She is the Daughter of the Villainess in a Ridiculous Novel - Chapter 13

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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 13
Seeing the Duchess’s eyes waver, a cold sweat broke out on my back. This isn’t what I wanted.
‘If I leave the Duchess with the impression of a well-behaved child, Melissa won’t just sit back and do nothing.’
I didn’t even want to imagine what kind of insane stunt that unhinged woman would pull next.
‘All this time I’ve been dodging Melissa’s eyes, working so hard to cause harmless trouble!’
I can’t let all that effort go to waste.
“That’s not it at all.”
Instinctively, Idel shot a glance at Clementine Duke, the one person there who showed her the least goodwill, and denied Jeiana’s words again.
“Hey, say something! You didn’t even come, did you…?”
“Enough, Idel. Don’t make me feel any more ashamed. I’m sorry. I know I’m very late, but will you forgive me, even now?”
With her hands clasped against her chest, Jeiana offered her apology bravely.
Even that lie, which had sounded so awkward before, now came across as natural.
It must mean that admitting her faults honestly had become second nature to her.
Since this too was a lie, her hands trembled slightly with nerves, yet that very trembling only seemed to make her look all the more sincere.
Murmurs of admiration rose from the servants as they took in Jeiana’s pressed lips and earnest eyes.
“Goodness, Lady Jeiana is trembling! She really must be embarrassed, just like she said. Oh, how adorable!”
“Haa… Her cheeks have gone red, and her tiny hands too…!”
“But if what Lady Jeiana said is true, the two of them went off together down the Secret Path? Isn’t that… a little sweet?”
Most of what the servants said was swooning over Jeiana, but every so often there were a few deranged souls who looked fondly on Idel.
With the atmosphere going soft and fluffy as cotton candy, Idel quietly bit down on her lower lip.
‘Are these people out of their minds? Why are they all so careless?’
Like master, like servant. Is this why they all got taken in by Melissa?
She had frozen for a moment at the unexpected turn, but her stiff mind soon began spinning furiously to meet the crisis.
‘No matter how much I deny it, these people won’t hear me now. As long as the lie that Jeiana led me down the Secret Path holds, Clementine Duke’s opinion will be hard to accept. Then…’
There was no other way.
It was completely different from what I had planned, and it meant taking on real danger, but I had no choice but to argue the exact opposite.
Once her mind was made up, Idel glared around briefly, and her body quivered.
Then, deliberately murmuring low, she drew everyone’s attention.
“…Lie…”
“Hm?”
“Jeiana is a liar!”
At her sudden shrill, sharp voice, the atmosphere that had just softened froze over again with a crack.
Idel, as if she could no longer contain her feelings, huffed and finally stamped her foot.
Then she glared at Jeiana, who stood stunned, with fierce eyes.
Her eyes, wide with indignation and brimming with it, welled up with tears.
“The Secret Path, hic! You said it was somewhere around here… but I looked, and it’s not here!”
“Huh?”
“I was trying to go out by the Secret Path, sniff! Not here, but to our house… to Idel’s real house, I was trying to go there…”
Idel pressed her emotions down, spitting out each word, and fat tears, each the size of a rat’s dropping, fell one after another from her eyes.
Even as she wept, she didn’t blink once; she jabbed a finger at everyone in the room and wailed at the top of her lungs.
“I hate it, hic! I hate everyone! I hate the Duke, I hate the Duchess, I hate her, hic! I hate her too! I hate the kids who only say no, and I hate this place, I hate this place too!”
“….”
“Home… sniff! I’m going home! Sob, this isn’t our home… Hic, I’m going to go see my friend, the one who wants to see me, sob!”
She screamed with such force that Idel’s face had flushed a blotchy red.
Jeiana’s expression, looking at the younger sister who had been like this, wasn’t steady either.
Startled by words her younger sister had never once considered, Jeiana stamped her feet in a flurry, her eyes welling up in sympathy.
“Idel… That’s not what I meant, I, uh, you…!”
“Hic, I’m never going to believe you again, hic! Everyone’s a liar!”
Clenching her fists tight, Idel lunged at Jeiana, who stood flustered and at a loss.
No, to be more precise, she tried to lunge.
“Idel!”
“Idel Clementine! Pull yourself together!”
The moment she kicked off the ground to throw herself forward, her head spun, and if only her body hadn’t crumpled to the earth…
The Duke, who barely managed to catch the falling child, wore a look of bewilderment on his face.
The body that had been perfectly fine only a moment ago now burned like a ball of fire.
“…Her fever is high. We’re going to the Main Estate right now. Call only Doctor Ajman.”
Idel was just as flustered. Inside Vincent’s arms, which moved with urgency, she unconsciously parted her lips.
No, I wasn’t trying to drag things out this far…?
Wait, could it be…
‘Yeah, see you next time. Oh, Customer, go home and rest today. Promise?’
That bastard Bilead.
If that’s what he meant, he should have spelled it out properly!
* * *
Vincent and Lowena had rushed back to the Main Estate in a panic. After coaxing Jeiana, who insisted on staying with them, into her room, they immediately summoned Ajman, the family physician.
Her body was burning hot, and her breathing came in ragged rasps, which made the situation look grave enough.
Now even cold sweat had broken out across her skin.
Idel’s gaze swept over the bustling attendants, and she turned her head sharply away as her lips parted.
“…I don’t need this sort of thing.”
“Nonsense.”
You can barely keep your eyes open, and you still talk such absurd rubbish.
The Duke cut off Idel’s protest, his brow furrowed, and called out for someone again.
“Is Ajman not here yet?”
“He’s been in the Apothecary Room all this time, so it’ll take a while for him to reach the Main Estate. He’s also getting on in years. Still, I’ll send another messenger.”
“Good. Send a knight along too, just in case.”
“Yes.”
Silvia, who had weighed the urgency and quickly settled on a plan, deftly left a few servants behind and laid her hand on the door handle.
Setting aside her grudges against Former Countess Lopez and Idel, Idel was, in the eyes of the Duke and Duchess, a true member of the Ducal Household.
‘And the health of a member of the Ducal Household is one of those vital matters that can’t be laid bare for every underling to pick over.’
Remembering her own duties as Head Maid, Silvia checked the faces of the servants present, mindful of any contingency. Then she gave her orders calmly.
“When the doctor arrives, bring him in without delay. And have damp cloths and clean clothes ready so we can assist him at any moment.”
“Yes, Silvia.”
“Now, who was the girl Idel had taken a liking to? You know, the one who was given the medicine.”
“Eh? Oh, um, that would be me….”
“Ah, there you are. You, in particular, stay fully prepared at all times. Do you understand what I mean?”
Upon hearing Silvia’s instructions, Diane felt the world go dark before her eyes for a moment.
Those words meant that whenever Idel grew difficult, she would be thrown out like a sacrifice offered up to appease her.
For a moment, Diane forgot even to answer, her face crumpling. But that didn’t last long.
“Do you not understand?”
“No, no, I’ll keep it in mind!”
At Silvia’s question, Diane stiffened her back and bowed her head respectfully.
Though Head Maid Silvia was strict about rules and principles to the letter, she was known among the maids as a fairly kind superior. But to a lowly maid like Diane, she was as far above her as Idel was.
A difficult person to whom you could never easily say, even if it were true, that you didn’t understand.
“Good.”
Just as Silvia, satisfied with Diane’s answer, was about to pull the door handle, a sharp voice rang out from the corridor, followed by a great commotion.
“Because this is an urgent matter, we brought you to the Main Estate, but my lady, you still cannot see Lady Idel! This is part of the punishment….”
“Punishment? Idel has collapsed, and you dare mention punishment before me? You think you can make a fool of me. Move aside before I cut out your tongue!”
Her entrance was so noisy it was hard to believe she had been silent until now, and Silvia drew herself up straight.
Facing Melissa, Silvia’s expression turned cold and rigid.
“You may not enter.”
At the Head Maid’s answer, Melissa’s eyes flashed fiercely through her crimson hair.
With her finely painted lips pulled into a slant, she spoke, putting weight into every word.
“I am that child’s mother.”
“Lady Idel’s mother is Duchess Lowena.”
“…Ha! Yes, so she is. But what a shame? That Duchess is my younger sister.”

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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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