This Villain Is Mine Now - Chapter 9

At Elaina’s urgency, the coachman drove the carriage at full speed.

In the carriage, Elaina reread Diane’s letter. The letter itself was nothing special. It was just an excuse for not being able to come due to being sick, followed by an apology.

It was an unremarkable letter, but there was something that caught Elaina’s eye. There were several circular smudges of ink on the letter.

They are clearly tear marks.

Like, sobbing a lot.

‘That man.’

Elaina gritted her teeth.

No wonder.

It was strange, she thought, that despite not having spoken to Diane, and the social season being over, he didn’t seem to mind.

‘He must be up to something.’

Maybe she really was sick, but the round smudges on the letter made Elaina feel uneasy.

***

It is highly impolite to visit someone else’s mansion without an appointment. But there was no one in the Redwood mansion who dared to speak of politeness to Lady Winchester.

“What, what brings Lady Winchester here…….”

The maid who opened the front door took a step back, bewildered by Elaina’s sudden appearance. Elaina glanced around and spoke in a stern tone.

“I’ve come to see Lady Redwood.”

“Lady Redwood……. Oh, you mean Lady Diane?”

The maid looked at the other maid beside her in confusion. The way they exchanged glances was definitely unusual.

“The previous letter.”

“Sorry?”

“I made an appointment with her today, but she didn’t show up on time, so I’m worried. I need to see her face.”

“That, that.”

“Is this how you treat a guest visiting the sick at the Redwood mansion?”

“The sick…… so, I mean…….”

A middle-aged man who looked like a butler came running up behind the flustered maid.

“Lady Winchester. I am the butler of the Redwood family. I-I just heard that you came to visit.”

“Yes. I’ve seen your face before. I remember.”

“What, what brings you here today.”

“I told the maid a moment ago. Do I need to explain it to you again?”

A frosty gaze fell upon the butler.

“Lady Redwood has unilaterally broken her appointment with me today. She claims to be ill, and I must see to it with my own eyes.”

The butler swallowed hard at the sarcastic tone that told him not to bother anymore.

“That is…… with the Marquis’s permission…….”

“The Marquis’s permission?”

Elaina shook her head in disbelief, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

“Come on, butler. Is House Redwood short-handed enough to have a fool like you as a butler, or are you just trying to make me laugh?”

“That, not that.”

“You don’t mean to tell me that a young lady can’t even see a guest without the lord’s permission? Did the Marquis himself order it? No, that would be impossible, for the Marquis I know would not treat his daughter in such a manner.”

A cold sweat broke out on the butler’s back. No one had ever come to visit Diane Redwood, and in truth, his lordship and madam had never directed him to do so.

But that didn’t mean they were going to let Diane Redwood face the Lady of Winchester looking like that.

The butler remembered the last time the madam had given Diane Redwood the best room on the second floor and ordered the maids to make it look as if she were a beloved daughter.

Elaina looked at the indecisive butler and said in a cold voice, “You don’t seem to consider Lady Redwood as your master, and I wonder if the Marquis and the Marchioness are aware that she is being treated like this in the house. Do you mind if I bring this matter to their attention today?”

The butler threw up his hands. “No, no! It is not even possible.”

The Marquis and Marchioness were particularly careful about the family’s image. The butler knew them well, having served them for a long time.

‘If the Marquis should ever find out that I have offended Lady Winchester……!

They would not hesitate to dismiss him if they heard of any complaint that the Lady of Winchester was not being treated well.

‘Er, I don’t know.’

The butler closed his eyes tightly. If he was going to risk dismissal this way or that, he might as well try to please the influential Lady Winchester in social circles so that he might have a better chance of finding employment with another family.

“This way.”

The butler led Elaina to the annex.

***

Elaina followed the butler. It wasn’t long before they came to a small, ramshackle outbuilding behind the main building. Unlike the sparkling mansion, it looked as if it had never been touched.

“You mean Lady Redwood really lives there?”

“Ah, yes…….”

As the door to the annex opened, a woman’s sobs could be heard all the way to the entrance hall. It was enough to make even Elaina feel uneasy.

Elaina swallowed back the curse words that threatened to rise to her throat and looked at the butler.

When Elaina looked at him for an explanation, he stammered out an excuse.

“Lady Diane often cries like this……. She has a fragile heart.”

“You speak as if Lady Redwood is suffering from mania.”

“Sorry?”

“Do you think it makes sense for her to cry like that when nothing is wrong? I don’t think so.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that…….!”

“What on earth happened?”

Unable to tell Elaina what had happened today, the butler stoically averted his gaze as she demanded an explanation.

“I, I don’t know about that.”

The truth is, there isn’t a single servant here who doesn’t know what happened today. Still, the butler didn’t want to talk about it. If he did, it would only earn him the angry Elaina’s cold reprimand.

“Then, have a nice talk.”

The butler turned on his heel and bowed as if to flee. Elaina looked at the butler in disbelief as he ran toward the main building. The source of the cries was the smallest room in the dark annex.

Sighing, Elaina slowly made her way to the door. A knock on the door brought the sobs from beyond the doorway to a halt.

“Who, who is it?”

Elaina cleared her throat.

“It’s me, Diane.”

“Who? Elaina?”

“Yeah, it’s me, open the door.”

“How did you get here…….”

The door opened with a panicked voice. Elaine’s eyes met Diane’s puffy ones. Diane’s eyes glazed over, and seeing Elaine’s face made her cry again.

“Sob, sob, I, I’m sorry, Elaina.”

Elaina patted Diane on the back as she continued to apologize.

“If it’s just because of what happened today, I’m fine.”

“That, that too…… sob. I, I’m…….”

A series of gasps escaped Diane’s throat as she tried to hold back tears. She dabbed at her eyes roughly with her long sleeve.

“I’m sorry, I just couldn’t talk my father out of it.”

“Your father? Marquis Redwood?”

Diane nodded her head up and down.

“What did the Marquis do to make you feel sorry for me? Don’t cry, Diane, and try to speak more slowly.”

Diane’s heart ached at the warmth of Elaina’s voice as she soothed her.

For her, Elaina was the first person who had ever been there for her. Diane had never imagined that she would betray Elaina like that.

“Archduke Grant is coming to visit tomorrow.”

“A visit? You don’t mean…….”

“Sob, yes. He’s officially going to ask me to marry him. I’m sorry, Elaina, that someone you like, sob…….”

When Diane remembered the letter in the drawer, the tears that she thought had stopped started pouring down again.