I May Be A Villainess, But I Won't Live My Life That Way - Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Maria Bellona was indeed a real person, unfortunately.

I have not yet discovered that she was Lord Wensbury’s illegitimate daughter, but we do know that she lived with a sickly widowed mother.

I also discovered that Lord Wensbury had spent his youth in Ancini to recover from wounds sustained in the war, and that the maid who served him at that time was Maria’s mother.

The revealed facts aligned with the book, and the likelihood of other facts matching increased.

“I might really go crazy.”

Inside the moving carriage, I muttered to myself.

The hope that there might still be no such person had finally turned into despair. Even though I had clung to the slim hope that such a person did not exist, it was now gone.

As each detail from the book fell into place, I felt as if my life was being squeezed out of me.

“We’ve arrived, miss.”

As the carriage stopped and the coachman opened the door, I gracefully stepped out.

“Wait a moment, I’ll be right back.”

Leaving the bowing coachman behind, I entered the bookstore. The bookseller, who had been dozing off, was startled awake when I entered.

That’s why books get stolen.

“Oh! How could such a precious guest visit this humble place!”

“…What do you think I came to a bookstore for?”

“Ah, right. I got too excited. I’m sorry!”

He playfully tapped his forehead loudly and then showed me the back cover of a book he had pulled out. A new blue label was attached.

“I’ve changed it as you instructed. And after selling it, I started stamping it.”

“Is that so?”

In truth, I wasn’t very interested. I had just spoken without thinking, and it didn’t matter much to me.

“Yes. It’s only been a few days since I started, so I don’t know much yet, but with this method…”

“Find me some books.”

I cut him off. I wasn’t particularly interested in a book thief, and the bookstore owner was probably more interested in selling books than having a conversation.

“Oh, yes, yes. What book are you looking for?”

“Books on war trauma, psychological therapy, panic disorder, those kinds of books.”

“Your passion for academic knowledge is truly extensive…”

“Quickly, a lot, now.”

“You seem busy. Understood.”

He seemed like he had more to say, perhaps praise, but he held back.

“So, how much quantity are you looking for?”

“All of them.”

“What?”

“Any book that contains even a bit of the passage I just mentioned, scrape them all together and load them into the carriage.”

The bookstore owner’s mouth dropped open.

“That’s a lot of books, isn’t it?”

“I’ll say it again, load all of them.”

“Yes, yes, okay!”

He hurriedly rushed into the inner shelves, and I finally took a quiet look around. The books were still densely packed, towering higher than my height.

I didn’t like the feeling of being watched, but when it came to books, I didn’t mind.

These embodiments of boundless knowledge had every right to look down on me willingly absorbing their wealth of information.

“I read it, read it, read it…”

Starting from wherever my fingers touched first, I moved through the shelves one book at a time. It was in the field of general knowledge, and having read many books in this area was one of my points of pride.

“I’ve never heard of this one?”

I pulled out a book with an unfamiliar title.

“The Journey of Princess Dandelion.”

It was a children’s fairy tale book. Without realizing it, I had shifted towards the children’s book section.

“This is a book I don’t need.”

As I tried to put the book back, suddenly, I thought of Lara. She liked princesses.

Thinking of the little girl who looked at me with sparkling eyes, I couldn’t help but chuckle.

Moreover, she boldly stood up against the heir of the prestigious Winkaiser family, claiming she would become a knight even if she had to knock down a flying bird.

If it weren’t for that courageous little knight, I might have remained frozen, receiving Ricardo’s cold gaze.

And I wouldn’t have been able to dispel Ricardo’s misunderstanding that I was following him everywhere.

“Well, giving a little reward is good too.”

I placed the book I held directly on the checkout counter.

“…No. Don’t you think one book is too many for Bianca?”

After a moment, I commanded the bookstore owner, who had brought over a stack of books taller than himself.

“I’ll buy all the books on that bookshelf.”

“What?”

The bookstore owner glanced at the shelf I pointed to.

“Those are… children’s books for ages 5 to 10?”

“Can’t I buy them unless I’m that age?”

“No, of course not, but Lady Bianca’s reading taste is truly deep and wide, including children’s books.”

“…Do I look like I’m 10?”

“I-I didn’t mean to say that!”

“Are you selling them or not?”

“I’m selling it, I’m counting it, right now!”

He rushed out with a piece of paper in hand towards the children’s bookshelf.

Should’ve done that earlier.

***

“I… often see you.”

It was my honest impression as I faced Ricardo.

Even though we were engaged and used to meeting a couple of times a month, meeting several times a week felt unusual.

“Well… yes.”

It seemed Ricardo felt the same way. Even though we were engaged, meeting so frequently seemed to catch him slightly off guard.

“Do you come here often?”

“Unless there’s something special, I try to come two or three times a week, at least for a short while. You see, mastering swordsmanship requires practice.”

It seemed like he was coming frequently to watch over the children’s sword training.

“And what about you?”

“I bought some books.”

I spoke as if it was nothing, gesturing towards the maids and butlers behind me, carrying books.

“That doesn’t look like much… does it?”

Ricardo replied, glancing inside the carriage. It wasn’t a little bit, because they had taken out an entire bookshelf that was taller than I was.

“We’ll have to get the kids to help.”

Wiping the sweat off his chin, Ricardo turned around. The children, who had been watching us with curious expressions, quickly gathered around him.

Then, with a bright smile, I walked towards the carriage that brought me here. Some of the children greeted me with a polite bow and a smile.

Their cheerful faces and eyes meeting mine made me feel not so bad.

“Princessssss!”

And there was a bright voice gradually getting closer.

“Lara! Be careful not to trip!”

Despite another girl’s warnings, Lara ran towards me at the fastest speed her little legs could manage, and she crashed into my dress.

“Princess, when did you arrive? Why didn’t you tell Lara you were coming? I heard from Miss Nicole that the princess was here, so I waited in the backyard and ran here!”

“I just arrived.”

Not knowing how to answer the follow-up question, I smiled slightly. Lara, also smiling, seemed satisfied with that.

“Princess, you’re pretty!”

“I know.”

Just then, Ricardo, carrying a stack of books, walked by. He seemed to hear our conversation and chuckled.

Not understanding what was so amusing, I looked at him, and he laughed quietly, then walked past us.

“Princess, did you fight with Ricardo?”

“No, we didn’t fight.”

We had never been on bad terms enough to fight. It felt like we knew each other well enough not to have any conflicts.

If anything, I felt like our relationship had gotten better, especially after Ricardo had shown a side of himself that he hadn’t revealed to me before.

It was a point in time where it wasn’t necessary, but here we were.

“If Ricardo does something bad to the princess, tell me. Then I’ll tell Ricardo off for you.”

“Hmm, do you think Ricardo would be scared if you told him off?”

I crouched down in front of Lara. I didn’t mind if my dress touched the dirty ground.

“Lara is so small and cute. How scary could you be?”

“How scary I am! Do you want to see? Roar!”

“….”

Lara raised her small, cute hands to mimic a lion, attempting to be scary. I didn’t know how to react to her.

“Roar!”

When I remained silent, Lara roared again.

Should I tell her she’s scary, or should I honestly tell her she’s cute based on what I saw?

“Ayko, be scared!”

A girl, probably Nicole, who had followed Lara earlier, suddenly covered her face with her hands and shouted. Seeing Nicole, Lara giggled.

“Roar!”

“Ayko, be scared!”

Lara roared again, and Nicole, pretending to be even more surprised, covered her face again. It felt like I was watching a clown show.

Having fun together, Lara suddenly turned her head to look at me. Her round eyes sparkled with mischief.

“Rawr!”

Lara looked at me and roared.

“Rawr!”

“….”

What should I do?

My face was frozen and wouldn’t move. Even when I tried to move my hands, they felt stiff.

“A scary tiger appeared!”

Suddenly, Lara, who was in front of me, disappeared. In her place was a pair of black pants.

“Kyaa! Hahaha!”

I heard screams turn into laughter and, as I lifted my head, I saw Ricardo holding Lara up in the air, playfully.

“Don’t bother the princess, little tiger.”

He raised Lara once more before gently placing her back down.

“I didn’t bother her. Lara wanted to protect the princess!”

“Is that so?”

“Yes! If anyone bothers the princess, Lara will say, ‘You bad person!’ and roar like this!”

“Princess must be happy with such a reliable Lara.”

Ricardo turned his head to look at me, then extended his hand in my direction.

It seemed like he was saying, ‘Don’t worry, you have someone like Lara to protect you.’ So, without thinking, I took his hand.

With a firm grip, I slowly stood up. Lara, who was beside me, looked wide-eyed at us.

“Oops! I saw this in a fairy tale book!”

Lara’s small, chubby finger pointed at us.

“I saw it in the scene where the knight saves the princess! Ricardo wasn’t the villain! He was the knight saving the princess!”

Lara laughed brightly.

“Then, the two of them lived happily ever after, and they had a wedding ceremony, like, ‘Ta-da-da-da~ The end, and they lived happily ever after!’ Right?”

Watching the cheerful Lara, I bit my lip. The fairy tale wasn’t meant for me.

My role was villainess. My ending was death.

But, of course, I couldn’t say such things to that cheerful little girl. Your princess is the villainess, and she’s going to die soon.

“Maybe.”

As if to speak for my inability to speak, Ricardo’s voice rose.

“If the princess and I get married, will Lara come as a guest?”

“Yes!”

Lara nodded vigorously, smiling brightly.

“Lara! The princess gave you a book as a gift! There are also many princess books you like!”

“Yay! I want to see!”

As Nicole called out from the other side, Lara rushed over. The sudden arrival of the lively children made the place quieter as they disappeared.

“…Why did you say that?”

I asked Ricardo.

“Smile Love”