The Villain is Being Suspiciously Kind

In a small cafe, not far from the imperial palace, Citrina and Baron Foluin sat across from each other.
Citrina did not intend to chat with the baroness for long. Since they had cut ties at Duke Pietro’s mansion, Citrina had never visited the baroness and the baroness had never visited her.
But today she could tell at a glance that the baroness’s unsteady gaze was off.
Citrina had a hunch. Something must be wrong with her.

“Have you been well?”
“Yes, I’ve been alright.”

Saying that Citrina reached for the chilled sorbet in front of her.
Baroness Foluin looked at Citrina with a sidelong glance.
Citrina avoided her eyes and spoke secretly to Gemma.

– Gemma, can you block out the surrounding sounds?
-Got it! It doesn’t seem like anyone is listening, except for the monster’s knights.

The ‘monster’ sounded like Desian. It kind of felt cute to her.
Citrina coughed lightly.
The inside of her wrist tingled as she could feel her magic being activated.

“…I was worried though I knew it wouldn’t make a difference, but I heard you were coming to the imperial palace today.”
Worry.
It was Citrina’s first time hearing her use that word. Baroness Foluin also seemed quite awkward saying she felt worried.

“What did you hear?”
“That you…were involved in a kidnapping. And that it went wrong.”

It was the story of Countess Badil’s kidnapping. Citrina’s eyes narrowed.

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“…How did you know that?”

Rubbing her already puffy and creased eyes, she spoke.

“Elaina came home for a while. I noticed she became odd since she became a paladin and that she’s acting unstable.”
“…Yes.”

“I thought it was strange that she was taking all of the things that you had touched…and then I heard her talking to herself about it later.”

The baroness bit her lip at that point. Citrina sensed that the next words out of her mouth would be even more dangerous.

“She said that she could not get to you, so she would put a curse on you.”
“…a curse.”

“I don’t understand it completely, but Elaina is out of her mind, Citrina.”

There was nothing in her face that looked like she was degrading herself or her daughter. Since long ago, she had been emotionally abused by Baron Foluin, so it wasn’t unmerited.
Citrina squeezed her eyes tightly closed and opened them.
This was the person who has mistreated her for years.
No matter what she said to Citrina now, Citrina couldn’t pity her.

“I’m not asking you to save Elaina, because she’s harmed you. …I just want to you be safe. That’s all.”

Their wealth had ebbed and flowed away. Their territory was non-existent. The only things they had to rely on were a small pension as nobles and a dilapidated mansion in the capital.
Baroness Foluin was just as old.

“…Yes. Thank you.”

Citrina hated herself for feeling compassion for her.

“Thanks for telling me.”

As she turned away from her mother, Citrina thought that she would never see her again.
But despite the deepening emotional rift, Baroness Foluin did what she needed to do for her.

‘Elaina and Genfiros are hatching a new scheme, which must have something to do with the curse.’

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Of course, she never thought they would give up so easily.
Yet this was a new update.
She realized that she should probably talk to Desian.
She judged that something of this magnitude would trouble Desian.

-It doesn’t sound like a lie. I guess she’s actually trying to curse you.
-I see.

The baroness couldn’t hear Gemma speaking. She quietly murmured again.
“Well, and your patron, the duke…you know.”
The look on her face hinted that she had something else to say.

“…You’re talking about the duke?”
“Right.”

The baroness seemed afraid to speak his name. Her knuckles were blue and white as she clutched her coffee cup.

“Some terrible rumors are floating around about him, so be careful.”
“I’m careful.”
“Okay, please take care of yourself.”

The baroness was the same woman who had sent Citrina to the duke’s mansion in the past. But when she spoke of Genfiros and Elaina, she sounded terrified.

“What do you mean? What sort of terrible rumors are you talking about?”

She looked at the baroness with cold eyes.

“The Duke of Pietro is completely different now from in the past!”
“What’s the difference? I only ask because it seems like I’m the only one who doesn’t know.”

She wanted to hear what was so different.
Nevertheless……

-clink-

Gemma dropped the baroness’s teaspoon onto the floor.
Oh, dear! Ci, Citrina, shouldn’t we be going?
Gemma interrupted the conversation in the most unnatural way possible. She glanced around. It was getting late in the day. The cafe was slowly emptying of customers.
Meanwhile, when the teaspoon fell, the baroness seemed to suddenly come to her senses. After looking around a few times, she bent down and picked up the teaspoon.
That was the maid’s job. Citrina suddenly became aware that her mother’s back was bent.

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“…No, no. I said something terrible.”
“Thank you for telling me about Genfiros.”

Citrina looked at Baroness Foluin.
The image of her as she was now slowly overlapped with the image of her from ﹤Elaina’s Flower Garden﹥ where she was unconcerned about Citrina’s death.
‘Why are you showing remorse now when my heart has already frozen to you?’
But if there was one person in her family she could forgive, it would be Baroness Foluin. The realization of that hurt.