They walked down long halls and through galleries until they reached the audience chamber. Avril was intrigued by the castle’s layout, which was different from the one she was familiar with.

“This is just like in the books I read as a child! The halls are deliberately narrow, with many turns and stairs, all depicting the history of the Kingdom of Claughton as it unfolded. Look! That painting is of—…”

“As expected of Lady Avril. You have an eye for quality! Is there anything you’d like to request Prince Lawrence to add to your collection?”

When she accidentally got heated up by speaking in a way unfitting of a villainess, Dylan supported her with a formal smile.

That’s right…!

She had forgotten herself.

Moreover, her bad habit of speaking her mind had slipped out. No matter how hard she tried to fix it, it was difficult to do.

Avril was about to talk about a famous painting at the end of the hallway, which she’d seen in a book. She had wanted to talk about the history surrounding it, but she quickly switched to a more villainess theme.

“! Y-yes. That painting must be rare, it also looks expensive!”

As she said this, she reminisced about her stepmother, looking for a way to link her actions toward villainy.

Her stepmother used to collect famous paintings. She remembered how she used to buy paintings from various galleries, go to auctions, and spent loads of money.

Her stepmother’s favorite phrases back then were, “It looks expensive!” and “the more expensive, the better.”

One day, Keira, a fellow servant and Avril’s friend, damaged one of the paintings. She asked a craftsman to repair it, but a gaping hole had been left in the hallway in the meantime.

Moreover, there was no way that her stepmother, who was harsh to the servants, would forgive Keira. Naturally, her father wouldn’t protect them either. So, Avril and the others were put in a difficult position and thought hard. Thus, they came to a conclusion.

They had no choice but to paint it themselves.

In the end, they copied the picture and hung it in the same place. To their surprise, no one noticed. On the contrary, when her stepmother happened to appreciate the painting, she praised it, saying, “This looks expensive! What a nice painting!”

That was a real shocker.

Avril learned something from that experience.

A villainess would place more importance on making others recognize the value of a painting than admire it. In other words, no matter what I see, I should keep repeating, ‘It looks expensive!’ over and over…

After checking her own attitude, Dylan gave her a complicated smile. Was it a smile of relief? She didn’t know the answer, but she had certainly made him worry in the short trip between the waiting room and the audience chamber.

However, as long as she kept thinking of Alexandra and Corinna, she should be able to pretend to be a villainess well enough.

Please don’t worry!

“It seems that the person accompanying you has interest in valuable works of art.”

The important-looking civil servant asked her this, so Avril gave him a wicked smile.

“Yes, I like expensive things. Anything expensive, really!”

“I see. In that case, there are many expensive works of art from our country on display inside the castle. Please come and see them.”

“Thank you for your thoughtfulness.”

She repeated herself enough that she convinced herself, so it seemed to get through.

Having received such kind words, she naturally returned with a polite bow, just like a lady. At that moment, the civil servant’s eyes widened for some reason.

At the same time, she heard Dylan clear his throat. Why was he doing that when she was perfectly acting like a villainess?

“?”

Looking at him, Dylan’s cheeks seemed to be slightly red. However, he spoke in a tone that didn’t give the slightest hint of that.

“I better warn you not to take this woman’s words at face value. Even I have difficulty with her.”

Avril reflexively tried to apologize, but she bit her lip.

How dangerous!

No, Lord Dylan is acting as if I’m a true villainess. As a villainess, it’d be weird for me to apologize here.

Avril had never seen Corinna apologize. In other words, a villainess shouldn’t apologize. The civil servant turned to her as if on cue.

“I heard the one accompanying you is a friend of Prince Lawrence of the Kingdom of Branwill.”

“This is a secret, but she’s not actually a member of the delegation. She’s here at her own personal request, with the permission of Prince Lawrence himself, of course.”

“I see. So you’re here for a vacation? Our country is perfect for that!”

“That’s right.”

The civil servant who spoke to Dylan seemed friendly, but his expression and tone of voice were somewhat stiff. He probably recognized Avril as a villainess. He glanced at Avril and told her directly.

“If you ever need anything over your travels, please let me know. I’ll do my best to prepare it.”

Why would you do that…? Don’t I give the impression of being a real villain? One who’d want everything she sees in the royal castle without any discrimination?

It was an unexpected and nice assist, but Avril couldn’t think of anything when asked what a villainess would need. So, she smiled.

“Thank you. If you can think of anything expensive, please let me know.”

The civil servant looked extremely doubtful, while Dylan’s eyes wandered. Were they confused by her act of tyranny?

By the way, at the moment, there was no sign of Avril coming up with anything expensive.

---

Read more than 10 weeks ahead and support Faux on Patreon for only $3~

<Previous Chapter

Next Chapter>