It happened. The thought came to her, but it was already too late. Of course. Back when Avril first met him, she had repeatedly emphasized, “I am a villainess.”

The atmosphere within the dining room, which had been nothing but joyous just a few seconds earlier, suddenly changed into something indescribable.

We couldn’t possibly have accepted Samuel into the duke household without having first resolved this issue, could we?

Samuel, who knew Avril was once a villainess, seemed to have convinced himself that her behavior must carried some special meaning. He was indeed the talented fifth son of the Marquis of Brandner household.

Rather, it clearly came across that he earnestly and straightforwardly believed such behavior was impossible without some special circumstance. As an adult, she couldn’t help but feel embarrassed by that.

I only pretended to be a villainess to keep from being divorced. Still, at this rate, Samuel will hear of the rumor that Lord Dylan has a fondness for villainesses.

Such would be far too harmful for Samuel’s upbringing.  He was a precious son entrusted to them from the Marquis Brandner household.

Avril paled, but Dylan, the very person who would suffer from those rumors, didn’t seem particularly concerned. On the contrary, he displayed great interest.

“What kind of research have you conducted on villainesses, Samuel?”

“Yes, sir. I investigated those who were called villainesses throughout history. I looked into what kind of lives they led and what they accomplished. They were all people who desired power, drowned in self-interest, manipulated others solely for their own sake, and even tried to move nations. They seem to have disposed of those who opposed them in terrible ways and attempted to make the world their own. Honestly, I can’t understand why they did such things.”

The scale of his story was just too grand.

Avril had never desired a nation, the world, power, or even something as trivial as a pebble from the side of the road. She simply had desperately desired to avoid being divorced.

However, Samuel appeared to have thoroughly researched true villainesses, and even from what little she heard, their deeds were of a completely different, monstrously level of heinousness.

I was aware that such people existed in history, but I never thought my own behavior would be compared to theirs…!

Rather, she was grateful she hadn’t realized it two years ago, and that her example had been her younger sister, Corinna. Had she realized such then, she surely would have decided being a villainess was impossible, fled on the very first day, and finally be sent back to her family home.

Avril timidly posed a question.

“Uhm… When you say ‘disposed of in terrible ways,’ you don’t mean, for example, declaring someone dead even though they’re alive, holding their funeral in advance, and erasing them socially. That sort of thing, do you?”

“How did you come to such a conclusion?”

“If anything, that sounds even scarier. As expected of you, Lady Avril.”

Right after Dylan’s immediate retort, Samuel gazed at her with eyes full of admiration.  Seeing that, a thought came to Avril.

It seems that continuing to be a villainess in my own way saved me in the end. After all, Lord Dylan accepted me, and we were able to marry.

She let out a sigh of relief. Dylan, meanwhile, appeared to be impressed by Samuel’s remarks.

“Regardless, that intuition is extremely important, an essential quality required for every capable leader. Yet, there have been no few who were led astray from the path of humanity by a villainess. One must constantly look back and reflect upon oneself; that is something I always remind myself of as well.”

“Yes, sir. I always thought it was very strange that Her Grace, Duchess Avril Lancester called herself a villainess, but now I think I understand the reason. It was to widely demonstrate a head of house who would not be swayed by anyone or anything, was it not?”

I-I see…?!

Watching Samuel speak with a knowing expression, Avril blinked in surprise, wondering if she had truly done something so noble.

Meanwhile, Dylan, who knew the truth, gave a meaningful smile. Chris, who was standing by in the room, nodded with a pleasant expression. Grace, meanwhile, looked at the nodding Chris with what seemed to be a “this-can’t-be-happening” kind of expression.

Samuel is amazing. He’s such a clever and good child.

Though there were a few misunderstandings, in any case, the pleasant dinner time passed peacefully.

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