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Chapter 11
“So peaceful here.”
Even though the staff seemed to be working hard, still…
No one was glaring at her like they wanted to kill the villainess, and there weren’t any thugs lurking to beat up a woman with no family.
‘This place might actually be a good one to settle down in.’
Just as Riana let her guard down, she arrived at a building she’d often seen in the webtoon.
Was it called Genevieve Hall?
Bastian had told her that. It was the core building of the magic company that invents and produces magical tools.
“So this is where Deborah works…”
As she touched the vines growing along the stone wall, her memories of the webtoon became clearer.
Then, a voice came from behind her.
“Did you just say Deborah?”
A woman wearing a frilly dress, holding a newspaper in one hand and a teacup in the other, was sitting in the outdoor break area for magic staff.
It had been a very quiet mumble…
‘She actually heard that?’
Riana gave an awkward smile.
“No, I said Miss Deborah. I respect her a lot as a magician.”
Thinking she was being scolded for calling a noblewoman too casually, Riana quickly tried to explain.
But the woman asked a surprising question.
“Are you a fan of Deborah?”
“Uh, yes. That’s right.”
She was a fan of the webtoon, so technically that wasn’t a lie.
“Come sit here for a bit, won’t you?”
Brown hair, brown eyes, soft freckles on pinkish skin—she looked exactly like the typical “best friend of the heroine” type.
Everything about her screamed that she was Diana, Deborah’s loyal fan.
Riana hesitated. Should she sit or not?
She could’ve made an excuse and walked away. She’d avoided people like this her whole life.
Sure, she hadn’t made any friends in 21 years (besides a cat), but she didn’t really mind.
But maybe realizing this webtoon had no villainess made her feel more relaxed. Normally, she’d be tense around someone like this—but today, she thought it might be okay to talk a bit.
‘Not like I’ll die here anyway.’
And besides, this was Diana—a famously kind and proper character.
So Riana followed her gut and sat across from Diana. Diana asked,
“Why do you like Deborah?”
Riana stared at the biscuits on the table and answered,
“She’s a brilliant inventor. Everyone says she’s a genius, right?”
Since she knew all this from the webtoon, her answer flowed smoothly.
She expected Diana to smile happily and offer her some of the biscuits—especially the ones topped with jam and dried strawberries.
But instead, all she got was a big snort.
“Hmph! Listen. Deborah’s not as amazing as you think she is!”
Riana’s eyes flickered in confusion.
Wait, what? What’s happening?
“She’s just a greedy brat who’s too poor and too obsessed with money. Not a genius! She’s probably holed up somewhere working even now, instead of taking lunch like a normal person.”
Three other researchers joined in almost instantly, though Riana hadn’t even noticed them approaching.
“Or she’s snooping around other labs looking for flaws.”
“Yeah, probably doing secret research so she can take all the credit.”
“Who knows? Maybe she’s selling stolen materials on 11th Street. Honestly, that sounds like something she’d do.”
“You think someone like Millicent could even open a shop on 11th Street? With that crumbling noble family name? That name sounds better suited for a dog.”
That last line came from Diana herself.
‘What the heck?’
Why was Diana, supposedly Deborah’s close friend, turning on her like this?
Riana blinked in disbelief, frozen by confusion.
“Is that so?”
A soft, elegant voice—unlike anyone at the table—cut in.
‘Behind me…?’
Riana turned and saw Deborah standing there. Next to her was “another brown-haired woman.”
“My name is so lowly that you all feel free to toss it around in gossip. I should probably apologize for that.”
Only then did Riana realize what was happening. That one over there was the real Diana. The one here was just a lookalike extra.
She’d messed up by forgetting how all the side characters in this webtoon looked so similar.
‘All this for trying to be friendly for once?’
Talk about bad luck.
Deborah’s icy tone made everyone freeze.
Riana, too, felt weak in the knees under her sharp gaze—like she couldn’t move.
“I do apologize for my desperation. I suppose it’s one of the many reasons why, no matter how hard you all work, you still can’t touch my level.”
Riana looked between the real Diana standing beside Deborah and the fake one.
They looked way too similar. Seriously!
“I’m sorry for always being more diligent than you.”
Deborah continued, totally unfazed by the growing crowd of onlookers.
“You’ve lived your whole life being praised without even knowing how to think, so it must hurt realizing you’re less useful than a maid you once looked down on. And since I’ve made you feel inferior, that’s partly my fault too.”
Riana just stared at her.
If Killian looked like a statue carved with a delicate blade, Deborah looked like a doll molded with elegant curves.
“I sincerely apologize. But I doubt you truly care. And I’m not going to stop being amazing just to make you feel better. So maybe you should grow up and accept reality.”
She ended with a smirk.
“Maybe then, your heads full of arrogance and spite will finally have room for some real intelligence.”
As Deborah walked past, her eyes briefly met Riana’s—and for some reason, it felt like a stab to the chest.
‘Right. That’s why this webtoon doesn’t have frustrating moments.’
No matter what others said, the heroine was already a top-level savage with killer comebacks.
Even if someone tried to bully her, the male lead never had to step in.
Deborah always handled it herself.
When no one at the table dared respond, she turned and left.
“W-Wait, Miss Deborah! Wait for me!”
The real Diana called after her and ran to catch up.
Riana wanted to leave too—but her legs wouldn’t move.
And that wasn’t even the end of it. Now the other researchers nearby began scolding the table.
“You should be ashamed! Miss Deborah was right. Instead of being grateful for such a great colleague, you gossip? How embarrassing!”
“Exactly! She even helps us with our work. What were you thinking, making her mad? What if she stops helping us?!”
Other researchers lifted their heads proudly and gave stern looks toward the gossipers—including Riana.
A cold chill ran down her spine.
It reminded her of that terrible feeling she had 11 years ago, during her 3-day runaway adventure—when she felt like the villainess flag had been nailed to her back.
She knew the perfect solution to this kind of situation.
Run away in the middle of the night.
‘But how can I leave this place?!’
It was a job that paid 1,000 gold after just two months, in a cozy, danger-free, healing webtoon world!
She’d never find a better place to stay until she retired to a deserted island.
So instead of packing her bags, Riana went back to her room and grabbed just one thing:
The peony Killian had left on the window.
A few hours later…
“Miss Deborah! Please accept my apology!”
Riana dropped to her knees in front of Deborah and offered the pale pink peony.
If she made a mistake, she should apologize and be forgiven.
She had to fix this stupid misunderstanding and make the gossip incident disappear.
That way, she wouldn’t fall out of favor with the heroine and could stay here peacefully.
‘Deborah may be cold and sharp, but she’s not heartless. She wouldn’t reject someone who kneels and brings her a gift…’
It was a carefully planned move—but Deborah’s reaction completely blew that plan apart.
“U-Um… I… A-A-Achoo!”
Deborah was allergic to flowers.
She sneezed seven times in a row the moment Riana held the flower out.
“D-Didn’t that maid badmouth Miss Deborah earlier too?”
“She only knelt to launch an attack! It was a sneak move!”
Now people were whispering that some random maid was bullying Deborah.
Totally ruined—no, maybe it’s still fixable!
Even though Riana had to back away and throw the peony far, far away to stop Deborah from sneezing, she swore to herself—
She would fix this ridiculous mess someday.
