Avril, who knew she needed to fulfil her role as a villainess, was extremely confused by Emilia’s enthusiasm.

However, Emilia, who had created a perfect image of Avril in her own mind, remained oblivious to her distress.

“Please look at the jewels and artwork in the room! Everything is free for you to take! Take whatever you like—in fact, take everything! I insist!”

“Even if you say that—!”

Avril’s thoughts slipped out without her meaning to. It was completely beyond what she could understand or toleration, so it couldn’t be helped. As expected of a king’s sister and a princess.

“You seem like the type to give gifts, Your Highness Emilia.”

Avril couldn’t say anything after revealing her inner thoughts, but Chris stepped in and smoothly declined the offer.

“The head of our mission, Lord Dylan Sherard, has forbidden Lady Avril from collecting gold, silver, or any other treasures, along with accepting tributes from men during her stay. It’d be terrible if the actions of a villainess caused a rift in the relationship between our two kingdoms.”

“Oh, my… Being a villainess must be difficult…”

The situation was so complicated, even Avril herself failed to understand, but Emilia seemed to accept it easily.

For some reason, Avril’s mind returned to the memory of her first meeting with Alexandra.

Lady Alexandra also believed the explanation that, “Lord Dylan has a strange preference for villainess women, and that I wanted to be a villainess in order to be loved”…

Perhaps the daughters of royalty and high-ranking nobles were so considerate and understanding that they could easily accept anything with ease.

That must be it. Impressive.

Noting the similarities between Alexandra and Emilia, Avril was convinced in her own way. She turned to examine the expensive items displayed on the table.

“Regarding all the items here, they were either made for or given to you, Lady Emilia. With just a brief glance, I can tell that there are some national treasures among them.”

“Yes. As expected of Lady Avril. You have an eye for the priceless.”

“These are all valuable items. Therefore, Her Highness Emilia, for your own sake, you should refrain from parting with at your own discretion.”

“Huh?”

Emilia’s eyes went widened from surprise.

She had never expected Avril to refuse. It had rendered her speechless as she contemplated the situation. Avril’s concern, on the other hand, was as followed:

This may be none of my business, but the public would not take well to such valuable works of art being allowed to leave the country so carelessly. Besides, if Villainess Avril were to desire tribute, it’d be from a rich nobleman’s son, not the beautiful princess. I’ll decline here and request something from that distinguished-looking civil servant later instead.

On a side note, if the reason she was invited here today was to receive these gifts, she should probably leave.

Emilia was familiar with the incident on the Victoria. Complications might arise if she stayed any longer and was discovered not to be Corinna.

“I may be a villainess, but artworks should belong to those who truly understand their value. What I like is money, so I’ll decline. I’ll make a request of Sir Alois instead.”

After she politely refused, the burning light returned to Emilia’s eyes as she returned from her thoughts.

“The Victoria… your behavior in the audience chamber yesterday, and your thoughts about the artwork today… Taking everything into account, I feel like I finally understand you, Lady Avril!”

“???”

Hold on…

She had a bad feeling, so she looked to Chris for help. For some reason, he nodded in return.

Don’t give me a thumbs up as if saying, “You caught another one!”

“Your Highness Emilia, there seems to be some misunderstanding, but I’m usually greedier and cause all kinds of trouble wherever I go. The incident on the Victoria was also the result of my inability to resist meddling and becoming involved.”

The incident regarding the Victoria was mostly true, so she spoke them without hesitation. However, Emilia didn’t understand.

“You’re a villainess with a strong sense of justice. The image over there is a charade—I get it now.”

Emilia gestures to the portrait of Corinna on the wall as she speaks.  The façade was so over the top that she was completely right.  Nothing was off, and the supposed villainess Avril was completely exposed.

What should I do?!

Avril hung her head in despair, but Emilia paid her distress no heed and continued.

“So, Lady Avril is Prince Lawrence’s mistress, isn’t she? But is it possible that she’s also in a relationship with Marquis Sherrard, the head of delegation, along with his attendant? Do you have any other lovers besides them? Incredible.”

The latter half of her sentence was spoken in a low voice, perhaps out of consideration for Chris.

Is that the aspect that makes me a villainess?

Apparently, Emilia thought of Avril as, “a villainess who carries a sense of justice and likes to help people, but also has multiple lovers.”

“Something… like that?”

“That’s quite the interesting setting.”

When Chris struck back with those words, Avril realized she had spoken her mind out loud. She covered her mouth, but it was too late. Giving the impression of having a secret conversation, Emilia was already interested

“So, it is like that, then!”

“Y-yes… It’s true. Indeed. Prince Lawrence, Dylan, and Chris are all my lovers! They’re my l-lovers!”

Even though she was the one speaking those words, she couldn’t believe she was speaking them. Her face was red and sweat oozed out of every pore in her body.

In the end, leaving Emilia completely convinced with the mistaken impression to the sort of villainess Avril was, Avril trudged back to her room in a daze.

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