Don’t Ask For Mercy From The Villainess

A warm breeze blew out in the marquisate when Darten came to visit frequently. When they saw that Jessica’s expression was warm like a spring breeze, the people in the marquisate began to talk secretly that the young lady might harbour some special feeling to the Third Prince.

Among those who had heard the rumor, Alter just shook his head as a response to that. Alter thought it was something that only those who did not see the sharpness hidden in the laughter said. Alter thought people who spread that rumor must be those who failed to see the piercing gaze hidden behind her smiling face.

“It can’t be.”

“Come on Alter, don’t keep it a secret and tell me quickly. Did anything else happen? You must have seen it, don’t you?”

Alter’s expression remained the same even after hearing the provoking words from his senior.

‘If anything, I hated it.’

He couldn’t even open his mouth to tell his senior regarding what he had seen on that day. Because he was prohibited from talking about the personal affairs of the person he escorted. It was against the law of a Knight. Alter decided to shut his mouth in order to protect the Lady’s honor.

“Seems like your discipline has been quite slack these days, Alter.”

“No!”

Nevertheless, Alter hurriedly fled away when his senior said he would order him to roll over as a way to put him back in his place. Even though he could clearly hear the man calling over to him from behind, he tried his best to ignore it.

Alter ran all the way to the garden, which was usually used by Jessica to enjoy her tea, and when he finally entered it, an unfamiliar scene immediately caught his eyes. Daisy, who was next to Jessica, was nowhere to be found, and Salipe, the First Prince, was looking down at Jessica as she fell asleep while lying down on the table.

Salipe, who had been looking at the woman for a while, took off his outer and covered Jessica’s shoulder with it. He sensed Alter’s presence a second later, but Salipe didn’t turn toward his direction.

However, he just stayed there for a while, and returned after signaled to Alter with his hand.

***

She had a dream. Jessica was crying alone in a place where the beautiful slight drizzle fell. Marquis Viterne was in the middle of eating his meal on the battlefield. Then he vomited blood and died, but she could not move her feet to approach him. As if there was a transparent shade blocking her from doing so.

From then, she just came to realize something. About her father’s death which was a conspiracy created by someone else. This was the day before she returned back to the past.

When she opened her eyes, it was almost noon when the sun was gradually getting hotter. Her arms were wet because of tears, and when she gently pressed the trickling tears around her eyes, her waist stood upright which caused someone’s outer to slide down her back.

It was owned by a man.

“……”

She stared at the clothes. It was made of very luxurious fabric to conclude the outer was owned by Alter, who was just a knight. Alter picked up the clothes and Jessica’s lips opened.

“Is this Sir Alter’s clothes?”

“No.”

“What do you mean by ‘no?” Then this is…….”

“The First Prince had dropped by earlier……..”

She immediately realized her mistake. She couldn’t believe that she fell asleep in the Marquis’ garden when Daisy was still away to do some errand.

‘He didn’t see me crying the entire time, did he?’

Jessica thought that it must not be the case and averted her eyes on the table where she was lying down earlier. A long box was placed on it. When her gaze landed on the white box, Jessica unconsciously turned to look at Alter.

“I wasn’t the one putting it there. It’s been there even before I came here.”

Jessica picked up the box. After she opened the lid, a black fan was beautifully placed inside the box.

“Is this from the First Prince?”

“I’m not sure. He left without saying anything earlier…….”

Jessica’s gaze was full of hesitation as she looked piercingly at the fan. At that moment. A piece of white paper came out the box lid as it fell to the ground.

“Hm?”

{Your fan was broken, right? This is the compensation for it!}

There was Isanna’s wonderful handwriting on it.

‘How did she know?’

It would’ve been weird if she didn’t know about it. Isanna did not leave the marquisate on the day she visited Jessica. The woman hid in the tree to observe her. Since the person’s feeling was revealed when they were talking by themselves.

Isanna was disappointed when she looked at the girl breaking her fan without saying anything in particular. She prepared a fan as she thought that she would have been able to guess what Jessica was thinking about if she saw the girl’s face from the front.

“Isanna.”

“Pardon me?”

“No, nothing.”

Jessica looked down at the paper before taking the fan out. Jessica unfolded it as she held it. Unlike the birchwood fans which were usually used by ordinary young ladies, the fan in her hand was the one made from bamboo.

‘It’s nice.’

The fan was made of the same material as the one Jessica usually used before she returned to the past. It felt like she went back to the time when she was still controlling and attending the world of high society.

Jessica’s eyes sparkling at the beauty of the fancy fan, which she received as a gift from Isanna, and unfolded it while they were having a conversation and enjoying tea. It was a precious fan for her.

It was difficult to find the fan ribs made of bamboo and using silk, which was a luxurious fabric in the Ert Empire. Therefore, it was probably the best fan that a young lady could ever get.

“It’s pretty.”

Jessica drew a smile on her lips. She truly favored Isanna, who had sent her a fan. The air felt different from a moment ago when she finally put on a pleasant smile on her gorgeous face.

Instead of showing a smile that had lingered on her face for the whole day to be displayed to others, a smile that came out when Jessica felt genuinely happy made her appearance stand out even more.

“She knows how to smile like that.”

Salipe was leaning against a tree on the other side of the garden to observe Jessica. No matter how many times he convinced himself to go inside, when he saw her lying down in the garden alone, he was thinking if he could stay by her side until she woke up.

He couldn’t figure out whether it was because of his courtesy toward a Lady or he might have some sort of particular feelings for Jessica, but he just wanted to do that now.

It was interesting to see a noble young lady, who always hides her genuine feelings behind that confident and gorgeous face, fall asleep in such a defenseless manner.

He has visited the Marquis of Viterne several times, but there was no particular reason for him to pay attention to Jessica, who was associated with his younger half-brother, Darten. However, he became interested in her because of catching the sight of her reading a book while being exposed to knights’ swords who had been training on that particular day.

Before, Jessica shone brightly, but she was empty on the inside. There was just a young girl who longed for the other’s affection with her empty eyes. But she changed in an instant.

Jessica’s eyes, the one he was looking for, were full of burning revenge and a cold blade hidden deep inside.

‘Why must it be the precious daughter of Marquis?’

After that, he couldn’t take his eyes off Jessica. She changed completely and went beyond Salipe’s expectations by showing such unprecedented moves. She went to Vonzarto General Store, which wasn’t known to provide information except for the people who have the Duke’s status, and even gave a sudden vacation to her maid.

It wasn’t strange for her to grant a vacation for her maid, but the fact that her maid went to the Monzarto General Store during that vacation. He couldn’t help but to look at Jessica, who fell asleep while lying down on her stomach in the Marquis’ garden, even though he actually visited to ask her how she knew about Vonzarto General Store.

“Dad……”

Salipe’s eyebrows moved slightly when she was surprised by the sound of her sobbing. He thought she was dreaming, but tears were clearly flowing down from Jessica’s eyes. Out of pity, he brushed her eyes with his thumb. His movements were careful as if he was touching something valuable.

Jessica’s eyelashes trembled at his movement, and Salipe, who witnessed it, wavered at the lump forming in his dry throat. Fortunately, no one was watching him.

If someone had seen her, they could have thought it was a disgrace when he saw her red face.

‘What are you dreaming about?’

Jessica, who seemed infinitely tough and aloof, appeared to be a fragile and thin young lady. A child, who was still looking for her father in her sleep even though her father was joining the forces. For what reason did she move forward with spite in her eyes?

Salipe heard that Darten had visited the Marquis of Viterne frequently. There were people scattered in all of the nobles within the Empire, who acted like his hands and feet and played a role in bringing important information to Salipe.

After Darten’s visit, he heard that Jessica had a pleasant smile on her face. So he came just to confirm it. Did Darten really interested toward the girl, and how on earth did she know about the white spinel in which she had mentioned to the owner of the Moncharto General Store?

The more he looked into it, the more clueless he felt. Jessica Viterne and the Marquis of Viterne weren’t the type to know such a thing. But how did she know about white spinel? Salipe had been late in sensing Alter’s presence because he kept agonizing over it at that moment.

When Salipe belatedly heard Alter’s footsteps, he beckoned to Alter who was looking at him, raised his index finger slightly and told him to be quiet, then pointed out at the white box beside Jessica before moving away from her.

Because he felt like he would fall in love with her if he remained there. He gave a pat at Alter’s shoulder as the man showed him the knight’s courtesy. He was far from being seen by Alter and Jessica, but actually he still needed to ask her about something. This time, he was still contemplating whether to wait for her to wake up or not.

Jessica smiled beautifully like a flower when she woke up.

From Salipe’s view, Jessica was ] the type of person who didn’t know how to smile like that. He didn’t expect she would have such a bright and sincere smile, but now when he finally saw her like that…….

“Beautiful.”

Yeah, she was just that beautiful.

[t/n: the Prince is starting to get whipped for Jessica xD]