The Villainess' Fate Defying Story - Chapter 9

She is Daisy Fal Cardo, the daughter of Viscount Cardo, a so-called rural noble in the Kingdom of Clores.

She is not rich or of high status, but her father, a Viscount, has been given land in a plain outside the main points of the kingdom.

She is a girl in the position of a follower of the villainess.

“Make sure you get to know Rendall’s daughter better than you do now.”

Daisy has received orders from her father and has agreed to it herself.

After all, Miss Cassandra is the Prince’s fiancee and the future queen.

Getting close to Cassandra, who will be queen, will be of great benefit to her.

Had her parents been a little more ambitious, they might have forced their daughter to become the prince’s fiancee.

But even if you look at the whole kingdom, there is no girl more suited to the position of the Prince than the daughter of Marquis Rendall.

If there were eligible daughters in the top three families, Marquis Eldim’s family, Marquis Lombardo’s family with the head holding the title of General, or Duke Weil’s family, the situation would be different.

However, they are already over 20 years old and married into another family.

Other than the top three families, there are no families that would force their daughter to become the Prince’s fiancee by kicking out Cassandra, who will become queen.

Many families do not welcome her becoming Queen, but there are no families willing to pick a fight with the Rendall family.

Even the heads of the top three families tolerate it without complaining directly.

It is a nuisance to start a fight prematurely.

They would be fools.

If they were to remove Cassandra from her position, there would be another ugly fight to support a queen candidate.

Even the top three families have not objected to Cassandra’s engagement, given this possibility.

Despite the grumbling of the lords who don’t like her, it is the most realistic and least controversial option for Cassandra to become queen.

Cassandra is the daughter of a powerful noble who rules the entire southern region.

Of course, there is always the possibility that the prince will turn his attention to someone else and talk about taking a concubine.

The academy is full of girls hoping to be number two.

But none of them can surpass Cassandra, the legitimate candidate for queen.

This engagement is an order from the King himself and has nothing to do with the Prince’s personal will.

Even the Prince cannot refuse.

That’s what it means to be the legitimate candidate for queen.

If anyone gets too excited about being chosen by the Prince, they will be killed by the Marquis Rendall.

They will literally be wiped out of society and social circles.

Even if Daisy happens to catch the Prince’s eye, she must remain number two.

After all, Daisy’s family, Viscount Cardo’s family, is under the protection of Marquis Rendall’s family.

It’s terrifying to go against that family, which controls many noble families other than the top three.

They would be attacked and crushed by other families protected by the Rendall family.

It’s impossible for a low-ranking noble to ruin the reputation of the Marquis.

Cassandra may be revered, but she must not upset her.

Daisy thought she knew her role.

She did not like Cassandra, who tended to look down on her from a higher position and was rather arrogant.

No, she didn’t like her at all.

Her father had been very careful in arranging their meeting during the dance and birthday party.

Daisy entered the academy with the intention of becoming Cassandra’s close aide, hoping to take advantage of the fact that she knew and remembered her.

She must be a useful person to Cassandra.

She attended the entrance ceremony with the desire to support Cassandra without being too assertive.

With her long, dark brown hair and doll-like blue eyes, Daisy looked like a noble daughter, carrying the expectations of her father and brothers.

She approached Cassandra and spoke to her, but something seemed wrong.

When she mentioned that the scholarship students had triplets, which she had previously learned as a topic of conversation, Cassandra was visibly shaken.

Daisy panicked, wondering if she had said something unpleasant, but there was no reprimand.

She felt a little uncomfortable.

Daisy was puzzled when Cassandra smiled at her more than when they had met before, and seemed like a completely different person.

She often observed Cassandra treating her classmates equally, even those of lower noble status, and hiding her dismissive attitude.

However, due to her status as a high-ranking noble daughter, she couldn’t completely ignore the hierarchy.

Within these constraints, she tried to be as modest as possible.

She seemed to particularly like the scholarship students who were commoners.

In her conversations with Daisy and the others, Cassandra never broke her “they are commoners” attitude.

On the other hand, she allowed them to speak informally with their classmates.

They were new students who had not yet learned proper etiquette, so there was no point in making a fuss.

Let us watch over them with a generous heart.

When Cassandra made a slightly troubled suggestion, many followed suit.

Although they had been confused by the triplets’ behavior at first, it was now strange that they had become so accustomed to it.

After a few days, she finally realized that something was wrong.

It wasn’t as if she was trying to act like the leader of a faction or being aloof, nor was she forcing herself on the prince since she was his fiancee.

She looked exactly the same, but it felt like she was a different person.

The noble daughters who were in a similar position to Daisy, who had been eager to become Miss Cassandra’s close aide, were completely caught off guard.

As for what noble daughters liked, it was beautiful dresses, delicious sweets, and above all, gossip! They were especially interested in hearing about other people’s failures.

The negative consciousness made it easier to unite as a group and strengthen the sense of community.

The Rendall family was a great noble family, but that meant they had many enemies.

The children of the nobility, who were among the top three families, quietly aimed to take advantage of Cassandra’s missteps and bring her down.

They wanted to protect Cassandra from such malice and strengthen Rendall’s position, and ultimately protect their parents’ position.

For Daisy, this was the academy life of a lifetime, into which she had plunged with great enthusiasm.

It was, however, incredibly peaceful.

If someone tried to spread rumors about another noble daughter, she would gently scold them.

Even if there was a female student who tried to flatter the prince, she would never get angry and would behave calmly.

If Cassandra muttered even a single word, the candidate for her close aide without any instructions would drive the girl out of the academy so that she could never return.

On the contrary, if Daisy went so far as to try such a thing, she would be in danger of being run out of the academy by Cassandra.

Something is wrong, this is not how it was supposed to be.

She needed to be favored by Cassandra.

She had to build a strong relationship with her and help her parents.

How could she be useful to her and get her attention? Daisy never imagined that her days would be filled with such warm friendships.

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During the transition between classes, students walked sparsely in the hallway.

There was plenty of time between classes, and if they were not distracted by other things, they would not be late.

This time was considered gossip time for the girls.

“Cassandra-sama…”

She searched for her figure and shifted her gaze.

Unfortunately, she seemed to have some student council business to attend to, as she was talking to Sirius face to face in a position that would not hinder the passage.

She wanted to move with her if possible, but waiting by her side felt like eavesdropping and would be inappropriate.

Waiting alone made her feel lonely.

Most of all, she did not get along well with Sirius.

As mentioned earlier, Daisy was the daughter of the Viscount Cardo family, who were under the protection and patronage of Rendall.

The three nobles who were part of the top three families and were close to the prince could be considered part of the opposing forces.

If they were to stare at her, it would not only affect her, but also her parents, siblings, and Cassandra.

She couldn’t bring herself to join in the girls’ typical conversation about how charming Sirius-sama was.

If only she had been more ambitious, she would have tried to get close to Sirius, Ralph or Jake and be promoted in that direction.

But it felt like betraying Cassandra, which made her hesitate.

Especially the sons of the top three families, who had shone brighter than Cassandra at first, now seemed somehow faded.

It was much more comfortable to be treated kindly and equally by Cassandra with an affectionate smile, even to scholarship students, and she thought she exuded nobility.

She decided to live her academy life without arousing their resentment.

Having made up her mind, Daisy walked down the hallway with a heavy heart.

“…Oh?”

As Daisy walked down the hallway, she saw a classmate in front of her.

It was one of the triplet scholarship students she had heard about.

That yellow ribbon swaying with each step…what was it again?

“Good day, Rita-san.”

At first, the triplets often acted together when they enrolled, but now it is rare for all three to be together.

Although they were triplets, their personalities, hobbies, and tastes were completely different, and it seemed that they were more comfortable acting alone.

It was proof that they had become familiar and accepted at this academy.

“Daisy-san, this is perfect timing! I have something to tell you, ah…!”

Rita turned her shoulder to the voice and smiled innocently without a care in the world.

However, the place where she stopped her was bad.

“Ah, be careful, Rita-san!”

She was just about to walk down the stairs, and Rita, who was about to grab the railing, lost her balance.

It was like slow motion.

She tumbled off the top step…

Daisy’s face went pale, and she forgot the rule about not running in the hallway as she ran toward Rita.

“Rita-san!”

She looked down in despair.

She felt like she couldn’t live if Rita was hurt.

But Daisy’s fear was for nothing.

For some reason, Rita stood calmly on the first floor.

She made a peace sign and said, “It’s okay! I took a good fall!”

It was an incomprehensible statement.

She hurried down the stairs and ran to Rita.

“My feet are tingling, but hehe, I’ll show Daisy-san next time.

An artistic one and a half turn!”

“….huh?”

One and a half turn…? She looked up at the stairs in fear and amazement.

From that height, did she do a spin and land like a cat by twisting around?

What kind of body structure did she have?!

Daisy was completely frozen, but an event occurred that made her even more terrified.

A male student ran over in a commotion and asked, “Hey, are you okay? You suddenly fell down the stairs…no, it looked like you fell from the second floor!”

Her body froze as if paralyzed by his voice.

The big student’s shoes echoed loudly in the hallway.

“Jake-sama.”

“Hey, did you push her down?”

“No, I…!”

Even if it was someone other than Jake, they would be surprised if a person fell from above.

But that’s not the point for Daisy.

She swears she had no intention of pushing Rita down the stairs.

She only called out to her because she saw her.

She couldn’t let him misunderstand.

“You…are one of Cassandra’s…aha?”

It’s no use.

Her true identity must have been revealed by now.

He already knows that she’s a girl from a family close to Cassandra’s.

“I thought she was quiet since she entered the academy, but has Cassandra been using her lackeys to harass the scholarship students? She must be very cunning.”

Should she defend herself? No, if she argues and upsets him, it could affect Cassandra.

It’s a fact that Rita fell down the stairs, and she was the cause.

If she makes excuses and makes the situation worse, she could give Cassandra a reason to judge her.

She must avoid that at all costs.

“Cassandra-sama has nothing to do with this.

Please don’t misunderstand, Jake-sama… It was all just my careless actions.”

It’s not uncommon for the children of nobles to bully the scholarship students.

There is a certain group of people who can’t accept commoners with special talents, even if it lowers their own dignity.

“Wait! Um, I just fell from the top of the stairs by myself, you know? Why are you angry?”

“Why? Of course, it’s not acceptable to overlook Cassandra’s harassment right in front of me, is it?”

Rita didn’t understand why Jake was blaming Daisy and his words made her completely angry.

“Cassandra-sama!? What? That’s impossible!”

“You may not understand, but noble women are like that.

When they don’t like someone, they use their lackeys to attack them.

It’s unfortunate that you were targeted, even though it’s annoying.

If it weren’t for your agility, you might have hit your head and died.”

“…”

Rita sighed dramatically and held Daisy’s hand tightly as she tensed and looked down.

“I said I had to talk to Daisy-san about something, right?

Hey, remember those baked sweets we got from Cassandra-sama? I learned the recipe from her! How about making them with us on our day off tomorrow? We can use the dorm kitchen.

Daisy-san wanted to try them too, right?”

“What? Baked sweets…?”

Suddenly, an incomprehensible word came out and her thoughts stopped.

Come to think of it, she had heard a story about the triplets eating baked sweets the day after the Entrance Ceremony.

It was from Cassandra.

She was envious.

She couldn’t deny that she felt a jealous thought that they were the only ones who could get favors by being friendly with her.

Did she look that greedy for them? It’s not that she wanted the baked sweets, but the fact that they were given to them by Cassandra was important…

There’s something wrong with this child.

But she knows that she’s not a bad child.

“I’m going to make sweets…? But we’ll do it together, right? I don’t want to be a nuisance.”

“Why? Daisy-san is a friend of Cassandra-sama, right? We talked about wanting to hear more about Cassandra-sama from Daisy-san.”

“F-friend!?”

She was about to scream in horror.

Treating Cassandra as a friend is a disrespectful act that deserves death!

What, is this part of some grand conspiracy to trap her?!

“It’s no problem, since it’s what Cassandra-sama said! Don’t hold back, okay?”

She felt like she was being played with by a lively puppy, and her act of suspecting if there was something behind it became foolish.

“Friends? What’s that? That person wouldn’t say something like that.”

“Jake-sama!”

Rita turned with a surprised expression to the big boy who had opened his mouth.

She faced him directly, as if to shield Daisy from Jake’s questioning.

She raised both hands as if to restrain him and spoke.

“Jake-sama is a knight, right? A classmate told me.”

“So what? What does that have to do with anything?”

“Please don’t accuse others based on your own assumptions without listening to my and Daisy-san’s side of the story! You’re accusing someone of lying and speaking ill of someone who’s not even here, without any proof! Is that chivalry? It doesn’t seem like the behavior of a knight, it’s just bullying!”

Will she be killed?

It’s already an incredible bargain sale of events.

No matter how reasonable she was, her words were too harsh.

It’s impossible for either Daisy or Cassandra to defend her.

Defending this child will only make their position worse.

“I…thought you were being bullied.”

“That’s why I’m saying it’s not like that!…

Daisy-san, let’s go to the next classroom.”

She was grabbed again and pulled away.

That hand, her slender arm, trembled slightly.

She couldn’t bring herself to let go of the ladder that Rita had offered to help her with, just because it would make their position worse.

“Jake-sama, although I may be overstepping my bounds, there seems to have been a slight misunderstanding.

I apologize for the inconvenience, but I will take my leave here.”

She would rather die than let go of her hand.

……….

“…That’s what happened!”

The other day, she was invited to the dormitory as planned and participated in making sweets.

It was her first experience making sweets, but thanks to the simple recipe, it was a great success.

As expected, the distribution and quantity were created by the Rendall family’s personal chef.

She couldn’t hide her surprise that even amateurs could reproduce it.

Now Daisy is honored to be invited by Cassandra to a tea party at her residence.

Several other young ladies who are vying for the position of Cassandra’s follower or close aide have also been invited.

Instead of competing with each other, Daisy told the hostess, Cassandra, everything with a gleam in her eye.

Originally, she didn’t want anyone to know about this mistake because it was an act that would cause trouble for Cassandra.

She was afraid that Jake would make her disappear, but he himself gave her a “pass” on the same day.

Thanks to his generous decision not to punish her for this incident, Daisy’s skin was saved.

It’s strange that he, who is proud, didn’t make a fuss about it, even though he was cut off like that.

Sitting on the white chair in front of her, Cassandra smiled gracefully.

She felt that everything about her was different from before, from her expression to everything else.

But Daisy thinks that the current Cassandra is definitely better.

“I also understand the reason why Cassandra-sama is especially concerned about the scholarship students.”

Daisy had no idea that Cassandra’s inner feelings were in turmoil.