Since When Were You The Villain?

Chapter 77:  

   

The palace’s attendant informed HER that the Empress and Killian had gone to the reception room.  

That’s why Sophia had come up to the reception room herself.  

And it happened to be the conversation she overheard.  

“In my opinion, I’m not sure if Sophia is a suitable match for me.”  

A very soft voice from the other side of the door strangely sounded quite clear to her.  

Sophia halted and looked at the attendant, who was about to knock on the door.  

“Isn’t she a person with many flaws? People had doubts when they heard about my engagement with Sophia.”  

It was a voice she loved so much that it was impossible to hear it wrong.  

From the first time she heard it, she thought it was a gentle, low-pitched voice like that of an actor.  

“I don’t understand why Your Majesty likes Lady Sophia.”  

“Oh…” Sophia took a step back.  

It seemed like she had heard a conversation she shouldn’t have.  

“Lady, do I not need to tell them?”  

The attendant asked Sophia, to whom she had stopped.  

“No… It’s okay. Please tell the Grand Duke that I’ll be waiting in the lower lounge.”  

“Yes, understood, Lady Sophia Fraus.”  

Sophia quickly descended the stairs.  

However, her steps down the stairs were slow.  

Killian’s words echoed in her mind.  

‘Did he really think of me that way?’  

‘In my opinion, I’m not sure if Sophia is a suitable match for me.’  

Were they all just obligations and acts of pretence?  

Her steps slowed down more and more as her heart raced, and eventually, she came to a halt on the staircase.  

‘No, that can’t be. If that were the case, why would he have kissed me in a secluded place?’  

Sophia stood firm on the staircase, clutching the railing tightly.  

No one would have such a passionate, intense, and steamy kiss when no one was watching. No matter how much she drank, it was… 

Sophia calmed herself down and opened the encyclopaedia of clichés in her head.  

‘Yes, there are about two possible scenarios for the female lead secretly eavesdropping on someone else’s conversation.’  

Knowing an important secret or cutting out a part and misunderstanding it.  

In the former case, it would mean that Killian had not been in love with Sophia all along but had only been pretending.  

‘He even fooled me. The kisses were all fake, and even pretending to like me!’  

Sophia pursed her lips and wore a sulky expression.  

‘If he’s the villain, then of course he could do that. He’s a man who has deceived both Mikhail, whom he has lived with all his life, and the royal family.’  

Compared to that, Sophia was an easy target for deception.  

With that thought, somehow, one side of her chest throbbed.  

Even though she knew he was a character from a novel, when it approached him as a reality, it felt strange.  

“Perhaps I might be just a part of Kilian’s obscure grand scheme.”  

At this point, when Estelle had made a full-fledged appearance, Killian’s statement had made Sophia uneasy.  

In the original work, Killian murders Sophia because she interferes with his love.  

If she stays defenceless like this, it wouldn’t be surprising if she ended up dead in his hands.  

She anxiously organized her thoughts, biting her thumbnail.  

‘But what if it’s the latter? What if I misunderstood him?’  

Sophia, despite knowing the danger Killian posed, thought of him like a moth to a flame.  

In novels, it’s common for the heroine to overhear a part of the hero’s words, misunderstand them, and then leave. Isn’t the genre of ‘runaway’ typically like that? (T/L: She is smart and funny at the same time, hehehe [me saying this for the sixth time].)  

So, all of this might be her misunderstanding or misconception.  

Although Killian might be the villain, in reality, he might genuinely like me, and he wasn’t pretending to deceive me. 

Sophia’s thoughts became tangled, and she shook her head in confusion.  

She didn’t know. She didn’t know Killian’s true feelings.  

What was he really thinking?  

‘Why do I keep taking Killian’s side in the midst of all this!’  

There was no need for her to defend him.  

She could simply conclude that he was a bad guy and find another man. So why!  

Sophia leaned her head against the railing, feeling exasperated.  

She knew why. It was because Killian was attractive.  

Whether he was a murderer or not, the way he had shown himself to her was too appealing.  

It was all because of the trap of romance.  

‘I should have just waited quietly in the lounge! I shouldn’t have come looking for trouble!’  

Sophia resisted the urge to mess up the carefully styled hair that Jenny had worked on.  

Instead, she used her tightly clenched fist to pound the railing of the staircase to vent her frustration.  

‘I don’t know! The god of clichés will take care of it!’  

Even if she fell, it would magically land her in a man’s arms, right? 

Sophia vented her anger into the empty air and then rushed down the stairs, taking bold steps. (T/L: She really 🤣.)  

And as she was about to pass the party hall and go back to the lounge.  

“Sophia!”  

A voice that greeted her insincerely stopped her in her tracks.  

“Why is that person calling me like that?”  

Sophia glanced towards the direction of the party as if she had heard a ghostly voice.  

Her mother, who pretended not to know her, was smiling and gesturing for her to come over.  

“My daughter, come here quickly. We should greet people.”  

Daughter? My stepmother?  

Sophia raised an eyebrow.  

‘Perhaps she’s trying to save face?’  

The story of Rubisella, who had been featured in Chanelia’s weekly magazine, abusing Sophia had dealt a significant blow to her reputation.  

So she was trying to show people that she had a good relationship with Sophia.  

But Sophia had no intention of taking inconvenient steps for her reputation.  

As Sophia tried to ignore her and head towards the lounge, Rubisella approached her directly and gently wrapped her arms around her.  

“Sophia, it seems you didn’t hear me. There are many people over there who want to see you.”  

“I heard, but I ignored you, Madame.”  

Sophia furrowed her brows and removed Rubisella’s arm, which was resting on her shoulder.  

At that moment, a flash of anger passed through Rubisella’s eyes.  

However, with her long experience, she didn’t do anything foolish like cause a scene at the party, unlike Barbara.  

“After dancing, you seem quite tired, our Sophia.”  

“Our… Sophia?”  

“Nevertheless, we should at least greet them.”  

Rubisella didn’t wait and grabbed Sophia’s wrist.  

Sophia raised her eyes and let out a sigh, but eventually she stood in front of the people Rubisella led her to.  

“This young lady is Sophia.”  

As Rubisella introduced Sophia to the people, elderly nobles scrutinized her with judgmental eyes, as if they were judges.  

They seemed quite curious about the woman known as the Grand Duke’s fiancée and what kind of person she was.  

“Our Sophia has been having a hard time lately with some strange rumours. How harmonious our Fraus family is, right, Sophia?”  

Rubisella bit into that statement and smiled. However, Sophia just stared at her without responding. 

This made Rubisella look rather uneasy as she observed Sophia.  

Sophia pondered for a moment about what to do.  

Here, Sophia could overtly display her poor relationship with Rubisella and possibly embarrass her.   

She could burst into tears and say, “Why are you doing this, mother? What did I do wrong again?” while trembling, which might be entertaining.  

‘But what’s left for me even if I do that?’  

Sophia, who had a strained relationship with her stepmother, smiled mischievously and nodded her head.  

“Yes, Mother, we are so harmonious!”  

She exaggeratedly laughed and bumped fists with Rubisella.  

Then, Rubisella, who had been startled, looked at her in surprise.  

“Not only that. My mother told me that she would formally teach me how to manage the family. She said that if I become the lady of the Grand Duke’s house, I should know how to do such things.” 

 “Really?”  

“Not only that. She also allowed me to freely observe the upper-class gatherings, and if there’s anything I need among them, she said I can buy it as much as I want.”  

Sophia winked and looked at Rubisella, saying, “Isn’t that right, Mother?”  

Her lips trembled slightly, but she soon nodded.  

“Then you’re a Fraus too! Moreover, you’ll be Lady Rivelon in the future.”  

Rubisella confidently affirmed her request.  

After all, she knew that the words uttered here wouldn’t be kept anyway.  

These were matters that would take place within the family, and there was no way for the people here to confirm it.  

And Sophia understood that as well.  

“So, I was thinking, for the next social gathering, I’d like to attend with you, Mother, and show the gifts I’ve received from the Fraus family!”  

“What did you say?”  

“Our relationship is so good, but everyone is misunderstanding it, and it hurts my heart too, Mother. So, don’t we need a more definite occasion to dispel those misunderstandings?”  

“Well, I mean…”  

The housekeeper, wearing a sociable mask, shivered slightly.  

“Otherwise, people might think that I’m here with you under duress.” 

Sophia trembled her voice and acted scared, as if she was standing here solely because of coercion.  

“What if they believe I’m a daughter who’s afraid of going home and getting slapped by you, Mother…? But that’s not the case, right, Mother…?”  

She quickly softened her stance and timidly looked at Rubisella.  

It was as if she were a victim of her stepmother’s tyranny, oppressed and subdued.  

The nobles alternated their gazes between Sophia, who seemed to suffer from such treatment, and Rubisella, who was trying to contain her rising anger.  

“Well… if time allows, let’s try to arrange such an occasion.”  

Rubisella reluctantly suggested defusing the situation.  

However, Sophia wasn’t ready to let it go easily.  

 

 

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