The Villain Wants to Live a Quiet Life

After hearing Emilia’s message, I had a lot to think about, so I called Paula to the garden and walked around the mansion grounds with her.

I was reminded of a passage I had read in a book that said clouds look different depending on a person’s emotions.

Sure enough, the clouds that had been floating in their own unique shapes until now seemed to have lost all individuality and character.

How strange indeed.

“The reason why you looked troubled…”

“Yes.”

I explained the whole story to her. I felt bad for burdening her, but I had no choice.

It became a habit to rely on her when I had worries I couldn’t even tell my father about.

Perhaps she had sensed that my expression was unusual from the moment she was called to the garden.

Paula nodded her head and kept her words brief while observing the changes in my expression with downcast eyes.

She probably decided she couldn’t speak carelessly, knowing better than anyone how deep the connection between the two families was.

“What do you think, Young Master?”

“I thought it was strange even before hearing from Emilia.”

I also felt something off about Adolf’s behavior today.

He seemed to be trying to connect me with Sofia by mentioning her excessively, and even bringing up Emilia to suggest that Sofia was better than her.

There was clearly a big discrepancy from the old Adolf who used to regard my relationship with Sofia as purely that of adopted siblings.

However, it was difficult to guess the reason behind it, so I didn’t think about it further.

“Paula, what’s your opinion?”

“…I don’t believe it’s my place to comment on such matters.”

I had simply asked out of curiosity, but Paula immediately stiffened her face, answering solemnly.

She’s always so formal. Though I suppose that’s just like her.

“It’s troubling.”

“It seems you also find Lady Bayemühren’s words concerning, Young Master.”

“A little.”

Honestly, there were quite a few points that bothered me more than just a little.

I hadn’t read the original story until the end, and the fate of the Aiphretz family wasn’t described in detail, but there was a vague sentence given in the middle.

The gist of it was that the entire family meets an appropriate end due to a traitor named Ludwig.

However, in the original story, the Aiphretz family doesn’t suffer any major blow to the family after Ludwig, the protruding stone, is killed.

This is because Christian and Emilia, the two main characters, reveal Ludwig’s actions as his own and propose no punishment is to be given to the Aiphretz family.

Yet the fact that this sentence appeared later could mean that the Aiphretz family is also betrayed by someone or possibly meets a dark end.

‘Was it foreshadowing?’

I don’t remember any mention of Ludwig having a fiancée in the original story.

Just that the Este baronial family existed under his command, and they had some sort of connection. Sofia wasn’t even mentioned as a character originally.

But what if, without my knowledge, characters named Ludwig and Sofia were engaged in the original story, and this later became the catalyst for the Este family to extend its reach to the Aiphretz family?

It’s entirely possible. After all, detailed stories that weren’t expressed in the original were definitely unfolding in this world.

“It seems you trust Lady Bayemühren’s words quite a lot.”

“You think so?”

No, this was a stupidly obvious question that I regretted to ask.

Of course, it would seem that way to Paula, a third party.

After all, I was prioritizing the words of a woman I had known for less than a month over those of the head of a family that had been connected to us since before I was born.

If asked why, I’m not sure I could answer.

Is it because she’s the main heroine of the original story? Well, that might be part of it, but it’s not the biggest factor.

It’s just a guess, but I think I would have given the same answer even if I didn’t know who Emilia was in that situation. Because,

‘She was trembling.’

Her eyes, her legs, her tightly clenched fists.

Everything was shaking to the point of instability.

That must have been a reaction born from knowing the weight of her words and anticipating my response to some extent.

Her desperation was conveyed through this first show of vulnerability. She who had always appeared strong and firm in my eyes.

The courage to convey those words even at the risk of facing criticism from me.

If I couldn’t believe that, I wouldn’t have the face to see Emilia again.

“The reason why Adolf is being so blatant… is obvious, I suppose.”

“…Yes. He is, after all, merely human.”

Such is human desire.

Even relationships bound by blood can weaken in the face of money and power.

If that weren’t the case, there would have been no revolts in world history except those against tyrants.

Numerous figures harbored ambitions for greater power and wealth.

Adolf is just one of those many people.

However, whether it’s within an acceptable range is something to think about.

‘There are many issues to address, but…’

How Emilia noticed Adolf’s oddness is a matter to be postponed.

It wasn’t impossible, as she was described in the original story as having an unusual intuition even before gaining her mystic eyes.

The most urgent task now is to meet one person and prepare for possible inside information.

I immediately made a request to Paula and headed to my room.

I had always been cooped up in the mansion, letting things be as they were.

If I were to ignore the feelings of a friend who mustered up the courage to give me a hint, I would be worse than a basement dweller.

This is to take that first step.

 *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Sofia was certain that today was the right time. Perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that might never come again.

Lying on the bed in her assigned room, she tried to calm her racing heart as she rolled about.

She could still feel Ludwig’s body heat on her hand where he had grabbed her in the garden.

‘Brother…’

Her feelings for him started as admiration.

For Sofia, who loved flowers and stars since childhood, Ludwig was a book that taught her everything about the world and the only person she could open her heart to.

Although she had older brothers with significant age differences, she felt a closeness with him that she didn’t feel with them.

However, the catalyst for this feeling to develop from admiration to romantic interest and then to love was simple.

After realizing that each other’s hair color, which they had seen countless times, was suddenly peculiar, a topic spontaneously arose.

Although Sofia liked his hair color, which looked like the night sky, he surprisingly didn’t like his own hair much.

The opposite was also true. Ludwig praised her hair as being like violets, but she didn’t particularly like it herself.

Looking at the shimmering blonde or silver hair of other young ladies, she often thought her hair was strangely dull.

“He said… it was pretty.”

It must have been since then.

Whenever Ludwig had a chance to meet her, he always gifted her violets and complimented her hair. Coincidentally, violets were also his favorite flower.

By the time she had received a considerable number of violets, Sofia had developed a habit of tucking the violets she received from him into her hair.

Perhaps it was a young girl’s way of expressing her budding feelings, unable to muster the courage to express them openly, but wanting to be seen as the flower he loved most.

“Although I never received a moonflower…”

When she heard that he had gifted a moonflower to the Young Lady of the Bayemühren family whom he had just met, it felt like a bolt from the blue.

If violets were the flowers he always kept close, moonflowers were the ones he cherished most, being careful even to show them to others.

People tend to admire what they cannot be.

The moonflower was such an existence for Sofia.

Rather than be a violet that’s always by his side but not recognized as blooming for him, she wanted to be the moonflower that caught his eye and received his favor.

“Emilia Bayemühren… what an enviable person…”

She was a woman who had everything Sofia didn’t.

Lightly shimmering blonde hair.

A curvaceous figure that caught men’s attention and strikingly beautiful features that could rival flowers.

I hear her swordsmanship skills are unmatched among her peers who have just come of age.

Yes. Up to that point, it was fine.

Whatever she had, what Sofia truly desired was elsewhere.

But when she learned that it was Emilia who received the moonflower, a sensation she had never experienced before welled up in Sofia’s chest.

Perhaps that was the emotion others call ‘jealousy’.

“It was the first time…”

For Sofia, competitiveness was a desire that seemed to exist in another world.

She had been weak since childhood, had low self-esteem, and always thought it was natural for her to fall behind others.

That’s why it was truly strange.

Normally, she would have thought of Emilia as someone from another world, considering her an unreachable existence.

But for the first time in her life, she found herself wanting to win against someone. And against a flower blooming on a cliff that seemed too high to even consider competing against.

“There will surely be a chance.”

As if reassuring herself, as if urging herself on.

Muttering to herself, Sofia let out a sigh of relief as her heart lightened.

She has a reliable helper. If she could just convey these feelings to him and reach him, nothing else mattered.

– Knock knock.

As Sofia was repeatedly telling herself that she could do it, a woman’s voice was heard on the other side of the door.

【Miss, Young Master Aiphretz is urgently looking for you.】

Thump.

The sound of her heart sinking echoed clearly.

translator’s corner

:0 a rival?