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The Villain’s Merit, Chapter 5
There’s only been a few times in my life when I had a day like today.
A day when I wear pretty clothes, even if it’s not a special day. A day when I receive lots of attention from orphanage workers.
I had an intuition.
‘I might get parents today.’
As a child, I was desperate. I struggled to appeal to others that I was a good addition to someone’s family.
Be more polite, be kinder, be gentler.
I’ve always longed for someone to be my parent. But I never had parents.
But today, this time, I’m getting a family.
I stared at the door of the director’s room where I heard a loud voice.
‘Don’t fall for fake sentiments. This is a fixed story, and that person is only here to take advantage of you.’
I put my hand on my heart, trying to calm down.
‘Why am I excited? Let’s keep in mind that I’m going to be used and thrown away.’
Although it was a short memory of the old days, I quickly cleared my mind and knocked on the door of the director’s office.
“Come in.”
I opened the door as soon as the director gave his permission and immediately saw a man sitting down.
A gentleman in his mid to late forties with black hair resembling Empress Iana’s, and an elegant, upright posture, looked at me.
“Say hello, Freddia. This is Duke Weiss.”
Ivan Weiss.
He is the one who put Iana, an important member of the Weiss family, in the position of Empress.
As a maternal relative of Iana, he wasn’t satisfied with just putting her in the Empress’s position. He also wanted to get the First Prince under his control. So, the Duke tried to tie one of his people to the First Prince.
However, he only had one daughter, who would later have to inherit the Dukedom. So, he looked for a suitable girl among his relatives. However, it was an orphan girl standing next to Herace in the〈Imperial Newsletter〉who caught his attention.
The Duke probably came up with the idea that it would be better for him to use an orphan girl who didn’t have any troublesome family ties.
“Hello, Duke.”
“Hmm.”
The Duke nodded calmly and looked me up and down. He asked the director as if he didn’t want to talk to me.
“Is the child smart?”
“Of course she is. You have no idea how smart she is.”
These were the words of the director, who lived with headaches and stomachaches because of me for several days.
The director clenched his teeth behind his smile.
I wanted to help the director because of my pure and beautiful heart full of goodness, so I quickly intervened in their conversation.
“I’m so happy to meet you like this. It’s always been my dream to have a family, so I can’t believe it. I heard from the director that the Duke has a daughter. Is that true?”
The director poked my side to prevent me from interfering any further, but I smiled brightly and ignored him.
The Duke nodded his head.
“Yes, I have a daughter. She’s 15 years old, so I guess she’s a little older than you.”
“She is older than me! I would like to give the princess a gift.”
“Gift?”
I slowly pulled out the ribbon I kept in my pocket.
“This is a ribbon that the First Prince gave me a while ago. I wanted to give the Duke a present, but the Duke doesn’t seem like he would want to use this, so I wanted to give it to the Princess instead. This is the only valuable thing I have.”
When the Duke heard the words that came out of my mouth, his eyes lit up. I’ve certainly succeeded in gaining his attention.
“Why would you give your most prized possession to someone else?”
I recalled the thoughts I had from my childhood when I was still innocent and naive.
“I’ve always wanted to have a family. The only thing I’ve ever wanted is to have a family. If the Duke takes me in, I will not be greedy for anything else.”
My thoughts were like that when I was young. If I have a family, I will love them forever. I’m going to share my best things with them and live without greed for anything more.
‘I was naive. Family is just a nuisance.’
The Duke seemed to like my words that I wouldn’t be greedy for anything.
I’m sure he felt this way. There are many greedy people around him like Iana, so I acted like this on purpose.
Of course, I don’t think the Duke would blindly believe in anything I say. After all, people’s minds are different when they enter and leave the bathroom.
(TL/N: ‘people’s minds are different when they enter and leave the bathroom’- When alone and in front of people they act/think differently)
But it was enough to give him a good impression right now.
“Can you keep your word? I can provide you with what you need as long as you’re not greedy. As long as you are satisfied with what I have given you and do not stretch yourself too far, you will be able to live a happy life.”
I smiled confidently as if I was trying to reassure him.
“Duke, I know the First Prince.”
What I’m trying to say is that handing this ribbon over to you is by no means a pure act.
I know my place well, so I know how valuable this item is for me. I don’t think it’s something I can give to anyone at will, but I’ll still give it to you.
The Duke understood what I was trying to say and stared at me with the most amazing and beautiful golden eyes I’ve ever seen in this world.
I didn’t avoid his sharp gaze and directly faced him.
The Duke burst into laughter.
“You seem to be good at math for a child.”
“Thank you for thinking that way.”
“Yes, it’s better to be a person who is good at math than to be an idiot.”
Um, I think Duke is more satisfied than I expected.
‘I’m sorry, Duke. My goal is to eat and live well in your house, and later become worthless and be abandoned by you.’
So, please expect a lot from me now. The greater the expectations, the greater the disappointment.
When I changed my approach to adoption, I did it intending to get abandoned.
‘I’ll remain obedient as I grow up and get abandoned when I become useless later on.’
When I get adopted, I have to save up my pocket money and start a business, like the chicken business that I thought of last time. I haven’t completely given up on my dream of starting a business just yet.
Of course, Ivan wouldn’t give up a child he purposefully adopted.
So I came up with something.
‘Contract marriage!’
Hehe, I’m glad I read a lot of romance-fantasy novels. Usually, when the heroine leaves their house, don’t they have a contract marriage?
“If I live a life with a gold spoon, I’ll go to tea parties or something like that to gather information, and then I’ll marry the person who meets my requirements.”
I know the content of the novel, so we can make a contract where the male recipient will receive information of future events as an agreement term. Other romance fantasy female protagonists do the same.
When the contract is over, I will ask for a divorce and leave with the gold I saved up and enjoy this new life.
‘Okay, perfect!’
I hid my greedy heart under a pretty and cute face and smiled softly.
“I like this child.”
The Duke spoke as if he was praising the director. It felt unfair to hear that.
‘The only thing that he did to me and Freddia was abuse!’
Even now, I don’t know how many times he jabbed my side trying to shut me up.
I tried to hold it in, but I shouted in resentment.
So far, I’ve only taken revenge in small ways, so on the last day, I hated how I didn’t do anything even though I tried to disappear quietly.
“Ah! Director, it hurts! Stop pinching me!”
At my words, the Duke looked at the director, wondering what I was talking about.
The director, who didn’t think that I would dare to expose him in such a place, hurriedly made an excuse.
“When did I pinch you? Duke, in fact, Freddia sometimes lies like this. Children are usually good at lying at this age. You don’t have to believe everything children say. The smarter a child is, the more realistic their lies are.”
Oh, I wondered why the director kept boldly pinching me, even though  I’ve been tormenting him for the past few days. He was trying to make me out to be a liar!
‘He’s afraid I’ll tell the Duke that I’ve been bullied in the orphanage.’
Director, do you know? This is the Korean Call Center Part-Time Student’s Unstoppable Quickness! I don’t think you’ve ever heard of it before.
The center of the service industry, the call center, pays a high hourly wage. I needed the hourly wage, and coincidentally, the call center needed a hardworking employee.
‘What do you take me as?’’
I admired the director’s ingenious lie and proceeded to deny his words while trembling instead of being cunning.
“I’m sorry, Director. I must have been mistaken. The director brought me here and took good care of me during my time here. I will miss you very much if I leave.”
My gentle apology made the director’s smiling face stiffen a little. If you’ve seen my actions so far, you wouldn’t expect me to be acting like this.
The Duke asked me with a suspicious look.
“Did the director treat you well?”
“Yes, of course! He gave me a special room, the attic! While the other children shared bedrooms on the second and third floor with two or three other people, I was able to use the attic alone since it was too narrow for two children to use.”
I felt the director flinch. I continued speaking with a happy face so that he had no time to make excuses.
“I used a one-person bedroom, and what else could this mean other than the love that the director has for me? Of course, the cold nights made me shiver, but it made me think that I was the little match girl, freezing to death in the middle of winter. Isn’t it romantic? I felt like the main character of a fairy tale.”
(TL/N: “The Little Match Girl”- A fairy tale about a dying child’s dreams and hope)
I put my hands together and made a dreamy look.
I’m not sure if there’s a fairy tale like “The Little Match Girl” in this world too, but I’m sure they understand. The story of a poor, pitiful, but good child suffering is a common major topic across the world.
The Duke frowned at my words.
“That doesn’t sound like a lie.”
“Of course!”
You have to solidify the details for credibility!
“On one occasion, I imagined the thin and old blanket that covered me was a pile of straws, and that I was a valiant hero who was on an adventure and had to sleep in a barn overnight. Cool, right? This is all thanks to the director’s special consideration. I am always grateful to the director.”
The Duke touched his forehead when he saw my sparkling eyes.
“No matter how much you like it, you won’t be able to use such a room in the Duke’s residence.”
Then, he sharply glared at the director.
“I know that orphanages get a lot of donations, but I wonder where all that money goes. I’m going to send an auditor soon, so just be aware of that, Director.”
The director’s face turned blue. He must have developed wrinkles.
The Duke instructed me to only take a few items that I wanted to have immediately and get in the carriage when I finished. I asked the Duke to wait a moment and took the new dress that I tormented the director to get. Then, I folded it well and placed it in front of his office.
‘I’ll give this back. From now on, I’m going to be wearing better clothes than this. You looked so pale, director, so eat well and live well.’