Chapter 09

“This time it has to work!”

Even after repeated failures, Serina refused to give up and burned with determination.

3-2. A villainess hides or destroys something precious to the heroine.

For the next operation, Serina recalled Helia’s usual appearance.

She always wore neat clothes without a single accessory, and she never carried anything around with her.

“Helia 황녀 must not carry anything important with her. Then she’s definitely the type to keep precious things inside her room! Just like how I rarely bring Tosoon outside because I don’t want him getting dirty!”

Serina nodded to herself.

“The answer is obvious!”

Pretending to be a detective, Serina decided that her next destination would be Helia’s room.

“Now then! I should hurry before the 황녀 returns to her room!”

With the serious expression of a marching hamster, Serina strode forward confidently.

* * *

Oliver discovered Serina wandering around in the middle of the hallway.

Her twin tails, tied high like animal ears, seemed to twitch as if they were searching the surroundings.

He tried to pretend he hadn’t seen her and walk past, but he couldn’t leave the troublemaker Serina alone, so he forced a smile and approached her.

“Serina 아가씨, what’s the problem this time?”

“Oliver? Perfect timing!”

Serina greeted him brightly, as if she had found a savior.

“It doesn’t seem like an emergency. Then I’ll be going.”

Sensing trouble, Oliver tried to leave immediately. But Serina quickly grabbed the end of his sleeve.

“Oliver, listen. It’s really nothing serious. Where’s Helia 황녀’s room?”

“Her Highness’s room? What kind of trouble are you planning now?”

“No I’m not! Someone hearing you would think I cause trouble every day.”

“You do.”

At Oliver’s answer, Serina frowned and shook the sleeve she was holding.

“Reeally? Well too bad for you, because unlike what you’re expecting, I’m going there to play.”

“The way Serina 아가씨 plays is rather unique, so I think my expectations are correct.”

“No they’re not! Is it wrong to be curious about the room of someone living with us? Hurry and guide me there!”

“Haah… You must not cause trouble. You definitely said you wouldn’t, correct?”

“Yep! Of course! Don’t you trust me?”

Oliver silently nodded.

Ignoring the dissatisfied Serina glaring at him, he started guiding her.

‘If she causes trouble again, this will become my responsibility.’

* * *

“So this is Helia 황녀’s room?”

Standing proudly in front of Helia’s door with both hands on her hips, Serina looked imposing.

“There’s really nobody inside, right?”

She pressed her ear against the door and confirmed that it was silent.

Then she looked around. There wasn’t even an ant nearby.

“Now then~ what exactly is Helia 황녀 hiding in her room?!”

Excited, Serina swung the door wide open.

As she entered the room, her eyes darted around busily.

The room Helia used had originally been an ordinary guest room. It was clean and simple, without any special decorations.

Because of that, Serina had expected it to be luxuriously decorated, but it looked no different from before.

No—if anything, it felt even emptier.

“What? Why is there nothing here? There’s only the furniture she absolutely needs!”

Isn’t living extravagantly normal for a 황녀? Ah well, she must’ve hidden something somewhere.

Serina wandered around every corner of the room searching carefully.

Under the bed, where she herself usually hid precious things or things she didn’t want discovered.

On top of the wardrobe, where you could only see things if you climbed onto a chair.

She searched every hidden place she could think of.

“There’s seriously nothing?”

Should I just hide her clothes instead?

Panicking slightly, Serina looked toward the wardrobe. Soon, she acted on the idea.

As she rummaged through the clothes, she spotted something golden shining between them.

“There! I knew there’d be something!”

Her eyes sparkling, Serina grabbed it.

It felt like many soft strands bundled together. Almost like expensive silk clothing.

“W-What… is this?!”

When she pulled it out and saw what she was holding, Serina gasped in horror.

It was human hair.

More precisely, a beautifully maintained wig with glossy strands.

“Y-You scared me. It’s just a wig. But why is there a wig here? And hidden this deeply?”

Serina looked carefully inside the place where she had found it.

There were countless wigs stacked together.

“So that’s why cutting your hair short didn’t bother you at all? You had enough spare wigs to comfort the person who caused the accident?!”

Wait a second. But why would she need wigs?

If she hid them this carefully, they must be important. Could she possibly be bald…?

“Should I hide these instead?”

Serina stared blankly at the pile of wigs.

“No. I don’t even know what kind of wigs these are.”

What if they were made from real human hair? Or cursed objects?

That kind of thing was possible. Taking them felt creepy!

In the end, Serina gave up on the wigs and searched for something else, but she couldn’t even find a speck of dust.

“Haah… Forget it. I’ll skip this one! Time for the final operation!”

She never imagined a room could feel this lifeless.

If not for the wardrobe, she wouldn’t have even known someone lived here.

Quickly cleaning up after herself, Serina hurriedly ran out of Helia’s chilly room.

* * *

“The long-awaited tea party invitation time!”

Using magic, Serina floated a teacup-shaped blob of water in the air.

Then she grinned mischievously while imagining herself splashing tea at Helia like the villainess in the novel.

“Hmm… But how do I invite her without the family finding out?”

If I get caught… Mom will get so angry she’ll look like a demon and kill me! Even the pretend-play almost became a disaster!

‘I couldn’t even attempt the “hide treasured belongings” operation, so the third operation absolutely has to succeed!’

To remove possible interruptions in advance, Serina thought hard.

“That’s it! A secret tea party!”

If I personally go invite Helia, the risk of getting caught is too high. So for the perfect crime, I’ll ask Maron to secretly deliver the invitation!

Since we already share the secret about the romance novels, I don’t have to worry about Maron betraying me!

Having finished her plan, Serina rang the bell on the table.

Fortunately, the person who came after hearing it was Maron.

“You called for me, Serina 아가씨?”

“Yep! I’m going to hold a surprise tea party! I want to make an invitation card, so can you bring me some sturdy paper?”

“Of course. Who are you inviting?”

“Helia 황녀! I want to drink tea alone with her, so it’s a secret from everyone else, okay?”

“Yeees, understood!”

Maron giggled softly and promised.

A few minutes later, she returned with several colorful postcards.

Among them, Serina chose a pale sky-blue one and carefully wrote the invitation in crooked handwriting.

[You are invited to Serina’s Secret Tea Party!]

Since it will be just the two of us, you absolutely must not tell anyone around you!

Let’s meet tomorrow at 3 PM at the garden tea area! I’ll prepare everything, so please just come yourself!

“Maron, this is really a secret between just the three of us. You absolutely can’t tell anyone except the 황녀! And make sure to tell the 황녀 that too!”

Serina handed Maron the invitation, which she had awkwardly wrapped with a yellow ribbon around a blue envelope.

“Of course, don’t worry! Then I’ll go deliver it!”

Maron carefully placed the invitation into the pocket of her maid uniform and left the room.

“Then… now I need to ask the head chef to prepare snacks!”

Serina hurried toward the kitchen.

“Mr. Chef! Before three o’clock tomorrow afternoon, please prepare lots of cookies, sliced cake, black tea, and water too! Fill a basket with them! I’m going outside to eat!”

“The weather has been nice lately. You must want to go on a picnic.”

“Yep! But it’s a secret from Merrily! She always nags me saying too many sweets cause cavities and are bad for my health!”

Making two horn shapes over her head with her fingers, Serina warned him dramatically.

The chef laughed heartily and hooked pinkies with her in promise.

“Now that the tea party preparations are done… should I review how the villainess in the novel acted again?”

Serina pulled the novel she had hidden under her pillow back out.

Just in case, she also crawled under the blanket.

Even though the mansion was still noisy with daytime activity, Serina became so absorbed in reading carefully that she heard nothing around her.

“Here she acts like this… and in moments like this, she says these kinds of lines…”

Muttering to herself, Serina analyzed the villainess’s behavior.

After some time passed, Serina placed Tosoon in front of her.

He was playing the role of the audience.

“Tosoon, watch carefully! I’ll try acting now! …Break up with my brother!”

Fuming dramatically, Serina pretended to throw tea.

“Hmm… I feel like this is too weak to end with just that… Tosoon, don’t you think so too? What else should there be?”

Serina quickly lost interest in the simple line.

The novel had felt much richer because of all its detailed descriptions.

“I’ll make my own!”

Using the villainess from the novel as inspiration, Serina began researching brand-new villainous lines.