The Villainess' Ending Was Death

Fresa looked at Elias without saying anything.

‘I didn’t know he would come so quickly.’

It was surprising that Elias gave in to her pride so quickly. Of course, he still hold his head up stiffly, but the situation must be quite urgent right now. So, rather than sending Jerome who would have acted like a lackey, he came by himself.

Fresa stood calmly, completely unfazed.

“This is my first time talking to you in person like this, Your Highness, Grand Duke of the Granadines.”

Elias’ eyes soon moved from Fresa to Lycaon. But Lycaon did not answer. He just waited in silence, as if he had no intention of speaking unless Fresa gave permission.

Elias’ expression slightly wavered as Lycaon openly ignored him. But he soon got over it, and he walked towards Fresa with long strides and said,

“I came here because I thought it would be better to talk in person rather than through letters.”

Zed, who was watching the situation, took a step forward and kept Elias in check.

As the large Zed’s shadow tilted towards Elias, Elias flinched and stopped.

“I want to go in and talk. You and me, the two siblings.”

“Hmm. Brother and sister?”

Fresa finally opened her mouth. She was reacting to the expression she heard for the first time from Elias’ mouth. To Elias Thorpe, Fresa was less like his younger sister and more like a pitiful pebble rolling on the street. He told her that his only siblings were just Jerome and Amy, but he suddenly treated her like his younger sibling.

Fresa smiled slightly and continued her words.

“I never knew you and I were that close. You ignored me so much that I wondered if I had been picked up somewhere.”

“…Are you still holding on to things from the past? That was then and now is now.”

Why did perpetrators always say that their evil deeds were just in the past? To Fresa, it seemed as vivid as if it happened yesterday.

She always thought about this, but humans were truly selfish. She wasn’t expecting an apology in the first place, but Elias was worse than Jerome.

Jerome was stupid, but Elias was arrogant and even mean.

‘It’s clear she came to spread her hands, but her sassy attitude is still the same.’

Fresa wasn’t even angry. Even devoting such emotions was a loss.

When Fresa fell silent, Elias spoke again, raising one of his eyebrows crookedly.

“Are you going to keep me standing on this dirt floor?”

“Ah. Well, would you like some tea?”

“Natural…”

“I thought you were going to say that? I have nothing to talk to you about. You came here because the family was on the verge of collapse. What benefit do you give me by taking my time?”

Fresa grinned and decisively cut off Elias’ words.

Elias frowned at her.

“What?”

“I tell you to go back now. It’s dinner time now.”

“What… now…?”

Elias glared at Fresa, his expression clearly wrinkled. It was a face that really resembled Count Thorpe.

When she thought about it that way, she didn’t want to see him again even for a moment.

“Go back. I have no intention of helping the Thorpe family.”

Fresa no longer smiled, even if it was fake. She just stared at Elias with a dry gaze without even a single trace of emotion remaining.

Elias was trembling at her cold treatment, which he could not even imagine. If it was going to hurt his pride this much, she didn’t know what he came all this way for. Did he really think that Fresa was still afraid of her family?

Fresa briefly clicked her tongue.

Lycaon seemed to have taken this as some kind of signal, and began speaking in a cold voice.

“The boss said she had nothing more to say, Count Thorpe.”

“…”

“I don’t want to use force. You look shabby and don’t even have a single bodyguard.”

“Be careful what you say.”

When Lycaon struck him straight to the point, Elias softly retorted. Although he was acting noble, Elias came all this way on the ship alone without even proper escort.

Since Count Gillespie refused to support him, his only remaining option was Fresa, but he didn’t seem to be that desperate. In fact, this was not the development that Fresa wanted. But, it didn’t really matter anyway.

It would be difficult to see Elias Thorpe kneeling and praying. But in the future, he would find out what it felt like to build up his pride and then get ruined.

“You’ll regret it, Fresa.”

“Yes, I will regret it a lot. I don’t go far.”

Fresa affectionately raised her hand in greeting.

Elias caught his eye on that light gesture and he clenched his teeth. He clenched his teeth so hard that his slim jawline trembled.

“You will really regret it.”

“You may not know, but I hate repeating the same thing.”

“Your sister Amy is still a child. If her family name is wrong…”

“Oh, how is Amy?”

When Fresa showed interest in Amy, Elias eyes lit up for a moment.

Yes, he said.

“If you want to see Amy, come back to the Thorpe household, Fresa. Everyone will forgive you.”

“Hey. Who would like to meet them? It’s fun just to imagine how much that arrogant thing is going to cry and make a fuss.”

“…what?”

Elias just blinked stupidly, as if something was broken. It was really strange. There’s no way Fresa missed her family, so why didn’t everyone know that?

Fresa slowly became tired. She already had a lot to think about during the interview, but listening to Elias’ nonsense made her temples tingle.

Fresa raised her right hand and waved it as if to ward off her petty dealer.

“If you’re not going to kneel down and ask for something, then go back.”

“Knee… It’s my knee now…”

“The boss says so. Goodbye, Count Thorpe.”

Elias clenched his fists and trembled, but Lycaon completely blocked Fresa’s path. With Zed standing next to her, it felt like a solid wall was protecting Fresa.

It was only after Elias’ tired red hair disappeared from her sight that she felt a little more relaxed. She couldn’t bring herself to confront Lycaon and Zed, so Elias turned his back and got into her carriage. Soon the carriage pulled away with a cloud of dust.

“Make sure Count Thorpe’s spirit leaves Paro Village, Zed.”

“Yes, I understand.”

As soon as Zed heard Lycaon’s command, he quickly disappeared.

Lycaon looked back at Fresa and asked.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m surprised he still has any pride left. Is pride more important than such a precious family name?”

Fresa shook her head and muttered. She felt a pang of regret because she couldn’t see Elias Thorpe kneel.

Lycaon said as he removed the leaves that had fallen on Fresa’s hair.

“We don’t know how long it will last.”

“When did you say the auction would be?”

Lycaon answered after putting the leaf in Fresa’s hand.

“They said it would be in two weeks.”

“Unless Count Gillespie helps, Thorpe Manor will be auctioned off.”

Fresa looked down at the green leaves in his palm, muttered softly and thought for a moment. She had planned a slightly different approach, but it seemed like it would be better to change it up.

If the Thorpe family was still showing off like that, they couldn’t just sit still.

Lycaon did not bother to speak and waited quietly until Fresa finished his thoughts.

Soon, Fresa spoke with her blue eyes filled with Lycaon.

“Mr. Lycaon, I need to attend the auction.”

“I knew that would happen, so I prepared tickets in advance.”

Fresa blinked blankly at the answer that seemed obvious and then asked after a while.

“…Did you know I was going to go?”

“Sure. How much time have you been watching from the side?”

“It’s only been a few months.”

“It’s a long time for me. I didn’t even know he was alive and well like this.”

Lycaon whispered softly and touched the leaf in Fresa’s palm with the tip of his finger. At the same time, the leaves turned bright blue like Fresa’s eyes.

“The rest of my time was created by you, Resa.”

“…It’s not that bad.”

Fresa felt embarrassed for no reason and avoided her gaze. 

She only deciphered it once, but she didn’t know how many times she had heard such harsh words. At her reaction, Lycaon let out a small laugh.

“Anyway, there must be quite a bit of preparation to do. You want a gorgeous, perfect ending, right?”

Lycaon smiled as if she already knew what Fresa was up to.

Fresa immediately understood what he meant.

“We have hired new staff, so we will have that much time.”

“Who did you decide on?”

“That’s still a secret. It would be fun to get to know each other on the day I go to work.”

Fresa grinned, playfully shaking the leaf Lycaon had given her. Although her concerns were not completely over yet, she had made up her mind to some extent.

And a few days later, a new employee came to work.

 

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Translator Note: