The Villain's Ending is Only Death Chapter 40
I picked up the largest spoon, feeling like I was playing with dolls. It was the biggest among the items laid out, but still smaller than a teaspoon.
When I tried to scoop the soup with it, only a tiny bit came up.
The fork couldn't even lift a single leaf of the salad.
The knife, which was at least of decent size, couldn't pierce the surface of the tenderly roasted meat, it was so blunt.
I picked up the utensils one by one, playing around with them, and poked at the steaming food in front of me.
I decided to at least try to eat something, even if it was just to poke at the food.
'How did Emily manage to bring the food so diligently despite such poor conditions in the kitchen?'
Thinking about it, it made sense.
Even if rotten food was distributed, the treatment of the maids in the kitchen was so poor that they wouldn't be affected.
After I threatened her, Emily brought me proper food every day.
Moreover, when I mentioned food I wanted to eat, she would even try to make it for me.
'...I should give her a reward when I get back to my room.'
I felt a bit guilty for having put up a cold front to Emily all this time.
I looked at the utensils scattered haphazardly on the plate with a sharp gaze.
'I should put her in her place.'
In the end, I couldn't eat a single bite of the food.
As expected, the duke and the two older brothers had no idea whether I was eating or just playing with the food.
This was Penelope's position.
"The festival is already coming to an end."
When the meal was about halfway through, the duke opened his mouth, sipping his wine.
But the first target was me.
"Since it's the last day, aren't you going out?"
I, who was already irritated, answered curtly.
Penelope must have always gone out on the last day of the festival.
I had no intention of going out, and my mood was at rock bottom because I couldn't even touch the delicious food in front of me, so I didn't want to please the duke.
But my cold attitude immediately made the eyes of the first and second sons turn fierce. My affection points were dropping.
I forced a smile that didn't come naturally and looked at the duke again.
"I'm under house arrest, aren't I?"
"Tsk, you've been using that excuse for a long time."
The duke clicked his tongue, clearly displeased with my answer.
"Because of a slave brat, you're even putting yourself under house arrest. I've never seen such a fool."
Reynold sneered. No one reacted, as if it was a common occurrence.
Since no one was going to shut that guy's mouth, I ignored him and inwardly flipped him off.
"The reason I called you all here for lunch today is... because of the upcoming hunting competition."
'...Hunting competition?'
I thought hard about the game content, but it didn't come to mind right away.
"This time, it seems it will be held in the northern forest of the palace."
Meanwhile, the duke continued, placing his utensils elegantly.
"As you all know, this hunting competition is significant. Not only will the nobles and royalty of the conquered country participate, but rare animals representing each country will also be released."
"The prince's supporters are not looking kindly upon those who did not participate in the war. It's a good time to solidify our status."
"Therefore, at last night's noble meeting, it was decided that Ecart would also attend this hunting competition."
All of this was irrelevant to me.
While half-listening to the duke, the 'hunting competition' in the game suddenly came to mind.
[The Inca Empire holds a hunting competition every season. It is to indirectly pressure the conquered countries by massacring rare creatures or slaves from each defeated nation.]
I had seen a brief background description while playing in normal mode.
However, the heroine couldn't attend the hunting competition this time.
Because Penelope, jealous that the 'real lady' who returned would attract the attention of the male leads, secretly gave her poison.
Unable to attend the hunting competition due to her near-death state, the heroine instead raised Eclis's affection points to the max.
It was the moment when Penelope lost her last hope.
After that, the angelic heroine, unable to bear the cruel acts of the empire, persuaded the prince, and the hunting competition was abolished.
And in the prince's route ending, Penelope's atrocities against the heroine were revealed one by one, and she suffered a truly horrific torture.
Her heart was frozen while she was still alive, and she was forced to eat the poisons she had given to the heroine, one by one.
Penelope's face melting away due to the poison.
The vivid illustration scenes came to mind one after another, and I shuddered reflexively.
At that moment, the duke, who had been talking about the noble meeting, suddenly turned his gaze to me.
I, who hadn't been listening to a word he said, was startled and stammered foolishly.
Fortunately, the duke didn't take it seriously.
"The meeting decided to lift your ban on participating."
"Yes. What do you plan to do?"
I couldn't answer the duke's question right away.
'What does lifting the participation ban mean?'
I didn't know what kind of mischief the previous Penelope had caused at the hunting competition, which made me uneasy.
As I hesitated, the duke asked again if I would participate.
"If you're going to participate, I'll have your hunting tools prepared."
At that moment, the pink-haired one slammed the table fiercely and shouted menacingly.
"That crazy woman, or rather, that girl, what did she do last year that they're giving her another chance!"
The duke clicked his tongue and called his second son.
"Considering how the noble daughters petitioned to lock that wild girl in the dungeon every time the hunting competition came around...!"
But despite the duke's attempts to calm him down, Reynold glared at me fiercely and shivered, as if looking at a traitor who deserved to be killed.
I needed to understand the situation. I decided to act as shamelessly as Penelope.
"Are you asking because you don't know?"
Well, if I didn't know, I wouldn't ask, right?
I wanted to retort to the infuriating Reynold, but I had to hold back. I needed to provoke him to learn the whole story.
However, the answer I wanted came unexpectedly from someone else.
"You begged for a crossbow, which no one else cared about."
Compared to Reynold, the voice was calm, and I turned my head sharply.
The eldest son, with his icy blue eyes, looked at me and spoke softly.
"Even when we told you it was dangerous and to leave it behind, you insisted on taking it. At the tea party, you threatened to shoot and kill Kelin's daughter and her group, and were subdued like an animal by the guards."
"So for a while, there was a rumor that Ecart was teaching a mad chimpanzee how to use a crossbow."
As soon as Derek finished speaking, Reynold sneered coldly and mocked.
I couldn't retort to such an outrageous act.
But it wasn't as shocking or surprising as I had expected.
'Well, she is the game's ultimate villain, after all.'
She didn't crawl around drunk like some of the troublemakers I see at the start-of-term meetings, so it was within a manageable limit.
"Stop it. She has repented enough."
While I was silent, the duke, with a displeased tone, stopped the two sons who were criticizing me.
Although I had already been embarrassed enough, it was a good timing.
As the two sons shut their mouths, the duke looked at me seriously and warned.
"You still remember that Ecart's mouth is heavy, right, Penelope?"
"Of course. This time, I won't disappoint you, Father."
I answered promptly. From one side, I heard the sound of someone grinding their teeth.
"Good. Let's end the conversation here."
Seemingly done with his urgent matters, the duke lightly rang the bell on the table.
The dining room door opened, and one of the servants, pulling a cart, entered. It was time for dessert.
'I haven't even eaten, what kind of dessert is this?'
I watched the servant place different desserts in front of each of us with a gloomy gaze.
The middle-aged woman called Mrs. Donna had been in charge of the duke's kitchen for a long time.
And she knew the food preferences of those she served very well.
In front of the duke and Derek, teacups filled with tea were placed, and in front of Reynold, a plate with homemade cookies.
Next was my turn. I liked desserts, so I would have been fine with anything.
But when I saw the plate placed in front of me, I couldn't help but frown.
It was a soft milk pudding.