Since When Were You The Villain?

Chapter 69.  

 

“Ah, there was a servant who served the former Grand Duke back then.”

Kilian recalled the conversation he had with Percel shortly before Percel’s death.

‘I remember that he said he was heading south. He was a friend of mine around the same age. He must be close to his sixties by now.’ (Viscount Percel)

Percel had mentioned that this servant knew a lot about the Emperor’s illegitimate child.

He was probably one of the few who had actually seen the child.

Afterward, Killian discreetly inquired about this servant, but his whereabouts were nowhere to be found.

However, to suddenly receive a letter from a servant of the previous grand duke’s household was quite surprising.

Killian recognized the potential danger of this letter and cautiously looked around his empty study, on guard.

The surroundings were quiet, and there was no sound echoing through the corridors.

He locked the study door behind him and entered the secret compartment behind the bookshelf, holding Hank’s letter in his hand.

Once he was completely isolated from the outside world, Killian leaned against the wall lamp and continued reading the back of the letter.

 

Hank knew that someone was looking for him, but he couldn’t immediately respond in that situation.

He said that a long time ago, thanks to the grace of the former Grand Duke, he came down to the south with a large sum of money, changed his name, and bought the title of a fallen nobleman.

Although he was a poor baron with no lands to speak of, he was suitable for concealing his identity.

[Though not stated clearly, I suspect that His Grace the Grand Duke might be looking for me, so I’m risking danger to write this letter.]

Hank had attended the first ball in the capital to meet Killian, mentioning that he wanted to take advantage of the chaos during the ball to meet him.

And if possible, he hoped to meet when people were distracted by the festivities.

He explained that he wouldn’t have many chances to come to the capital in the future.

Even if he did, it would probably be at least a year’s wait.

Yet even so, it wasn’t as if Killian could simply go down and meet ‘Baron Clifford’ while avoiding the eyes of the royal court.

There wouldn’t be any stories suitable for exchange through letters either.

“So, this is the opportunity…”

Killian even briefly suspected whether this letter might be a trap set by the imperial family or the “Black Moon.” (T/L: In raws it says ‘Rosay’s Villain’, but I changed it to “black moon’.)

But trap or not, he couldn’t afford to miss this opportunity.

He folded the letter and prepared for the next day.

The white mask hanging on the wall gleamed under the reddish-burning lamp.

* * *

From early dawn, the household staff of the Fraus estate were running around as if their feet were on fire due to the preparations for the royal ball.

The Foundation Festival was one of the busiest times for the household.

Countess Fraus, who was always sincere about the ball, had been in full swing for today’s preparations for months.

“The hair designer! Are they not ready yet?”

“The Count is still having his meal!”

“Young master Ian disappeared, saying he’d be in training!”

“The lady asked for the aroma oil of rosemary!”

If you stood in the middle of the lobby, anxious voices could be heard from all over.

However, in the middle of the lobby, only one person was wandering around with a frustrated expression.

“Really… is it not here?”

Sophia’s personal maid, Jenny.

She looked around at the people bustling about and asked her question, but there was no one with enough leisure to answer her in return.

Jenny pressed her hand to her forehead.

“Is there really not a single person assigned to the young lady’s side?!”

Jenny shouted into the lobby as if screaming.

But there was no response.

Among the hundreds of Fraus household staff, there was only one person working for Sophia!

Moreover, weren’t there people brought in from outside today for the ball preparations?!

There were massage therapists, hair designers, tailors to assist with clothing fittings, perfumers to help choose scents, and various other specialists from different fields.

With all that, there were at least 30 people assisting the count’s preparations and over 50 people assisting the countess preparations.

Even Ian, who disliked such things, had over 20 people assigned to help him.

And yet, for Sophia, there was just one person!

Jenny wondered if the countess was intentionally trying to work her to death.

Jenny had to bathe Sophia, do her hair, dress her, and apply her makeup all on her own.

“So that’s why people like us need to find good supporters.”

As Jenny lamented in the lobby, a passing maid sneered at her and made a spiteful remark before walking away.

All this trouble was caused by Sophia confronting Rubisella.

Rather than openly tormenting Sophia, Rubisella had started ignoring her in this manner.

‘I can’t tell young master Ian about this!’

If she told Ian, he would probably step in and help.

If Ian learned that there was no one around Sophia, he would likely send his own personal maids and male servants to assist her.

Originally, Ian had little interest in the ball, and he found it bothersome when his own staff attached themselves to him.

However, Jenny felt she couldn’t handle the aftermath.

For the past few days, the maids assigned to Ian had been thrilled to serve the handsome young master. Although Ian was temperamental and didn’t listen to others, there were still many maids who liked or admired him.

And not just maids, but even the male servants with dreams of becoming knights saw serving Ian as an honour. Especially since the fact that he was a skilled knight, even in Ruchtainer, sometimes turned his bad temperament into the charisma of a capable individual.

However, all of a sudden, she finds herself in an awkward situation where the noble young master is paying attention to the lady’s maid, which is like a thorn in Jenny’s side.

If this continues, from today on, Jenny will probably be completely ostracized among the Fraus household servants.

No, she might already be facing ostracism.

“It wasn’t just for a short while as one of Sophia’s maids…!”

It was all Jenny’s karma.

With a heavy heart, she made her way up to Sophia’s chambers.

No matter how much she had shouted in the lobby, no one had been on her side.

“Lady.”

Jenny knocked on the door to announce her presence.

“Yeah, come in.”

Even though it was early morning, Sophia had been awake for a while. As Jenny entered, Sophia closed the foreign book she had been studying.

‘What difference would it make if she suddenly acted like this…’

Jenny muttered to herself inwardly.

Since returning from Rivelon (the Grand Duchy), Sophia has been waking up early every day to study. At first, Jenny thought it was just a phase that would last a day or two. But her expectations were proven wrong.

Jenny was secretly surprised by Sophia’s consistency.

She had thought Sophia would give up after a day or two, but she had been diligently studying for almost a month.

Is she preparing to become the hostess of the Rivelon Ducal Estate?

“You need to hurry and prepare for the ball, lady.”

“Huh? Already?”

Sophia looked at the clock. The old timepiece was just striking six.

“The ball starts at six in the evening, doesn’t it?”

Even if Killian were to come pick her up at five, there were still eleven hours left.

“Still, you need to start quickly if you want to wash up and get ready. Mistress has already finished her bath.”

“Already?!”

“There’s so much to prepare!”

In Rubisella’s case, she had allotted 2 hours for a massage, 4 hours for her hair, 3 hours for makeup, and 2 hours for getting dressed and adorning herself with accessories.

Taking short breaks to fill her stomach with simple finger foods, even that schedule of eleven hours felt tight. Yet, Sophia had to handle it alone.

While she couldn’t adorn herself as extravagantly as Rubisella, she still needed to maintain appearances, so Jenny became impatient.

“Even if you shower around nine…”

“Hurry up!”

“You’re quite enthusiastic, Jenny. You weren’t like this at first.”

Sophia chuckled at Jenny’s bustling figure.

It was just a little while ago that Jenny was throwing clothes and shoes into the attic room, telling Sophia to dress herself.

But now, Sophia was unable to give her a proper makeover, which frustrated Jenny.

“Well…”

Jenny scowled and then shot Sophia a glare.

“I’m not entirely heartless, you know.”

Jenny muttered under her breath.

There was another reason behind Jenny’s devoted service to Sophia, besides Ian.

* * *

So, roughly two weeks before now.

“Jenny, what are you doing right now?”

“W-Well…!”

As Jenny was about to slip one of Sophia’s few remaining rings into her pocket, her face turned pale, frozen in place.

Sophia gazed calmly at the petrified Jenny and extended her hand.

Without any defense, Jenny placed the ring on her outstretched palm.

Even after getting the ring back, Sofia looked at her silently, and Jenny broke down in tears.

“I-I swear, this is the first time…! I was so desperate for money… I lost my mind.”

Undoubtedly, in her more than five years of service at the Fraus Estate, she never once laid a finger on any of the household’s belongings.

But that day was different.

Jenny had been struggling for a week under the weight of the knowledge that her mother was unwell and in need of medicine. She felt the pressure to gather the money required for it.

But that morning, just when her money woes had peaked, she was robbed by a pickpocket who snatched her purse.

While the purse didn’t contain a substantial amount of money, it was still significant to Jenny, given her urgent need for funds.

In her desperation, she even entertained the idea of doing something unethical.

‘Am I the only one who got robbed by a pickpocket? Why does it have to be me?!’

However, her amateurish attempt at thievery was quickly foiled, and she was caught.

‘And, to some extent, you’re also responsible for this, lady…!’

“Why me?”

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TRANSLATOR:

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