Don’t Ask For Mercy From The Villainess

Chapter 16. The Depiction Of The Beginning Conspiracy

Daisy left after smiling brightly and Jessica’s expression immediately hardened.

“Sir Alter.”

“Did you call out for me, Lady?”

“Don’t you have any guesses about anyone among the knights?”

“I haven’t found someone in particular yet.”

“I’m going to wait until father is not home. Bring me a list of people who will leave the Marquisate on the day everybody is ordered to leave or when the news about hunting comes out.”

“I understand.”

Jessica’s cold eyes looked down at the fan. The fan in her hand was shaking, but it didn’t break. She liked this fan, which was made from bamboo. It didn’t break easily, so surely she could use it for a long time.

‘I can’t afford to break it.’

It was a fan gifted to her by Isanna, so she was supposed to use it for a long time, wasn’t she? Jessica unfolded the fan once again. The classy black fan gleamed softly under the sun.

The sunlight was falling on her face. When Jessica swayed the fan gently in the air, a bit of wind stirred up. She stood up from her seat and looked down at her hair for a while as the wind caused it to move slightly. Daisy must have left the house to tell her master the news, so it was her chance to walk around freely.

“I should go see my father.”

As Jessica walked ahead, Alter followed from behind her. The House of Marquis Viterne wasn’t that big. Even so, there were quite a lot of servants, but today many of them were busy preparing for her debutante.

“They’re already preparing for the banquet that is still four months away, what kind of fuss is this?’

She felt bad for the butler who had worked hard on the banquet that couldn’t even be held properly, but she also couldn’t tell him about it now.

‘I would probably hear everyone saying that I’ve gone crazy.’

The knight guarding the marquis’ office looked at her and gave his regard as a knight to her. He spoke kindly to Jessica after giving Alter, who was standing behind her, a slightly envious look.

“What brought you here, My Lady?”

In her past life, Jessica had never visited the Marquis’ office on her own. The first reason was because of the knight guarding in front of his office having a rough-looking face, and the second was because she acted indifferent to her father. She relied completely on just Darten and Seilla in her previous life.

‘Come to think about her, how is Seilla doing now?’

Seilla didn’t even come to her mother’s funeral. Having been weak since she was a child, the young lady suffered from a severe cold on the day of the funeral. Before her regression, she had recently sent her a letter because she hadn’t heard anything from her. Yet, when it was decided that Marquis Viterne would have to join the war, she came directly to the marquisate.

“My Lady?”

The knight called her one more time when Jessica didn’t answer as she was lost in her thoughts.

“Oh, I want to see Father. He’s inside, isn’t he?”

“Yes, he is.”

“Shall I come in?”

“Of course.”

There was a long blade scar on the face of the knight, who gave her a meaningful smile. He became a knight escort for Marquis Viterne, so he naturally became one of the best knights among the knightage. He must’ve gotten that scar due to the dispute at the border.

Jessica smiled widely in order to express her gratitude. The knight’s face flushed as he was trying to talk while looking at her radiant face. Jessica laughed loudly at his naivety. As the sound of her laughter echoed throughout the hallway of the Marquis’ office, Marquis Viterne immediately came out of his office once he heard that laugh of hers.

“Oh, what are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here, you said? Of course, I came because I missed you, Dad.”

The Marquis asked with a strained look in his eyes, but his mouth opened wide when he heard Jessica was calling him ‘Dad’.

“I’m really touched knowing that my daughter came because she missed me.”

“Did I really visit you that rarely?”

“You’ve never been here before, right?”

It was dim and dark. She really liked being here, why did she not come here earlier?

“I was afraid I would’ve interrupted your work. I’ll come more often from now on, then.”

“You’re always welcome to come here if that’s what you wanted.”

“What if I come too often and you can’t work because of me?”

“It’s fine.”

The Marquis’ eyes were warm when he looked at Jessica.

“What kind of father would refuse his own daughter when she wants to spend time together with him?”

“Dad.”

Jessica’s voice was shaking. She never got to feel her father’s proper love in the past. She wondered why she sought affection from Darten instead of her own family. Jessica regretted it again and again.

“I’ll come more often.”

“Yes, please do.”

The faces of both the father and daughter smiling at each other were overflowing with a gentle energy. But, there was someone who watched the sight with a cold gaze. Unaware of that, Jessica whispered sweetly to Marquis Viterne.

“Let’s go inside, dad.”

“Ah, right. I’ve been letting you stand outside for too long.”

Marquis Viterne’s office was simple. The Marquis’ money had been spent providing medicine for the now deceased Marchioness, but the Marquis didn’t touch the upkeep expenses which were kept only for Jessica.

He didn’t even touch the money for the knights or the servants, so all he had was the money that he used for himself. Therefore, his office was a bit shabby regardless of his status as a Marquis.

Jessica, who had valued her dignity as a Duchess, opened her eyes wide in surprise after realizing that her father’s office was older and shabbier than she thought. Marquis Viterne immediately noticed her surprised look.

“Is it a bit too much for you to sit down here?”

“It’s fine, Dad.”

Marquis Viterne’s face reddened because he was ashamed to show this office to his daughter. Normally, he wasn’t ashamed to show this office to others. It was proof that he lived sincerely.

He had led the Marquis of Viterne by only using the money he received from the country without committing any corruption. There was no exploitation of commoners done by other nobles and no pillage during his time guarding the border.

But why did he look so ashamed? Marquis Viterne’s face turned red just because his daughter saw his shabby office.

[t/n: idk why I was suddenly tearing up here. Her father is such a kind soul, he deserves better than this.]

Jessica casually sat on the chair in front of his desk. It was a shabby chair that didn’t suit his daughter’s luxurious dress. Marquis Viterne spoke cautiously to her; he was embarrassed to let his daughter sit in such a chair.

“Let’s go out.”

“No, I like it here.”

“We can talk in the drawing room or in your room instead of here.”

“No, I like it here. I wanted to see how my dad worked here.”

“Is that so?”

Marquis Viterne stared at Jessica’s face who was smiling faintly. There was no hint of hesitation on her face. There wasn’t even a hint of displeasure on her face. She just looked around the room with her calm gaze.

“It’s nice.”

“Nice? This kind of place?”

“It’s a place full of passion. You must have been taking care of business-related matters here, right?”

“That’s right. I had been looking through the documents here even before you were born.”

Jessica stared absentmindedly at the proud expression shown on Marquis Viterne’s face as he slowly recalled the history of this office. Marquis Viterne’s face was full of pride and confidence as he explained its long history.

‘I’ve lost this place once.’

This place was taken away from her by the daughter of a poor Baron.

‘But not this time.’

Marquis Viterne whispered with an embarrassed expression as he continued to talk, meanwhile, Jessica just looked at him without saying anything.

“Do I sound boring?”

“No, I think it’s interesting.”

The Marquis’ gaze changed when Jessica shook the fan she was holding slightly while saying so.

“Who gave it to you?”

“Pardon me?”

“That fan. Who gave it to you?”

He couldn’t help but ask because it was probably too expensive to get using the budget of the Marquis. Marquis Viterne opened his mouth nervously, hoping that it wasn’t the First Prince who gifted that fan to her.

“My friend gave it to me.”

“Friend?”

Marquis Viterne was relieved once he heard the word ‘friend’ come out of Jessica’s mouth. This was because the only person she could call a friend was no other than Seilla, the daughter of Duke Arteus. He didn’t need to ask if it was Seilla. Marquis Viterne then asked Jessica because he just remembered about it after his interest in her fan died down.

“Are you here because you have something to talk about with me?”

“Oh, yes, that’s right.”

Jessica hesitated and said in a small voice.

“…I hope so.”

“Huh?”

“I would like you to give me the wasteland of our territory.”

“The wasteland?”

“Yes. The only one that is owned by the Marquis of Viterne.”

“What are you going to do with a land that can’t be used for almost anything?”

Marquis Viterne asked with a really curious expression. Even he thought that his daughter’s words were ridiculous. The wasteland of the Marquis of Viterne was a stone field that couldn’t be used for anything. He once tried to clear it so it could be cultivated as farming land, but nothing could grow on it.

According to veteran farmers who tried to farm there, the plant didn’t sprout regardless of whatever planted in that land. Even the previous Emperor who granted the land to the Marquis would not have known that.

Since it was land given by the previous Emperor of the Ert Empire, it couldn’t be sold anywhere. Even if he put it up for sale, no one would’ve bought it.

When Jessica asked him to give the land to her that he had left behind for a long time, Marquis Viterne nodded after contemplating for a while. After all, it was unused land, so he didn’t think it would be a problem regardless of whatever Jessica was planning to do there.

“Okay, I’ll give it to you.”

“Really?”

“Of course. You can do whatever you want there.”

“Thank you!”

Then Jessica, who had gotten so happy at that moment, jumped up and approached the chair where Marquis Viterne was sitting to leave a light kiss on his cheek.

Since Jessica had never done anything like that ever since she was six years old, the Marquis stiffened in his seat and was unable to move for quite a while. He returned back to his senses only after Jessica left the office, and shouted.

“J-Jessica! Come back here and do it once again!” 

In vain, his shout only echoed throughout the empty office, where no one was listening to him.