The Villainesses in the Romance Fantasy Novel Became Obsessed with me

Why am I walking hand in hand with a villainess in the mansion?

To explain this, we need to go back to the past momentarily.

First.

When I arrived at the Verdium territory.

I made my moves without hesitation.

Since all the unnecessary worries had already ended before I had even started breastfeeding, and all the plans had been laid long before I took any step.

It was enough to make a move according to the plans I had laid out.

‘According to the contents of the novel, there is another servant of the same age as Nadia.’

If I just take that servant’s place.

I could be closest to the villainess inside the mansion without any doubt.

That action will soon lead to transformation.

So, I decided to pull out the embedded stone as planned.

‘Roy.’

‘Y-yes?’

‘You need to give me your place.’

Roy, the stone or obstacle in my plan, rebelled against me.

‘Oh, no! Absolutely not! How much money does Baron Medeus give me! I can’t do that! No, even if I die!’

‘Really, even if you die? Even with this much money?’

‘You can’t buy me with money! I’m the Baron’s dog!’

Loyalty, family, money, livelihood.

He refused to give up his place with a defiant attitude while making excuses like that.

But.

‘All right, if I give you this much, will you step back?’

‘Th-that’s enough!’

Since I offered too much money to refuse, he resigned and stepped back from his position.

Indeed, children were easy to handle.

Before stepping back, Roy took money from me and did one more task.

He would have died soon if he had stayed a servant.

He was very clever and kind.

‘I’ve taken good care of you, but it would be difficult for me if you suddenly quit your position as a servant.’

‘S-sorry, Baron! Uh, um, I have a friend named Damian! Could he take my place…?!’

‘Hmm, is that so? Does he listen well?’

‘Y-yes…!! He’s waiting outside…!!’

Medeus asked me simple questions like ‘Do you have a status?‘ and ‘How is the situation at home?’ and then put me in Nadia’s servant’s position.

There was no need to show prepared documents, and I was immediately thrown into work, which surprised me.

Well, it was good for me.

Anyway!

Now, two months had passed since that point.

I was faithfully living by Nadia’s side as her servant, maintaining a good relationship with her.

That was the short and long reason why I walked with a villainess in the mansion.

“Open the door, Damian.”

“Yes, my lady.”

Click—

I let go of Nadia’s hand and opened the door.

As I entered the study, I saw Medeus sitting there with a stern expression.

She never took her eyes off the documents and spoke in a polite tone that didn’t match her appearance.

“Good to see you, my lady. I apologize for summoning you suddenly as I am busy.”

It didn’t seem apologetic at all.

As a servant, I immediately moved to the side of the door and quietly observed their conversation.

“It’s okay, Aunt Medeus.”

“Please call me Baron Medeus, not aunt. I called you to talk about the matter I raised last time. Take a look.”

Thud—

Medeus placed a document on the desk.

Nadia looked at the contents of the document expressionlessly.

I, who was waiting behind, could also sneak a peek at the document.

The document contained a profile of a criminal.

“It’s Count Daniel. He’s a bit older, but he’s suitable for the Verdium family. I believe he’s a suitable match for you, my lady.”

“…”

Nadia remained silent at Medeus’s words.

Honestly, it was impressive that she didn’t curse in front of Medeus.

How could one not swear in this situation?

‘If someone tells me to marry someone with a 30-year age difference, I’d automatically swear.’

Moreover, it was Count Daniel who was not well-regarded in social circles.

One of the main rumors was that he preferred younger ladies, and recently, there have been rumors of his involvement in illicit activities.

It was such a well-known rumor that hardly anyone was unaware of it.

And in fact, the truth of those rumors was revealed in the novel.

Medeus recommended such a man as a marriage partner for her niece.

Nadia appeared shocked and barely managed to respond.

“I’m still 12 years old, Aunt Medeus. I think it’s too early for marriage.”

“Age doesn’t matter in love, my lady. If your hearts are in sync, age is irrelevant. How about meeting him once? Let your hearts decide who’s right for you.”

‘That snake-like woman.’

Her green hair and venomous expression were just like a snake.

That wicked Medeus was probably thinking to herself, ‘As long as that pervert manages to marry her, my son, born from my husband and me, will inherit Verdium without any issues.’

The Verdium Duchy. It was a place where only the firstborn inherited all the property.

Due to the accident, everyone except Nadia from the firstborn’s family was killed.

So, instead of marrying Nadia to a man of suitable status and having him as a son-in-law, she eliminated the sole inheritor and made her son the heir.

It was a plan that Medeus executed in the novel, which failed.

And the result?

It exhausted Nadia until she was tired of people and turned into a villainess.

Nadia had innate personality issues, but her becoming this was also due to Medeus being a wicked snake.

“I’m diligently searching for a suitable spouse for the lady without a family. However, since you keep pushing people away like this, it’s uncertain who we should look for.”

“… Not yet. Please give me some time.”

“Understood. If the lady feels that way, I won’t bring it up anymore. Everything is for the lady’s happiness. You seem unaware of my intentions.”

“What’s that supposed to mean-“

“Well then, it’s time for me to dine with my husband. I’ll take my leave now.”

Medeus said so and rose from her seat, heading towards the door.

Before leaving, she briefly glanced at Nadia and met my gaze.

I responded to Medeus with a small smile.

“Well then.”

With a bang, Medeus left.

Only Nadia and I remained in the study.

“Damian.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“… Let’s go too. Give me your hand.”

“Yes.”

I instinctively offered my hand to Nadia.

Nadia took my hand and swiftly walked through the corridor.

She seemed a bit upset, probably.

‘She’s still a kid, after all.’

The direction of our steps led to Nadia’s favorite art room.

***

Nadia liked painting.

And more than anything she liked, she was good at painting.

Even to me, as a layman, Nadia seemed to have a talent for painting.

Nadia’s art room could only be accessed by those she permitted.

As I admired the paintings nearby, I said, “My Lady, you really draw well no matter when I see it.”

“I’ve never thought I draw well. I just draw because I want to.”

Thud-

Nadia sat in a proper posture and began drawing on the canvas.

At first, I didn’t know what she was drawing, but as the outline became clearer, I realized what Nadia was drawing.

“Ants. The ones you killed earlier.”

“Yeah, it left an impression.”

“It could.”

I didn’t treat her strangely.

Is this style of painting called hyperrealism?

Nadia depicted the ant carcasses in great detail.

It was almost sickening to keep looking at it.

“Let’s look elsewhere for a moment.”

I glanced around at the other paintings.

Nadia’s art room was filled with drawings she had made since childhood.

Nadia’s warm color palette always appealed to me.

‘A family holding hands against the setting sun, a peaceful family. There were also gifts placed in a child’s bedroom.’

Unlike the picture of ant carcasses, only family-related pictures were drawn.

One strange thing was that the parents’ faces in the drawings were left blank as if abandoned halfway through.

However, all the children presumed to be offspring had the same appearance: a girl with long blonde hair and emerald green eyes.

Exactly, just like Nadia, who painted on the canvas with paints.

“I’m done.”

Already?

I immediately walked over to Nadia.

As she said, the ant carcasses were ‘perfectly’ restored in the painting.

“Ants are simple.”

Nadia looked at my face.

Although she didn’t express it verbally, she was asking for feedback.

I replied sincerely from the heart.

“You draw well.”

“That’s the same answer again. Don’t you have any other response?”

“You always draw well, so there’s no other answer. Still, I prefer the warm-colored paintings over there.”

“Me too. I like those paintings much better.”

Rip!

Nadia immediately threw the canvas containing the ant carcasses on the floor and tore it apart.

This was a common occurrence.

After completing a cruel painting, Nadia always either broke or tore the canvas without exception.

The reason was simple.

“Because it’s fun.”

This was what I heard directly from her mouth.

Still, it was better to tear canvas than to tear people.

If a well-managed and non-explosive environment were created, Nadia surely wouldn’t tear people apart until she died.

In the novel, Nadia used to tear people apart when bored.

“Damian.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“I want to ask you something.”

“Sure, anything you want to ask.”

Nadia pointed to the ‘Family Walking on the Street’ painting with her finger.

“If I submit this painting, do you think I could get into the academy?”

“The academy?”

“Yeah, if I get into the academy later, I want to major in art.”

I’d seen it in the novel.

Nadia applied to the academy as an art major.

With skills so excellent that even her failed works were traded in the black market, she had more confidence in her paintings than anything else.

However.

The result was rejection.

Due to Medeus’s interference with intentions of trying to marry Nadia off, amateur paintings belonging to someone other than Nadia were submitted to the academy.

As a result, Nadia’s reputation as an artist, which had been circulating widely, hit rock bottom, and Nadia accepted this fact as the truth, falling into deep disappointment and shock.

‘Perhaps the aunt knew that if she managed to get into the academy, it would mean that she can’t be married off or killed easily…’

Perhaps the academy incident was the biggest reason Nadia was disappointed in people, and chose to become a murderer.

“If she failed to get into the art school, would she inevitably become a murderer…”

“What did you say, Damian?”

“Oh, nothing. I just had a moment of foolish thinking. Anyway, in my opinion, that painting of yours would definitely pass!”

“Really? If you say so, then it must be true.”

Nadia nodded as if she understood something and clasped my hand.

‘I don’t really know why.’

We spent a short two months together.

But, for some reason…

“Unlike the previous guy. There’s no one else but you, Damian, who genuinely cares about my paintings and me.”

The trust Nadia showed me was unusually strong.

My guard was easily lowered compared to my plan.

I gently withdrew my hand with a faint smile.

“Of course, I’m your attendant, my lady.”

“Yeah, that’s right. Attendant. My attendant…”

Nadia appeared to like the sound of it as she chuckled softly.

It was a rare sight to see her smile.

***

After spending time with Nadia in the art room,

When mealtime arrived, I used a thermometer-like gadget to check if the food was poisoned.

First, the soup.

“It’s here again today.”

There was a tiny amount of poison.

A single meal wouldn’t cause immediate harm, but the poison would gradually accumulate in Nadia’s body, causing her distress.

‘In the two months I’ve lived in this mansion…’

Truly, there was not a single soul here who was on Nadia’s side.

It was pitiful to see Nadia unable even to have a proper meal.

There were no truly wicked villains in the world.

There was just a bad world which created villains.

“Tsk, lucky that the Sinclair family is wealthy.”

The gadget for testing poison was expensive.

And the one for purifying poison was even more expensive.

Only a crazy person who didn’t throw away food with poison but purified it bought such items for the sake of luxury.

Being born into a wealthy family like mine made it easy for me to obtain them.

Unlike my past life, I had no choice but to love my angelic parents in this life.

‘They should be doing well. They’ll manage fine even without me, right?’

No.

Worrying about this was a waste of time now.

It was not the time for this.

After serving the purified meal to Nadia, I used the remaining time to move on.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

The orderly sound of footsteps echoed in the hallway.

Not far from Nadia’s room.

Knock! Knock!

I knocked on the door and called out a name.

“Baron Medeus, may I come in now?”

-Come in.

Upon hearing that voice, I immediately opened the door and entered with familiar steps.

Late at night.

It was an ambitious hour.