The Villainess’ Beloved Plan: The Struggles to Avoid a Doomed End

“Is Sophia behaving strangely?”

Randall had his own room in Glastona Castle. He was working in the room and frowned at the report from his residence. 

His servant who came from Duke Voltio’s house had a troubled expression on his face. Randall hadn’t returned to the mansion since marrying Sophia, but he hadn’t given up on keeping an eye on Sophia. Thus, he had his servant report every day.

Randall put down his quill, put away his papers, and stood up.

“That commoner! She finally showed her true nature. It was just as Keira said.”

Without listening to the servant’s report to the end, Randall had his carriage prepared, and hurried back to the mansion. And then, Randall passed through the Duke’s gate and opened his mouth wide open.

* * *

“Hey, can someone really get a fever from something like this?”

Sophia was playing in the fountain in the garden of Duke Voltio’s house. She splashed water around, lifting her dress and getting completely wet from head to toe.

Orion stood a little further away to avoid being soaked by the water and said, “I can’t think of anything else.”

The servants of Duke Voltio’s family were looking at the situation from afar with puzzled expressions on their faces. Sophia decided to pretend to have a high fever to make Randall come back to the mansion, but she didn’t know how to get a high fever. So she and Orion had deliberated and decided to go with a rather forceful plan – the ‘catch a cold while playing with the water’ strategy. And they stuck with it.

Although Sophia was a princess, she lived in the city until she was 14 years old as a commoner, and even before when she was Kanon and reincarnated, she was quite a tomboy. That meant she had no qualms about playing in the water like this, but Voltio… It seemed to be a very strange scene for the servants of the Duke’s house. The servants were unable to stop her, a princess, but they couldn’t pretend not to see her, and one by one they gathered from inside the mansion, and watched with a shocked look on their faces…

“Um, milady, are you sure you won’t catch a cold…?”

Among the servants, there was one who mustered up the courage to call out to her. That was Isolte, the maid Randall prepared for Sophia. She had a charming face with freckles and was 16 years old, just like Sophia.

Sophia looked up at her and thought to herself that she was doing it because she wanted to catch a cold. She couldn’t just answer honestly though, so she replied to Isolte, “It’s okay!”

“Milady, do you perhaps want to take a bath? If you say so, I will prepare it for you…”

“No, I want to play in the water.”

“I-Is that so…? But summer has already passed, aren’t you cold…?”

“Not at all!”

It was mid-autumn, and there was no doubt that it’s chilly, but it had to be cold to catch a cold. If she cooled her body down with water to the point where she was shivering, even though Sophia was healthy, she was sure she would catch a cold. She was starting to get quite cold, and just when Sophia splashed the water with her toes, something happened.

“What are you doing…!”

A low voice suddenly hit Sophia’s ears. When she looked up, her husband, Randall, who hadn’t come home since they got married, was walking towards her, his eyebrows raised.

“Ah, it was earlier than planned. Lucky.”

Orion could be heard muttering, but Sophia was not listening to her. This was unexpected. Sophia had wanted to develop a fever after playing in the water, and she wanted Randall to take care of her. She never wanted to be seen playing in the water. Would any new bride want her husband to see her playing in the water like a child with her dress pulled up so much that her legs were exposed? There wouldn’t be any.

Sophia turned blue quickly, but she was stuck inside the fountain so she couldn’t escape easily.

While she was flustered, Randall came closer to her, stretched out his arm, and grabbed Sophia’s wrist with a frown.

“Playing in the fountain…! Are you a child?”

In response to his sharp rebuke, Sophia couldn’t help but shrink her neck. 

Orion pretended not to notice; Isolte looked frightened as if she was the one in trouble; and the other servants were still watching from afar. No one seemed to be able to help her.

“What are you thinking, playing in the water? Come on, get out of the fountain! What if you catch a cold!”

If she said that she wanted to catch a cold, he would make a big deal of it and scold her for doing so.

Sophia stepped out of the fountain with Randall’s help, and she looked up at his tall figure in trepidation. Drops of water fall from her golden hair. Sophia’s loosely wavy hair was now wet and straight, with water dripping down her pale, thin chin, and her light pink dress hugged her body tightly. It was stuck on the line.

As Sophia looked up at Randall with fear in her emerald eyes, Randall’s cheeks turned slightly red as he looked back at her. She wondered what was going on when he suddenly looked away from her.

“Despite being a fake princess, you should not dress like that!”

Even though he called Sophia a “fake princess”, he seemed to treat her like a princess at times like this.

She tightened the hem of her wet and heavy dress, which made her even more angry.

“Even though you’re a fake princess, don’t show your legs!”

“…You can think of my legs as just a piece of stick.”

Randall only treated her like a princess when it was convenient, and she was annoyed by it. And so, when Sophia retorted, his eyes widened.

“Are you trying to smear the Duke Voltio family name in the mud?”

Randall was angry. But even Sophia was pissed at him.

(He hasn’t been home for a week, but as soon as he comes back, he’s all husband-faced!)

Angry, Sophia ignored Randall and pulled her dress up to about mid-thigh, where she squeezed it tight. Then, turning her back to Randall, she called out to Isolte.

“Can you help me get dressed?”

“Y-Yes…!”

When Isolte chased after Sophia in a panic, a dumbfounded Randall was left behind, stunned.

“What is that girl thinking…?”

Orion struggled to hold back her laughter.

 

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