Chapter 6
“Long eyelashes casting a shadow over large eyes.’’
Beneath them, irises resembling a blue lake.
With a slightly taller stature than girls of her age, and a posture as straight as if taken from a painting.
‘Wow, she looks like an elf from a fairy tale…’
As I gazed at Rachel, seemingly forgetting my original purpose and spellbound, I belatedly regained my senses and greeted her.
“Oh, hello, Lady Rachel. My name is Vivian, and I’m here to be your playmate—”
However, before I could finish my greeting, Rachel passed by me and sat down at the table in the center of the greenhouse.
‘It’s… cold.’
Is it an inevitable fate for the villainess to despise the protagonist?
Rachel seemed indifferent to whether I stood far away or spoke at all, as she began to read the book she had brought.
Watching her, I swallowed a sigh.
‘Can I… become friends with Rachel?’
Wrapped in such anxiety at that moment.
Suddenly, I noticed something strange.
‘Huh? Come to think of it, just a moment ago, my heart was in so much pain…’
The pain that had been tormenting me until a while ago seemed to have vanished as if washed away.
‘Normally, the pain gradually subsides, leaving behind a dull ache.’
The pain disappeared in an instant.
And Rachel, whom I had collided with a while ago.
I realized the connection between the two and covered my mouth with my hand.
‘Just a slight contact with Rachel makes the pain disappear?’
This quickly?!
‘Amazing!’
I wanted to hug Rachel right away, but I refrained.
If I did, Rachel, who already seemed to dislike me, might not only refuse to become closer but also drive me away.
So, I returned to my seat before she could show any hostility.
Regardless of what I did in front of her, Rachel didn’t even glance at me, but a smile formed on my lips as I looked at the child.
‘I will definitely become Rachel’s best friend!’
Even if I had to make it happen.
After giving Rachel a satisfied smile, she felt my gaze and looked up.
Her blue eyes met mine with annoyance evident in her expression.
Nonetheless, whether she liked it or not, I confessed to Rachel boldly.
“I like you, Lady Rachel.”
Rachel’s forehead furrowed in annoyance.
“I will make sure to make you happy in the future!”
And on top of that, spare my life a little.
Despite my fervent confession, Rachel, who had been staring at me with cold eyes, returned her gaze to her book.
And she never looked at me again.
Until the housekeeper came to fetch Rachel after our first tea time.
Rachel, who stood up from her seat before I could finish my greetings, finally spoke for the first time.
“Don’t ever come again.”
Although it was a chilly first remark, I was not about to yield.
“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”
If it meant grasping onto my life!
A few days later, on the day scheduled for tea time with Rachel.
I returned to the villa.
But 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes passed…
Despite the considerable passage of time, Rachel did not come to the greenhouse.
Suddenly, Rachel’s cold voice, spat out instead of a farewell, came to mind.
“Don’t ever come again.”
Surely…
“Did I get stood up?”
Of course, the tea time appointment was made unilaterally by the Duke, regardless of Rachel’s wishes…
“But still!”
Thinking that I should ask the maid when Rachel would arrive, I stood up from my seat.
Thunk.
The door to the greenhouse opened.
“Hello, my lady―”
As I reflexively tried to greet, I looked up at the giggling sound.
Standing there was not Rachel, but Sally.
“Hello, my lady~?”
Sally, who had just imitated me with a mocking smirk, quickly changed her expression to one of contempt and looked at me with disdainful eyes.
“As expected, clueless as ever, just like an uneducated brat.”
I shot an unwelcoming glance at the decidedly unwelcome guest.
Sally chuckled, regardless of my reaction.
“Why do you think the lady hasn’t come here until now?”
“What?”
“She didn’t want to meet you. She’d rather catch up on her cues and head home, anyway…
clueless people like you are so annoying.”
“Did Lady Gongnyeo really say that? Was there nothing else going on?”
Whether Rachel had lied when she said that or not, Sally briefly showed a hint of confusion before confidently replying.
“Yeah. She said she didn’t want to play with someone as low as you.”
I sneered inwardly.
‘She probably thought that if she said that much, I’d leave crying like any other kid…’
But what now?
Am I such a naive nine-year-old to believe those words?
“Really? Can I ask Lady Gongnyeo about it?”
“What?”
“If what you said is true, then I should go home. But if it’s a lie?”
I approached Sally with an exaggeratedly awkward expression.
“Then wouldn’t I become an insolent child who defies Lord Gongjak’s order to accompany him and go home?”
“I-It’s not a lie!”
“Then let’s confirm it openly, since it’s the truth.”
I pushed Sally’s shoulder and left the greenhouse.
“Sally, hey!’’
After a while, Sally’s grumbling voice could be heard from behind, but she didn’t come after me like a thunderbolt.
“As Sally said, considering Rachel hasn’t come to the greenhouse until now, it’s true that she doesn’t care about me.”
I thought it would be more amusing to receive indifference from Rachel rather than meeting her. But my purpose was not just to expose her lies.
Smirking with a sense of satisfaction, I approached a passing maid nearby. Just as I was about to ask where Rachel’s room was, I bumped into Rachel coming down the stairs.
Rachel briefly widened her eyes at our unexpected encounter, then quickly furrowed her delicate brows and asked, “Why are you here?”
Her expression showed annoyance.
Just then, Sally, who leisurely followed behind, interjected, “I told you to go home, but you insisted on meeting Miss against my advice, didn’t you?”
Sally probably thought I would retreat after getting hurt at this point.
“Not in a million years.”
Rachel is currently not interested in me, but I know how to catch her attention because I know Rachel’s past, albeit from the original work.
I exaggeratedly put on a hurt expression and began to fish for luck.
“Well, I know that the young lady finds our tea time boring. So, I thought of a more entertaining way to have fun together…”
For a moment, Rachel’s cold eyes stared at me, but a hint of curiosity flickered within them.
Indeed, children are children.
With a smile, I threw the bait.
“Should I show you around the village instead? Playing with me wouldn’t be boring, right…?”
Rachel couldn’t help but bite the bait that I presented for her to ask.
Next to me, Sally, who was nervously waiting for what I would bring up, chuckled.
“Why are you going to a place with that smell? Miss doesn’t like going outside the mansion, right, Miss?”
However, contrary to Sally’s words, Rachel didn’t outright refuse.
Instead, she looked at me with slightly trembling eyes.
It was the expected reaction.
“Rachel, do you want to go outside the mansion too?”
I know from reading the original work.
Rachel is the daughter between the deceased Crown Prince and the Duchess, Isella, even though the Emperor couldn’t do anything about it openly knowing Rachel’s true identity…
But that didn’t mean it was a complete pardon; everyone in the empire knew that.
Rachel, as the person involved, would know better than anyone.
So, Rachel has been trying to live without drawing attention from people.
Not going outside the mansion, hiding her existence, just like she’s dead…
“Let everyone forget about me.’’
‘It’s because a suppressed heart eventually turns into resentment.’
But here, there’s no one who would recognize Rachel.
Of course, there’s no emperor either.
So, at least in this village, it means Rachel doesn’t have to hide like she did in the capital.
‘Right now, it’s an opportunity for Rachel’s first outing here.’
In the original work, it’s only mentioned that Rachel voluntarily lived confined in the mansion when she was young, and it doesn’t detail whether she went out from this village or not.
It’s just a villain’s narrative.
But I know that Rachel wants to go out into the world.
She’s just hesitating because it’s her first time.
I reached out my hand to Rachel like that.
“Still, would you like to go to the village together, Lady Rachel?”
“I… ”
Just as Rachel was about to answer me with uncertainty.
“That might be awkward.”
‘’A middle-aged woman who suddenly appeared blocked Rachel’s words.”
