That’s How I Became a Villainess - Chapter 48

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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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48

“Where exactly is that written? Where?”
“I don’t know, I don’t know! Please just pretend you didn’t hear! I’m leaving!”
Before Isaac could finish examining the letter, Anna snatched it from his hands and bolted.
“You—”
Isaac pointed after her departing figure.
But he didn’t pursue.
‘If I browbeat that impertinent girl, Bridget might take it to heart.’
The conspiracy theory Anna had rattled on about was nothing new to Isaac either.
Since ancient times, countless rumors had circulated regarding the Shadow Curse.
It was simultaneously a feared power and an ability shrouded in mystery, which explained the proliferation of wild speculation.
Famous tales claimed that those who bore the Shadow Curse were actually faking their deaths for some unfathomable reason and living somewhere in hiding, or that they’d transformed into monsters and vanished into the wilderness, or that they’d altered their appearance and been born anew—stories of that ilk.
What Anna had mentioned was among the most well-known rumors of all.
‘Is it true? Is the King actually immortal? If so, Bridget has struck an incredible chord—her account, having seen the King from closer quarters than any gossip in circulation, would certainly be more credible.’
At least in terms of proximity, both psychological and physical.
Isaac silently cheered to himself.
People invariably believed what they wished to believe.
“…….”
All this while, Penelope had been watching from the far end of the corridor.
Having overheard every word of the exchange between Isaac and Anna, her expression twisted into something deeply unsettling.
“This can’t be right…….”
She gripped the hem of her skirt.
Why was it that fortune always seemed to favor Bridget? Why?
They’d always been together.
Whenever she clawed her way up to a similar position, why did Bridget always manage to pull ahead alone, climbing higher and higher?
‘Why does she always.’
She’d thought Isaac was the finest man Bridget could hope to secure.
How had Bridget of all people managed to captivate the King’s heart?
‘Neither of us was anything special. We were both outcasts clinging to the margins. That’s why we were friends, so why are you the only one pulling ahead……!’
As she pictured Bridget laughing beside that beautiful, dependable King, surrounded by nobility, a rage and jealousy threatened to consume her utterly.
It never crossed Penelope’s mind that she owed her freedom from imprisonment to Bridget’s clemency.
None of it would have happened in the first place without Bridget.
Bridget had made her a criminal.
Bridget had transformed her into a kept woman, the object of scorn and whispered judgment throughout society.
Bridget had reduced her to this state of utter degradation.
‘If only you didn’t exist, Bridget, I would have been reasonably content in the Bellingham Family. But because of you……!’
Her entire frame trembled.
With Bridget soaring to such heights, Penelope felt herself plummeting into an abyss by contrast.

* * *

Bridget’s belongings were fully loaded onto the carriage.
Anna, having gathered her outer coat and hat, climbed up beside the coachman on the driver’s bench.
From some distance away, Cedric silently mouthed a question to her.
Did you?
A nod.
Cedric, looking satisfied, waved farewell to Count Nicholas and Anna.
The two had received discrete instructions from Bridget beforehand.
The task she had slipped among the luggage inventory and conveyed in secret was simple: spread word throughout the household that Julian was in good health, making it seem like an unguarded remark.
So that Isaac and Penelope would hear it and believe it.
Though neither could fathom Bridget’s ultimate aim, both executed their assigned roles with faultless dedication.
Anna had sown the seed; now it fell to Cedric to nurture its growth.
Spreading a single rumor among the servants was child’s play.

* * *

Over the following days, countless letters passed between Winston Mansion and the Hudson household.
Most were filled with Penelope’s wailing and pleas.

– They say Bridget is living splendidly at the Royal Palace, basking in the King’s favor! What am I to do? Isaac says he will never divorce me! But since that day, he’s grown cold toward me. To make matters worse, the Bellingham Family claims I’ve tarnished the family honor and intends to hold a trial to revoke my title! What have I done so wrong? It’s all Bridget’s fault! Please help me, Father!

Though Penelope was terrified of her father, she now had no one else to turn to.
Still, she lacked the courage to face him directly, and so she sent her pleas by letter instead of visiting him in his nearby residence.
The Earl of Hudson was furious with his daughter for her reckless actions.
He reproached her for not foreseeing this outcome and cursed Isaac bitterly.
But eventually, he offered her comfort.

– Since things have come to this, stay put at Winston Mansion. It’s fortunate that Bridget has agreed to cover up your blunder. Besides, Bridget isn’t even at the mansion anymore, is she? Focus on winning back the Baron’s affection and restoring your relationship with him.
– And if I restore our relationship? What then? Isaac is busy flattering Bridget’s family connections just to keep her close—the woman who has the King’s favor! How pathetic! Bridget is not only the King’s mistress but has completely ensnared Isaac as well. I’m destined to live as a mere concubine and be cast aside. And my child too! We’ll end up in the gutter!
– Stop your whining, Penelope. The King’s authority won’t last much longer anyway. Bridget’s good fortune will be buried with him. The girl made a foolish choice.
– You believe the rumors that the King is dying? They say it’s all lies! The King is actually quite healthy!

“What?”
The Earl of Hudson furrowed his brow as he read Penelope’s letter.
“The King is healthy? How can that be? Everyone speaks of him as if he’s about to die any moment now.”
At first, he dismissed the claim.
He thought it was merely Penelope’s anxiety speaking and paid it no mind.
Penelope, feeling her father didn’t believe her, sent him several letters a day, insisting that Julian’s good health was the truth.

– The servants have been spreading word that the rumors about the King were false, Father! Everyone who matters already knows this! Surely you don’t know because you’re isolated from society, do you? Please look into this properly!

……
The Earl of Hudson had nothing to say after reading that letter.
It was true that he was cut off from the outside world.
The haughty nobility refused to acknowledge his title and shunned him, leaving him with little choice.
Stung by the blow to his pride, the Earl stared at Penelope’s letter, then reached for the spirits kept in the study’s display case and took a long drink.
“Gasp!”
The taste burned his throat.
He was a man despised even by his own daughter.
Lost in self-pity, the Earl forgot that Penelope, sharing his circumstances, had heard servants’ gossip and spoke of it for that very reason.
As he continued to drink spirits one after another, a servant entered the study carrying a letter.
He could not afford a proper butler, so he employed a servant at meager wages to perform the role.
This was that servant.
“My Lord, another letter has arrived.”
“If it’s from Penelope, I don’t want to see it—use it for kindling!”
“No, sir! This one isn’t from the young lady.”
“How long has it been since she married and left? Young lady indeed. If it’s not her, then who in blazes is writing to me?”
The only person who ever wrote to him was his aging father-in-law.
The old man frequently sent letters full of complaints about his various ailments.
It was his wife’s brother who cared for the father-in-law.
Why did he constantly send his grievances to a distant son-in-law instead of confiding in his own son?
The Earl of Hudson waved his hand dismissively.
“I don’t want to see it. Take it away.”
“The sender is the Marquess of Cavendish’s wife—are you certain you wish me to discard it?”
……What?”
The Earl of Hudson scrambled up and snatched the letter from the servant’s hands.
Sure enough, the name Cavendish was written on the envelope.
When he opened it and read the contents, the Earl gasped in astonishment.

– You are cordially invited to a dinner hosted by the Cavendish Marquessate.

It was an invitation to a social gathering from the Marquess of Cavendish’s wife, famous as a woman of refined tastes.

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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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