The Villainess Duke Lady Hides Her Identity - Chapter 96

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

96

“My lady, do try this. I’ve brought you a Panna Cotta with pomegranate and fig. The chef insisted the dried figs would be even sweeter, since they’ve been dried after harvest.”
Buddy set the Panna Cotta on the dessert table with a bright smile. Pomegranate seeds and dried figs steeped in syrup crowned the delicate cream, crowned in turn by edible gold leaf that caught the eye.
“Mmm.”
Reponya took a spoonful. The cream melted soft and full across her tongue, rich with sweetness.
The tartness of pomegranate mingled with the honeyed depth of the stewed figs, drawing her mouth full of saliva.
The burst of pomegranate seeds, the chewy resistance of dried fig—each texture played its part in the pleasure.
She understood now why the chef had served it with such confidence.
“How is it, my lady? Delicious?”
“Mmm.”
But in truth, the dessert was the least of Reponya’s concerns.
“Goodness. Goodness, I… I’ve never worn a dress like this before. It feels strange… does it suit me? Do I look all right?”
All of Reponya’s attention was fixed on the infuriating Bellalica sitting before her.
Bellalica had arrived at House of Craitan yesterday and claimed the guest quarters.
They’d provided her with a change of clothes for her stay and decided to take meals together to prevent her from wandering unsupervised.
Which meant this dessert hour, once sacred between Reponya and her two brothers, now included Bellalica.
“Your name is Lara, then?”
Havelian asked the question, and at his sudden attention, Bellalica flushed prettily and nodded.
“Yes, yes. I’m from Briden.”
Reponya knew it was a hasty cover story, cobbled together at the last Harvest Festival on her own insistence.
“My parents were so worried about me that they had me hide away in a mountain village—in Briden.”
And yet she wove that hastily improvised tale with such seamless skill.
Reponya pouted, sucking the spoon deeper into her mouth in silent protest.
Fellens immediately drew it out, scolding as he did.
“Cotton-head, you’ll ruin your teeth chewing on spoons like that.”
‘If only he’d take the spoon from my mouth and Bellalica from this house instead.’
Since Bellalica’s arrival, Reponya’s words had grown scarce. Every time she opened her mouth, crude insults toward Bellalica threatened to spill out, so she’d learned to keep her lips sealed.
Not just toward Bellalica, either—harsh words for the entire House of Craitan would erupt if she weren’t careful.
‘Is the Duke truly as oblivious and stupid as this?’
Bellalica played her part well, her story holding together, yet there was scant actual evidence—only circumstances—and still he’d given the girl the guest quarters without hesitation?
‘He said he’s cautious and suspicious because there are so many con artists around.’
Yet here he showed neither caution nor suspicion at all.
Reponya watched Havelian with barely concealed contempt as he asked Bellalica about Briden, her inner monologue cutting.
‘A genius? Ha. A genius at what, exactly?’
Could a genius truly be so blind and dull?
Havelian noticed her gaze and turned from Bellalica.
“Reponya?”
His eyes on Reponya were soft—so unlike the cold regard he’d turned on Bellalica.
“Do you want more? Here, eat this.”
Havelian pushed his own Panna Cotta across the table toward her.
She hadn’t asked for his dessert at all.
But because she was annoyed, Reponya took it and ate it anyway. Not that Havelian minded—he was beaming at her, delighted to have given it up.
‘This was supposed to happen, I thought. So why do I feel this way?’
Some part of her had been certain they would notice Bellalica’s wrongness and throw her out.
‘Is this… jealousy?’
Perhaps she’d believed herself unique as the only daughter of House of Craitan.
But human desire knows no end—we grasp, and grasp again.
‘Without meaning to, I really have started thinking of this place as mine.’
She couldn’t understand the disappointment, the hurt that bloomed inside her. Of course she was upset, but beneath it lay a deeper unease, an anxious edge she couldn’t shake.
She couldn’t identify the source of these feelings.
“Is it tasty?”
As Reponya ate with focus, Havelian asked with warm satisfaction in his voice.
Fellens even slid his own dessert toward her.
“Cotton-head, want mine too?”
Despite the sourness and ache in her heart, the dessert was impossibly good. Reponya finished hers and Havelian’s both, and now turned her eyes toward Fellens’s plate.
It was then.
—Crash!!
“Oh!”
The hot teacup toppled with a clatter, and tea spilled across the table and onto the Dress that Bellalica wore.
“I’m terribly sorry. I’m not used to this sort of thing… my hand, it just slipped.”
A method of pouring tea so that only your own seat and clothes got wet, never the other person’s.
It was one of the techniques from the Papal Training. A method to use when you needed to leave the room or redirect attention.
‘I know what you’re doing, Bellalica.’
A maid nearby rushed over and hastily dabbed at Bellalica’s Dress and the tablecloth.
“You should change into fresh clothes and have someone check if you’ve been burned.”
Bellalica nodded at the maid’s words and rose from her seat. In the same moment, Havelian and Fellens exchanged a glance.
“I’ll go change. I’m so sorry.”
“Wait.”
Fellens stood and followed her. Reponya’s eyes snapped toward him.
“I’ll go with you.”
It had been quite a shock when Havelian asked her name and where she came from, but Fellens standing to accompany Bellalica was a greater shock still.
‘Has he lost his mind?’
Reponya barely held back the words that threatened to spill from her lips toward Fellens.
For just a heartbeat, something nearly escaped—’But you’re my guard’—even though she knew full well that people were not possessions to be owned.
“Really? I’d be so grateful… Young Master.”
“Cotton head. You’re eating my dessert too. I’ll be back soon.”
Fellens brushed off Bellalica’s courtesy with a light dismissal and gently stroked Reponya’s hair.
Then he left the room with Bellalica.
‘Bellalica probably wanted to slip away to check where the family heirlooms are kept.’
Though she’d been permitted to stay in the guest quarters, individual movement was forbidden—so it was only natural that Fellens followed as a watchdog.
The way he ignored her words and regarded her with cold eyes made it clear he was treating her as a stranger, not a sibling.
She knew. She understood it.
‘But knowing doesn’t make it feel any better.’
When had these feelings come alive again?
Reponya set down her spoon without touching Fellens’s portion of dessert.
“Reponya? Why? Are you full? Did you eat too much and your stomach hurts? Are you feeling sick? No, that’s not it. You’ve eaten less than usual.”
Havelian moved closer to her side, concern flickering across his face as he checked what remained on her plate.
Reponya shook her head.
“I just… don’t feel like eating anymore.”
“Why has our youngest suddenly lost her appetite? Hmm?”
Havelian noticed the subtle shift in Reponya’s mood and lifted her into his arms.
Under ordinary circumstances, she would have protested—saying she was six now and too old to be carried—but today she simply sat quietly in his embrace.
There were days like this, after all.
“Are you tired? You’re being so quiet today. Is something bothering you? Should we see a physician?”
“No.”
Havelian carried Reponya gently through the Garden.
“Reponya.”
“Mm?”
“Don’t be afraid, and don’t worry. Just hold your head high.”
“Mm-hmm?”
“You have me, and you have Fellens, and you have your father. Isn’t that right?”
…What was he saying? These three people were the ones making her feel this way right now.
Reponya stared at Havelian with an expression of disbelief.

* * *

After that, Bellalica’s antics continued unabated.
As they walked together, she suddenly pretended to stumble over her own feet.
“M-Miss… why did you suddenly trip me?”
Then she began pinning the blame on Reponya.
As if Reponya had deliberately hooked her foot and knocked her down.
‘Well, well.’
Reponya’s eyebrow twitched.

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