The Crazy Villainess in This Area Is Me

“I’ll go right now.”

Roseni moved her body as if she would visit her father’s room at once.

“Roseni! Please…!”

Magorit caught such a child at once. Her brazen and confident appearance of a noble lady was nowhere to be found, and only the shameful image of a mother pleading in front of her daughter remained. She got down on her knees, still holding onto the hem of Roseni’s dress.  

“Are you going to kick your mouth out? Huh? Really?”

“Mother…!”

“I won’t do it again now. I really just believed that the sand was the powder of crushed sacred stone. You know. How well I treat Merilly.”

Her words hardened the child’s expression.

How can she say something like that?

Even though she was young, she could at least understand how things were going around her. No, rather, because she’s still a child, she was able to pick up on subtly changing moods more quickly. She felt ashamed that this person was her mother.

Roseni let out a sigh mixed with lament, with a face that looked like she was about to cry. “

”

“I won’t do that again. Okay?”

“…Don’t do that anymore.”

“Yes, yes. I’ll keep it in mind.” Magorit nodded her head eagerly, just like a student showing that she was paying attention in class.

The child’s face grew darker and darker as if she had given up.

I stared at Roseni’s back. The emotions that child must be feeling right now seemed to surge into my heart like waves.

For a child of that age, her parents were the people she loved the most in the world. They were everything to her. However, that person, her mother, committed an evil act that shouldn’t be committed morally. Moreover, she was even begging her to hide her evil deeds. Even though she was still young, that didn’t mean she couldn’t feel anything. Roseni must have been feeling extremely devastated.

My pathetic gaze involuntarily turned toward Magorit. She is not only a mother whose evil deeds are discovered by her child, but she also asks her child to hide them.

Magorit was someone who had grown up in a better family than others, eating rich food, wearing beautiful dresses, and receiving a better education than anyone else. But why on earth does such a person live like that.

Even though it was happening vividly in front of my eyes, it was so terrible that I got goosebumps. What she was doing to her child now was nothing more than abuse by another name.

While Lobelia was lost in thought, Roseni soon glanced back and said, “…You, follow me.”

“…Yes, Lady.”

After giving Magorit a glare, I immediately followed the child. My eyes grew redder as I looked at her flowing lemon-colored hair. How could that little child stand by Merilly’s side?

She could have bullied Merilly or just stood by and ignored her, but Roseni didn’t do that. Moreover, she stood up against her mother, who was like everything in her world at that age. She did it for my pitiful daughter.

For that child, it would have been like destroying her world with her hands. Tears seemed to come out, so I tried to swallow my dry saliva.

Soon, we entered Roseni’s room. The child sitting on the sofa sighed heavily.

“…I’m sorry, Lady.”

It was an apology with a slightly different meaning than before. And, of course, it was clear that Roseni wouldn’t understand the meaning of this apology. Nevertheless, I bowed my head towards that child.

My gratitude and regret for Roseni rose in my heart like smoke. I soon lifted my head, swallowing the apology I couldn’t bear to say out loud.

Roseni asked, pouting her lips slightly. “What’s your name?”

“Ah, it’s Lobelia.”

“

… I see.”

Worries fell darkly on her face, which had looked coy. I felt even more guilty and shook my shoulders at the shadow that shouldn’t be found in the face of children her age.

“…You looked taken aback.”

“…Pardon?” I asked back as if she had misheard.

“Lobelia did nothing wrong. You weren’t the one who made the cake. You just delivered it.”

Tears began to accumulate again in Roseni’s eyes. The child continued, sniffling as if holding back tears. “How was it?”

“…Yes? What do you…”

I slurred my words, pretending not to notice.

“You saw clearly what just happened. Maybe Lobelia will find out soon. Because most servants know.”

“…Do you mean feeding Lady Merilly a strange desert?”

“Of course, there is no justification. My mother doing a heresy without my father and grandma knowing… She feeds Merilly the ‘sacred’ things she receives.”

Her little mouth wiggled.

“Of course, she doesn’t feed it to me.”

However, the words that flowed out from Roseni never matched that cute mouth.

“She made a dress for her from dirty fabric… Suddenly, she removes all of Merilly’s jewels and dolls and accuses her of doing something wrong. But the strange thing is.”

The child smiled weakly. “It only happens when my father and grandma are way from the mansion.

“…Do the two of them leave the mansion often?”

“…Yes. My father is busy doing something every day, and my grandma is busy going to the tea party.”

The corners of Roseni’s mouth drew a sharp oblique line as if laughing at them who knew nothing.

I clenched my fists as my anger rose. For her to reveal her true feelings to a maid whom she had never met before, I could clearly see how difficult the child had been on her own so far.

My eyes flashed. The thought of Roseni, who wanted to save Merilly from this hellish place, rang in my head like a headache.

“Also, when they are not there, she does strange things.”

“Strange things?”

“It’s said that she treated Merilly’s body with things she got from afar… So, she tries to treat her best in every way possible.”

The child pressed my lips slightly and gave off particular strength at the last word.

“From what she says, it sounds like a mother who cares deeply for her daughter, right? But…”

But it was clearly a sarcastic comment on Magorit.

“Really, if Merilly wasn’t feeling well, she should have done the same when grandma and father were around.”

Her voice got smaller as she cried.

“Merilly is not sick…”

Roseni immediately closed her mouth like a lock, as if she had told a big secret.

My trembling gaze turned to the child. I felt indescribably sad and heartbroken for my daughter, Merilly, but so was Roseni. That child placed a rock containing Magorit’s evil deeds on her small shoulder.

“…Lobelia, you’ve just come in, so you probably don’t belong to anyone yet, right?”

“…Yes. That’s right, Lady.”

“Can’t you be my person?”

Roseni ran to the dressing table in small steps. Then she gathered the jewels that were on it. “I’ll give you all this.”

The expression and tone of desperation turned intact to me. I asked helplessly, looking bewildered at the sparkling jewels on her small palm. “…For what?”

“…ter.”

“Pardon?”

How painful it must have been for her. How much more did she have to worry about?”

“…For my older sister.”

The very small voice soon disappeared like smoke. As soon as Roseni’s mouth closed, tears welled up from the top of her neck. I slowly approached that child.

“…Are you feeling guilty?”

“…What?”

The little head that had fallen off was again slowly directed at me.

“You’re doing everything you can.”

“…Lobelia.”

“The little flap of the butterfly’s wings…”

My hand eventually Roseni’s hair, which was both wonderful and pitiful.

“It could become a storm someday.”

I gently hugged the child. I knew very well that a maid mustn’t touch the body of their master. But for now, I just wanted to comfort Roseni. The child fighting everything on her own may have rooted away, just like Merilly.  

“Yes. I…”

I gently brushed Roseni’s hair. She could have pushed me away, but that child didn’t put any resistance. Her shoulders just vibrated slightly. With a very slight sob, as if to reveal the pain so far.

“Will be your person.”

I hugged Roseni tightly as if I had hugged Merilly, hoping that this hug would provide some comfort to the child.