The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 5
A fugitive’s life was a luxury that she couldn’t afford.
With a prominent nose and distinct features,
Flowing white hair like silk,
Eyes redder than rubies,
And even skin so pale it seemed like she was bloodless.
‘You don’t even look particularly healthy.’
Even more than the seventeen-year-old self that she could remember.
After a brief observation in front of the mirror, Roxelyn headed straight to the dining room where dinner was being served.
***
As Roxelyn appeared, the servants, seemingly having forgotten to lower their heads, opened their eyes wide.
“Open the door.”
“Ah, um. La… Lady Roxelyn…?”
Roxelyn raised an eyebrow in response to the servant’s confusion, then nodded once in understanding.
The bewildered servant hastily lowered their head, and the dining room door swung open.
Creak, creak.
As Roxelyn entered the dining room, the gazes of those seated at the table were fixated on her.
Their expressions varied, but their eyes held a common surprise.
Dressed in a pitch-black dress, wearing bold red lipstick, Roxelyn’s red eyes added a subtle touch of decadence and sensuality.
“…”
Amidst the captivated onlookers, Roxelyn also gazed at them intently.
The Bellion Dukedom, as she remembered it, had already declined significantly five years ago and was on the path to ruin.
So, the people before her were all dead to her.
‘Is the same thing going to happen five years from now in this place?’
Feeling a faint sense that her chest was being tightened, Roxelyn closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them again.
‘…I already made up my mind to leave this house.’
She thought, contemplating whether a few more days of examining her appearance might not be such a bad idea.
With that in mind, she took a seat at the deathly silent table.
She grabbed the cutlery, preparing to eat quietly, but belatedly realized that the dinner was attended by her grandfather, the Duke of Bellion.
“…You, wh, what is that appearance? How can you come to dinner with your elders like that?”
“What’s wrong with my appearance?”
There were two main reasons why Roxelyn chose to attend this dinner, even though she could have simply ignored it.
Firstly, it was to uphold the words she had spoken to the stepmother-to-be who had decided to disregard her warnings.
The second reason was to make a declaration of leaving this house.
“Who wears such vulgar and revealing attire, exposing their arms like this? I’ve told you, always maintain your decorum as a daughter of this ducal household—”
“Pfft.”
Roxelyn let out a small laugh unintentionally. In response, Lady Carmel’s expression slightly stiffened.
“This is strange,” Roxelyn tilted her head, looking perplexed.
“…What are you talking about?” Carmel asked back.
“I’ve lived as a lady of this ducal household for seventeen whole years, so why is it that you, my prospective stepmother, are telling me this? When in fact, you had been birthed by a woman of questionable low status, luckily married into a count’s household and even more luckily managed to kill the Count, thereafter taking up the position of household head instead of the Count’s legal heir? Why do you think that you of all people have the right to lecture me on my behavior as a Ducal Princess?”
Roxelyn spoke in a voice mixed with amusement, and the atmosphere at the dining table was instantly killed. The topic wasn’t suitable for the dinner table, and it was somewhat shocking.
“What…? How could you…! No matter how much you dislike me…! sob, sob… Father, Zerti… How much more do I have to try…”
Roxelyn watched the spectacle of Carmel pulling out her crocodile tears as she appealed to Duke Bellion and Zerti Bellion—Roxelyn’s father.
Roxelyn calmly continued to cut her steak.
The eyes of the well-groomed elderly gentleman at the head of the table appeared to narrow.
‘He always looks like a villain, no matter when I see him.’
Roxelyn thought indifferently as she elegantly tilted her wine glass.
The elderly gentleman was dressed in an elegant red ensemble, and the most noticeable aspect was that his eyes had different colors. He had a tattoo on his exposed hand, which was remarkably sophisticated for his age, and he was someone who would stand and fight even to the brink of death.
“It seems you’ve passed the age to appeal to emotions, but you still seem to be full of sensibility,” Roxelyn commented with a smile, meeting the old man’s, or rather, the Duke’s eyes.
While savoring a juicy steak, she suddenly paused. Duke Bellion’s eyes, which had been slightly squinted, began to widen. Roxelyn raised her eyebrows, her face turning ecstatic.
“Yum.”
With a delighted expression, she cut up another piece with a big smile on her lips and continued in a relaxed tone.
“It’s so delicious that I want to share it. Is anyone interested in trying it?”
