But maybe I owe it to my circumstances that I was able to stay calm and not get pessimistic in life. I was always more hopeful about tomorrow than about today. …But when I absolutely want to return to Lord Dylan, it may be different.

As she was thinking about that, Kathy went up to the old woman and excitedly told her about Avril.

“As a villainess, she’s infamous. It would be a waste to just sell her off, wouldn’t it? At the masquerade ball in the royal capital, where she used to play, she gave Wallace the cold shoulder. She was good at chess. Look, she can also talk to that foreign child.”

As a villainess, I hope you don’t raise the hurdle any higher…!

But now it was clear. Corinna’s ex-boyfriend, Wallace, was also involved. He also seemed to be on board the ship.

Unbeknownst to Kathy and the old woman, Avril had linked the dots.

They told her menacingly.

“We’re in charge of looking after these women here. But you’re too good to sell off. After all, if we were to sell you to a brothel, it’d have to be a suitable place.”

“But, as Kathy said, I can see why you’d be on our side. If you love dangerous thrills, I could take you on until we find a good patron. Like that girl who’s playing around without knowing anything.”

Who is ‘that girl’?

Avril tilted her head, wondering if it was Teresa. At that moment, Lynn, who had been stroking Clarissa’s back, stood up.

“Hey, let Clarissa go! Poor her, she seems to be suffering. In exchange, I’ve brought this person, isn’t that enough? She can speak a foreign language and will be a good replacement for Clarissa!”

“Lynn, did you bring me here because they said they would set Clarissa free if you brought a replacement?”

“No. They never said that. No one understands what I’m saying. I just thought the number was important because they count the number of people here every day. I thought finding a replacement for Clarissa would fix it.”

I see.

Lynn seemed to have misunderstood, but Kathy and the others were probably counting the number of women here every day to make sure no one had escaped.

“Kathy, could you please set Clarissa free for me?”

“What!? No, she has seen everyone’s faces, so I have no choice but to sell her off to a distant land. You won’t be sold off for a while, at least not until we find a good patron.”

Avril smiled at the expected answer. To get a concession, make the difficult request first. Of course, it would be best if Clarissa was set free, but Avril had another agenda.

“Okay, so can you just tell me where my ex-boyfriend, Wallace, is?”

“Why?”

I just want to know where everyone involved is—but there was no way she could admit that.

Fortunately, Avril seemed to be an infamous villainess. Therefore, if she answered like a villainess, most of her wishes would come true. Thus, Avril pretended to be angry.

“I’m furious that he didn’t invite me to join in on such a fun-looking scheme.”

“Huh?”

Kathy’s eyes went round and her mouth agape, but Avril didn’t care.

“I’ve always wanted to ride a luxury cruise ship, so much so that I ended up boarding it all by myself!”

“…Huh?”

“The welcome party was wonderful. I didn’t know you were all having so much fun while committing crimes. I’m so jealous.”

Kathy was clearly confused. Surely, Corinna, her wicked sister, would say something like that and mean it. Avril hadn’t spent 18 years in her parents’ house for nothing. To top it off, Avril pointed at the old woman’s cane and continued.

“Should I meet Mr. Wallace, I’ll take that lady’s cane and give him a good beating for excluding me.”

Avril was being straightforward, but the old woman and Kathy, who misunderstood Avril as a bad girl who liked to play around at night, grimaced.

“…Sounds like a problem. Okay, I’ll tell you. Wallace is at the second-class cabin party looking for patrons. If you don’t want to get roped into a special play, don’t bother going there.”

“???”

She didn’t quite understand the last part, but she got the information she needed, so it was good enough.

---

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***T/N: AVRIL THE DOM IS BACK AGAIN

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