The Villainess’ Beloved Plan: The Struggles to Avoid a Doomed End

The rumor of a man claiming to be Sophia’s real father quickly spread throughout the castle.

　Both Randall and the king did their best to prevent the rumor from spreading, but many people did not have good feelings for Sophia to begin with, and the rumor spread with malicious intent.

　Some even spoke of Sophia’s mother as if she were a prostitute, and even the king, who at first laughed at the ridiculous rumors, became distressed.

‘What a bunch of useless rumors! They are all full of nonsense. They must have a lot of time on their hands’.

　Randall put down his quill, stood up, and looked out the window. From the window of Randall’s room in the castle, he could see the courtyard. In the courtyard, which was dressed in autumn, Keira, wearing a deep blue dress like lapis lazuli, was walking with her maid of honor.

　’Keira, too, seems to be distressed by the rumors. For her sake, I hope to put an end to this as soon as possible.’

　As Randall exhaled, there was a knock on the door of the room, and Kyle Levord entered in when he replied. He has neatly stroked his platinum blonde hair which he inherited from his mother and is dressed in clean, riding clothes.

　Kyle fluttered a hand at Randall and sat down on the sofa without being prompted to do so.

” I came to the castle with my father’s messenger. I came to see you because He told me that you were still leaving Lady Sophia alone and living in the castle, so I came to see how you were doing.”

　”I don’t want you to smile sarcastically.”

　
Randall had no choice but to summon the maid to prepare a tea set and sat down directly opposite Kyle.

“You didn’t just come to check on me, did you?”

“No, I just came to check on you, okay? I was just wondering how you’re going to get rid of this silly rumor.”

“Rumors about Sophia? This is not my fault. ……”

“No…..No, it’s your fault too. You are to blame too, because you neglected Sophia so the rumors spread like wildfire. If only you had protected her properly, the rumors would not have spread so far for fear of your shadow right? Furthermore, if Lady Sophia wasn’t your Majesty’s child, you would be divorced, banished from the country, and so on. Wouldn’t it be different if you moved immediately when the rumors came out and denied the divorce from Sophia?”

　Kyle’s smile faded as he hit a sore spot.

　When Randall could not say anything back and remained silent, Kyle crossed his legs and tapped his fingertips on his knee.

“I don’t think so, but you’re not really thinking about divorce, are you?”

“…… I’m not thinking about it right now”

“Right now? Does that mean you’re going to get divorced if Sophia wasn’t really your Majesty’s child?”

　Kyle gasped.

“That … I can’t have a “commoner” as a wife in my duke’s house.”

　As he said it, Randall felt a slight twinge of regret. When he married Sophia, he had intended to leave her if he found out she was a fake. That has not changed. But he felt a slight ache in his heart. Randall did not say anything wrong, the Duke of Voltio’s family is a very respectable family. A woman of the right status is required to be the wife of the head of the family. If Sophia were not a princess, there would be no reason to keep her as a wife. In fact, they should get divorced as soon as possible but why was his heart aching when he thought of the “what if” scenario?

“You’re such a jerk, you know that? Why didn’t I ask Lady Sophia to marry me earlier?”

　Kyle exaggeratedly covered his face and looked up at the ceiling. But then, as if suddenly reconsidering, he turned to Randall and chuckled.

“Oh, I see. I’ll take Sophia after you get divorced,” he said.

“That’s a very easy thing to say,” Randall said.

“My parents are all for me marrying Lady Sophia,” Kyle said. “They would never object.”

“Even if she is a commoner?”

“We are not as strict about marriage as your family. My parents married for love.”

The Duke of Levord?

“Our family values achievement, not bloodline.”

　Randall looked at Kyle as if he were looking at something unbelievable when he laughed, saying lightly that Lady Sophia didn’t have to be a princess, but then he huffed when he realized that he was caught up in his own pace.

“For the record, I’m not divorcing Sophia at this stage.”

“RANDALL! Oh, yeah. Well, if you divorce Sofia now, it would be like “affirming the rumor, of course. So, are you going to find out the truth of the rumors?”

“I’m trying to get close to the man who claims to be Sofia’s father.”

“Huh? Still at that stage? You still don’t know?”

“I don’t have any information so I don’t have a choice.”

“That’s because you work at your desk. That’s why you should walk around and look for evidence. What the hell do you have two legs for?”

Kyle sighed and stood up.

“I thought you might know something, but it’s not much different than the information I have. I’m going to go and investigate on my own. If this goes well, Sophia will be very grateful. What if she falls in love with me? This is getting fun.”

“……This isn’t a game.”

“I’m not joking with you. Oh, yeah. The most important thing to remember is that I haven’t given up on Sophia yet. I’m going to take her if there’s a chance. Thank you.”

　Randall blinked, but before he could retort, Kyle quickly left the room, and the sound of the door slamming behind him caused his shoulders to slump.

“What is it with these people!”

　Randall kicked his foot on the table in frustration, and the force of his kick knocked the tea over on the table.