Chapter 51: The Villain's Ending is Only Death
The butler, who had visited me once in the morning, came to my room again in the afternoon, bearing the message that the duke had summoned me.
I fell into a brief moment of contemplation. It wasn't that I was wondering why the duke would summon me.
It was because there were so many things he could scold me for, and I hadn't prepared for which one he would choose.
'For fighting with Renard? Or for causing a commotion in the training ground? ……Or for buying a lot of Eclis weapons with the blank check?'
Actually, the second one seemed the most fitting.
Surely, Renard wouldn't tattle on me for fighting with his brother.
The money was given to me to spend as I wished, so I was worried he might be petty about it.
"…He didn't seem particularly upset."
Perhaps my pensive appearance had made the butler worry, as he casually informed me of the duke's state.
I stood up without further thought at his words.
"Father. I understand you summoned me."
Entering the study with a light sense of tension, I found the duke sitting on the sofa, lost in deep thought.
He pointed to the opposite sofa.
One noticeable change since I became a noble lady in the game was that the duke no longer pretended to ignore me.
In other words, unlike before, I didn't have to kneel and beg for forgiveness.
I walked over without hesitation and sat opposite the duke.
He extinguished the cigar he was smoking and asked,
"Would you like some tea?"
"I would be grateful if you offered me some."
The duke rang the bell, and after a while, a maid brought in a simple snack and a steaming cup of tea.
"That's enough. You may leave now."
The maid, who was about to pour tea into our cups, bowed politely and left at the duke's request.
An awkward silence filled the study once again.
'…Now that I think about it, this is the first time I've had a proper conversation with a character and spent time with them.'
Every time I came, there was a clear purpose: to beg for forgiveness, to save my life, and to leave this place as quickly as possible.
However, regardless of my inner turmoil, no one had ever treated me as an equal.
The improved attitude now gave me some reassurance, but it also left a bitter taste.
While I was lost in these thoughts, the master of the house took the initiative to pour tea from the teapot into my cup.
I mumbled my thanks but didn't immediately pick up the cup.
The duke, sipping on a mint tea that smelled refreshing, paused for a moment before speaking.
"There was a commotion in the training ground, I heard."
As expected, the reason the duke summoned me was about the commotion, not the fight with Renard. Perhaps it was fortunate.
"…Yes. I had some friction with the knights. I apologize."
I nodded obediently and recited the apology I had prepared.
The duke, placing his cup down, narrowed his eyes sharply.
I didn't want to go into a lengthy explanation of something that didn't involve my life, nor did I want to beg for forgiveness.
His eyebrows twitched, seemingly unimpressed by my answer.
"Do you know what I heard?"
"About me suddenly appearing in the training ground and ordering a knight to strangle one of Eclis's knights, I suppose."
I said this nonchalantly.
I didn't need to see it to know that they had testified in a way that was favorable to them, omitting my faults.
Of course, even though I was an adopted daughter, how could they report to the duke that I had been caught insulting a noble lady?
I looked the duke in the eye and declared boldly.
"If you command me to reflect on my behavior as a lady and not participate in the hunting tournament, I will comply."
Unlike usual, I didn't admit fault.
It was an action I had taken of my own free will, and I didn't think I had done anything wrong.
Instead, I subtly revealed my purpose.
'If I can avoid it, I'll avoid the hunting tournament!'
Having firmly decided to focus entirely on Eclis, I intended to follow the example of the female protagonist in normal mode and not participate in the hunting tournament, aiming to boost his affection.
When I heard about the tournament at lunch, I hadn't thought deeply about it.
It was a tradition that any self-respecting nobleman would attend.
So, it would be a day when all the male leads gathered, except for Eclis, who couldn't participate due to his slave background.
No matter how hard I tried to avoid it, the forest was too dangerous.
'A perfect episode to die unnoticed by anyone.'
Moreover, since it was held at the palace, there was a very high chance I would get entangled with the crown prince.
He was the one who had shown such interest in me that he sent me a separate invitation.
If I went out to hunt or watch and reignited his curiosity, which I had barely managed to suppress…
I shuddered and exclaimed.
"But I don't think I did anything wrong, Father!"
A cold silence swept through the study.
After a moment, the duke asked in a lowered, icy tone,
"Almost having a knight who protects the family killed, and you say you did nothing wrong?"
I answered without changing my expression.
"Fine. Then why did you order your guard to do such a thing?"
'Why is he so persistent today?'
I tilted my head in confusion.
The Ecart family held their knights in very high regard and trusted them deeply.
Disrespecting a knight of Ecart was tantamount to disrespecting Ecart itself.
I had even tried to strangle a knight, so I was prepared for some punishment.
'I thought he would immediately fly into a rage if I brazenly claimed I did nothing wrong.'
Given my need for reflection, his reaction seemed unexpected.
"…Don't you think the knights' words are more trustworthy than mine?"
The duke, who had been contemplating, called out my full name sternly.
"Since you bear the name Ecart, answer carefully why you acted that way."
"Surely not out of sheer boredom, right? You never even set foot in the training ground before."
The duke's suspicion was justified.
Even if I was a villainess who acted like a mad dog, I wouldn't have gone to the training ground to pick a fight with the knights for no reason.
"Moreover, you asked the butler detailed questions about your guard's treatment before going out."
I was startled by the duke's additional words and raised my head.
I instinctively wanted to ask how he knew, but quickly closed my mouth.
Since the butler was the only one I asked, it was natural that the information had leaked from him.
'Sigh, what a tattletale…'
I blamed the butler for ruining a situation that could have been handled smoothly.
The duke, noticing my hesitation, glared at me.
"Are you finally ready to speak?"
"It's all my fault, Father. I just went to the training ground on a whim, and I didn't like the way the knights greeted me…"
"According to the knights' testimony, it was related to the punishment of the slave you brought."
"Are you going to speak only after that slave is expelled from his squire position?"
The duke's voice grew angrier, and I rapidly became depressed.
He didn't believe my 'whim' explanation. He seemed to suspect there was another reason.
"Tell me everything that happened that day. If you don't, I'll hold the slave responsible for the insubordination."
Mentioning Eclis, I had no choice but to speak.
"…I went to the training ground to fetch my guard for a walk before going out."
"I saw that Knight Mark was giving my guard an excessive punishment for breaking a wooden sword during training, which was an absurd reason."
It sounded like a spoiled child throwing a tantrum over a trivial matter.
No wonder the duke's frown deepened.
He seemed to intuit that this was the reason and immediately barked,
"Strict punishments are common to maintain discipline among the knights. You're too old to claim you didn't know that."
"During this, they insulted me, the owner of Eclis."
The duke, who had been preparing to scold me again, widened his eyes and stuttered at my answer.
It was indeed the background they had omitted in their report.
"Then my guard got angry and rebutted, and they tried to gang up and beat him."
"So I told Eclis to duel the knight who had defiled a lady's honor."
To be precise, I had told him to kill the knight.
I wasn't foolish enough to confess such a vulgar act to the duke.
The duke remained silent for a long time after my explanation.
I stared blankly at my untouched cup of tea.
The steam that had risen from the contents had now turned cold.
Neither the duke nor I made any move to pour a new cup.
Glancing at the duke's rigid expression, I suddenly found the situation tedious.
How many more times would I have to repeat this until I escaped?
After a considerable amount of time, the duke finally spoke in a deeply troubled voice.
"What did they say to insult you?"
"That if I were expelled, I wouldn't be able to support myself and was a fake."
"They also said I should realize that serving me was like holding a rotten rope."
I recited their words without any exaggeration.
It wasn't because I was angry at the knights for omitting their misdeeds in their report.
I just hoped that if he understood now, he would care about what I did.
However, the duke's face slowly twisted in a way I hadn't expected.
"…Why didn't you come to me or Derrick immediately to report this?"
He asked, taking a deep breath as if enduring something.
If it were the real Penelope, she would have stormed into the duke's room right away, yelling about how the knights had disrespected her.
After a moment's thought, I decided to tell the truth.
"…I had already taken action, and I didn't think it was worth the trouble."
"Wasn't worth the trouble!"
The duke roared in anger as soon as I finished my answer.