Chapter 7
“Ah…”
Hm?
At the somehow familiar voice, Liria looked up and found exactly the person she expected.
Her eyes widened slightly before returning to normal.
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
“…A-Are you apologizing to me…?”
“Yes, I bumped into you by accident. Are you alright, my lady?”
The other woman’s mouth fell open at Liria’s gentle tone.
It was understandable.
Liria had just smiled warmly and was about to say something more when,
“What’s going on here?”
A man appeared and wrapped an arm around the shoulders of the woman Liria had bumped into.
The Crown Prince and Lady Rogers.
The protagonists of this world had appeared before the villainess.
Normally, Liria would have lost her mind and lunged at them the instant she saw them together.
But the current Liria remained perfectly upright, maintaining a calm and rational demeanor.
“Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
“Ducal Lady Devlin, are you harassing Lady Rogers again—”
“That’s not what happened, so please don’t misunderstand.”
After firmly denying it, Liria paused to choose her words.
She hadn’t wanted to meet them in the first place, but since they had run into one another anyway, this wasn’t a bad opportunity to settle everything once and for all.
“I have something to say to both of you.”
“Ha! I clearly warned you that I wouldn’t stand by if you hurt Lady Rogers…”
“My words and actions toward Your Highness have gone too far until now. I apologize. I won’t behave so disrespectfully again.”
Holding her dress in both hands, Liria bowed politely.
The protagonists were bewildered by her courteous apology, and the onlookers began murmuring as well.
Probably because Liria’s words sounded practically like a declaration of, ‘I don’t like the Crown Prince anymore.’
“I also sincerely apologize to Lady Rogers. I’m sorry for behaving so terribly toward you.”
“I’m not sure what you mean by this…”
“Exactly what you think it means. I won’t be pining after His Highness anymore.”
After driving the point home so there could be no misunderstanding, Liria smiled in relief.
“It’s late, but congratulations on your engagement. I hope you have a beautiful love for the rest of your lives.”
She gave the stunned pair two enthusiastic thumbs-up before turning away without a hint of lingering attachment.
She felt wonderfully refreshed, as though years of indigestion had finally cleared.
‘Whew, that’s half the original story escaped.’
* * *
Liria opened the terrace door and stepped outside.
Since she had no friends and no one was going to approach her anyway, she decided she might as well rest alone.
‘I think I had quite a few people I was close to before entering the academy…’
After seeing that no one had tried to approach her the entire time she was in the hall, she was once again struck by just how badly her relationships had fallen apart while she was blinded by the Crown Prince.
It was all the original story’s fault.
From the moment she began loving him, her personality had turned violent and vicious, driving everyone around her away.
‘It was all my own doing, but I still feel wronged!’
With a sigh, Liria plopped onto the ground, removed her shoes, and massaged her aching ankle.
The breeze was a little cold, but it felt quite pleasant.
‘More importantly. If His Highness really doesn’t like me, how am I supposed to seduce him?’
Considering the reputation she had ruined and her particularly spectacular infamy, she only stood a chance if Ian had at least some degree of affection for her.
‘It’ll be a problem if I really am the complete opposite of his ideal type…’
Liria was staring blankly into space with a serious yet somehow vacant expression when—
Thump.
“Eek?”
Something fell over her head, covering her vision in darkness.
A faint woody fragrance drifted around her.
When she pulled down the fabric caught in her hands, Ian appeared before her as if by magic.
Seeing him kneeling on one knee at her feet without his jacket on, Liria’s eyes widened.
“Your Highness…?”
“Give me your right foot.”
“What? Why?”
“You hurt it while we were dancing.”
Wait, how did he know that?
Still bewildered, Liria stretched her right foot straight out.
Ian carefully wrapped a hand around the ankle peeking out from beneath her dress and examined it closely.
Somehow, it felt ticklish.
Liria gathered Ian’s jacket, which had ambushed her head without warning, and draped it over her shoulders.
Taking a handkerchief from his pocket and tying it around her ankle, Ian began nagging her.
“It’s a little swollen, but it doesn’t seem seriously injured. Still, if your ankle was like this, you should have gone straight to a physician. Why were you wandering around inside for no reason? It’s not as though enduring pain is some hobby of yours.”
“Were you watching me?”
“……”
“Why? Were you worried?”
Ian’s lips pressed tightly together.
Reading his silence as confirmation, Liria’s lips curled into a grin.
He had left as though he wouldn’t even look back, but apparently he had noticed she was hurt and had been concerned about her.
‘Hmm, you do have a cute side.’
Suddenly, she wondered if this was how he had found her dying in the original story as well.
Perhaps he had noticed the side effects accumulated inside Liria’s body, on the verge of bursting.
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