Chapter 9

Chapter 9 : The Villainess Needs A Tyrant

Translated by Tam

Edited by Genie

Maribelle, who returned, had to face the inevitable reality. By that she meant Arinel.

It was late at night, but the lights in the mansion were still on. The owners were awake at a time when the servants already went to bed. Maribelle laughed in her heart. It was Arinel who greeted Maribelle when she returned because the servants went to sleep.

Maribelle smiled regretfully when she saw Arinel standing with a lantern.

“You’re not sleeping even though it’s very late?”

There was no answer. Like this Maribelle spat out a sigh and glanced at Arinel.

Arinel, who she met again, still had a lovely face. Bright pink hair that could be seen at a glance in the dark, and beautiful features gathered together. It was a face that easily attracted many men, but now she looked a little crushed.

Maybe it’s because of her luck. Maribelle pointed to her own eyes.

“Your eyes are still swollen, aren’t they?” Maribelle said with concern.

“Stop acting.”

Arinel bit out the words. Maribelle could not fail to notice the faint anger beneath them.

“The etiquette teacher is right to worry about you. You’re so rude.”

“Who do you think you are provoking!”

Arinel shouted.

‘Oh, I’m scared.’

Maribelle smiled sarcastically in a slight imitation of Ethelred’s evil smile.

The more relaxed Maribelle was, the more impatient Arinel seemed. Maribelle understood her. At the party, the person Arinel loved and the sister she was looking down on were involved in a huge scandal, anyone would be impatient.

Knowing that, Maribelle was even more relaxed.

“Why are you so impatient? It’s like someone’s threatening me. Get out of the way, I’m tired.”

Maribelle motioned with her hand as if she were going into her room right away. She deliberately walked past Arinel.

One, two, three.

“Sister.”

Maribelle looked back.

“There’s a marriage proposal that came from the Imperial Palace. You know that, don’t you?”

“…I don’t know.”

“Lies.”

Arinel distorted her face fiercely, but as the person involved, Maribelle didn’t know. It was a very embarrassing story.

‘It’s a marriage proposal?!’

And it arrived faster than she did? As for Maribelle, she felt like clapping secretly for the Emperors actions. But Arinel, who couldn’t have known what Maribelle was up to, was staring at Maribelle to the point where it was hard for Maribelle not to slap her right away.

“What’s your relationship with His Majesty?”

“Well, it’s exactly what you saw.”

“Don’t be ridiculous!”

Arinel sighed and continued. Her lovely face red as if she was feverish.

“This is the first time you’ve ever been to an Imperial Palace party! Besides, His Majesty isn’t the type to interact very often. How the hell are you—!”

Arinel talked to herself, but she was confused, and she hid her face in her hand, then raised her head.

“Sister, how can you do this to me?”

“Don’t cry and talk slowly.”

“Sister, how could you do this! You know I want His Majesty! It was so obvious! What the hell are you doing?!”

Maribelle knew that feeling.

‘How could you do this to me? They killed me like an ant that trusted you too much, and you’re crying that you lost the man you love.’

“But you aren’t the one His Majesty wants, it’s me, Arinel.”

Maribelle smiled mournfully and pleasantly. She sighed helplessly and pulled out a small box.

“I’ve brought you a gift to comfort you, but this is how you treat me. This sister is sad. Will you come and take it?”

Only Arinel, who held a lantern in the dark hallway, was particularly bright. The light was unmoving. She looked like she was trying to kill Maribelle.

‘If you don’t take it, I’ll take it to you.’ As if there was nothing she could do about it, Maribelle raised her lips and approached Arinel.

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m sorry, too. What can I do if His Majesty wants me so badly? Huh? My heart aches a lot, too.”

While holding the gift in her hand, she held Arinel’s hands tightly. As if she was still in the past where she was willing to jump into a fire pit for her beloved younger sister.

“Tell me, Arinel. What do you want me to do? Should I say I can’t accept His Majesty’s heart? Should I ask him: how dare you assault me in the middle of the party? Huh? Tell me. My beloved cousin is pining for you, so would you be happy to ask her to drink with you instead of me?”

“A-are you crazy?! What nonsense are you talking about—”

Arinel freaked out and tried to pull her hand away, but Maribelle held her tighter.

“Don’t worry, Arinel. His Majesty cares about me, and he will listen to whatever I ask.”

“Let go of me.”

“When I saw you crying at the party a little while ago, my heart felt like it was falling apart. There’s a scandal with me when you’re there—”

“Pretentious acting, let go of me!”

Arinel, who couldn’t stand it, shook her hand out of Maribelle’s grip and the gift fell. In the wind, the lamp in her hand shook violently, disturbing the shadows. Arinel’s face in the shaking light was severely reddened with contempt and shame.

After checking Arinel’s face, Maribelle dropped the pretentious acting. Instead, she applied a bright smile that she had always seen on Arinel.

“What’s wrong? You’re the best at it.”

“What happened to your head?What’s wrong with you all of sudden? You’ve been behaving well—!”

“All of sudden?”

Maribelle’s smile disappeared without a trace as if a fire were extinguished.

‘All of a sudden?! This is all of a sudden for you?’ The hate buried in her heart leaked out. Maribelle clenched her molars.

“Don’t you think I’ve left you to act all the time? It’s going to be sudden for you. But I’ve had to put up with every time you act like this.”

“Ha! Is that why you’re doing this? Do you have any anger towards me?”

“Anger.”

Maribelle grabbed the box that Arinel had thrown away with a smile that seemed faint and distorted.

‘If you won’t open it, I have no choice but to open it.’ The cream-colored lid of the box opened, and the luxurious red ribbon in it appeared.

Maribelle stroked her finger along the texture of the ribbon.

“It’s not just about venting my anger, Arinel. It’s revenge, to say the least.”

“You, are you crazy?”

Now, seeing Arinel, who threw the title of her sister in her face so often, Maribelle laughed lightly. Yes. She really wanted to say this.

‘This is revenge, Arinel. So you should know this.’

“Thanks to you, I lost my position as the head family, and I only had a fair position as the foster daughter of the Duke of Edinburgh. Do you remember that you constantly said things to aunt and uncle that I didn’t even say? Did you humiliate yourself in public at the occasional party? What did you do to blame me for the accidents you caused?”

As she went back, the smile disappeared from Maribelle’s face. She  couldn’t help it. Even though she couldn’t say it out loud, she still remembered losing her loved one and losing her life.

Maribelle tried not to frown. Her nose flared. She thought that all she had left was hate, but the memories still hurt.

Instead of frowning, Maribelle picked up the box and showed Arinel the ribbon.

“Do you know what this is? It’s the necktie of His Majesty. Did you see him at the party? You have a crush on His Majesty. His Majesty gave it to me, and I’ve set it aside for you.”

After a friendly conversation, Maribelle threw the box at Arinel.

“Hold it right away and get out of my sight. You have nothing left to lose, use it to wipe your tears.”

Maribelle stood up with those words and passed by Arinel, who stood still desperately.

*****

Maribelle had no intention of staying in this house for a long time. The fact that the proposal came from the palace meant one thing.

“I’m leaving this house.”

Maribelle should go to the palace. In addition, Ethelred had decided to use her.

Maribelle read and reread the gold-framed letter in her room last night. The source was the Imperial Palace and the destination was the Duke of Edinburgh, but the subject of the letter was Maribelle. That’s why it’s a letter that someone else had already opened.

The letter was simple. Maribelle is considered to be a candidate for Empress, and if she desired, His Majesty would arrange for her to stay in the palace. It was also included in the letter that he wanted to give a proper title for her to become a candidate for the empress.

Covering the letter, Maribelle went to find Lorenz as soon as dawn came and expressed her desire to leave. Lorenz’s expression was quite a sight. He stared at Maribelle as if he was cursing her, but he barely opened his mouth.

“You don’t want to reflect on what happened yesterday?”

“Should I reflect on myself? Thanks to this, we may be given the honor of being a member of the royal family.”

Of course, she was sarcastic. There’s nothing good for a family that is preparing to rebel to be related to the royal family. Maribelle was laughing inside at Lorenz’s rotting expression.

‘I’m sure you’re lusting after that power.’

In other words, the taste of power was enlightening. Maribelle was going to use the title ‘The Emperor’s Woman’ very actively. A strong backing is helpful in many ways.

“Your Majesty sent me a marriage request, so I think I’ll go into the palace. Wouldn’t there be a lot to prepare for the throne? It would be easier to prepare at the Imperial Palace.”

The first thing she had to do was this. To say that she will enter the Imperial Palace. As the request was sent by the Emperor himself, the Duke of Edinburgh, who’s seat was so distorted by Lorenz’s heart, could not refuse Maribelle unless he went to lose his legs.

‘There’s no reason to stay in this disgusting house.’

Maribelle was willing to take her luggage and leave today. To do so, her first priority was to declare to Lorenz that she would be leaving.

Lorenz sat in his chair and pondered like a person who had not been to the bathroom for three days. He wanted to lock Maribelle up for some reason. From asking Meribelle about yesterday’s scandal and the Emperor’s sudden request, Lorenz was not very happy with a situation that was so out of his hands.

For Lorenz, Maribelle was both an eye-catching property and good tool to use.

A good tool, a good scapegoat. It wasn’t too difficult to sell her to another house if necessary, but it’s not easy to let her leave his hand like this.

Lorenz spent a long time pondering, and barely opened his mouth.

“Do as you please. You can go into the palace and keep some maids to support you.”

These maids were to be the shackles on Maribelle’s wrists, and the eyes to watch over Meribel who had escaped Lorenz’s grasp.

“No, I don’t need it.”

Maribelle saw through the shallow depths of Lorenz at once. What a simple man he was. He thinks she’s going to walk into the palace with the guards Lorenz attached to her.

At this point, he should have noticed the fact that she wouldn’t be moving according to his wishes.

Maribelle was regrettable that she couldn’t openly show how pathetic he was to her. It’s not fun to fight with someone who is so transparent. But Lorenz, unaware of her derision, must have been devastated by Maribelle’s refusal of his offer as she had only been obedient until now.

“Do you mean to enter the palace without a single person?”

“One person is enough.”

Of course, she will take one person. Maribelle smiled kindly. She already had someone in mind.

“I think I’ll take my nanny.”

Maribelle’s nanny, Pepper, was the first person to be kicked out after the Lorenz family occupied the mansion. It wasn’t until Maribelle had grown up that she found out that Pepper didn’t leave because she hated her, but that Lorenz kicked her out.

This is because she received a letter from Pepper after her coming of age ceremony.

[Now that my lady has been in her coming of age ceremony, this nanny cannot be happier. I think it was yesterday that I breast-feed you with this hand, but now that you’ve grown up, my life has not been in vain—]

At the end of the letter, which was full of love, Pepper had written:

[Lady. I wish you happiness until the end.]

She was driven out because Maribelle couldn’t protect her, and she loved Maribelle even from a distance.

‘We’ll be together this time.’

With that determination, Maribelle made plans to take Pepper. On top of that, it was a requirement that she could decide using the title of  “The Emperor’s Woman.”

As Maribelle expected, Lorenz’s impression was completely distorted when an unexpected name popped up.

“What do you mean? She is already not a member of our family. When did you go out on your own—”

“But she’s my person.”

Maribelle cut Lorenz’s words.

“I’m not taking anyone unless it’s a nanny. Unless you want to get caught up in the scandal that a famous duke didn’t attach a single person to a foster daughter sent to the Imperial Palace.”

Clang! Lorenz hit the desk. When he gets angry, he can’t control himself much like Arinel. Maribelle thought that was pretty funny too, and she just stared at Lorenz.

“Do you think I’ll listen to you because you’re stubborn? I’ve tried to listen to you, but if you make demands like this, you’ll be pun—”

“Uncle.”

Maribelle’s tranquil tone quickly calmed down the elevated atmosphere. This is because Maribelle was eerily calm. She kept her words in a calm tone.

“You don’t have to do that, but I know my uncle kicked my nanny out on purpose. So why don’t you stop showing your ugly side?”

“…What?”

“I can’t believe she went out on her own. Didn’t you kick her out? She left me, who was only 10 years old, and now that I’m all grown up, you told me that I didn’t need a nanny. Despite that, Arinel’s nanny still wanders around her mansion.”

“You’re talking nonsense.”

What nonsense. Maribelle laughed at him in her heart.

“If I’m wrong, let me know why you’re against bringing my nanny. This dreary little girl could not possibly understand the insides of the noble Duke.”

Maribelle even bent down gracefully as she spoke. It was an obvious mockery. Lorenz could not find a word to refute her, so he gritted his teeth and eventually picked up the pen.

Soon a servant with a letter left the mansion.