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The Real Villainess [Part 2]
As I returned the greeting, Flare approached me and held out her right hand as if to shake mine.
*Pan!*
The unsightly maids behind Flare immediately moved when I brushed her hand away, but Flare stopped them by raising one hand. The maids behind her are definitely guards and assassins.
Flare smiled smugly, not caring that I brushed her hand off.
“Oh my, that’s rude. What do you think you’re doing?”
“You should wash your hands.”
“Oh, my, pardon me.”
She wiped [poison] on her hands with the handkerchief she received from the assassin maid behind her and used [Flowing Water], a life magic, to wash her hands on the carpet. The floor was soaked with water.
Good thing I remembered the Flare event. That was a yucky-looking [deadly poison], which permeates through the skin.
“Fufu. Don’t worry. If you wash your hands within a quarter of an hour, the poison won’t penetrate. Oh, by the way, poison doesn’t work on me.”
When Flare tossed the poisoned handkerchief into the air, it instantly burned away, and the soggy carpet immediately dried.
“It’s too hot. Keep it away from me.”
“That’s an abomination, indeed. I can’t believe you can see this child. I’m glad she’s more than I expected, like what happened just now.”
That handshake with the poisoned hand was not an assassination or anything like that. It was just a ‘GREETING’. Annoying.
The Spirit of Fire was clinging around that Flare. So, she was using the spirit of the flame.
How did they tame it?”
“More importantly, how long are you going to keep me standing there?”
“Nn.”
I nodded lightly and headed towards the couch.
The assassin maid radiated a deadly intent toward me, but I couldn’t be bothered with that.
As expected of the villainess Flare, I felt a strong presence and a sense of intimidation, as if I was confronting some end-of-the-century champion.
“You’re using some pretty nice furniture for a rabbit hutch, aren’t you?”
The assassin maids prepared tea for Flare and me, stopping Meiya with their eyes as she was about to serve tea.
Apparently, they knew me from the beginning as an [abominable] half-elf.
When Flare heard that her brother was going to visit this mansion, she forced him to bring her along to judge my worth with her own eyes.
If I didn’t meet her expectations, I would have been dead after she left, though.
I heard that she allowed her maids to roast tea for her because she was not concerned about being poisoned but because she doesn’t like cheap tea leaves.
“Alright, this should be fine.”
This girl is just…
“Ah, right, I wanted to tell you something.  You don’t need to overthink things, but I did have a purpose in coming over. You see, I promised this one, the spirit, that I would eventually wrap this country in flames.”
“…”
As expected of Flare, the assassin maids were pale when she swore to the spirits that she would destroy this country as casually as if she were talking about yesterday’s weather.
A promise to a spirit sounds as dangerous as a devil’s pact.
“…why are you going to burn it?”
“Oh? Because what is the point of having a country where I am not the ruler?”
Flare tilted her head in wonder at my question.
Flare in the Otome Game was also a very dynamic person. Even when she was put on the guillotine by the heroine, she was still smiling broadly to the very end.
“I’ll be honest with you. I like you, so come under my protection and be my property.”
[TL: I Smell Yuri]
[Editor: Yandere Yuri you mean]
“I decline.”
It was a slightly enticing proposition, but it was not the direction in life I was interested to head to. I immediately declined, and Flare laughed in amusement, not even offended by my rejection .
“Well, that’s okay. Let’s get down to business.”
I thought that was the main issue.
“I hear you make quality cosmetics. Is that an elvish skill? From  now on, instead of wholesaling to commercial guilds, you will deliver everything to the Dukedom of Prata. Good.”
“…”
I see. Was that a flag? I thought it odd that she would come to see me because I was an abomination.
To keep that cosmetic product to yourself, to monopolize it–
“How much will you buy it from me?”
I asked, and Flare’s smile deepened.
“Double the price when sold to a commercial guild.”
“They earn five times as much. And there are other stuffs, too, you know? How much would you price it at?”
“Hmmm…okay. I’ll pay five times. You understand what I’m saying, don’t you?”
“Of course. A good deal.”
Of course, I wasn’t trying to please anyone with those cosmetics. I just want to make money. Making a lot of cosmetics and selling them for cheap would be too much of a hassle.
Of course, I do not need to antagonize Flare. I wouldn’t be directly involved, but I wouldn’t be hostile either. That would be the agreement.
“It’s been worthwhile. You can put poison in the cosmetics you deliver, right? I wouldn’t mind. Fufufu. Have a good day, Carol.”
“…Yeah, Flare.”
I also muttered to Flare, who left with a broad smile on her face.
That’s Flare. To think that she was only five years old. How scary.