I Thought a Villainess' Divorce Would Be Easy

Howie tried to take over to prepare the meat as if to say, ‘That’s right.’

 

“I will take care of it. Watch this way… Ugh!”

 

Howie, who had stretched out his hand, was unable to move due to Richard’s sudden outburst of murder. He had never seen the Duke so nervous and angry, even if he was facing a formidable enemy. Even though they were released, they were all elite knights. In response to Richard’s change, the knights who were preparing the meal also put their hands on their sword handles. The anger that seemed to explode at any moment even changed the air around the Duke. Unlike the busy knights who started looking around without knowing why, Richard was exploding with anger at himself. He couldn’t even control this much and he couldn’t believe he was bleeding. Were these hands only able to destroy? Richard was so disappointed and reflecting on his own incompetence that he could not pay attention to the busyness of his knights. By the time the scouting team returned, having found no traces of any significant beasts or enemies, Richard left the camp, saying he would check the surroundings. Naturally, Richard’s guards chased after the duke, and we had to watch the bizarre scene where he cut down any beasts or demons he happened to come across, while stroking for a long time whenever he saw a snow hare. Even though they were separated from each other, the two people who became Duke and Duchess worked hard. Richard practiced in his spare time so as not to break his wife, and Anthea did not give up her struggle to earn even one point as her villainess. However, efforts did not always yield good results.

 

* * *

 

Anthea left the Duke’s house early in the morning to make up for her mistakes yesterday. At first she sent only her maid, but then she was told by the stablekeeper that she needed Rosa’s permission. Although she was sarcastic, she was running out of time to act out her evil ways. Fortunately, she was able to go out without any problems because she ran into the owner of the house. This was the position of the Duchess in name only. Contrary to Anthea’s bitterness, the head deacon politely took Anthea’s side and not her chief maid. She thought it would be inconvenient to fight with Rosa, but the kindness of the house owner made things easier. It wasn’t that bad if it was like this. Rosa would vent her grievances about Anthea so eagerly that she would later give wings to her rumors that she was a villainess. The two maids tried hard to lighten the mood because they did not know Anthea’s true feelings, although she was quite satisfied with herself.

 

“Ma’am, you said you were looking at dresses today, right?”

 

“Huh. You each pick one pair.”

 

“My goodness, madam, you are so generous. I will follow you for the rest of my life.”

 

Anthea laughed at Ellie’s fuss, which was somewhat lighter than Julie’s. It took quite a while for her to get out of the huge duke that was surrounded by thick walls. She was able to get out only after her carriage had been checked twice by her guards, and she was already weary of how much more guarded she would be when she returned.

 

“No. I need to cheer up. If you take a shortcut, you will be hit right.”

 

Luckily, she didn’t have to go far to leave the Duke’s House and reach the busiest central square. Anthea arrived at her destination and was truly surprised by the size of the huge square. It’s big, spacious, and magnificent.

 

“It’s dark…”

 

Overall, dull colors dominated the central square. She wondered if she had any commercial activity because so few people came and went. It was hard to guess what the shops were selling inside, including the color of the exterior walls and the lack of show windows.

 

“Ma’am, that is a high-end clothing room that deals with high-ranking nobles.”

 

“Over there?”

 

“Yes. I will meet you right away.”

 

Unlike Anthea, who was disappointed, the two maids who came with her were very excited and headed to the largest dressing room. Even there, there were no colors or designs that caught Anthea’s eyes. Anthea lost her motivation and gave up shopping when she saw that the next clothing store was also the same gray building. After she mentioned that only two people should pick one dress each, she turned around. In fact, Anthea, the owner, did not choose anything, but the two maids who had new clothes became more active. She looked around to find a clothing room that used brighter fabrics. While the two were busy looking at the store, Anthea, who had nothing else to do, stood alone in the middle of the square with her escort. A child was snooping around Anthea holding a basket.

 

“Why?”

 

“Ah, this is it.”

 

The child soon made eye contact with Anthea and immediately held out the basket. When Anthea tried to put her hand on the cloth covering the basket, the escort knight who followed her reached out his hand first. It was filled with small flowers of various colors inside, which made me smile just looking at it. The child, who had been nervous about Anthea’s favorable response, also smiled, but her knight dissuaded her.

 

“It’s a wild flower. It’s on display even in the evening.”

 

“So now is the most beautiful time? Good. Because I wanted to see something pretty like this just now.”

 

Anthea, holding the basket, stared at the knight. She came out of the dressing room with the intention of signing autographs but didn’t have any cash on her. The knight seemed to have no choice but to hand over one of her coins to the child. The knight didn’t seem to have any coins either, it was just a shiny silver coin and the child was so embarrassed that he hesitated and then carefully grabbed Anthea’s sleeve.

 

“Sister, let me show you something prettier.”

 

“It’s difficult if it’s far away.”

 

“It’s close. All you have to do is walk three hundred steps.”

 

“I see.”

 

Anthea laughed softly because her child’s expression was cute. Even though she knew that the knight would be stopped, Anthea followed the child.

 

“Ma’am, there is also the possibility of being a trap involving a child. Please refrain from making any hasty moves.”

 

“Maybe so.”

 

She did not stop walking after her child, hoping that they would tell her that she was a wayward duchess who ignored her escort’s words. She followed the child and found a narrow road, like a side road, not far from the central square.

 

“I think it would be best not to go here.”

 

Howie tried to stop her once again, but Anthea followed after her child without any hesitation.

 

“The atmosphere is different from the square. Please go back now.”

 

“It’s fine. Because the Lord will protect me, right?”

 

“Of course, I will protect you even at the cost of my life.”

 

Anthea smiled as if she was happy at her knightly answer that came out reflexively. The escort could no longer stop Anthea’s pure laughter and was only wary of her surroundings.

 

“It’s here, sister.”

 

Not long after, she arrived at a place full of wild flowers, just as the child said. She felt good just looking at the flowers in full bloom that filled the small hill. However, the appearance of the children squatting in the meantime and picking flowers with their fern hands was poor. It was small, skinny and dirty. Anthea frowned at her scruffy appearance as if she was not being cared for. Only then did the child, who had come up to Anthea carrying her basket, notice that although her clothes were neat, her hands and shoes were dirty. Anthea, who was feeling sorry for her and was trying to give her a few more coins, suddenly wondered why she was the only one with clean clothes.

 

‘Isn’t this an angle bee? There’s an adult hiding nearby.’

 

Anthea glanced around her without being noticed, but she saw that the escorts were not alert to the surroundings, so it seemed like the only children here were the children. She belatedly noticed Anthea’s absence and looked back at her maid, who was panting after her. The maids didn’t react much when they saw the scrawny, thin children. The maids, who had been giving Anthea a worried look, telling her that she should eat more at every meal, reacted indifferently when they saw the children. She felt bad for some reason. So she impulsively blurted out:

 

“Does the Duke’s mansion leave orphans like this?”

 

It was not at the edge of a remote estate, but about ten minutes further from the central square. Julie was startled by Anthea’s incredulous question and denied it.

 

“No, ma’am. Those kids are ordinary young people.”

 

“An ordinary Young child, walking around dripping with soup without even being able to eat blood porridge?”

 

When Anthea, who was just smiling, hardened her expression with a look of bewilderment, Ellie was also embarrassed and listened to her.

 

“It’s probably because parents are busy during the harvest season.”

 

“They have parents, but they leave them like that?”

 

Anthea, whose emotions were about to become intense at the moment, was struck by the gaze of two people looking at her with thrilled eyes. If she sympathized with those kids here, she would look like a saint rather than a villain. She was supposed to just stay quiet, but she got upset and started talking, so she had to deal with it somehow. She had to at least change the gaze of the maid and escort, who seemed to say ‘our gentle madam.’ Anthea opened her mouth only after swallowing the words of concern that were about to come out of her mouth and twisting them around in her head.

 

“Are you just leaving something so dirty like that?”

 

She slightly bit her tongue when she said this, but when Anthea saw the two people’s eyes widen, she was convinced that she was correct.

 

“What are those skinny bones? Are you planning on hurting my eyes?”

 

It’s not that she felt sorry for the children. Her eyes were hurting, ‘so please do something’. 

With that in mind, she raised her chin and grumbled, but the eyes of not only the maids but also the escort knight turned to Anthea’s slender arms. Even though she was wearing a thick northern-style dress, her arms were so slender that she could easily hold it in one hand, and it was a pity that she didn’t know who was worried about whom. Anthea, wondering if this was a wrong example, changed her words.

 

“What do you do picking wild flowers? It will be trash in a few hours.”

 

The children then realized that Anthea was talking about them and looked at each other.

 

“It would be more productive to just scoop up dirt and carry away the potholes in the alleys.”

 

It was Anthea who stumbled several times on the potted floor while following the child.

 

“Look at this. My shoes are ruined.”

 

The hem of her skirt was slightly lifted to reveal her shoes, which were only slightly dusted with dirt. Anthea didn’t stop picking up her house because she thought it would be better for her.

 

“Look at how dirty the kids are. Aren’t they sick?”

 

“Ma, ma’am. What she said…”

 

“Why? Isn’t the central square a place where nobles also come? Please take care of your illness at the Duke’s estate.”

 

The maids’ complexions darkened at the arrogant noble-like attitude of treating children as potential germs.

 

“That doesn’t mean the kids are sick.”

 

“How can you be sure? It wasn’t even confirmed by a doctor.”

 

“That’s right, but…”

 

“I don’t want to see it.”

 

She smiled like a gentle villainess.

 

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Translator Note: