A Painting of the Villainess as a Young Lady

Faced with the ducal lady’s mischief, the knights were left half crying.

Still, as they were guarding her from a few steps behind, it didn’t look like she was all bad.

She wasn’t self-conscious around commoners at all and even treated them with respect.

However, her grace and dignity could not be concealed, so one could only think that this was an act of noblesse oblige.

She ate various fruits and other street food, and she bought toys and knick knacks that looked strange. She also noticed that there was an art exhibition schedule posted.

Walking through the streets, she found a painter’s studio, she looked through various art supplies at the studio.

But then, she suddenly stopped.

She was hit with the realization that this was usually what a novel’s female lead would usually do—walking around the marketplace and all.

“Should I just go back now?”

Werchen was a well-governed city and the streets were clean. There was no need to worry about the people’s security either because there were many guards going around on patrol.

There’s this cliché where the female lead, who had just come up from the countryside recently, would meet a thug or something.

Though the probability of that happening to Violet seemed low.

With a smirk on her lips, Violet recalled the contents of the novel she had recently read while she was killing time in the past week.

She didn’t sneak out to go on this outing, and she also brought with her escort knights.

So, what could possibly happen?

“……”

But in the end, something did happen.

Walking down the street a little more, more people started coming out and she ended up getting separated from her knights. When Violet realized that she was now alone, the sun was already about to set.

And as if to rub salt on the wound, Violet got herself even more lost as she was now just staring at a brook in front of her. It’s only natural that Violet’s starting to get more anxious.

“Where am I?”

Did she go around without a care to the world far too much?

Violet had been excited to go out for the first time in a long while, but now that she was here, she carefully gauged her situation.

Breathing slowly, Violet thought about the tears that the escort knights must be shedding now.

She wasn’t bad with directions per se, but it was quite a serious predicament to get lost in a place where everything and everyone was unfamiliar.

Should she ask someone for directions?

Thinking about all the nagging that Roen was bound to give her, Violet pressed down on her temples.

Roen would surely hold an inquisition as to why she had herself gotten lost.

Fortunately, she bought a bunch of strange knick knacks earlier. She’d be able to distract him with those gifts. If that might fail, then the last resort would be to say that she got lost while buying gifts for him.

While Violet was contemplating, a gruff voice spoke from behind her.

“Hiya, miss. Are you lost?”

“……?”

“Good grief, you’re obviously an honorable noble lady, aren’t ‘cha? What do you say, should I show you the way?”

Without even having the chance to ask for directions anymore, Violet found herself in this new conundrum.

Facing the slightly rough-looking men and observing them, Violet nodded slowly.

“I’d appreciate it if you could show me the way. If you need it, I shall compensate you handsomely.”

“That’s great! We can be very good guides, y’know. Where do you need to go?”

They seemed much too sincere to be thugs, but they also looked much too hoodlum-like to be good, normal citizens. Yet here they were, claiming to be guides.

Perhaps it’s because they could feel that it wouldn’t be wise to mess with her. Violet now showed a domineering attitude that one wouldn’t ordinarily see every day.

 She thought that a situation like this would appear only in novels.

The hoodlum-like young men approached Violet with smiles on their faces.

“But may I ask, about how much is the reward?”

As Violet was mulling over whether she could trust these guys, someone broke in between them.

“Huh? You had compan— urk!”

“W-Who are you!”

It’s a black-haired man who she was meeting for the first time. Out of nowhere, he quickly overpowered the others.

His form wasn’t ordinary, so it was obvious that he had formally learned how to wield the sword.

Violet also noticed the mark of the imperial family emblazoned on his cloak. He must be part of the imperial guard.

“I heard that there have been several incidents of violence, extortion and robbery around here. I’ll let you off today, so just leave.”

“I asked you who you are!”

“W-Wait! Look at his cloak! That guy’s a knight! An imperial knight!”

“W-What?!”

“Aaack, run!”

Violet stared blankly as the scene unfolded right before her. Somehow, the dialogue here felt quite contrived.

It’s as if she was watching a theater play. It was just too contrived and unrealistic. It’s as if the romance novel she read before was being presented now as a live performance.

“Are you hurt in any way?”

While she was thinking as such, the hoodlums ran away in a panic, and the black-haired knight turned to speak to her.

Violet shook her head slowly.

“I’ve received your help, haven’t I?”

“…Um.”

Though the man had a large physique, his face looked surprisingly young. Was he about the same age as Cairn?

Reminded of her younger brother for a moment, Violet couldn’t help but grimace. And when the knight saw her change of expression, the black-haired knight looked perplexed.

“……”

“……”

A subtle exchange ensued.

Did he have something to say to her? Was there something he needed from her? Since he’s an imperial knight, even a probationary knight wouldn’t possibly have a low wage though.

The young knight opened and closed his mouth a few times, not saying anything for a while. Violet tilted her head to the side, perplexed as well.

“Do you…”

“……?”

“Do you not remember me?”