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

　The man who took Karana’s sister’s sealskin is said to be in the town of Caesars.

　According to Karana, if nothing is done, the dragon god who has stolen his bride will become enraged, a storm will break out, and eventually a great tsunami will swallow the town of Caesars.

　Sophia could not leave things as they were now that she had heard this, and as soon as D’Artagno returned, she immediately consulted him.

　D’Artagno was surprised, but did not doubt Sophia’s explanation.

“If you’re talking about the town of Caesars, it’s a port town a short boat ride from here, but it’s pretty big there, and there’s a lot of people, you know? It won’t be so easy to find the guy who took Selkie’s sealskin. Besides, I don’t like to go near crowded places unnecessarily. There’ll be people looking for you and me.”

“That’s right.”

　D’Artagno might be a wanted man because he took Sophia away. It might not be a good idea to be seen.

　Sophia’s shoulders slumped, and D’Artano scratched his head.

“Ah, don’t make that face! I get it! I don’t feel good about abandoning the people who live in the town of Caesars. Give me one day to get ready. and then we will go to Caesars.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. But you’ll have to disguise yourself.”

“Sure!”

　D’Artagno shruged. He was not a fan of being conspicuous, but he knew many people in Caesars, it is a town that D’Artagno visits frequently. It would be a bad idea to leave her to die now that she has heard about it. Besides, if he abandoned her now that he knew so much about her, Sophia will be worried about it for the rest of her life. He didn’t want her to feel that way.

“The selkie called Karana said that if we take back the sealskin, the dragon god’s wife can go back to the sea and the dragon god’s anger will be lifted and the storm won’t happen, right?”

“Yes, that’s what she said.”

“Hah, If she is his bride, why don’t he go and find her himself? The god is so lazy”

　If it was D’Artagno, if his own wife was kidnapped, he would do whatever he could to find her and bring her back. D’Artagno, who kidnapped Sophia, may not be able to speak highly of himself, but if she was taken from him, he would do everything in his power to get her back. The dragon god is just being angry without doing anything to get his bride back. Well, he doesn’t know how God thinks.

“Well, we’ve got some business to attend to, so we’ll leave the retrieval of the selkie tear to you.”

　When D’Artagno told his fellow pirates, they replied with a reliable “Aye-aye,” in turn.

“Thank you, D’Artagno!”

　D’Artano patted the smiling Sophia’s  head and chuckled, wondering if this was the weakness of falling in love.

 Two days later.

      Sophia, wearing a black wig and a town-girl style dress, was visiting the town of Caesars with D’Artano.

　D’Artagno was dressed as “Actor McKeel,” wearing glasses and a hat over it. He had visited Caesar’s many times for opera lectures and seemed to know many acquaintances of “Actor McKeel ” Therefore, it seemed that it was easier to hear various things if he was dressed as McKeel.

“Sophie, let’s go first to the landlady and drop off our luggage.”

　D’Artano was fine with “McKeel,” but Sophia decided to call herself “Sophie” just to be safe.

　It seemed that D’Artano had an inn that he often used whenever he worked as an opera actor. It is a white-walled inn on a hill above the town with a great view. When she visited the inn with D’Artagno, the owner, a wheat-colored woman of about 30 years old, rolled her eyes and then smiled broadly.

“This is Mr. McKeel. A lecture?”

“No, it’s a personal matter today. Do you have a room available?”

　The landlady glanced at Sophia and smiled.

“Oh, dear, you’ve finally found yourself a particular lover.”

“A particular one? Please, don’t talk to me like I’m a playboy.

“I’m sorry about this, but aren’t you always getting into trouble with the girls?”

“Actors are a rarity, that’s all.”

“Is that so?” 

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Oh, yes, a room, wasn’t it? I’m sorry, but the best room is already occupied by the first guest. I’ll just get a regular room, is that all right?

　D’Artagno looked at Sophia as if asking, “Is that okay?”

　When Sophia nodded, the hostess smiled and took Sophia’s bag containing her change of clothes, saying, “Well, let me show you to your room.”

　The room she showed Sophia was a small but lovely room, white and light green in color, with a window overlooking the ocean and the faint scent of the sea wafting in the breeze.

“Mr. McKeel, your room is to the left.”

　The landlady said, and D’Artagno nodded and left the room as if it were his own house and headed next door.

　The landlady helped Sophia put her bags away while she told her about the shared bathroom and meal times. She said that the best rooms have their own private bathrooms, but the rest of them use the large bathrooms on the ground floor. The proprietress laughed as she told them that there was a hot spring nearby, and that she drew it into the bathhouse so that it would make their skin smooth.

“If you want to make tea, you can use the fireplace over there, but it will be hot when you turn on the fireplace, so if you call me, I’ll prepare it.”

“Thank you!”

“Also, if you have laundry to do, you can bring it directly to me.”

　Just as the landlady was about to leave the room, she said, “If you need anything else, feel free to call me.”

　Sophia and the landlady went out into the hallway and looked down the balustrade at the entrance to the lower floor to see what was going on.

　Near the doorway, a short man with a belly as round as a drum was yelling something, his face flushed red.

The landlady frowned. 

“It’s Viscount D’Silva, the son of the lord!”

　The landlady ran down the stairs in a panic.

　D’Artagno also heard the commotion and came out of his room, looking downstairs from next to Sophia.

“What is itt?”

“He is a man called Viscount D’Silva. He is the son of one of the lords of this area.”

“Really? I don’t know what the hell the Viscount is doing here. He looks as red as a boiled octopus.”

“That’s true. I mean, boiled octopus, do you eat octopus?”

“Yes, not many people eat octopus because they say it is a demon, but I like it.”

　Sophia was surprised. Apparently, there is no culture of eating octopus and squid in this world, and even in Glastona. Sophia was a little disappointed, but she didn’t know there were people who ate it..

‘I wonder if D’Artano would let me eat it if I asked him?’

 Sophia’s interest completely shifted from Viscount Dilba to octopus, and just when she thought of octopus sashimi and octopus balls in her mind, she heard a voice saying, “Sophia!”

“Sophia?”

　Sophia turned around to see a wide-eyed Orion, and then–

“Run, doll …….”

　Sophia wondered why she felt a small pain in the back of her chest.