The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 39
He blinked slowly and exhaled.
“Should I leave if you don’t wish for me to be here?”
“…No, come in. It’s just a bit messy inside….”
He hurriedly moved.
The room, lacking windows due to being underground, was pitiful for someone said to be the heir of this great, mighty ducal family.
“Wow, this is really filthy.”
Roxelyn spoke without reservation.
Zerti’s shoulders flinched.
“Coming down here, the air was so bad it hurt my nose.”
“…That might be. Perhaps, some aftereffects of my power are lingering. I’ll give you an antidote to drink for now….”
Roxelyn accepted the blue potion Zerti Bellion offered.
She had come down in annoyance but hadn’t thought about what to say yet.
“Father.”
“…Yes.”
Zerti Bellion, in the midst of pouring tea, looked at his fingertips and hesitated.
He tried his best not to get excited as he slowly poured the tea and handed it to Roxelyn.
“The room smells exactly like a widower—dark and gloomy.”
Thud, thud, thud.
As if daggers were being thrown.
Caught off guard by Roxelyn’s frankness, Zerti Bellion’s mouth fell open, and she wore a nonchalant expression.
“It seems difficult to ask you to escort me to the royal banquet in this state.”
“…What?”
“Do you not have proper clothes?”
She was openly treating him like a beggar.
Yet, Zerti Bellion smirked.
It was such an unbelievable statement he had heard.
“What are you here to talk about?”
“A banquet. His Majesty invited me, so would you be my escort?”
“…Of course, I can. But are you sure I’m suitable?”
At Zerti Bellion’s cautious question, Roxelyn shrugged and nodded.
“Yes. But on one condition….”
“Condition?”
“If you move your room to the ground floor and do something about that gloomy appearance.”
“Gloomy…?”
Zerti was taken aback, his face twitching in shock.
Roxelyn shrugged her shoulders and stood up, continuing to speak.
“Because on that day, I want to be the one who stands out the most.”
Roxelyn’s face broke into a grin, and Zerti Bellion’s mouth hung open.
The face of the woman he had only dreamt of in his dreams appeared in his daughter.
“I was going to ask Marquis Gerun if you refused, but this is better.”
Screech—
The fine teaspoon in his hand melted.
“…Absolutely, I will be the one.”
Zerti, grinding his teeth, declared.
And a few days later, the day of the banquet arrived.
***
The imperial palace’s banquets were regularly held four times a year.
Each time, the banquet lasts three to five days, during which there is interaction and discussion with the Emperor about necessary matters.
Of course, this was also the time for major announcements.
So, those with titles and heirs necessarily attended during this period.
“His Grace the Duke Devon Bellion, His Excellency the Young Duke Zerti Bellion, and Her Ladyship Ducal Lady Roxelyn Bellion are entering!”
Of course, Duke Bellion attended.
Zerti was attending as the ducal household’s heir, and Roxelyn came by imperial invitation.
Eyes from all around pierced through them.
“…Zerti Bellion?”
“Goodness, what could possibly bring the reclusive Young Duke Bellion here…?”
“Isn’t that Ducal Lady Bellion, the one who stutters? She dared to show up after being ridiculed at her last debut.”
“Could that even be called a debut?”
Roxelyn, hearing the laughter-laced voices, looked around with indifference.
There were many familiar faces.
All of them had once enjoyed gossiping about Roxelyn in her original world.
A bunch of losers jealous of her despite being ostracized from high society.
Of course, Roxelyn had no interest in losers, so she quickly looked away.
“But who is that woman? Was there ever someone so glamorous in the Bellion family?”
