Chapter 8

Chapter 8 : The Villainess Needs A Tyrant

Translated by Tam

Edited by Genie

Ethelred leaned against the sofa and placed his right ankle on his left thigh. He put his forearm on the armrest as he relaxed, and lifted his eyebrows slowly as he did.

“You’re mostly right. I don’t intend to torture you yet even if you’re not so cautious. It’s another matter of whether your information will be useful.”

Why do you think I would have emptied Calende Palace? He laughed, narrowing his eyes like a wicked bad boy.

“I thought about killing you, but I changed my mind when I listened to you.”

“Do you believe I’m not a spy?”

“I think I’ll put it aside for now.”

Maribelle noticed that there was no answer to her question at all. So he doesn’t believe that she’s not a spy yet.

‘I can’t help it if he doesn’t believe me.’

It’s like this right now.

“Then have you decided what to use me for?” Maribelle said like a sigh.

“Let’s think about it from now on.”

“….What?”

Ethelred raised his eyebrows as if wondering what was wrong.

“I will decide your utility. I’ll keep you in my hands until I’ve decided.”

He was speaking as if he were taking her for granted, and in reality what he said was:

“Whether you’re really a spy or not. You’re not going to hand over the information easily. I’ll think about how to use you until then.”

Maribelle nodded her head. As he said, the information cannot be used immediately. When the time is right, she better say it then.

‘When he seeks his revenge, we’ll talk about it then.’

Purging the Lorenz family would not be too difficult for Ethelred’s power. Only then did Meribelle smile satisfactorily.

“Then, I’ll use Your Majesty too.”

“You have no fear.”

“Take it easy. People who want something don’t usually betray. I need Your Majesty’s help.”

“Ha.”

Ethelred laughed.

“I’m so embarrassed. I never thought I’d be kissed in the middle of a party, but now you’re open about it.” His smile sharpened as he spoke.

But Maribelle received his words without agitation. Rather than reacting to it, she subtly changed the subject.

“I had to then.” She replied.

“Because of your sister? You said she liked me.”

Ethelred was good at telling embarrassing stories. As expected, he seems to belong to a group that falls into the abnormal category. Meribelle seriously concluded.

But what does it matter?

She nodded her head lightly.

“That’s too bad. I could have brought you to the bedroom and everything.”

“The kiss was enough.” Maribelle exclaimed.

Arinel burst into tears in public, that was enough insult and ridicule. Above all, Maribelle could act calmly until the open kiss, but she had no ideas of revealing her bedroom to him.

But Ethelred’s thoughts were different.

“Because I feel so sorry.” He smiled kindly as he spoke.

‘You’re a gentleman at times like this.’

Meribelle thought calmly, looking at a smile that seemed to easily attract people.

He was very gentlemanly in this conversation. It was right to call him aristocratic. The restrained way of speaking, behavior, and even a neat smile that matches nobility. Who would think of him as a tyrant?

But he was definitely the one who said he would cut my right arm and neck off because of one failure.

‘I’m confused.’

Meribelle thought about it for a while, and decided to change the subject. In this case, it’s better to turn his thoughts around.

“So, has my utility been decided now?”

“Well, tell me what you’re good at.”

Are you sure you were thinking about my usefulness? Meribelle slowly opened her mouth, not betraying her soaring doubts.

“I learned flower arrangement and embroidery through culture. I know how to protect myself, and I think I learned the piano or violin.”

“What do you mean you ‘think’ you have learned it?”

Oops. Meribel realized that she was casually answering for her both lives.

“I learned it when I was young. I can’t remember.”

“Really? Any more skills?”

Meribel glanced at her folded hand as if she was counting the numbers.

“I…don’t think there’s more. It depends on the chores.”

“It’s a good idea to put kissing on your list. You were good, have you ever done it before?”

She didn’t expect that kind of compliment. Maribelle blinked. Of course she has never kissed before. But it felt familiar to her.

‘Should I say I’ve done it?’

Maribelle thought for a moment, and opened her mouth.

“I’ve never done it before.”

“You hesitated…can I trust you?”

“Well, yes, maybe I’m born with it.”

She must have been born being a good kisser. However, since she had returned to the past, she wonders if it would be wrong to say that she’s just born being familiar with it. Maribelle pushed back her guilty conscience.

As Meribell spoke calmly, Ethelred’s sharp smile loosened quickly.

“Now your use is decided.”

He lifted himself up and walked silently to Maribelle, who was sitting across from him. In no time Maribelle was trapped in his elongated shadow.

On the edge of Ethelred’s nose, a dark shade slipped. He grabbed Maribelle by the chin without hesitation and kissed her. In a moment, their breath intertwined, his tongue squeezing the moist flesh of hers.

“Let’s see how far you’re born to go.”

With a short but deep kiss, he whispered as if he were spitting fire, and Ethelred moved his upper body away. Or, he was going to.

“…you really act like you have ten lives…”

Ethelred’s eyebrows, which had been loosened, furrowed. Meribelle squeezed Ethelred’s tie, and she held his slender waist. In a way, it looked unpleasant, but in a different way, it looked interesting.

‘He’s easy to read.’

Maribelle thought. His was a face that showed emotion. He’s threatening to see if she can live ten lives with a face like this. It’s loose and flawless.

“If I were the one to run away because I grabbed some ribbons, I wouldn’t have stayed in Calende Palace.”

“Don’t you think it’s a temporary whim?”

“Do you think someone who lives a life following their whims will not survive twice?

Her answer to his question was another question. At Maribelle’s bold answer, Ethelred’s mouth curled up. It was a smile that seemed far from being gentle, at a glance a spiteful smile-perhaps a smile found only in children who burn ants to death

Ethelred’s hand touched Maribelle on the shoulder. As if it were slipping, long and delicate fingers wrapped around Maribelle’s thin neck. Rather than tightening on her neck, it looked as though he had his hands wrapped gently around her throat.

Thanks to a dress that showed off her shoulders and chest in line with the social trend, Ethelred’s hands were touching Maribelle’s bare skin. His thumb slowly swept the neckline without a necklace and the collarbone under it. It was a rare soft touch.

However, Ethelred’s eyes were tense, catching Maribelle’s eyes in an intense stare.

“It would be only ten throats to strangle to take away your lives.”

“So I won’t be here.” Maribelle said coolly.

“You don’t want death just because you’re saying it casually. Don’t you think it would be better to beg for help?”

“Well I’m not sure, Your Majesty.”

Maribelle gave a blatantly bright smile. She had already experienced death. So she can’t be afraid of dying twice.

There was only one thing Maribelle was afraid of: her revenge failing.

“People are scarier than death. There’s only one thing I can’t fail.”

“You threw yourself at me for that?”

Instead of answering, Maribelle wrapped Ethelred’s tie around her hand. She meant ‘to think what you like’. Instead of answering Ethelred’s question she whispered softly, in the same way Ethelred whispered a little while ago.

“Since Your Majesty will use me once, I’ll have to use you once.”

It was a threat, no one could deny, that Ethelred grabbed Maribelle’s neck. He actually had such an intention.

Ethelred laughed bitterly as he saw his opponent, who even when backed into a corner, shamelessly tightened her hold on his neck.

A woman who is not easily shaken or would withdraw easily. A person who has a strange agenda that does not scare off easily once he ensnares her in his eyes.

‘Is she my enemy or my friend?’

‘We’ll see if we wait and see.’ He thought.

First of all, he was very interested. Ethelred released Maribelle’s neck and took the tie that was tightly wrapped around him and gave it to Maribelle.

If there is something she wants, there is no reason why he can’t accept it. Ethelred swept a hand through his hair as if to clear it up. His relaxed demeanor returned and he directed a look at the woman sitting beautifully.

“Tell me what you want.”

“You’ve already given it to me.”

Maribelle had a tie in her hand that Ethelred had just torn apart. A black ribbon that had adorned his neck at the party.

“Thank you for the token of gratitude.”

Maribelle, who was sitting pretty, smiled prettier.

******

The fire at Calende Palace soon went out. The conversation ended, and Maribelle was sent back to the road temple, and the rest of the palace was acting normally as if there were no scandals.

Except for Ethelred and Theovalt, who know all the facts.

“Weren’t you trying to kill me?”

Ethelred raised his head in a grim manner. Not everything that happened today was sweet, but it’s definitely not bad to wait and see. Ethelred held his left hand and straightened it. This is the hand that held Maribelle’s neck.

“I think she will be useful.”

As Theovalt, who knew what happened at the ball, but did not know the conversation between Maribelle and Ethelred at Calende Palace, lowered his suspicious gaze. Ethelred looked at his empty palm for a moment, clenching his fists.

“I’ll have to send a marriage proposal.”

“Not accept a marriage proposal but send a marriage proposal?”

“Yes.”

I’ll have to ask you to go this time. At the end of his words, Ethelred smiled slowly.