I May Be A Villainess, But I Won't Live My Life That Way - Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The coachman dropped me off in front of an old building. As I stepped out of the carriage and approached the building, I realized that although it was old, it was well-maintained.

“Miss, do you mind it?”

“What?”

“I thought you didn’t like going to places like this?”

The maid pointed cautiously at the orphanage building.

“What kind of place is this?”

“It’s shabby and dirty.”

It didn’t look particularly dirty. Rather, seeing the neatly washed clothes spread out in the yard gave me a feeling of cleanliness.

“Um, who are you?”

A girl with split hair cautiously approached, and with a slightly frightened expression, she asked. Behind the girl, a tiny child clung to the girl’s leg.

Until a little while ago, both of them were playing in the dirt, as evidenced by the soil on their clothes, especially their hands.

“I am Marquise Bianca of House Croft. I have business at this orphanage”

“Oh, yes!”

The child, after hearing my name or the title of Lady, was surprised and quickly ran into the building. The little one behind the girl couldn’t keep up with the girl’s rapid pace and stood still.

“The director seems to be inside the building. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go in as well?”

“But since you’ve arrived, it would be better for the director to come out and greet you.”

It’s bothersome, but there’s no help for it…

Thinking it couldn’t be helped, while waiting for a moment, the persistent gaze of the little one had been fixated on me for a while.

I couldn’t pretend not to notice, so I lowered my gaze slightly and looked at her.

As our eyes met, the child widened their already large eyes even more. The light brown irises were very clear.

Staring intently, the child approached me, stumbling along the way.

“Um…”

From a few steps away, the child spoke quietly.

“Are you a princess?”

“….”

What is this child talking about? I’m sure they heard me say that I am Marquise Bianca Croft.

“Little one, this person is Lady Bianca Croft.”

“But…”

The child looked at me with an expression that seemed to doubt the maid’s words.

“Even though you’re so pretty, are you really not a princess?”

They say children can’t lie, so it must be true.

“Sort of.”

I patted the child’s head.

“Similar to the princess.”

I was in a similar position to the princess of the neighboring kingdom, so it wasn’t a big lie.

“Really! You’re a princess!”

The child’s eyes sparkled with excitement, looking at me.

“Wow, it’s a princess!”

The little one circled me, examining my face, my dress, my necklace, earrings, rings, fingers, and hair, as if everything about me was fascinating.

“A princess coming to our orphanage! It must be because I prayed so hard to God! Seeing a princess was my wish!”

Smiling at the child’s enthusiastic expression, I responded.

“Let’s go inside quickly. The director will be surprised!”

The small hand grabbed mine tightly. A hand covered in dirt.

“Hey! Hey!”

The maid, who preferred cleanliness, quickly tried to pull the child, who grabbed my hand, away.

“It’s okay. Let go.”

“Huh? B-but, Lady, you must be disgusted by the dirt.”

“Yeah. I’ll wash my hands as soon as we go in. Get some water ready.”

“Oh, yes, yes.”

The maid quickly ran off, presumably to find water for washing hands.

Now, only the child and I were left.

“May we go in, Princess?”

“Yeah. Lead the way.”

“Yes, yes!”

The child joyfully grabbed my hand and shook it, leading us into the building. Faintly in the distance, I could hear the laughter of girls and the ruckus of boys.

It struck me again that there were many children here.

“Anyway, you see, there were eggs for today’s side dishes. I like eggs, you know. I wanted to eat two, but I could only eat one and a half. However, Nicole, my big sister, gave me half of hers, so I ate one and a half eggs!”

“I see.”

I didn’t quite understand, but at least the child’s cheerful and clear voice was more pleasant than the muffled conversations of the old folks at the dinner table. I found it easy to smile.

“Wow! Princess, you look even prettier when you smile!”

The child, standing tall, observed me with admiration. She was genuinely honest and bright.

Only then did I realize why I kept holding the dirty child’s hand.

This child looked at me sincerely, displayed a genuine smile, and assessed me without pretense.

That was reason enough to keep holding her hand.

“No, My Lady, what are you doing here at our orphanage without telling us, if you had, I would have been all set and waiting for you! Oh, no, let’s say hello first, I’m Leanne Spata, the director of this place.”

At that moment, a middle-aged woman came running down the corridor, pouring out words while bowing in greeting.

“Oh my! My goodness, Lara! What are you holding the Lady’s hand with those dirty hands!”

“It’s okay.”

As the director reached out to release the child from my grasp, the child quickly hid behind me.

Observing the swift movement of the child, I assured the director with a glance that it was fine.

“We shouldn’t be doing this in the corridor. Let’s go inside.”

“Oh dear, Let me guide you to my office.”

I followed the director into the office, and the child, called Lara, also held onto my hand and went inside.

The office was neatly decorated, with a warm atmosphere, and there was no sign of extravagant items or artificial decorations.

Although it was hard to tell at a glance, seeing how the children interacted with the director so brightly, I could sense that this orphanage was well-run.

While waiting for the director to bring in some tea, we washed our hands with water brought by the maid, and I used my own handkerchief to dry them.

“I came here because I was thinking about sponsoring this orphanage.”

“Sponsor…ship?”

“Yeah.”

The director, who I thought would naturally be pleased, stared at me with wide eyes, surprised.

“Do you… dislike it?”

“Oh, no! It’s not that I dislike it. It’s just that I’m so surprised… Yes. They say people have three chances in life, and it seems I’ve used up my three strokes of luck now.”

Finally realizing the situation, the director smiled.

“But, there’s a condition.”

“A condition…?”

The word “condition” seemed to make the director slightly tense.

Despite appearing quite mature, she seemed overly naive to think that someone would offer help without expecting anything in return.

“Spread the word that I’m sponsoring this place.”

“…What?”

“Tell the children, put up posters, do whatever it takes, but spread the rumor that I’m sponsoring this place.”

The director still seemed to be blinking her eyes, not fully understanding my words. That was okay. With her age, she would figure it out on her own soon.

“So, are you saying that the condition is to promote the fact that Lady Croft is sponsoring our orphanage?”

“Yes.”

What I needed now was to create an image.

I had to make it widely known that I wasn’t as wicked as described in the novel. Rather, I was a kind person. So, I thought of sponsorship. Not only for this orphanage but also for other places—like nursing homes, shelters for the homeless, and various other places.

At least by building up such charitable actions, people wouldn’t easily label me as a villain.

“Is that so? It’s not difficult at all.”

“Good. Then I’ll write a check right away.”

I extended my hand to the maid, and she pulled out a checkbook as if she had been waiting. I held a pen and was about to write the amount, but I realized I didn’t know how much to donate since this was my first time sponsoring.

Earlier, I heard a lot of children’s voices, indicating there were quite a few of them. I decided on an amount equivalent to the cost of about three dresses. I tore a check and handed it to the director.

“My, my! Is this much necessary?”

Was it a lot? Seeing the director’s surprised expression, I briefly wondered if I had written too much. However, looking at Lara giggling beside me, I thought, “Well, why not?” I had plenty of money.

“Please make sure to follow through with what I’ve said.”

“Of course!”

The director nodded vigorously.

“Then, I’ll be on my way.”

I stood up, and automatically, Lara also jumped up. The maid, of course, had to accompany us on our way out, and the director followed to see us off.

“Thank you so much.”

The director continued expressing her gratitude repeatedly.

The truth was that the building was old and costly to repair, and the children’s clothes were always in short supply because they were limited to handing them down.

Then she expressed her gratitude again.

Perhaps it was around the seventeenth time that I heard her thank me.

As we approached the exit, a familiar shadow appeared.

The man standing there, his back to the sun, slightly narrowed his eyes and looked at me.

“Bianca?”

Although I couldn’t see his face well due to backlighting, his voice was unmistakably familiar.

“Ricardo.”

Why was he here?, I couldn’t fathom.

“Why are you here?”

It seemed Ricardo had the same question.

“What business do you have here?”

His voice was slightly tense.

As my eyes adjusted to the sunlight, Ricardo’s face, which had appeared dark, gradually became clearer.

Sweat clung to his furrowed forehead, and his silent lips were tightly closed, as if someone had stuffed cotton into his mouth.

Why would meeting me here make him so angry? What had I done at the orphanage?

It became distant for a moment, wondering what he might be thinking about me.

“Don’t be mad at our princess, Ricardo”

Lara bravely stood in front of me.

“Even if you’re Ricardo, if you get mad at our princess, Lara will be angry!”

A one-meter-tall brave little knight protected me.

It was very reassuring.

“If you don’t want to be hit, it’s better to step back, isn’t it?”

I took the young knight’s protection and sent a very relaxed smile to Ricardo, who looked puzzled.

“Smile Love”