The Crazy Villainess in This Area Is Me

Suddenly, the busy day passed, and the morning came. I woke up early in the morning and headed to the kitchen. My hands were holding a basket full of things. A dull clanking sound rang out inside, which was covered with a cloth so the contents couldn’t be seen. I went into the kitchen regardless.  

“Ah, little Madam!”

Before I knew it, the servants, who had already completely changed their way of addressing me, bowed their heads towards me.

“

are you hangry? It’s not ready—”

“No.”

“Then…”

“Today is my first time having dinner with my family in this mansion.” I smiled leisurely and placed the basket on the table. “I want to prepare it myself.”

“L-little Madam herself?”

The eyes of the people in the kitchen turned round at the same time.

Usually, nobles didn’t have hobbies doing something with their hands. At best, it was just embroidered. Even painting something was considered to be vulgar. But cooking? No matter how commoner I was, it wasn’t something you should do when you become the concubine of a noble.

“B-but…”

“Don’t worry. Marquis will like my cooking. Rather, he might be missing it.”

I rolled up my sleeves. Although I had grown accustomed to eating meals prepared by others during my time at Gracie Duchy, I found cooking quite enjoyable. Plus, five years after I was separated from my child, it was our meal together. I wanted to serve the food I cooked to Merilly myself.

“Everyone, go out and rest.”

“Yes? No, let me help you, little Madam.”

The chef jumped and waved his hands. But I was adamant.

“The ingredients are already ready. I don’t need any help preparing meals for just six people.”

“Ah…”

The servants in the kitchen looked at each other in confusion. But why six instead of five? A question crept into their heads.

Endimion, Kriella, Merilly, Roseni, and even herself. Excluding Magorit, who was kicked out, there were five of them. They just assumed she was mistaken and passed over what she said.

“Then really…”

“Yes. You may rest. There should be days like this, right? Ah, right.”

I took out several shiny silver coins from my pocket. The silver coins clinked in my palms, making a clear sound.

“It’s a world where you need money even if you want to rest.”

“

no! We’re just thankful that you let us stay here!”

“No. This is a bribe to take care of me well.”

“Ah…”

I took out a few more silver coins from my pocket. Then, I distributed whatever I could get my hands on to the servants. I had the property rights to this mansion anyway. Sprinkling this much silvers won’t cause any harm to me.

They awkwardly accepted the silver coins as if they were embarrassed. But they couldn’t stop the corners of their mouths from rising.

“Please help me a lot. How many nobles would look down on me for being a concubine? I would rather be close to you all.”

“Little Madam…”

“But as far as I know.” Handing out the silver coins, I spoke slowly. “I wasn’t a concubine, but his wife.”

“Yes? What do you mean…” At the contradictory words, the servants’ heads tilted as if wondering.

“My marriage was done before Marchioness Hamilton. That’s what Marquis said. I don’t remember.”

“Yes?”

“I think Chelsea knows.” I glanced at Chelsea. “You’re the oldest one here. You’ve seen me before, right?”

“Ah, yes… That’s right, little Madam.”

She quickly blinked her eyes and then nodded. She clearly remembered Lobelia’s appearance when she first came to this mansion. Well, she already had a baby back then, so what Lobelia said made sense.

“It’s not something that needs to be hidden. I don’t want to hear that I seduced a married man for no reason.”

“No one would think like that, little Madam.”

“Outsiders might be thinking like that.”

“Don’t worry. If such a person exists, we will explain it for you!” They shouted cheerfully, each holding in their hands several silver coins that I had given them.

“Yes, thank you.”

I smiled brightly as I looked at the servants.

In my mind, I hid my evil scheme.

“Now, I’ve held you too much. Go and rest even for just a few hours.”

“Thank you, little Madam!” They bowed their heads and soon left the kitchen.

I, who was finally left alone, looked all over the ingredients. Looking at the corn that had been soaked as if it were about to be made for soup reminded me of the porridge I had made for Merilly in the past.

At that time, it was a porridge without salt when she was less than a year old, but I cooked it with all my heart, peeling off the corn husk. Although it was a simple food, happy memories flooded into my heart looking at my baby, who was eating deliciously.

“Let’s get started.”

Anyway, the nobles also had a simple breakfast, so there was no need to cook something that required a lot of effort. I brought back my old memories and prepared Merilly’s favorite dishes: corn porridge, egg-in-hell with cheese, butter scones, toast, and salad. After roughly preparing, my eyes turned to the cloth-covered basket.

“Ah, I almost forgot today’s special ingredient.”

I slowly lifted the cloth and lifted one eyebrow. Darkness was slowly falling over my clear emerald eyes.

⚜ ⚜ ⚜

“

?”

“Welcome, Marquis.”

“No wonder you weren’t in the room.”

Endimion, who entered the dining room first, smiled and sat next to me.

“I told the children that you’re my best friends. You’re going to stay here for a while, and you wanted to be close to the children, so you pretended to be a maid.”

“Ah, I see. Then what about Mari going to the annex?”

“I said she would be staying there for a while because she was sick.”

“You can’t lie forever.” I pursed my lips and spoke bluntly.

“The children are still young, Lobelia.” He added softly as if he was dying in love with me, putting my hair behind my ear. “Hang in there. I will tell them the truth soon.”

Even a light touch gave me goosebumps as if bugs were crawling on my body. I hurriedly leaned back and responded. “I know. Ah, right.”

“Yes?”

“Ah, really? Too bad. My mother went to the capital for a while today.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I’m sure she liked your cooking.”

Endimion smiled brightly with a pure face that seemed to have no malicious intent. As I looked at that face, my killing intent surged.

That must be why he didn’t know that his daughter was being abused.

I tried to suppress my anger and manage my expression. “I see. What about the children?”

“They will come soon.”

As soon as his words were over, Merilly and Roseni came into the dining room together.

“

Delicious smell.”

“Merrily, Roseni. Did you sleep well?”

“Yes. G-greetings, Lobelia.”

“Yes, Ladies. Did you have a good sleep?”

“I really thought you were a maid,” said Roseni, cheerfully greeting me.

Merilly greeted me by smiling shyly and nodded her head.

“I’m going to be here for a while, so I wanted to get close to you. That’s why I played around a bit.”

“…But do you keep your promise?”

Roseni’s eyes widened to the side. It was a promise to be by her side and an unspoken warning to keep the secret properly.

“Of course. Don’t worry.”

“What is this morning?”

Although she was still very young, Roseni sat down at the table without much doubt.

My gaze landed on Merilly. It was heartbreaking to see her so quiet compared to Roseni.

“Well, shall we get started? Guys. Today’s meal was handmade by Lobelia.”

“Wow, really?”

“Wow… I’m looking forward to it, Lobelia.”

“I hope our ladies will like it.”

I blushed as if I was embarrassed and then opened my mouth again as if I remembered something. “But what about Mari?”

“

”

“Mari.”

“…Lobelia? Magorit said she was sick.” Endimion winked and smiled awkwardly.

However, I pretended not to know and continued my words. “Ah, then we should eat together even more. We’re family. We should have breakfast together. I prepared it specially.”

Then, I immediately turned to Chelsea. “Chelsea.”

“Yes, yes.”

“Bring Mari.”

Surprised eyes turned toward me. But I was just smiling brightly.