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

After a five-day voyage, the Queen Amiliana arrived in the country of Glastona. It was even colder in Glastona than it had been about a month before when they left for Verhund.

Sophia got off the ship with Randall and gasped at the sight of so many people gathered in the harbor. It was not a deserted port town, but there were clearly a large percentage of people who were not residents of this area.

“It’s the Duke of Voltio! Then is that Princess Sophia?”

Apparently their target was Sophia, and Randall and Sophia were quickly surrounded by people. Sophia had been living quietly in the castle since she was discovered to be a princess, so not many people knew her appearance. However, since she was married to the Duke of Voltio, her presence with Randall was sure to be noticed.

Of course, Sophia had not been avoiding the public eye, and there was nothing wrong with her face being known, but what was all this fuss about the second princess when they had never shown much interest in her?

Randall held Sophia protectively in his arms, but the crowd was too large for her to move properly and she looked weak.

“Can you let me through?”

Randall said, but the people didn’t back away. Instead, the men, who were obviously newspaper reporters, were questioning him.

“Lady Sophia! Is it true that you were dropped into the sea?”

“How did you survive?”

“What were the circumstances when you were dropped into the sea?”

Apparently, the incident had attracted a lot of attention. The fact that Cedric, the culprit, was a citizen of Verhund, or about D’Artagno, it would become a diplomatic issue with Verhund. However, she was not sure if she should remain silent, and when she looked up at Randall, she heard something disbelieving

“I understand that it was Kyle Levord who made an attempt on Lady Sophia’s life, but a word about the relationship between Kyle and Lady Sophia!”

“eh?”

Sophia’s eyes widened.

“What do you mean?”

Randall, too, looked at the reporter who had asked the question with a look of astonishment. The reporter excitedly held up a newspaper dated a few days earlier.

The reporter held up a newspaper dated a few days earlier and asked “Kyle Levord has remained silent since his conviction, but would you care to tell us what happened on the ship, Lady Sophia?”

“Convicted…?”

Sophia involuntarily grabbed the newspaper out of the reporter’s hand and looked at the large article on the front page.

“I’ll take this.”

Randall took the newspaper from Sophia, pulled her by the shoulders and started to walk with a wide stride, pushing past the crowd, while Orion and Johannes led the way to protect Randall and Sophia.

“Randall”

“We have tickets for the return train. There is still time to leave, but the train will be docked at the station by now. Let’s hurry.”

Randall’s voice was firm.

It’s been a long time since she has heard him angry. Sophia nodded her head and gave a small nod back to the people who were talking to her, and together with Randall, she headed for the station where the train to the Royal capital was leaving.

　Pushing her way through the crowd, Sophia boarded the train and let out a deep breath.

As expected, people were not allowed to enter the first-class compartment. The train ride to the capital would take about half a day, but at least she would be able to spend that time in peace and quiet.

During the trip, she glanced at the newspaper that was clutched completely in Randall’s hand.

    In a fully private first-class cabin, Randall was slumped in the seat across from her. Johannes asked the room attendant to prepare a cup of tea.

The train was scheduled to depart in about an hour and a half.

The station was crowded, so the windows were tightly closed and the interior was lit with oil lamps. 

When the room attendant kept the tea,  Johannes also went to the next room, saying, “Please call me if you need me.”

Randall and Sophia are in the same room, while Johannes, Orion, and Isolte are in the next room.

“…. Randall.”

She discreetly called out to Randall, who still had a terrible expression on his face. Randall spread a handful of the newspapers on the table. On the front page was an article about Kyle Levord’s conviction. The charge was the attempted murder of Sophia.

“Execution?”

Sophia turned pale at the sentence written on the newspaper.

Randall clicked his tongue in disgust.

“This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard! What is His Majesty doing!”

There was no way Kyle was the culprit. Kyle had only returned home ahead of the others to report the situation. They knew the name of the culprit was Cedric, and they knew that Cedric was commissioned by someone else. So how could Kyle be suspected and even convicted?

“Even if he is sentenced to be executed, Kyle is the son of the Duke of Levord. Executions of high ranking nobles are not so easily carried out. He will be imprisoned somewhere for at least six months.”

” Right…”

Sophia was a little relieved that Kyle was still alive. Of course, it was not a reassuring situation, but if there was a reprieve, could this verdict be overturned?

“If I testify…”

What if Sophia, the victim, testified that Kyle is not the murderer?

There was no evidence that Kyle was the murderer to begin with. Then, if Sophia says otherwise, Kyle would be saved, wouldn’t he?

Randall growled lowly as he scanned over the newspaper article.

“I hope so… But I honestly don’t know.”

Randall believes that the king, as well as the Duke of Levord, would have insisted on Kyle’s innocence. Even if the king had not made a move, if Duke Levord intervened,he would not have been so easily convicted in the noble’s court. And yet, it had only been two weeks since Kyle had returned to Glastona. It would be too soon for the court to make a big deal about it and find him guilty.

“I think we should look into the details first.”

How was Kyle convicted? He needed to find that out first. He will also need to confirm with the Duke of Levord and the King. Randall saw that Sophia looked like she was about to cry and hurriedly smiled.

“It’s all right, I won’t let Kyle be executed.”

Kyle was an important friend to Randall as well. He would never let Kyle be executed for a false accusation.

Randall reached out and took Sophia’s hand on the table.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to make that face”

“…Okay”

Sophia nodded, but she was far from reassured.

‘It’s all my fault, right?’

The reason Kyle was suspected and even convicted was because Sophia had fallen into the sea. 

“But why was Kyle…”

“I hate to think it, but I think he was set up.”

“Set up?”

Randall nodded as he folded the newspaper.

According to Kyle, who had been present at Cedric’s interview instead of Randall, who was exhausted from the thought that Sophia might be dead, Cedric had been hired by someone to kill Sophia.

That request was received in Glastona.

In other words, it was natural to assume that there was someone in Glastona who wanted to take Sophia’s life.

Perhaps, Kyle had been framed by the culprit. But it was no small feat to frame Kyle, the next Duke of Levord. And if he is to convicted of the crime, then the culprit is someone of high status and power

But why? Sophia was a princess, but she had never been in the public eye, and she had little social contact with the nobility. And since Glastona does not confer the right of succession to the throne on princesses, it is unlikely that the crime was committed by someone who was after the yet-to-be-confirmed position of the next King. Because although not yet declared as crown prince, the country had a prince. Randall also had the right to succeed the throne, but he will not be the next king. If so, it is highly possible that Sophia was targeted with a personal grudge, but it was hard to imagine that she would make enemies to such an extent that she would be targeted for her life.

He couldn’t think of anyone who would benefit from Sophia’s disappearance, either.

” I’d feel more comfortable if they said I was the culprit.”

Randall mocked himself.

Many people would know that he had neglected Sophia. If someone were to say that Randall had attempted to murder Sophia, there would be people who would believe them. But not Kyle. There is no reason. There is no motive, no evidence, and under normal circumstances, a conviction in the noble’s court would be impossible.

“We won’t know the details until we look into it. But I will definitely help Kyle. You can trust me on that.”

Sophia finally smiled a little when he said that he would help Kyle no matter what.