She is the Daughter of the Villainess in a Ridiculous Novel - Chapter 82

Sylvia, bending forward to hear Idel’s whisper, widened her eyes in surprise.

“…What? Miss Idel, what on earth…?”

“Ugh, just do it! Why are there so many questions?”

“But…”

Seeing her hesitation, Idel puffed out her lips and covered her ears.

“What do you mean ‘but’? I clearly told you to do it, didn’t I?”

“Wait a moment, Miss Idel!”

“I don’t want to hear it! I’m leaving!”

With a haughty expression, Idel made a noise of annoyance and dashed down the hallway. Sylvia, unable to think of stopping Idel as she ran quickly, sealed her lips tight.

Her mind was entirely filled with the request Idel had made.

‘…To find out a bit about the Count Lopez family…’

What could Idel be thinking? Is it because she misses the late Count Lopez?

No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t find an answer.

Pushing aside her puzzling thoughts, Sylvia slowly resumed her steps. Whatever it was, preparing to leave was the priority.

Meanwhile, Idel had successfully shaken Sylvia off and peeked into the training grounds. She was looking for Dante.

‘Today is the day for swordsmanship lessons.’

Of course, this didn’t apply to Idel. After the incident at the banquet, she was prohibited from intense exercise for a while.

Idel scanned the training grounds, which she hadn’t visited in a long time. No, to be precise, she was planning to thoroughly inspect it.

“Idel?”

If only her gaze hadn’t met Dante’s in mid-air.

Dante’s green eyes widened in surprise at the appearance of someone who shouldn’t be here. He stopped swinging his sword and walked over to Idel without a moment’s hesitation.

“Idel, what brings you here? Are you looking for Gianna by any chance?”

“Uh, no…”

“Hm? If you’re looking for the Duke… he’s already finished his class and gone back.”

“That’s not it.”

With a look in his eyes that seemed to ask who she was looking for, Idel raised an eyebrow and replied to Dante.

“You. I came to find you.”

“Me? Really?”

“Yeah.”

Dante looked completely taken aback, not expecting that Idel had come to see him.

Idel sighed softly as she gazed into his unusually bright green eyes.

‘Well, I wouldn’t have thought it either.’

Instead of explaining, Idel chose to lightly reach out and pull on his arm. She thought it would be better to get straight to the point.

‘And the point is something that’s a bit difficult to discuss here.’

Noticing her actions as she pulled him to the corner, Dante opened his mouth slightly and relaxed his body.

Thanks to this, Idel easily led Dante to the corner and faced him with a serious expression.

“You said before that if I ever had something difficult to handle alone, I should come find you.”

“…”

“So here I am. Will you help me?”

Though she spoke as concisely and dryly as possible, the male protagonist didn’t seem to take it that way.

‘Just like with Gianna, why is this such a big deal… Everyone is so sensitive.’

If it were Sigmund, he would have shot her a glare, wondering what troublesome matter she had brought!

Dante’s eyes were overflowing with vivid emotions, which made Idel feel a bit awkward, so she instinctively covered his eyes with both hands.

Unintentionally, of course.

“Ahh…”

“Uh, Idel?”

“Ah, just answer whether you’ll do it or not.”

“I will.”

Dante, firmly agreeing with Idel, grasped her hands that were covering his eyes and lowered them, speaking again.

“Please let me do it.”

His green eyes, now revealed, were sparkling brightly. The sight felt more ‘protagonist-like’ than ever, causing Idel to pause for a moment.

It reminded her of the first time she had met Gianna.

Quickly pulling her hands away from his grasp, she crossed her arms and cleared her throat to gather her thoughts.

“So what do you need help with?”

“It’s nothing major. A little later, my friend will be visiting the Duke’s residence. On that day, I’d like you to create a bit of a distraction for us.”

“A distraction…?”

“Meaning, if it could just be my mom, my friend, and me without anyone else around.”

“Ah.”

Dante’s eyes, which had been moving side to side as if organizing his thoughts, turned back to Idel.

“I want to know the reason, but I won’t ask. After all, I doubt you’d answer anyway.”

“You sound just like Gianna.”

“Is that so?”

With a light laugh, Dante looked at Idel with a serious expression and spoke.

“…Are you really okay, Idel?”

His eyes were a mix of various emotions—some empathy, concern, curiosity, and confusion.

It was understandable. The relationship between Melisa and Idel was clearly not normal.

However, unlike Gianna, Dante was someone who couldn’t directly intervene in this relationship.

Idel wet her lips and calmly drew a line with Dante.

“Me? Yeah, what’s there not to be okay about?”

“…Then I’m relieved.”

“Yeah, I’ll let you know the detailed schedule through Diane. And when the moment comes for you to create the distraction, I’ll inform you about that too.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Seeing Dante nod neatly, Idel lightly clenched her hands. Now, all that was left was to inform Sigmund about the situation using the raven artifact.

‘Honestly, I’d prefer to either visit him directly or send Diane to explain the situation in detail, but…’

There were too many uncertainties. Since Melisa had confirmed Sigmund’s identity, it was highly likely that the entire Nox was watching him.

‘At least there’s a chance I can gain a day or so.’

So for now, it was best to stay hidden from Nox’s eyes as much as possible.

Of course, it was uncertain whether Sigmund could escape Nox’s clutches like in the original story.

If it were about her own matters, it would be different, but when it came to Sigmund, she had little knowledge and few ways to handle the situation.

‘But that doesn’t mean I can just give up completely, right?’

Unlike her initial thoughts, she had changed her mind several times already. She had disrupted the plans multiple times too.

‘So, Sigmund is the same.’

If she could achieve better results with a bit more caution, Idel wanted to choose that path.

‘Well, maybe this will encourage Vilred to take a more active role in lifting my curse?’

After all, any justification could be made.

☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓

As Melisa had confidently stated, Sigmund’s visit to the Duke’s residence was quickly arranged.

Not only Melisa, who had her own motives, but also the Duke and Duchess were interested in “Idel’s friend.”

With Diane’s help, Sigmund, dressed a bit more formally than usual, stepped into the Duke’s residence with an awkward expression.

“Sigmund! Welcome!”

“Uh, hello.”

Sigmund, who greeted Idel, finally relaxed his stiff expression. He looked as if he had met an ally in the middle of enemy territory.

‘Well, that’s not entirely wrong.’

Idel’s gaze briefly swept over Melisa, who stood quietly next to the Duke and Duchess, watching Sigmund with her fan covering her mouth. She resembled a predator waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Secretly cursing Melissa with a cold gaze, Idel quickly changed her expression and took Sigmund’s hand.

“This is my, um… no, this is Duke Clementine and Duchess.”

“…Hello, thank you for inviting me.”

The two adults exchanged glances at the two children standing side by side. It was clear that they seemed quite close.

‘For instance, the way they are holding hands as if it were a habit.’

Though it was a heartwarming and adorable sight for adults, Rowena found it hard to smile.

Idel’s inability to introduce them as her adoptive parents pricked her heart.

However, Rowena soon skillfully swallowed her emotions. This wasn’t the time to focus on her feelings; she needed to welcome Idel’s friend.

Bending down to meet Sigmund’s eye level, she smiled warmly.

“It’s nice to meet you, Sigmund. I’ve heard a lot about you from Idel and Gianna.”