Even if the Villain's Daughter Regresses

 

“That’s impressive.”

 

Laila recalled the conversations she overheard from the ladies at the theater. There was certainly such content in that conversation.

 

“And she’s famous for her beauty, too.”

“Sir Taylor.”

“Yes?”

“You’re surprisingly well-informed about gossip.”

“Surprising? Is that surprising?”

“Yes. Because looking at your face… you seem like someone who wouldn’t care much about worldly affairs.”

 

But if you give him a nudge, a piece of gossip about the social circle will casually come up.

This was one of the surprising things about Taylor.

However, this time Taylor objected.

 

“The Miss is right. I don’t care about worldly affairs.”

“Uh-huh…”

“Really. I only know the rumors because my colleagues told me about them during training.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“It’s true! It’s not an excuse; it’s a fact! You should join our regular knight training. They all talk so much and repeat the same stories… So, I end up hearing the same rumor five times.”

“Okay. Who said anything?”

 

After exchanging a few more words with Taylor, a shop clerk approached.

Laila ordered a lemon cake, a lime cake, and a ginger cake.

The ginger cake was specially ordered for Taylor. He made a grim face.

Laila let out a light laugh.

 

☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓

 

The following day, Laila watched the play she had seen the day before again.

Although it was a rewatch, it didn’t feel like one to Laila.

 

‘Since I was so focused on thinking about Countess Donovan that I didn’t pay attention to the second part at all…’

 

So she watched it again, and despite Laila saying she was fine, Taylor and Sion insisted on accompanying her and sat beside her.

Thus, the three of them watched the same play twice.

After the play ended and the curtain fell, Taylor applauded again, while Sion, like the first time, showed little reaction.

And Laila…

 

“What is this play…?”

 

She wiped away her tears.

The lingering impression was so strong that she couldn’t get up from her seat immediately.

Only then did Laila fully understand why this play was so popular and famous.

 

‘This play is fun.’

 

She was hooked. She wanted to experience something similar again.

Over the next three days, Laila attended seven more plays.

She went around all the theaters in the capital, including makeshift ones with just a tent.

She came to the conclusion that…

 

“It’s not that they’re not fun, but the first one was still the best.”

 

By the time she watched the seventh and final play, her dwindling interest was completely exhausted.

She stopped watching plays the next day.

Instead, that day, she watched a street circus.

She didn’t intend to, but a girl even smaller than Laila was selling tickets, so she bought them and ended up watching.

The circus was boring.

From then on, Laila and her companions agreed not to bother watching the circus again.

However, the next day, they encountered the girl selling tickets on the street again.

Though the circus was boring, the hardworking young girl seemed pitiable.

Laila bought all the tickets from the girl, but she did not go to the circus.

The following day, a problem arose.

The girl was selling tickets on the same street, but the number of tickets had doubled from the previous day.

Even with a rough estimate, it was more than the maximum capacity the circus tent could hold.

Laila purchased all of the girl’s tickets again and went to the circus at the scheduled performance time.

And at the circus, she caused a bit of a ruckus.

Through the process of causing the ruckus, she found out that the owner of the circus was none other than an illegal human trafficker.

 

“What, a criminal on the side too? Sir Taylor.”

“Yes.”

“Let’s turn up the ruckus intensity.”

“Leave it to me!”

 

The circus owner, who had amassed wealth through illegal human trafficking, could only watch in silence as his circus went up in flames.

The girl who had been selling tickets was an orphan kidnapped from outside the capital. Laila placed her in an orphanage run by the kingdom.

She handed over the circus owner to the capital’s security office.

The security officer was troubled. It was clear that he had received quite a bit of money under the table.

But power is stronger than money. Laila personally witnessed the illegal human trafficker and circus owner being imprisoned.

After that, it had been exactly seven days since Taylor borrowed a book from the National Library.

 

“Miss, I will never forget this kindness.”

Taylor said solemnly. Laila replied.

“Alright.”

 

A week after borrowing the book, Taylor still hadn’t turned a single page.

His earnest excuse was that various incidents left him with no time to read.

Of course, as an excuse, it wasn’t very convincing. The circus incident occurred only within the last two days.

Before that, Laila and her companions spent their days watching plays and visiting famous restaurants. It was a leisurely schedule.

However, instead of pointing out the truth, Laila kindly told Taylor, who was begging for another chance,

 

‘This is a debt.’

 

And just like that, Taylor became a debtor.

Laila thought she would consider what to have Taylor do for Torizabeth’s true revenge.

 

“Then let’s return to the Marquisate.”

“Yes, although it’s regrettable…”

 

Taylor seemed somewhat relieved but also a bit reluctant, yet Laila couldn’t suggest staying in the capital longer.

The reason was simple: they were running out of money!

 

‘If I had known, I would have sold a few pieces of jewelry to prepare more funds.’

 

Then again, her initial plan was to just visit the national library and return to their territory immediately.

 

‘I thought we had enough, but I never expected it to feel insufficient.’

 

Laila mentally recalculated their remaining funds.

They had just enough left for seven nights of lodging in small villages on their way back to the Marquisate.

Since meals were generally provided at the inns, it was just the right amount.

Shaking off her lingering regret, Laila took the lead.

 

“Let’s depart immediately. First, let’s return the book to the library…”

 

Bang!

Laila stopped in front of the door to her lodgings. The door opened on its own without her touching it.

 

“Oh.”

 

A brief sigh of relief reached her ears.

A familiar face—or, more accurately, a face she’d seen so many times lately—gazed down at her.

 

“Luckily, I’m not too late.”

 

Countess Donovan, with her hair slightly disheveled from hurrying, smiled at Laila.

 

“If you’re not too busy, could you spare me a moment?”

 

☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓

 

They moved to a tea shop near the inn.

The private room was completely sealed off. Countess Donovan remained silent until the tea had cooled slightly before she spoke.

 

“After that conversation with the lady at the theater, I was very surprised.”

“…….”

“My first thought was, how on earth did you know?”

 

The Countess continued calmly.

 

“The truth is, I had a bruise on my face that day.”

“……!”

“My husband hit me the night before. I couldn’t cancel my plan to see the performance, so I covered it with heavy makeup and went to the theater.”

“…….”

“But then you said those words to me, and, um… my first thought was, did my makeup come off? Did the bruise show? That was my first suspicion.”

“No, no, it didn’t. I had no idea. I didn’t see any bruises on your face…”

“I know. I checked the mirror as soon as we parted that day.”

“…….”

“My makeup looked perfect to me, so I wondered again: what was the issue? Did I somehow give away the fact that I was hit? Had I been shrinking away without even realizing it?”

 

Before Laila could deny it, the countess continued.

 

“Or perhaps one of the servants in the mansion told you? Should I identify and punish the culprit before the rumor spreads further?”

 

Laila realized at that point that the countess wasn’t looking for answers.