She is the Daughter of the Villainess in a Ridiculous Novel - Chapter 11

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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I Am the Villainess’s Daughter in a Melodramatic Novel
Chapter 11
The ripple from Bilead’s casual remark was enormous. Idel felt her thoughts tangle into knots and squeezed her eyes shut. Ah, what do I do now?
Thanks to the house arrest, I managed to slip out this time, but I couldn’t keep doing this every time.
Even if I threw a tantrum on purpose and got punished again, there was no guarantee it would work in my favor the way it did this time.
“What excuse can I make to dodge all these eyes…?”
Without realizing she’d spoken her thoughts aloud, Idel tightened her grip on the hand she was holding.
Just as a faint groan seemed to escape, Sigmund’s irritated voice tickled her ear.
“Ugh, are you planning to break my hand or something?! Just say there’s someone you want to see, whatever! A friend or something!”
“What?”
Like a broken clock, Idel stopped every movement at once.
She stayed that way for a moment, then blinked as if something had come to her, and whipped her head toward Sigmund.
For the first time since she had entered the Ducal Household, a bright smile spread across Idel’s face.
“Hey, you’re pretty talented in more ways than one, huh? Thanks!”
“…Ugh.”
Her smile was more striking than he’d expected, and Sigmund scrunched his face up tight.
Even if only for a moment, he was humiliated that he’d thought this crazy girl who had just slammed her head into things looked striking.
Whether Sigmund turned his head like a broken doll or not, Idel was satisfied. This escape was one she could be proud of for leaving the Ducal Household.
Releasing her hold on Sigmund, she hopped down from the chair and spoke to Bilead.
“You can sell the stolen goods in a few batches, the kind that’s easy to move. That’ll be easier for me to deliver and for you to sell, I think.”
…Does a kid her age even know about that sort of thing?
Bilead was intrigued, yet quickly brushed the thought aside. Well, as long as we get along, that’s fine.
“Whatever suits you, client. Anyway, according to the contract, half the payment is only received once the curse is successfully lifted.”
“Yeah, right. Then I’ll call it a day and head back for now.”
“It’s not as if Sigmund’s hand is going to wear out. You could hold on a bit longer, you know?”
“Why would Master decide that on his own?”
Before Idel could answer, a sharp voice shot out from the side, and she lightly shrugged her shoulders.
“It’s fine. He seems to be running out of patience too.”
Bilead glanced sideways at Sigmund and, without another word, agreed with Idel.
Certainly. He’s like a mad dog.
With a small sigh and a shake of his head, he handed Idel a small ring. It was a plain-looking silver thread ring.
“When you come to meet the client, you need special preparation. The place might not be here next time, either. The day before you come, rub this ring three times. Then I’ll send Sigmund to the spot marked with the Twin Crow Emblem on the day you arrive.”
“Got it. What about the time?”
“Well, it’s Sigmund who’ll be waiting for the client with his neck stretched out, not me.”
“What did you eat that went bad?”
Ignoring Sigmund’s curses, the two of them wrapped up their conversation neatly and lightly shook hands.
“Oh, and by the way, if the ring’s surface turns black, that means the message got through.”
“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind. Then, until next time.”
“Yeah, see you next time. Oh, client, go home and get some rest today. Promise?”
Idel tugged at the handle of the door that had been firmly shut and gave a small nod.
Now she truly had to go back. Even if things seemed fine at the moment, if she lingered any longer, they would surely catch on to her.
* * *
‘Fine for now, you say?’
Idel scoffed at her past self for having thought that.
“Lady Idel!”
“Lady Idel, where are you?! How’s it over there? Did you find her?”
“No, she’s not over here. What about your side? Any sign of her at all?”
“Nope, nothing.”
See? Look at the situation in front of her. Does it look fine to anyone?
Between the bushes, in a spot where a single child could slip in and hide, Idel shut her eyes tightly.
It was because the Ducal Household had been turned upside down far more than she had expected.
The garden, which had been so empty that you could hardly see an ant during her house arrest, was now crawling with people.
Every one of them was a servant pressed into service to search for Idel.
“Haah… She can’t have left the separate house, so where on earth could she have gone?”
“Right? I heard even the Duke and the Duchess have come out themselves to look for her.”
“I suppose she vanished so suddenly. They must be worried something happened to her.”
So the Duke and the Duchess are running around searching for me too?
Idel bit down hard on her lower lip, swallowing a groan.
No matter how hard she racked her brain, there was no way out of this predicament that she could see.
‘Once the Duke and Duchess have gotten involved, it’s only a matter of time before they find me.’
Didn’t Jeiana’s note end up in my room? The one that so kindly marked the Secret Path and the hideout.
With the Duke and Duchess out in the grounds, there’s no way Jeiana would keep her mouth shut.
“Hey! Over by the statue!”
“What?”
“Lady Jeiana apparently said she thinks the young miss is in the mountains, crying. There’s a Secret Path behind the statue, past the bushes, and a hideout she used to play in with Jacob. They’re saying she might have gotten lost up there on her way to it.”
Just as I thought.
Realizing her guess had been right, Idel let her shoulders drop.
Better to come up with a new plan that assumes she’d be found, even if it’s a clumsy one.
‘Pretending to sleep is the safer bet in every way.’
It was an easy excuse to make—she was simply worn out and had fallen asleep—and it fit the image of Idel she had built up so far. Especially the part where she was greedy and only ever did whatever suited her, never sparing a thought for anyone else.
Having finished her calculations quickly, Idel curled herself up as tightly as she could among the bushes and shut her eyes.
‘…It’s fine. Trust the reputation I’ve built up.’
Just as she was steeling herself to sharpen her hearing once more, she—
-Rustle.
From a spot where she had sensed no presence at all, the bushes stirred, and at the same moment a shadow fell over her head.
“Found you.”
A familiar voice, and familiar words.
The one who had spoken exactly the same words Jeiana had used a few days earlier was Duke Clementine.
The moment Idel recognized the owner of that low, heavy voice, she curled up even tighter, pretending to fidget in her sleep.
It was an effort to hide her heartbeat, which had climbed far too fast.
‘Good grief.’
She had nearly made a sound.
Swallowing without letting it show, Idel slowly steadied her breathing.
Wait, wasn’t it the servants who had been chattering around here only a moment ago?
‘I expected to be caught sooner or later, but why on earth would the Duke himself have to come looking for me?’
For a moment, a red light flashed somewhere in her head.
In the worst case, she might not be allowed to take a single step outside her room.
Raising her alert level by one notch, Idel gathered her thoughts as calmly as she could.
‘I can hand over the information about the Secret Path, but I have to hide the fact that I actually escaped and got out of the Ducal Household.’
She would have to weave truth and lies together with care.
‘I did use the Secret Path, but only because I went to the hideout. Then I found no one there, got angry, and tripped over the bushes. I could also say I was so furious I cried myself to sleep.’
And then she would steer her story toward doubting Jeiana’s words from now on.
Having settled on her story, Idel pretended to toss in her sleep and pressed her face deeper into her knees.
She did it to keep the movement of her eyes beneath her eyelids from showing.
Meanwhile, Vincent Clementine had spotted the child curled up among the bushes, and he crouched down at once and pressed a hand to her forehead.
Thankfully, the warmth he felt at his fingertips was not feverish.
‘Her breathing is even, and her body—no visible wounds… Her forehead does look a little swollen, but it isn’t serious enough to have knocked her out. She’s just asleep, then.’
His dark, sunken gaze came to rest on the huddled child.
“Haa…”
Looking at the child who slept soundly, as if the commotion outside had nothing to do with her, a storm of emotions swept through him.
Relief that this was at least not a kidnapping, anger at a child who had been willful and put everyone through hardship, the discomfort of the unwelcome truth that she was his “own child,” and the anguish and regret that grew out of it.
“Mm…”
The child, dressed in what was likely the clothes Jeiana had given her, stirred slightly.
As she did, her face, smudged with dirt and dust, and the red, swollen wound on her forehead came into view.
“What on earth were you thinking, doing something like this.”
Vincent muttered under his breath, narrowing his brows even further as he looked down at the child coldly.
Suddenly, the image of his wife swallowing her feelings overlapped with the sight of Idel, her eyes shut tight, and so did the plea she had made when she held onto him.
‘Don’t be so harsh with Idel, Vincent. She keeps getting hurt. The child, you, and me, who has to watch it all.’
He himself knew this in his head. That the one most confused right now was none other than Idel.
But he was only human. He knew it, yet he couldn’t master his emotions, and holding on at this level was the best he could manage—a pitiful man.
Worse still, Idel had done nothing but misbehave in ways anyone could see. She had spilled food on Lowena’s clothes, tried to lay hands on her daughter Jeiana, and tormented the servants.
And look at this now. Rather than regretting her wrongdoings, here was the child, making a fool of people right in front of them.
‘…How could I possibly…’
Just as he was reaching that thought, a voice calling out to him came from behind.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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