SDVMN Chapter 50

 

“No answer, huh?”

“……”

“Well, it’s okay. I’ll let it slide this time. After all, I’m a Clementine.”

“……”

“Go ahead and take the kids away, Veronica. Oh, and just so you know, I’ll return the ring later when I lose interest in it.”

“……Yes, I understand.”

Veronica had no choice but to comply with Idel’s words at that moment.

She felt that if she even slightly irritated Idel, she would immediately inform Sylvia about it.

‘That cannot happen.’

Sylvia, knowing about her relationship with Demaric, would never vouch for him.

Was that all?

If Demaric were to find out that everything he had worked so hard for was crumbling because of her mistake…

‘No! Demaric would never abandon me.’

Veronica quickly shook her head to dispel the negative thoughts and clenched her fists tightly.

Only after leaving Idel’s room and dispersing the servants did the humiliation wash over her.

Though her family was small and insignificant compared to the Duke Clementine’s house, Veronica was still a noble.

Idel had inflicted a level of humiliation upon her that she had never experienced before, either before or after entering the Clementine household.

Returning to her room with trembling steps, Veronica spat out her anger in a voice laced with fury.

“How dare that rat-like creature treat me like this…!”

The image of Idel’s smirk, as if she found it amusing, flashed in her mind.

Idel had spoken to her with the look of someone who had found an interesting and fun toy.

“I, a toy?”

As she bit her lip and muttered to herself, Veronica’s eyes caught sight of a letter stuffed into the trash can.

A letter sent by an anonymous sender.

‘…Could it be the Miss?’

No, that couldn’t be. The Miss had only learned her secret today through the ring. The sender of this letter, which had been unsettling her for a long time, could not be her.

‘That means there are at least two people in this mansion who know this secret.’

Thinking that, the anxiety she had barely suppressed surged back violently.

Veronica wandered around the room like a madwoman. After a while of pacing, she suddenly stood still.

“…First, I need to deal with the easy things.”

There was far too little information about the anonymous sender. While it was one thing not to know who the culprit was, she didn’t even understand their intent in threatening her.

‘But it’s not Idel Clementine.’

She knew who she was and why she had said those things.

‘An interesting toy. A diversion or a way to vent frustration.’

Then the answer was simple.

‘All I have to do is make it feel less like a game?’

Even if the other party held a higher status, she was an adult, and no matter how clever Idel was, she was still a child. A child who couldn’t even use her position to play a mean prank that the servants would notice.

They say a person can only truly understand another when they are in the same situation, right?

“…Just like me, who was too scared to say anything and left the room, I’ll make sure you’re too scared to tell anyone.”

In the dimming room, where even the light had trouble illuminating, Veronica’s eyes sparkled.

 

☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓

 

Look at this?

“Ouch! That hurts!! How on earth do you comb hair?”

“I’m sorry, Miss Idel. Should I call another servant?”

“You know you’re the third one, right?”

“It’s because we’re lacking…”

Idel’s gaze shifted to the red hair scattered all over the floor and the servants who were smiling with their heads bowed.

‘So now you’re resorting to physical force?’

And then…

“…Are you laughing?”

“Gasp, that’s impossible. I’m sorry. I’m not laughing, I’m just…”

“Ivanna is right; it’s a misunderstanding, Miss Idel. Ivanna was crying out of fear.”

They even distorted the obvious truth in front of their eyes.

‘It felt like they’d evolved to another level, and of course, it’s because of Veronica.’

The little minions who had just been acting on a whim now had a focal point. A rather solid one at that.

‘Not bad, huh?’

Perhaps because she was secretly dating her direct superior’s fiancé, her assertiveness was different. Acting like a noble, she would strike and retreat unpleasantly.

‘The maids’ behavior, which seems polite on the surface but is actually just a show, must have been taught by Veronica as well.’

They deliberately combed her hair wrong to make her scream, and if anyone asks why, they can just say she was throwing a tantrum.

Unlike Diane, who was at a loss due to the increasingly outrageous behavior of the servants, Idel was quite pleased with the situation.

‘Thanks to Veronica as a focal point, I can finally pull Sylvia out of this messy scheme.’

It was also a great way to show that she was completely isolated, just as Melisa intended.

Everything was going according to Veronica’s predictions.

‘Then shall I start dancing to this tune as well?’

Idel stood up and glared at the three who were weaving lies.

She didn’t forget to huff like she usually did when she was annoyed.

She, who was staring at the three without blinking, opened her mouth in a heavily suppressed voice.

“Are you saying that I’m wrong? You were clearly laughing just now. With no tear stains at all, do you really expect me to believe she was crying?”

“…S-sorry, Miss Idel, ughhh!”

“Ivanna…”

At Idel’s remark, Ivanna buried her face in her hands and shook her shoulders. With her colleagues beside her comforting her in a pitiful manner, it was a perfect picture for anyone to see.

“…What’s going on?”

“Ah, Miss Sylvia, Miss Veronica…”

“Ugh…”

A maid who quickly covered the fallen hair with her skirt looked between Idel and Ivanna with a troubled expression.

“Miss Idel was getting her hair done…”

“Miss Idel?”

At Sylvia’s questioning gaze, Idel shouted loudly.

“It’s not my fault! They yanked my hair out first, randomly! Three times! And they laughed at me!”

“No, Miss Sylvia! It wasn’t laughing; Ivanna was just upset and cried!”

“But you clearly…”

Idel, who had started to speak, suddenly closed her mouth and looked around with narrowed eyes.

Sylvia, Veronica, and the three maids as well.

Taking a deep breath, as if reminded that no one was on her side, she clenched her teeth and averted her gaze.

“Enough. I don’t need any of this.”

“Ha… Miss Idel, I heard you rush at Veronica recklessly before. If you keep this up…”

“Are you going to inform the Duchess? Go ahead and try! Maybe she’ll lock me in the annex again!”

Idel sharply retorted, clenching her fist. Tears hung in her eyes, filled with defiance.

“Ugh…”

Idel, determined not to cry out of pride, narrowed her eyes intensely. The moment she thought everyone had seen her tears, she turned her back and dashed out of the room.

It was a perfectly executed exit.

 

☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓

 

“Ha, ha… If I’m here, it should be enough. Phew, it should be fine.”

Having successfully shown her tears in front of the servants, Idel only stopped running once she reached a place where no one could feel her presence.

Her heart raced violently, and her lungs felt like they were about to burst, causing her body to bend over instinctively.

As she placed her hands on her knees and caught her breath, a faint, deflated laugh escaped her.

“Ha, ha… Ah! Ahahaha!”

The expressions of Veronica and the servants were quite a sight.

They looked so smug, as if they had just won a fight.

Idel, rarely laughing out loud, slowly composed herself. Her cheeks were still damp from the tears she hadn’t wiped away, but what did it matter?

‘Who would come to a place like this?’

After taking a moment to catch her breath, Idel slowly lifted her upper body.

And the moment she raised her gaze to look straight ahead…

“Ah!”

Idel unintentionally fell on her backside. Someone completely unexpected was standing right in front of her.

Like a ghost.

“Are you alright?”

It wasn’t a real ghost, but Dante Knightley had appeared as if he were one.

Idel, rubbing her sore tailbone with a grimace, glanced at the hand extended toward her and frowned for a moment.

“I’ll help you get up.”

The scene of her fallen self, the hand reaching out, and Dante Knightley felt oddly familiar.

 

 

TL’s note:

Hii. I’m sorry for the lack of new chapters. I’m a little busy with life but I’ll do a mass release next month. Stay tuned!