The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 3
‘It’s been a while.’
Facing the specter that had long since perished, standing stiffly before her, was quite a novel sensation.
‘Is this the past?’
Roxelyn slowly scanned her surroundings, recalling the pitiful woman who had died so miserably, begging to be saved within her memories.
“When you act like this, even your father is embarrassed by you, and your father…”
She let the incessant muttering from the side flow into one ear as she turned her head to look out the window.
A faint, sardonic smile crept across her lips.
“…Are you laughing right now?”
Hearing the astonished voice, Roxelyn finally realized that her stepmother was still yammering away beside her.
“You’ve tarnished the family’s honor for so long… Yet, I’ve always been on your side! How can you dismiss me like this? Why… Why do you hate me so much?”
Roxelyn paused for a moment.
‘I was going to take my own life?’
That was rather strange.
‘I never had any intention of ending my own life; I might have endured it stubbornly and confronted you with a sword, but I never contemplated dying.’
Her stepmother had tormented her unknowingly for over a decade.
And one day, when Roxelyn overturned the dining table and started brandishing the decorative sword hanging in the dining room like a madwoman, her stepmother stopped tormenting her so overtly.
‘Instead, it led to assassination attempts and poisonings.’
So, it’s quite certain that Roxelyn had no such past.
She never had any intention of giving up on life and enduring the verbal abuse, even getting up from her sickbed and listening to such demeaning words.
‘…It’s not the past then.’
It didn’t seem like a return to the past.
Thinking of that, what naturally came to her mind was Gerun’s remark at the end.
‘Parallel worlds…’
Was that actually true?
“Don’t ignore me! I just wished for you to do better…”
She raised her eyebrows.
The voice interfering with her thoughts was quite bothersome.
“Shut up.”
“…What?”
The woman’s eyes went wide.
“Oh, I apologize. It’s just that you’ve been buzzing like a mosquito next to me constantly. I’m sorry, but could you continue your chatter outside? As you can see, I’ve just woken up from the sickbed.”
“G-Gracious, the, the way you talk. How… How can you… I am your mother! How could you suddenly become so impolite…”
“No, not exactly. You’re more like my prospective stepmother. After all, you haven’t had the wedding yet.”
Judging by her casual attire with minimal jewelry, it was clear that she was still in the phase of trying to fit in.
Roxelyn spoke, looking at the woman who only muttered.
“Lady Carmel, whether you enter this household or not… Please don’t bother my peace of mind. If you do… I won’t be concerned about you, whether you sell the Duke’s business secrets, slowly poison my father, or insert yourself into the mansion.”
“Roxelyn—!”
Lady Carmel’s mouth gaped at Roxelyn’s words.
Her beautiful face, uttering such chilling words without changing expression, even radiated a sense of dread.
“Let’s just stay out of each other’s way. As long as you don’t bother me, whatever you do… I won’t interfere.”
Roxelyn kindly offered advice and advice.
She looked down at the young woman who would become her stepdaughter, speaking steadily while meeting her eyes.
‘…Who on earth is this?’
She felt uncomfortable with the fact that she sensed her own ominousness, yet unknowingly swallowed her saliva.
It was as if she were pushing her head into the jaws of a beast.
The most insignificant lady of the Bellion Duchy—frail and timid, who couldn’t utter a single word properly even if her life depended on it.
A lady without honor, so insignificant that even the maids ignored her, that was who she used to be.
She used to hide her ugly face with her bangs, trying to conceal her hideous and repulsive eyes. But now, she had swept her hair back and was meeting gazes without flinching.
