Clarissa Limington. The third daughter of the fallen Viscount of Limington family. She was supposed to be employed at the annex of the Duke of Lancester. We were informed that she would be wearing a cream-colored dress to help us identify her at the meeting place.

Her dark brown hair was shoulder-length and half-up, while her intelligent eyes were a deep green. Her dress was a bit dirty, probably because she had been sleeping on the floor in that dusty room, but it was definitely cream-colored.

The young lady before them matched exactly with the information Avril had heard about the “real Clarissa.” Hugged by Lynn, Clarissa lost her balance. Her face was bright red. She looked unwell.

“Are you okay?”

Avril knelt in front of Clarissa, and Lynn told her.

“Clarissa contracted a fever soon after being brought here. Even though she’s been sleeping the whole time, she’s not getting better.”

“Is Clarissa a friend of Lynn? Did she come here with you?”

“No. I was abducted and brought here before Clarissa. Clarissa came later… she understood what I was saying, was kind, and that’s how we became good friends.”

I see. So the reason Ms. Clarissa never arrived at the house of Duke Lancester was because she was abducted on the way. Despite hailing from a fallen noble family, she was well educated, so it’s only natural that she understood some foreign languages and befriended Lynn.

Avril handed the medicine she had brought to Clarissa, who was flushed and short of breath.

I thought they might be unwell do to drug use, but they don’t seem to be the type to engage in such outrageous things. But if they aren’t going to be sold after being drugged, then everyone will probably be sold in a faraway foreign country… a place where they’d be unable to escape from even if they wanted to.

Meanwhile, Kathy being Kathy, she seemed to have grasped Avril’s situation exactly as the latter had intended.

“So you, Villainess Avril, came here without knowing anything, did you? Frankly, aren’t you just a nuisance?”

“By ‘nuisance’… does that mean I’m not a ‘commodity’?”

“No. You’re a gorgeous looking girl. People like you can be sold off to high-class brothels for an insane amount of money. But you’re more on our side, aren’t you?”

‘Our side’…

Looking around again, the women locked up there stared at Avril with extremely suspicious gazes. Everyone had, “Who are you?” written all over their faces.

At the back of the room was an old woman holding a cane. The sharp-looking old woman must’ve been very beautiful when she was young.

When she clattered her cane loudly, the shoulders of the women around Avril shook. That old woman seemed to control the place.

“Who is that woman? I don’t think Thomas sent her.”

“I’m Avril, the villainess. I was brought here after cooling off from the party upstairs.”

“What happened to your companion? If he was at the party, I’m sure he’ll be concerned once he realizes you disappeared.”

Avril smiled at the old woman’s question. It would be bad if she found out that Avril was with Dylan. If she wasn’t careful, she could end up lost at sea. Giving a wrong answer wasn’t an option.

“I’m on board alone. I’m a bad girl, so I came to party on this luxury cruise ship to enjoy myself.”

“Hmm. You don’t seem fazed in the slightest. You also don’t seem to be lying. I see, so if I sell you off, nobody will know.”

All of those were complete bluffs, and Avril was unfazed because that was just the way she was. Regardless, she was grateful that the old woman interpreted it in a way that made sense.

---

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***T/N: HER BAD REPUTATION INSTANTLY EARNED HER A FREE ADMITTANCE TO THIS MAFIA GANG

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