A Painting of the Villainess as a Young Lady

“Huh? Um, I just overheard it. Did I get it wrong?”

“Yes. It’s completely off the mark. It’s all just baseless rumors. Baseless rumors, I say.”

“Baseless rumors… I see.”

She agreed surprisingly quickly. At this rate, everyone she meets might ask about her engagement to the crown prince. Violet frowned.

At least Alesia was a decent person. If she had been more persistent, she might have pried even more into Violet’s personal business by now.

Violet covered her face with her hand as she watched Alesia back away gracefully.

“Where did you hear such a thing?”

“My mother told me.”

“……”

Alesia’s clueless response seemed all too serene. It seemed like the rift between mother and daughter had healed, and they were conversing more frequently.

A person of Marchioness Leshan’s stature wouldn’t believe rumors so easily, so Violet immediately knew that this was just her teasing Violet.

Her fingertips twitched slightly.

“I see.”

“…Should I go and tell her it’s just a baseless rumor?”

“No, the Marchioness already knows whether it’s true or not. This is just…”

“Just?”

“……”

Violet clammed up. Anxious, Alesia pressed her, but no answer followed.

What could it be that made her react this way?

Violet had no intention of telling Alesia that her mother was quite playful.

“Alesia, you seem to be enjoying yourself these days. Tell me about that instead.”

“There’s not much to tell…”

Violet smoothly changed the subject. The clueless Alesia was quick to follow.

“Lately, I’ve been receiving an unusual amount of invitations. It’s awkward to decline each one. How do you handle it?”

“Well, I just do it. Casually, I guess?”

Violet, who neither refused nor even responded but simply ignored them firmly, laughed casually. Watching her, Alesia smiled ambiguously and then suddenly grimaced, sighing.

“No matter how I think about it, high society just doesn’t suit me…”

It was obvious. It seemed the marchioness couldn’t let go of her ambitions and was pushing her daughter into something.

Violet smiled and took the posture of a proper listener.

It was clear from her posture that she could listen to anything well.

Seeing Violet like this, Alesia hesitated for a moment before sighing again and said,

“The thing is, actually…”

Violet chuckled at Alesia’s continuation. Even while talking, she seemed uncomfortable, as if wondering if she was gossiping about others.

“I may be clueless, but it was strange.”

To summarize her words:

Being more cool and attractive than ever compared to most young noblemen, Alesia had recently gained admirers, and these ladies had sent her invitations.

Alesia found it annoying and wanted to reject them all, but due to her mother’s insistence, she ended up attending a fairly large gathering where even Aileen Everett was present.

Aileen seemed like the star of the gathering.

It was evident that many ladies were nervously trying to cater only to Aileen’s whims, and those who disliked this grumbled… to which Aileen would immediately adopt a hurt gesture, and then a lady next to her would defend her.

Then Aileen would say, ‘It’s okay. I’m sure they have their reasons, right?’

It was all too familiar—it’s the same old behavior wherever she went.

It was tiresome.

But the problem was what came next. Aileen always managed to turn the topic to Violet.

“How can I reconcile with my sister? I like her, but she’s always too much.”

Starting cunningly with mentioning Violet, the conversation soon turned to sharing gossip about her among those present.

When that happens, the very person who started the conversation disappears, and only those around start badmouthing Violet.

It’s as if watching some kind of cult in action.

People unite when they have a common enemy.

Aileen seemed to understand this psychology very well, pulling the strings effectively.

“I believe all the rumors about Sister are false. Since she hasn’t spoken out directly… I wish she would explain, but she doesn’t respond at all. Hiic…”

In essence, she was saying this:

The news of Sister’s engagement with the Crown Prince is completely false, so do not be alarmed, everyone.

But still, no matter how many invitations I sent to Sister, she just kept ignoring me. It’s so, so bad.

It was bold of Aileen to insinuate as such, considering that there were rumors about her approaching the crown prince too.

Alesia recalled that Aileen seemed quite outstanding even in a society rife with cunning rhetoric.

“If I hadn’t heard your side, I might have sympathized with her too. Her way of speaking is quite peculiar.”

“You held back quite well.”

“…I’ve never held back, though?”

Violet smiled faintly in response, prompting Alesia to look at her with questions in her eyes.

Looking at what that meant, Alesia boldly said,

“If she truly loves and cares about her family, she shouldn’t talk behind her family’s back like this. Speaking about everything like that in a gathering full of so many people as if seeking their sympathy feels insincere. And I also believe it’s foolish to believe things that you’re personally not certain of. I was really about to explode in anger, so I’ll just left.”

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