Villains Are Destined to Die

Chapter 10

Emily was trembling hard. In fact, she looked like she might faint at any moment. Giving into pressure, however, she began to feel around in her hair, which was styled in a bun. Soon, a huge needle emerged, clutched between her fingers.

Oh my, what a clever hiding place.

No wonder Penelope had fallen victim to their plotting. There would have been no easy way to find evidence the maid had been pricking her.

“H-here you are...” Emily said, her hand quivering as she held out the needle.

I looked down at the object that had been used to stab Penelope for years. It was a tiny thing, not even large enough to make a fist around. But I knew from experience what terrible pain the slim point could inflict.

It must have hurt so much.

Penelope had likely woken in pain every morning and discovered her arm covered in wounds, both fresh and old, with no one ever paying any mind to her suffering.

“Raise your head,” I commanded through gritted teeth.

Emily hesitantly did so. Her eyes were full of despair, no doubt imagining what atrocities she would be subjected to at the hands of the duke’s vicious daughter. Sadly, however, what I was about to do wasn’t exactly revenge for Penelope.

“Watch closely, Emily.” I held out the hand that wasn’t holding the needle, showing her the smooth, uninjured surface. Then I plunged the needle into it.

“Oh my! My lady!” Emily screamed as if she were the one who’d been stabbed.

More than half of the needle had sunk into my hand, and I immediately pulled it back out.

Ugh.

A bead of blood began to well up from the small wound. I’d been prepared for the pain, but it still hurt like hell. There were tears forming in my eyes. However, I showed no signs of my discomfort as I plunged the needle back into my hand.

“Ahh!” I shouted. The pain was too great to hold my cry in this time.

“M-my lady!” Emily was hyperventilating.

I almost found it funny the way she cried, not knowing what to do with herself in the face of my unexpected behavior.

She’s been doing this to me every day. Why is she so shocked?

“Oh! My lady! Why are you doing this?”

“No need to cry, Emily. After all, you made these wounds,” I said softly as she burst into tears. Her face drained of all expression at my words.

“I’m... sorry? I-I don’t understand.”

“There are only two wounds in my hand now, but there could easily be three, four, or even five.”

“...”

She stopped breathing altogether, and her trembling stopped as well.

“From now on I will accept anything you prepare for me without question. The water you bring me to wash my face with in the morning, clothes, food, everything.”

“M-my lady...”

“And who knows? Depending on whether you tamper with those things, the number of puncture wounds in my hand might increase. And at some point, someone will notice these wounds. Don’t you agree?”

“...”

“Then they’ll wonder, who is the impudent individual that dares to abuse a lady of the House of Eckhart? Someone like Reynold, for example.” I smiled widely, overly pleasant, as I continued. “All that depends on how you act from now on.”

My personal maid said nothing in response to my threat. She was so pale that she looked like she’d just been strangled.

“Stand up. I’m finished with my meal. Time for you to get to work,” I said, withdrawing my hand. Then I turned lazily to the large window next to the table.

Emily, who’d been frozen in place kneeling on the floor, jumped to her feet and mechanically gathered the dishes.

I guess she got the message.

I was relieved. It would be easy to make use of her from now on. My situation wouldn’t be improved by hiring someone new as my personal maid. Since I refused to continue being bullied, I’d decided instead to turn Emily into a pawn I could use. As the one who’d been responsible for physically abusing Penelope, she provided me with the perfect opportunity. I also liked how she crumbled under the slightest pressure—not that refusing me was an option even available to her under the circumstances.

I watched Emily as I thought about these things. She continued to busy herself around the table and soon finished her work.

Slam!

That was when someone kicked the door open so hard I thought it should have splintered apart. I turned with a jolt of shock, and caught sight of lovely pink hair.

Reynold Eckhart, the nasty second son of the duke, was glaring at me.

“You.”

He rushed into the room. The words [Affection Score –3%] were soon hovering in my face.

“What the hell are you thinking?” Reynold demanded, furious malcontent radiating off him. When he noticed Emily standing next to the table, his mood seemed to worsen.

“You’re the...”

“M-my lord!” Emily froze, the color draining from her face.

I quickly checked the table and saw that all the tableware had been gathered on a tray, with the exception of a lone fork left in front of me.

Oh no!

Feeling an ominous sense of foreboding, I quickly moved the fork to the tray as well. I then scanned around me again just in case there remained anything that could be used as a weapon.

“You may leave, Emily,” I said.

Emily immediately picked up the tray as if she’d been eagerly awaiting permission to do so.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Reynold shouted angrily.

“Go on,” I said, giving Emily a look that said she should get out before the young master threw a fit. The maid seemed to understand and ran toward the door. I was reminded of the way I’d fled from Derrick yesterday, fearing for my life.

Reynold’s angry gaze settled on me after I’d sent Emily out, ignoring his protests.

“Tell me. What are you scheming?”

I paused for a moment to think. Inside the game, Penelope never treated Reynold with respect. Reynold was two years older than her, so given their similarity in age, it was to be expected that they’d bicker often.

Just like me and the younger of my asshole brothers.

Unlike Penelope, I hadn’t fought back viciously, of course. I’d simply allowed myself to be bullied. In any case, I wondered if I should be formal and polite with him just as I’d been with Derrick, since he was older than me, but soon thought better of it. It would be silly for me to suddenly start deferring to him when I’d been talking back just yesterday.

“So you’re going to ignore me now, is that it?” Reynold said sarcastically, fuming because I wasn’t answering immediately.

God, he can be so impatient.

I responded casually, as the real Penelope would.

“What do you mean?”

“Why did you take that girl back as your personal maid?” he asked.

The words “[Affection Score –3%]” gleamed threateningly from above the fluttering strands of his pink hair. What response would allow me to avoid death? I wondered if I should turn on the dialogue options now, but it was already too late.

It would have been no use anyway. The choices would just have been crazy ones like before.

I gulped, looking at Reynold as he fumed. Penelope would likely have said something that would hasten her death, something along the lines of “piss off” or “get out of my room.”

“It’s nothing. Pay it no mind.”

But I wasn’t Penelope, so I softened my tone. Reynold would be disagreeable regardless of what I said. I had a feeling that maybe things would go over better this time if I chose a different approach.

“What... did you say?” Apparently, the effect was the opposite to what I’d hoped for. His eyes gleamed maliciously. “It’s nothing? Is it nothing that she fed her mistress rotten food?”

“No, that’s...”

“She dared hold the House of Eckhart in contempt. How dare she, that lowborn wretch!”

“...”

“We have no need for such an impudent maid in this manor. There is no end to the amount of people out there who would willingly die for a chance to work in this house!” Reynold fumed.

I was at a loss in the face of his unexpected response. In fact, he seemed angrier than me, the actual victim. I giggled.

How dare you, you lowborn wretch?

That was what Reynold had always said to Penelope.

“You’re laughing?” he asked, a scowl on his face. “Consider how much of a pushover you must have seemed for a maid to treat you that way.”

He was right. Nobody gave me any respect, and none of the servants seemed willing to do as I told them to. My heart, which had been swirling with the fear of death that might come at any moment, suddenly calmed.

“I met with Father about the matter yesterday, actually.” I looked at him with colder eyes than before.

“Yes? I’m sure Father agreed as well. I told the servants to kick that impertinent maid out immediately,” Reynold said, puffing his chest out like he was proud of what he’d done.

Could he be seeking praise from the fake sister he despised so much? Sadly, I had zero intention of offering any.

“Actually, Father and Derrick didn’t wish for Emily to be kicked out.”

“What?” Reynold said incredulously, his blue eyes widening. “Father... and Derrick?”