After a warm embrace, I looked at Lara, who was still smiling brightly, and spoke seriously.

“Don’t you think you’re a genius?”

“Wow! Lara’s a genius!”

Lara cheered with excitement.

***

“Paradin?”

When I asked, the hospital director nodded quietly.

“Is that what caused the death of the Megi?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

The hospital director was true to his word when he asked me to contact him with anything, even the smallest detail, that had anything to do with Megi’s death.

My gaze stopped at the section listing the poison found in Megi’s body.

And as Maria had said, it matched the poison found in the cupcake I had brought.

“I’m not familiar with this stuff. What is Paradin?”

At least it was a poison I had never heard of before. It would have been strange if it were a common poison like arsenic or cyanide, unlike arsenic or cyanide, which were more common.

“I don’t blame you for not knowing. Paradin isn’t a common poison. It’s very expensive.”

“Expensive poison?”

“Yes. Paradin is a toxin that can be extracted from the Paradin mushroom. However, the Paradin mushroom is not very common, so it’s very difficult to obtain. Although it’s often joked to be optimized for assassination as it is colorless, tasteless, and odorless, it’s so expensive that it’s rarely used for actual assassinations.”

“How expensive is it?”

“It’s more expensive than a lump of gold.”

A poison more expensive than gold…

If Maria knew this fact, it would have been evidence that she was convinced I was the culprit.

There aren’t many people who would spend so much money to kill a middle-aged woman from a normal rural area.

“This is…”

As the hospital director tried to put down the document he had given me, something written underneath caught my eye.

“What’s this?”

Pointing to the word I had found with my finger, I asked, and he cleared his throat and looked at the word.

“Oh, that’s another component found during the autopsy of the Megi.”

“You mean Megi ate this?”

“Yes.”

“Before she died?”

“Yes. There’s no way it could have eaten that after it died, right?”

The hospital director chuckled as if asking if there was a problem. He still seemed unaware of what the problem was.

But it was a big problem for me, and it was a clue.

“Wouldn’t there be an ingredient list for that cupcake? It says poison was found there too.”

“Yes. It’s on the back.”

At the hospital director’s words, I hurriedly flipped the page. And as he said, there was also an analysis sheet for the cupcake.

Flour, sugar, chocolate… As I scanned through the ingredients that should naturally be in a cupcake, I noticed something that shouldn’t be there.

“Smile Love”