She is the Daughter of the Villainess in a Ridiculous Novel - Chapter 63

At the Duchess’s summons, all the servants working in the Duke’s residence gathered in the Duke’s private room. The sudden assembly of the servants filled the room with murmurs.

It was understandable, as this was the first time the duchess had called the servants together separately.

“What’s going on all of a sudden?”

“Well, I’m not sure either… Ah, but I heard there was quite a commotion at the dinner table.”

“Dinner table? I’ve only been weeding in the garden, so this is the first I’m hearing of it.”

As the whispers grew louder, the Duke, Duchess, and head maid entered through the door of the private room.

“Is everyone here now?”

“Yes, Madam.”

“Good.”

After exchanging glances with the Duke, the Duchess checked the number of servants with Sylvia and got straight to the point.

“There are those here who dared to insult the name of Clementine and harm those they serve.”

“……”

“As the Duchess responsible for the Clementine family, I do not intend to take this matter lightly. That is why I called you all here—to ensure that those involved do not have a chance to escape.”

The atmosphere in the private room grew cold at the duchess’s words.

It was not only due to her icy tone, which was different from usual, but also because what she had said was shocking.

In the sudden silence, the first two names called by the Duchess were Veronica and Sylvia.

If Idel had seen this, she might have thought the Duchess had already turned to darkness, as her gaze toward the two was filled with a heavy darkness.

“I have many questions I want to ask, but I suppose I should start with the most serious one. Veronica, what was the reason you prevented Gianna from eating the pie? Did you know it contained poison?”

“That is…”

Veronica, lightly biting her lower lip, continued speaking.

“I didn’t know for sure, but I thought it was highly likely. As I mentioned at the dinner table, I was aware that the maids were bothering Miss Idel…”

“However?”

“However, I was blinded by my personal matters with Miss Idel… Instead of stopping the maids, I turned a blind eye. It was also me who decided to put the laxative in the food at the dinner table.”

Veronica’s eyes quietly scanned the group of servants. Spotting a few who were particularly trembling in fear, she subtly added,

“If I remember correctly… Lily and Becky took the medicine to the kitchen.”

“Oh, no!”

Two people jumped up from their seats and hurriedly made their way through the crowd.

“Madam, please believe us! Veronica is lying. We didn’t put any medicine in the apple pie!”

“Lying? I can’t be the only one who saw you carrying medicine to the kitchen, can I?”

“Well, that’s true… But we swear we didn’t put any medicine in the apple pie! The laxative… we put it in the sorbet.”

This was the same as what Ivanna had said at the dinner table. Moreover, Idel hadn’t even eaten the apple pie yet, and she still collapsed.

‘If that’s the case, then Veronica’s attitude was simply a misunderstanding? But her behavior at the dinner table was too suspicious for that.’

It seemed too urgent for her to simply be afraid that Gianna would suffer from the laxative.

While Rowena was coldly assessing the truth, Sylvia, who had been silent, calmly spoke up.

“What Veronica said, and what those two said, is all true. I saw Veronica switch the medicine that those two had placed on the shelf to use for the sorbet with another medicine.”

Of course, neither Sylvia nor Veronica knew that the two had actually used that medicine for the sorbet.

As Sylvia bit her lip, blaming herself for the mistake, Veronica widened her eyes and raised her voice.

“Me? Switch the medicine bottles? How can I believe the head maid’s words that have no basis?”

“That’s easy.”

Sylvia cut off Veronica’s words firmly, a twisted smile appearing on her lips.

“While you were momentarily distracting the kitchen staff, I switched the medicine back to the bottle filled with water.”

As Sylvia said this, she pulled a bottle from her garment. Although the bottles looked similar, Veronica immediately recognized that it was hers.

Despite sweating from tension, she forced a smile and spoke again.

“Well? Is there any proof that it’s mine? Perhaps it’s you, Sylvia, who is framing me?”

“Why would I think that? Do I have any reason to frame you and get rid of you?”

“……”

Listening to Sylvia’s words, Veronica nervously bit her lower lip.

That was something only someone who knew the “truth” could say.

And to prove that Veronica’s suspicion was correct, Sylvia pulled out another bombshell.

“Veronica, as you mentioned, I have a reason to want to get rid of you. It’s the same reason you want to harm Miss Idel.”

“Ha, haha, me harm Miss Idel?”

“Yes, because you’ve been caught by her. Your affair with Demaric Anton, whom you referred to as your ‘cousin.’”

As soon as Sylvia’s words fell, someone gasped from the side room. They had never imagined that a romantic scandal would be involved in this incident.

“With the help of Miss Idel and Diane, I received proof of your relationship, and I’ve also seen you and Demaric enjoying secret meetings. Of course, I’ve prepared additional evidence in case you try to deny it.”

“That can’t be…”

“It’s a document proving that the two of you are not related by blood. There is no blood relation between you two, nor between your ancestors.”

Throwing the paper stamped with the imperial seal at Veronica’s feet, she smiled tightly.

“It’s largely my fault for believing my fiancé’s words without verifying them, but you, Veronica, used Demaric’s ‘family’ as a guarantee to enter the ducal house. You deceived the Clementines.”

“……”

“That’s true for you too, Demaric.”

Turning her head to face her fiancé, Sylvia wore a look of contempt.

“To become an aide and lie to the ducal house for your own benefit.”

“Wait, Sylvia, calm down. I can explain everything. It wasn’t me who orchestrated this! Both this incident and the cousin relationship were proposed by Veronica!”

“Demaric? You…”

“I must have lost my mind for a moment. But believe me, the one I truly love is you, Sylvia!”

The desperation in Demaric’s love confession and the betrayal etched on Veronica’s face felt like a scene from a play.

‘If only they had embraced each other until the end, I could have sarcastically called it a great love.’

What kind of relationship could break so easily…

As she swallowed a bitter laugh and tightly closed her eyes, the voices between Veronica and Demaric grew louder.

“How could you do this to me? You said you loved me! You said you’d marry me after I left the duchy with the head maid’s guarantee!”

“Are you serious? Did you really believe what I said just to sound nice? Do you think marriage is a joke?”

“Ha…! Haha! A joke? You actually believed what I said to please you? Do you think marriage is a game?”

Hearing Veronica’s words, Demaric tilted his head with a look of disbelief.

“You’re really funny.”

“What?”

“Who asked you to do any of that?”

With Demaric’s words, the side room fell silent again.

The duke, who had been watching all of this, raised his hand to interrupt their conversation.

He felt it was necessary to regain control of the situation, despite the complicated relationships between Sylvia, Demaric, and Veronica.

However, before he could remind them of the topic of conversation, Veronica spoke up first.

“…You think you can find a way to live on your own if you abandon me? Not a chance.”

“What…?”

“Duke, Duchess! Since it has come to this, I will confess everything. Yes, Demaric and I have been secretly meeting.”

With a sharp gleam in her eyes, she acknowledged their relationship as if she had never denied it.

“Demaric always told me that he would return to the Anton family with the head maid’s guarantee. Of course, he also tried to secretly take confidential information he learned from the Clementine ducal house without it being obvious.”

“Hey!”

“He said he would marry me once he leaves… But because of the ring that person gave me, Miss Idel found out about our relationship. I was wondering how to silence Miss Idel, but I got lucky.”

“Lucky?”

“Yes, I met a man loitering near the ducal house who said he wanted to take revenge on Miss Idel. It felt like fate.”