Chapter 8

“Still, they did give me protein three times a day, so I suppose you can’t exactly say they didn’t feed me…”

Silence fell over the room for a moment after I said that.

“Ah, it’s not like I don’t know what different kinds of food are! Sometimes they sent leftovers up to my room.”

I hurriedly added that, but it did nothing to improve the atmosphere.

Lady Leslie, in particular, had frozen completely, fork still clutched in her hand. She looked as though something utterly unacceptable had just happened right in front of her.

The first person to move was Oscar.

“This simply won’t do.”

He suddenly took off his gloves.

“Frozen Iffer meat. And three meals a day, at that. Good heavens, what a horrifying thing.”

Then he pulled something out of his pocket and held it out to me.

“Please visit any branch and eat whenever you like.”

“Rainfield Restaurant Meal Voucher”

Any branch… So it’s a chain restaurant?

Only then did I remember Aaron mentioning the Rainfield Restaurant.

It must have been an extraordinarily famous restaurant, famous enough that not knowing its name was considered strange.

They must be incredibly rich.

My hands actually trembled as I accepted the meal voucher.

“T-thank you. The food is really delicious…”

Lady Leslie sighed as though she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“I don’t know if I should say this, but Caitlin and Rieard have really gone too far. Do they not even realize who they have to thank for the life they’re living? And they don’t even make sure you get proper meals?”

She ground her teeth as she piled more food onto my plate.

“I don’t care about anything else, but people who don’t properly feed someone are truly awful.”

Lady Leslie was even trembling.

“The more I think about it, the more horrifying it is. I knew they were bad, but they’re even worse than I imagined.”

“Yes. Rieard is trash.”

Why am I suddenly so pitiful?

When I first remembered my previous life, I had been too busy figuring out how to survive to pay much attention to it. But when I thought about it now, everything about my life had been miserable—from the environment I grew up in to my current situation.

Still, I only had to hold out until the next swordsmanship tournament.

After that, I would completely cut ties with Rieard once I had ruined all the schemes we’d enthusiastically planned together!

No matter how often I lost, I was still the second-strongest swordswoman in the world. There was no reason I couldn’t take care of myself.

Even if I gave up on that stupid goal of becoming number one in the swordsmanship tournament, I would still have countless opportunities to enjoy my life.

During the meal, Oscar personally brought out a large knife and cut the meat for us. His skill was incredible.

“My goodness…”

I murmured without realizing it.

“I think I understand why Aaron Rainfield is so good with a sword…”

Oscar didn’t possess sword aura, but the precision with which he handled the knife was truly remarkable.

“It’s not just Oscar.”

Lady Leslie smiled.

“Oscar’s wife, Marilyn, is also extremely skilled with a knife.”

Oscar looked at me, swallowed a sigh, and piled more meat onto my plate.

The meat practically melted in my mouth.

Compared to this, what I had been eating until now really was garbage.

Tender beef that was on an entirely different level from frozen monster meat…

When Lady Leslie noticed me carefully saving my dessert, she even called a maid over and told her to pack the dessert for me to take home.

What is this? Is she an angel?!

Then again, I had always been the problem child—the small-time villainess.

Everyone in the Wadeiros Ducal House was perfectly decent and normal.

As befitted the male lead’s family, there were absolutely no hidden land mines.

So I made up my mind once again.

As expected, my ideal type is a less impressive version of Ian Wadeiros. In-laws included.

I had a conscience, so I had to make sure to include the “less impressive” part.

After we finished eating, Lady Leslie personally poured me a cup of tea and smiled.

“Well, now that we’ve filled our stomachs, shall we get down to business?”

Only then did I come back to my senses.

Why on earth had she summoned me?

Was she finally going to tell me to get lost and stay away from Ian?

No, but there isn’t anyone in this room who wants me gone more than I do. Unfortunately, it’ll take me a little while to actually disappear…

I mentally prepared myself and answered calmly.

“Yes. Please, ask me anything.”

The meal had been so excellent that even if she insulted me, I felt like I could brush it off without much trouble.

I had even received a meal voucher.

If someone fed me this well, wasn’t it only fair that I listen to at least one unpleasant thing without complaining?

Having become remarkably generous, I even prepared an apology in advance as I looked at her.

But the question that came from her was completely unexpected.

“Why did you save our Ian?”

I was so startled that I almost spat out my tea.

No, how am I supposed to respond when you suddenly make such a definitive accusation out of nowhere?

I couldn’t even imagine how Lady Leslie had figured out something Ian himself hadn’t noticed.

“W-what are you talking about?”

“During the High Priest’s escort, and then yesterday’s attack on the bar.”

Lady Leslie blinked.

“Everyone else thinks otherwise, but according to my perfectly reasonable deduction, you’ve been saving Ian repeatedly. Didn’t you hate him?”

“Saving him? I do hate Ian, and I absolutely did not save him. I’m just an unrelated bystander.”

If I looked suspicious for no reason and ended up being investigated, I would be in serious trouble.

Even if I admitted that I had saved him, what could I possibly say if she asked why?

I realized this is a world inside a novel, so I decided to become a new person.

Who would believe that?

Considering how thoroughly the Wadeiros family had crushed me and Rieard in the original story, the superior strategy was obviously to ruin every one of their plans.

“Then what happened yesterday?”

“Pardon?”

“I heard you warning Ian at the training grounds.”

Lady Leslie was there yesterday too?!

I forced my facial muscles to remain composed so I wouldn’t reveal how screwed I was.

“I may not be able to wield a sword anymore, but I used to be a swordswoman, so I can still sense and use a certain amount of aura. And apparently Ian really was unharmed by the terrorist attack yesterday.”

If Lady Leslie had deliberately concealed her presence, there was no way Ian or I would have noticed her while we were distracted by our sparring match.

Besides, there had been so many knights at the training grounds that I hadn’t noticed her presence at all.

An unexpected variable.

What was my priority?

Absolutely, positively making sure no one discovered that Rieard and I had been working together to harm Ian.

Then I needed to quickly frame the incident as an attack aimed at the prince.

I remembered how convenient it had been when I shifted the blame for the previous incident onto the High Priest, so I immediately nodded.

“Actually, I found out about the terrorist attack completely by chance.”

In the end, I decided that I would use the same vague excuse I’d planned to give Ian if he interrogated me yesterday.

“Was it Marquis Abedes, then…?”

Lady Leslie murmured with a serious expression.

I cautiously continued.

“So if Ian were to get hurt…”

At that moment, the door suddenly flew open without even a knock.

“Mother! I heard you summoned Annabelle Nadit. Why did you call that troublemaker here?! I already had something I wanted to ask her about…”

Seriously, even if I am a troublemaker, calling me one so openly makes everything I was about to say completely pointless.

And on the happiest day of my life, after I’d just eaten the best food I’ve ever had.

If he called me a troublemaker, then I had no choice but to act like one.

So I immediately abandoned the mild response I had prepared and switched to a much harsher one.

“…It’s unfair, isn’t it? Because I’m Ian’s only opponent! The only person who should be allowed to hurt that damn Ian Wadeiros is Annabelle Nadit!”

I glared straight at him and slammed my hand down on the table.

“I absolutely hate the idea of him getting injured badly enough to be stuck in bed, leaving me unable to even land a single hit on him!”

Ian froze in the doorway and stared at me.

Lady Leslie’s eyes widened before she clapped her hands.

“Oh my.”

She even looked strangely moved.

“That is precisely the spirit of chivalry we value in the Wadeiros family.”

“…What?”

“You want to defeat him while he’s in perfect condition, don’t you? You hate the idea of some pointless injury preventing you from having a proper duel!”

Ian immediately cut in.

“Mother, that’s not it. You seem to be mistaken, but Annabelle Nadit is a hopeless, perpetual second-place loser who is about as far from fair and square as anyone can get…”

“It feels very unpleasant hearing ‘perpetual second-place loser’ from you.”

Ian bit his lower lip, apparently at a loss for words.

After all, Lady Leslie had also spent her entire life coming in second to the Duke of Wadeiros.

I secretly stuck my tongue out at Ian behind her back, feeling rather pleased with myself.

“Th-that woman, seriously!”

Ian’s eyes widened in disbelief, and I decided that this was my chance.

I immediately stood up.

“Well, neither of us particularly wants to look at the other’s face, so I’ll be going now.”

I’d already eaten everything I wanted, so there was no reason for me to stay any longer.

Besides, I really didn’t want to risk answering any more questions from Lady Leslie.

Even so, to avoid arousing suspicion, I made sure to give Ian one final, stern warning as I left.

“I’m in a good mood because I ate something delicious today, so I’ll only give you one little curse. I hope you sing your heart out in the shower, only for Aaron Rainfield to hear you!”

Ian’s face crumpled more miserably than ever.

“Wait, Miss Annabelle!”

I was about to give a quick farewell and leave when Lady Leslie suddenly sprang to her feet and grabbed my arm.

Ah, was that curse too cruel? Did I go too far?

Come to think of it, the more I imagined it, the more horrifying it really was for something I’d called a “little” curse.

I looked at her with a slightly guilty expression, certain that she was about to take her son’s side and scold me.

But the words Lady Leslie hurriedly said were completely unexpected.

“You have to take the dessert with you!”

“…What?”

“Why are you forgetting the most important thing? You can’t do that. You should always take food seriously.”

In the end, I returned home happily, carrying an enormous amount of cake that Oscar had personally packed up for me.

After spending my entire childhood barely eating enough to fill my stomach with tasteless food, it felt wonderful to finally have a delicious meal until I was full.

It was such a strange irony that my happiest memory had been created in the very place I should have avoided the most.

And, as it happened, tomorrow was my birthday.

According to my memories, naturally, no one would celebrate it.

Neither Rieard nor even my mother, Caitlin, had ever cared about my birthday in the slightest.

Still, the thought of eating this delicious cake by myself and welcoming a somewhat special morning made me happy.

“You really have absolutely no sense of timing!”

Leslie snapped irritably as she watched Ian fume.

“I was just about to have an interesting conversation! Why did you have to barge in and ruin everything? Seriously!”

After grumbling for a while, Leslie suddenly blinked as she looked at her son’s face.

Wait a minute.

Was her son really capable of making such a wide range of expressions?