The Villainess Does Not Want to Die

Chapter 28: When I Grew a Little

Walking to the study while enduring the piercing stares of the nameless knight wasn’t particularly pleasant.

“If you have a complaint, say it out loud instead of just glaring at me.”

At those words, the knight stopped in his tracks, his face twisted in rage, and approached me.

He looked ready to draw his sword and stab me on the spot.

The old butler tried to stop him, but the knight shoved the elderly man aside.

Could it be that the concept of respecting one’s elders doesn’t exist in his head?

Seeing the usually composed butler fall on his backside was somewhat amusing, but it reaffirmed my belief that knights were savage and detestable creatures.

After all, they had beaten Alina so thoroughly that she left the mansion on her own two feet.

And they did it while wearing gauntlets, no less.

The slogans about protecting the weak, being loyal to their lords, and upholding honor might as well be thrown in the trash.

“…Why did you kill him?”

Was he a friend of his?

Well, I killed him because he deserved to die.

“He was someone who deserved to die.”

At my response, the knight gathered his strength and swung his fist toward me.

Fortunately, the butler, who had somehow managed to get back on his feet, intervened just in time.

He grabbed the knight’s arm and twisted it, producing a sickening crack that echoed through the corridor.

I was slightly impressed that the knight didn’t make a sound despite his arm being twisted out of shape.

Without showing much reaction, I spoke softly to the knight.

“A friend? Or perhaps just a close colleague?

Regardless, the reason your so-called friend is dead is simple. He dared to insult me to my face, got drunk, and beat and attempted to assault my maid. So, I put a hole in his stomach.”

I stepped closer to the knight and began to speak slowly.

With every word I uttered, the anger on the knight’s face gradually gave way to a mixture of despair, shame, and lingering resentment.

“He tried to stab and ended up being stabbed. Maybe he did die an unfair death.

But you’re no better than he is. After all, here you are, ready to beat a 12-year-old girl with all your might over a man who died trying to assault a woman.”

Neither the butler nor the knight said a word in response.

The butler offered a brief warning to the knight, but the man seemed too dazed to react.

I moved on, walking ahead of them until we reached the study.

Standing outside the door, I took a deep breath, erased all emotion from my face, and closed my eyes briefly before opening them again.

Then, I opened the door.

Inside, the Duchess sat on a long sofa, flanked by the eldest son—whose name I couldn’t remember—and Libian. 

The Duke sat in a single chair in the center, one leg crossed over the other, smoking a cigarette.

When he saw me, he smiled warmly, like a benevolent father, and asked:

“Ah, you’ve arrived. Did you take care of what I told you to do?”

Visiting my mother’s grave to bury that jewel, shedding a few tears despite myself… That’s what he was referring to. I supposed it was fair to say I had done as he asked.

The Duchess looked curious about what the Duke was referring to, but given the atmosphere, she refrained from asking.

“…Yes.”

“In any case, this is too significant an incident to sweep under the rug.

Take a seat. We even prepared a place just for you.”

The Duke spoke with a gentle tone, as though he were acting the part of a kind father.

Maybe he was in a good mood because I had delivered the jewel to my mother’s grave.

There were several small plates with assorted snacks on the table, along with a drink that seemed like coffee mixed with milk.

I sipped the drink to moisten my dry mouth.

If asked the biggest difference between the orphanage and this place, I’d say it was that my palate was definitely happier here.

“You must already know why you were summoned. Let’s get to it.”

The Duchess interjected before the Duke could continue.

“The servants assigned to look after the child reported that the knight I appointed as her guard was killed.

They said she chased him down and even went for his throat, despite him offering no resistance…”

While the Duchess detailed how evil and terrible I was, I picked up a cookie from a plate and took a bite.

Some crumbs fell to the floor, but who cared? It wasn’t my room.

The drink indeed turned out to be coffee, a café latte. It had been a while since I’d had one, and it put me in a slightly better mood.

The eldest son and Libian, hearing that I had killed someone, grew visibly pale.

Libian, in particular, seemed downright frightened of me now.

“It seems to me that the child came straight from Satan’s backside. Shouldn’t we lock her away in a convent?”

Unfortunately, I wasn’t from Satan’s backside but born between a prostitute’s legs.

To the Duchess, it was probably the same thing.

A convent? As if they wouldn’t immediately brand me a devil and point fingers.

My head was full of all sorts of blasphemous thoughts.

“My dear, we can’t just listen to the Duchess’ side of things.”

The Duke, uncharacteristically deferential, intervened.

If this were a meal, he would have silenced her, dismissing her words as nonsense. He usually didn’t care what happened around him. Was this incident serious enough to warrant his attention?

“Do you think it’s normal for a trained knight to be killed by a mere 12-year-old girl?”

At his words, the Duchess fell silent, her face turning red like a ripe persimmon.

“…That… something, something must have happened.”

“Marisela, let’s proceed under the assumption that you did kill the knight.

Perhaps you have a talent for swordsmanship. I, on the other hand, was utterly useless when it came to physical activities.”

The Duke chuckled, inhaled from his cigarette, and exhaled through his nose while sipping his drink.

The eldest son seemed unfazed, sitting calmly, but Libian fidgeted uncomfortably, clearly out of place in this situation.

After taking a moment to compose himself, the Duke rubbed his lips and asked quietly:

“Did you truly kill him, personally, without anyone else’s help?”

“…Yes.”

“I don’t believe it. This is troubling.”

Then why ask?

The Duke picked up a document from the table and skimmed through it. After a brief laugh, he tossed it aside.

“It all comes down to why you killed him. That’s what matters most.”

“He was drunk.”

“A knight assigned to guard you was drunk. Continue.”

“I was on my way back from the orphanage with Kesel.

The young knight didn’t even bother to follow me. He was probably off somewhere, drowning in booze.”

I Glanced at the Duchess’ Face

She was staring at me with venomous eyes, as if accusing me of lying.

If that knight hadn’t been drunk, I wouldn’t have been able to stab him in the stomach. Why didn’t she consider that?

Then again, who would believe that someone as frail and weak as I could lift such a heavy sword and kill a knight?

“He grabbed the hair of the maid I treasure most, slapped her face with his gauntlet-covered hand, and screamed at her.”

I had to speak as calmly and emotionlessly as possible.

For some reason, whenever something involved Alina, I found it hard to control my emotions.

“Madam, I’ll call you that since I know you hate being called Mother.”

“I-I told you before, it’s fine to call me Mother…”

“But you dislike it, don’t you, Madam?”

At my words, the Duchess bit her lip slightly and wiped her reddening eyes.

“Fine. I do dislike it. Who could love a child like you?”

It stung a bit to hear the truth so bluntly.

“No one.”

At my response, the Duchess closed her mouth. She couldn’t even look at me; she just sat there, breathing heavily.

Libian looked as though she wanted to escape the room immediately. The eldest son didn’t look much better.

Why were they all like this? It wasn’t as if we were shouting or exchanging insults, much less being physically violent.

Perhaps being raised in luxury had made them sensitive. The content of my words must have felt a little harsh to their delicate ears.

“No one here loves me. Not a single person likes me.

And as if to prove it, the knight you assigned to protect me beat and tried to assault the only maid in this place who cared for me.

And he did so while shouting at me, ‘How dare a prostitute’s daughter drag me to this godforsaken place!’”

Right. No one could ever love someone like me.

Still, the one person who truly cared for me shouldn’t have begged to leave with a face so full of pain, as if she might die if she stayed any longer.

You can’t just hurt someone and think it’s over with an apology.

“So, I simply did what you taught me, Madam.

Didn’t you say that disobedient, savage, barbaric, and violent lower-class people should always be dealt with by cutting off their heads?”

Without Alina, how was I supposed to live now?

The very woman in front of me was the one who drove Alina out, and yet I couldn’t even muster the strength to be properly angry about it.

“Madam, if what she says is true, there’s not much to argue, is there?” the Duke said.

The Duchess stayed silent.

I picked up the cup—it wasn’t a teacup, but a coffee cup—and drank from it without bothering with decorum or proper etiquette.

At this point, it didn’t matter anymore.

At first, simply living in a warm house with delicious food had been enough for me.

No matter how much abuse I suffered, it was far better than living at the orphanage.

But as time passed, greed began to grow.

I started to feel like maybe, just maybe, I could be a little happier.

But all I got in the end was a cesspool.

Whether the original me had died or survived, I didn’t know. Maybe when I died, I’d be reborn in another world.

I asked the Duchess the most important question.

She wouldn’t let go of the chance to remove me from this mansion so easily.

“So, will you send me to the convent?”

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