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

The carriage had been enveloped in silence since a while ago.

After leaving Alina in the restroom, Sophia didn’t feel like going back to the dance hall and decided to head back to the Duke’s mansion. However, just as she was about to get in the carriage, Randall came chasing after her.

Randall said he was returning to the Duke’s mansion today. Even though Sophia didn’t want to face him due to the awkwardness, she could not refuse either. And so, Sophia found herself on the journey back home with Randall.

In the carriage, where the sound of the rattling wheels echoed strangely, Randall had been gazing out the window for a while. Despite it being pitch black outside, cloaked in the darkness of the night, there was hardly anything visible.

Sophia gazed at Randall’s profile and let out a secret sigh.

Naturally, she was feeling hurt today.

It was not uncommon for Randall to criticize Sophia, but being scolded in front of so many people… She knew it, but it reminded her that Randall was the target of the heroine’s affection and she was the villainess. Keira, the heroine, was precious to Randall.

All the hard work she put into her dance lessons and all the dressing up seems so pointless.

Sophia realized how foolish she had been to be swept away by Randall’s smile. Just because he smiled at her a bit didn’t mean she had won his heart.

(…I wish he would have believed me.)

Sophia knew Randall hated her. She knew it would be hard to win his heart, but she felt like giving up, as if she was going to break.

What was Randall thinking right now?

Although Sophia had been proven innocent thanks to Alina, was Randall still suspecting her?

Sophia turned her gaze to the window opposite to where Randall was looking.

The reflection in the window showed Sophia with a miserable expression. Despite having her makeup done, she wore a gloomy expression, devoid of any elegance.

The Duke’s mansion wasn’t supposed to be too far from the castle, but she felt like she had been in the carriage for a long time.

She just wanted to go home early, take a bath, go to bed early and forget all the bad things that happened today.

Sophia gently closes her eyes.

It was at that moment that she wanted to cry, wondering why she was “Sophia”.

“…I’m sorry about today.”

Sophia suddenly opened her eyes.

The words she heard were so faint that she initially thought she misheard them.

When she turned around, Randall continued to stare outside the window and spoke.

“I’m sorry for doubting you.”

She hadn’t misheard.

(Did Randall… apologize?)

She slowly traced her memory. However, there was no scene in the game where Randall apologized, and no appropriate option came to Sophia’s mind.

Sophia was bewildered and simply nodded in response.

Silence fell again in the carriage, but strangely, she no longer felt the same cramped, uncomfortable feeling that made it difficult to even breathe that she had felt earlier.

Randall glared at the darkness outside the window, regretting his actions of the day.

After the dance, he had parted ways with Sophia and had a conversation with an acquaintance before being summoned by Keira’s friend, a young lady. It seemed Keira was crying.

Upon hearing that his beloved cousin was crying, Randall hurried to one of the lounge rooms where Keira was said to be.

When he entered the lounge, he found Keira weeping and wiping her dress with a handkerchief.

“What’s wrong?”

When Randall asked, Keira, with tears streaming down her face said, “There is wine spilled on my dress… Sophia spilled red wine on my dress.”

“Sophia?”

“Yeah. She must have found me annoying. Sophia hates me…”

Keira’s sad, trembling eyelashes made Randall lose his temper. He thought she’d be quiet for a while, but that commoner had apparently done something nasty to Keira again.

Randall ran out of the break room in anger and went straight to Sophia.

When he blamed her for splashing wine on her dress, she shook her eyes in confusion, but Randall wasn’t going to be fooled. Because that’s what Keira said. She said that Sophia splashed red wine on Keira’s dress.

As if to prove Keira’s testimony, Keira’s friends behind him all said they saw Sophia pour red wine on Keira’s dress.

Despite all this testimony, Sophia still refused to admit her guilt. When he became irritated at Sophia’s continued denial, a cold voice rang in Randall’s ears.

“Lady Sophia didn’t do anything.”

The young lady who was next to Sophia, sipping champagne, interrupted. Her name was Alina, the daughter of Count Legato.

“Lady Sophia has been talking to me here all this time. So how could she pour red wine on Lady Keira’s dress?”

Randall frowned. Sophia had been talking to Count Legato’s daughter all this time? But Keira said that Sophia had poured red wine on her. What was going on?

As he questions the daughter of Count Legato, Keira’s friends began to look flustered. They said Sophia had spilled the wine before coming here, and Randall realized that Sophia couldn’t have been the culprit since she had been with him the whole time.

Suddenly, Randall was bewildered.

It wasn’t Sophia. And yet, in his anger, he had attacked Sophia.

Unable to meet Sophia’s eyes, he turned away, and she was taken to the lounge by Count Legato’s daughter.

Randall was then called by the King, who had heard the commotion, and he reported the details, which led to him being scolded. The King had been watching the party – or rather Sophia – from a higher platform, but he had never seen Sophia approach Keira.

Randall was finally depressed.

It was unclear why Keira had mistakenly thought Sophia had splashed red wine on her but Randall had begun to suspect her without even investigating further.

The King continued to complain to Randall at length, but his nagging did not register at all.

(…She’s not crying, is she…?)

What stuck in the depths of his heart was the hurt expression on Sophia’s face as she walked away from him earlier.

Upon hearing that Sophia was leaving, Randall hurried to the place where the carriage was waiting, and found her getting into the carriage with a gloomy expression.

Randall had planned to stay at the castle again today, but he couldn’t stay sitting still any longer, so he got into the same carriage, saying he was going back to the Duke’s mansion.

However, once he got in the carriage, he was at a loss for words. The heavy, oppressive silence hung in the air with only the sound of the wheels rattling.

Staring out of the window intently, he saw Sophia looking at the opposite window through the glass. Her face reflected in the window on the opposite side looked like she was about to cry, tightening Randall’s chest with discomfort.

“…I’m sorry about today.”

Even if he apologized, the memory of his past doubts about her wouldn’t go away.

However, Randall could no longer remain silent and sincerely apologized for his mistake.

“I’m sorry for doubting you.”

Sophia turned around and looked shocked. Randall thought to himself that there was no need for her to be so surprised. It made him seem like an insolent person who couldn’t even apologize.

Sophia remained silent for a while, looking shocked, but then she nodded slightly.

And silence fell on the carriage again.

Randall stared at Sophia’s figure through the window glass and reflected deeply on his mistakes.

 

—————————————————————

Translator Note: