She is the Daughter of the Villainess in a Ridiculous Novel - Chapter 21

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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 21
“W-what, this little brat dares to—!”
Idel clicked her tongue inwardly as she watched the man tremble, as if he’d never been insulted like this in his life. She simply couldn’t make sense of it.
‘It’s not like I delivered some devastating blow. I just said something perfectly reasonable. Why is he so furious?’
Well, what could anyone expect from a man who splashes water on others and then squares off with a seven-year-old as if it were a real fight?
‘If I wanted to act sensibly, I should wrap things up here, but…’
The ‘Clementine’s Second Daughter’ from the rumors was not the type to yield first. If anything, she’d only dig in her heels harder the more childish things got.
The master, unable to bear the situation dragging on any longer, approached Farrel and spoke to him cautiously.
“Ah, sir. Wouldn’t it be best to end the conversation here? If this goes on, the other guests will be inconvenienced.”
“Master, why are you telling me this? I told the staff from the start that I’d pay for the damages if they passed along a note. I was trying to let this slide as gracefully as possible. Isn’t it them, not me, who blew this up by sticking their nose where it doesn’t belong?”
“But…”
The master started to answer Farrel, then thought better of it and closed his mouth again, awkwardly. He couldn’t bring himself to point out that the trouble had been started by that side.
Instead, he rolled his eyes pointedly and rubbed his chin with his fingers, expressing his discomfort. To put it plainly…
‘Hey, take a look around. Everyone thinks you’re strange.’
It was a rebuke dressed up in polite language.
Thankfully, Farrel had just enough sense to glance around, then cleared his throat quietly and spoke again.
“Still, out of respect for the master, I’ll step back this time. Of course, as a man of an old noble house, I’ll have to teach this unruly child a lesson.”
“…Ah, s-sir.”
“You. Which family do you belong to?”
At Farrel’s utterly arrogant tone, the master’s expression stiffened again, subtly. For someone who knew the full story, it was only natural.
“Are you talking to me?”
“Would I have asked about Ivan Ernest’s family? Which household could have raised someone with such a disgraceful lack of manners! Nitpicking at another person’s words like that…”
I didn’t need to recall my previous life’s little sister to know. This was the moment for ‘that line,’ the highlight scene that would have pulled the highest ratings if it were a drama.
Fully realizing what she had to do, Idel propped one hand on her waist and gave a slight, self-assured tilt of her head.
“Since you’re so curious, I suppose I should tell you. My name is…”
Just as the line was about to leave her lips at last…
“What exactly is this, Farrel Underwood?”
Another famous line, the other half of the ‘iconic dialogue’ duo, cut across Idel’s words. Idel instinctively turned her head toward the voice.
A captivating voice, a tall, graceful figure, and a dazzling appearance with silver hair and blue eyes.
At the arrival of a woman who looked every bit like the protagonist, Idel quietly folded her arms. It wasn’t that she was upset. It was more like, well…
‘…Déjà vu?’
Between the name Ivan Ernest and the thought that had been hovering just out of reach since a moment ago, Idel was puzzling it over when it happened.
“Vivian? How did you—”
“Count Bright.”
At the cries of the two men, Idel let out a small gasp without meaning to. So that’s why the name sounded so familiar!
‘Ivan Ernest.’
In the latter half of the original work, he was the reporter who noticed Idel’s suspicious behavior and prevented Jeiana’s death.
‘Didn’t he also remain Jeiana’s ally after that?’
On top of that, the media company he worked for, ‘Shellami,’ had been founded under an alias by the father of the male lead, Dante Nightray.
Recalling the setting, Idel decided to observe the situation for a while, standing beside Sigmund, who looked utterly bored.
No matter how wildly things were going, she couldn’t act recklessly as long as the other party was a figure of considerable importance.
‘I never expected even the allies to be the key players in this makjang drama.’
Idel’s gaze settled on the three men and women standing in a triangle. Vivian Bright, having pushed the soaked Ivan behind her, was watching Farrel with icy coldness.
“I told you not to contact Ivan separately.”
“You’re taking that bastard’s side right in front of me? The fiancé your family chose for you is me, not that wretch!”
“It’s only an engagement on paper.”
At the Count’s answer, harder than an iron wall, Farrel clenched his fist. As though he refused to back down, he gritted his teeth, pointed a finger at Ivan, and glared with narrowed eyes.
“You really think someone who only got a noble title in the last generation, some nobody with no roots, could earn the Count family’s recognition?”
“Not as much as you, who shamelessly splashed water in a public place.”
“Splashed water? Hah, that was a staged act by Ivan Ernest himself. To provoke sympathy!”
At Farrel’s outburst, contempt flickered in the Count’s eyes. She let out a faint, scornful laugh, then spoke slowly, in a voice dripping with disbelief.
“Farrel, are you claiming Ivan poured the water on himself with his own hands? Do you honestly think that makes sense?”
“What if it doesn’t? Do you have any proof that I poured water on Ivan Ernest? You don’t. And the master here can’t prove it either.”
“That’s…”
The master, suddenly saddled with a hot potato, trailed off with a troubled expression.
While Idel hesitated for just a moment over what to do, a defiant voice burst from Sigmund, who had been standing quietly until now.
“You’ve been really noisy this whole time.”
“What? Who do you think you—!”
“Hey. Are you going to keep dragging this out? I’m getting tired of it.”
Sigmund ignored Farrel altogether and stared straight at Idel. He raised one eyebrow, and it looked as though he were saying that if she didn’t handle this, he’d pay for the water damage himself and walk out of here.
Idel caught the signal he sent and nodded calmly.
“No, I’m getting bored too.”
She took in the stares gathered on her as if they were nothing, and with one hand she flicked her hair over her shoulder and smiled sweetly. Of course, it was all meant to look insufferable.
She stood with one hand resting on her hip, cocking herself to one side, and spoke in a clear, bright voice.
“I saw it, that uncle playing around with the water.”
Farrel flared up at Idel’s brazen claim.
“Who do you think you are, spouting such outright lies in front of everyone? Even if I did scold you, that was something an adult had to do. And yet you hold a grudge and make up things that never happened!”
“Huh? That’s strange.”
Idel pressed her index finger firmly against her lips, as if she truly couldn’t understand what he was saying.
Then, with the sort of sly grin a naughty child might wear, she continued.
“Do you have any proof, Uncle? Who’s going to prove that I held a grudge and made things up?”
“H-how can you make such a ridiculous claim…!”
Just as Farrel said, Idel knew full well that what she’d said amounted to nothing more than insisting on her side.
But just as she had when she forced the ointment on Diane, Idel decided to make full use of the privilege of being seven years old.
“You don’t have any, do you? You can’t prove it. Right?”
“You, you little—!”
“Wow, is this a lie? My daddy says lying is bad. Huh? Wait a second, isn’t this the kind of thing… What kind of family could have raised someone so badly…”
At the sight of Idel giggling, Farrel’s face turned bright red. Under the watching eyes of the crowd and with the mood slipping entirely out of his control, his voice finally rose.
“Be quiet!”
“The one who ought to be quiet right now is you, Lord Farrel. What exactly do you think you’re doing, picking on a child like this?”
“Ivan Ernest, do you still not know your place… Hah! Forget it.”
Irritated by Ivan’s calm rebuttal, Farrel opened his mouth again, then let out a long, heavy breath. He raked a hand back through his hair, swept his sharp gaze across the room, and finally spoke.
“Clearly, all of you want to paint me as the villain. Fine, do as you please.”
“What’s the matter, Farrel? Leaving already?”
“I have no interest in staying in a place this lowbrow.”
Looking around with open contempt, Farrel straightened his cravat and started walking toward the door.
Gripping the door handle with his face twisted in fury, he pulled up one corner of his mouth and muttered a sneering remark.
“I won’t forget what happened today, so just you wait.”

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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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