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Chapter : 64
“Hm? Do you have something to say?”
“Why… did you do it?”
Because she opened her mouth so slightly, and the music around us was loud, I could barely hear Paula’s voice.
“What did you say?”
“I said… why did you do it?”
“What?”
“Why did you help me?!”
Seeing her face turn redder and redder, it seemed she felt embarrassed just to be asking me this question.
Honestly, it wasn’t hard to understand her reaction, since we didn’t have a relationship close enough to naturally help each other out.
“I don’t have anything to say.”
That was all I could offer in reply.
After all, I couldn’t exactly say I helped her just because of those earrings dangling from her ears.
“…Was it because you felt sorry for me?”
Here we go again, that same old line.
Unable to hide the boredom on my face, I shot back at Paula.
“And what if it was? What would you do if I helped you just because I pitied you?”
I was hoping she would stop acting like a child, but the response that came next was not what I had expected.
“I-I was just… trying to say thank you…”
“What?”
Did I hear that right?
I genuinely doubted my ears.
But Paula, as if to confirm I heard correctly, said something even more absurd.
“Thank you! No matter what the reason was, you still helped me…”
After saying that, Paula’s face flushed bright red, and she darted away at lightning speed.
Honestly, I thought she would start with her usual “you just pity me” routine and drag things out again, but to think she’d say something like that.
I found myself thinking you really live long enough to see everything, but strangely, it didn’t feel bad. In fact, I felt a tiny bit proud.
‘But… was that part of Paula’s character?’
I hadn’t cleared the social circle route, so I didn’t know exactly, but I’d seen all the nicknames players in the community attached to Paula.
Stuff like “the crazy bitch at home,” “newbie executioner,” “newbie killer,” “tutorial boss”…
Most of the screenshots from the game were of Paula saying nasty lines, so seeing her like this now was so different that it was getting confusing.
While I was lost in these strange thoughts, Lady Müller and Lady Heiner approached me.
“Lady Ulmer, are you all right? We were worried you might be in trouble because of that unpleasant person.”
It was Helene Müller who spoke first.
But this woman… her gaze and tone toward me seemed much warmer than before.
It didn’t seem like my imagination, as the birthday girl today and Müller’s close friend, Lady Heiner, also offered me warm concern.
“I’m just glad you’re safe, my lady. You must have been shocked, right?”
“I’m fine. The situation is over, after all. Thank you for your concern.”
“You’re my guest, so of course, I’d be concerned.”
The two of them, after comforting me, immediately began badmouthing the Second Pig.
“How could he even try to raise a hand against you? I was shocked! If he had actually hit you, the Heiner household wouldn’t have let it slide.”
“We were really worried you might get hurt, Lady Ulmer, so we’re so relieved. And honestly… it was kind of satisfying, too.”
“I almost laughed right there, to be honest. Everyone avoids shit because it’s dirty, not because they’re scared, right? He probably never even imagined he’d end up in that situation himself. Pfft!”
As expected, the young ladies deeply sympathized with me for nearly getting tangled up with the Second Pig.
I wasn’t really used to chatting like this with girls my age, but I nodded, giving the kind of villainess-like response they would expect from me.
“Right? I should’ve hit him a few more times. Too bad I didn’t.”
“……”
“……”
Hmm, was that not the right thing to say?
“Ah… hahaha. Anyway, you must have been really flustered. Why don’t we go rest in the lounge and chat for a while?”
Thankfully, Helene Müller smoothly cleared the awkwardness and made the suggestion.
Wasn’t this basically an invitation to join their circle?
I wasn’t very familiar with the social circle route, but I could handle situations like this quite naturally.
“Sounds good.”
And so, I headed to the lounge.
As expected, a few young ladies I recognized from the Neselrod Marchioness’ book club were already gathered there, waiting.
“Welcome, Lady Ulmer. We meet again.”
“Right, we were so busy last time that we couldn’t properly greet you, could we?”
“I’m glad we get the chance to talk today. Hehe.”
After a round of polite greetings, the young ladies wasted no time in bringing up a new topic.
“Actually, last year, it was the Neselrod Marchioness who hosted a gathering like this.”
Naturally, the topic was about Vanessa Neselrod.
“Last year, we even invited her to this party. But this year, we didn’t send her an invitation.”
I thought they would waste time saying empty compliments before getting to the point, but to my surprise, Lady Heiner got straight to the point.
Probably because there was only a week left until the day to choose the Queen of Spring.
“Well, you can’t exactly invite someone with questionable character to a birthday party that’s supposed to be blessed, can you?”
The young ladies immediately began tearing Vanessa apart.
Most of the criticism centered on her “personality” issues.
“You’re absolutely right. Vanessa likes to have her ‘friends’ get their hands dirty for her.”
“And if her friend’s reputation gets ruined because of her, she should at least try to protect them. But she doesn’t.”
“She just discards them once they’re no longer useful. I think… that’s a complete lack of basic loyalty.”
These girls…
…seemed to have a lot built up, huh?
“There were so many weird situations, too. Like, remember last time at the Yeager Count’s residence, and even last year when the Chandler princes visited Bregenz?”
“Oh, that! She was so mean to the young ladies visiting from Chandler. Remember that missing invitation? I bet she did that on purpose.”
To be honest, the atmosphere for this conversation was probably set up by my previous actions, even before Lady Heiner brought it up.
But it seemed the girls genuinely had a lot of disappointments with Vanessa, not just because they didn’t want her to be the Queen of Spring.
Just as their conversation was heating up with anger, Paula’s name suddenly came up.
“…Honestly, it was Vanessa who started hating Paula first, wasn’t it?”
That was when all their eyes turned to me.
“C-come to think of it, you were there, weren’t you, Lady Ulmer…”
Their faces looked flustered, as if they hadn’t meant to bring it up, but their eyes were clear and unwavering.
Meaning, they had intentionally brought up Paula in front of me.
But it didn’t feel like they were trying to mess with me. Rather, it felt like they were curious about what I thought.
“She’s my sister, but it’s a separate matter, so please feel free to speak your minds. I don’t mind.”
Whatever they were expecting, I simply and clearly conveyed my stance.
Of course, I could use this conversation as an excuse to actively help Paula more.
But there was no reason for me to step in and meddle in Paula’s affairs. We weren’t that close…
‘I’ve already given her plenty of supplies, anyway.’
Considering she’d been acting like a “keyboard warrior” at home all this time, she should be able to handle the rest herself.
“But… do you not think what happened was wrong?”
However, one young lady’s question made me realize I would have to slightly revise my plan of just letting it slide.
“Hm.”
Normally, you wouldn’t show your claws at your first social gathering.
But…
“Isn’t it best to judge for yourself whether it was wrong or not?”
I was a villainess.
One who hated passive aggression.
“Even if someone pushed you into doing something, if you took part in it, it’s best to take responsibility. If you can’t, you just muddle through somehow.”
So, figure it out yourselves.
For me, the only thing that mattered was stopping Vanessa from becoming the Queen of Spring
