The Villainous Family is Against Independence

t.

 

“There were a lot of mistakes today.
I’ll make sure this doesn’t happen next time.
See you then, Duchess.”

 

“Okay, See you next time.”

 

Tak tak.

 

Elodie walked with her light golden hair flying, with the sound of light footsteps.

 

Themis rested her chin on her hands as she watched Elodie’s disappearing back.

 

“…..What a shame.”

 

Being called ‘mother’ wasn’t bad to hear.

 

***

 

Inside the carriage returning from the Perdia mansion to the Angellus mansion, Angellus’s mother and daughter, covered in pollen from getting lost in Themis’s greenhouse, were in a state of great anger.

 

In particular, the most agitated was the daughter, Dorothea Angellus.

 

“What is this, mother? In the end we came back without doing anything……! What’s this strange flower that spewed that horrid powder? Ugh, I feel so bad!”

 

Dorothea was disgusted and annoyed, and Dolcinia smiled affectionately and brushed her hair with a handkerchief.

 

“Don’t be so angry, baby.
It’s okay, don’t we still have a lot of time?”

 

“You saw it too, mother.
Elodie was laughing at me.” 

 

“Let’s just laugh at it.
She is an illegitimate child.
On the other hand, my baby is a direct descendant of Angellus, who has a lot of power.
She can’t compare, hmm?”

 

Dolcinia knew what her daughter, Dorothea, most wanted to hear.

 

As expected, Dorothea’s expression softened considerably.

 

Dorothea said, pouting her lip, “But it’s strange, Mother.
Doesn’t it look like Elodie and Duchess Perdia were on good terms?”

 

“Well.”

 

Certainly.

 

It looked strange in Dolcinia’s eyes, too.

 

Rumor has it that Themis Perdia and Elodie were not on good terms.

 

But it’s like playing ‘family’, when she was not even a daughter.

 

She felt sorry for Duchess Perdia, in a way.

 

‘You probably don’t want to sink out of the eyes of Duke Perdia.’

 

So, she thought that in Themis Perdia’s world, it was no big deal to be the mother of a child which had been born outside – if she had to do that to keep her position with the Duke. 

’

 

Dolcinia, who got out of the carriage, went into the mansion.

 

“Get some rest, baby.”

 

“Yes, I’ll go up first.”

 

Dolcinia, who sent Dorothea away, caught a passing servant.

 

But somehow her expression was subtly distorted.

 

As if she saw something she shouldn’t have seen.

 

It was strange, but she asked about her husband’s whereabouts, thinking that there must be some personal circumstances.

 

“What about my husband?”

 

“The master is welcoming a guest.”

 

“Guest?”

 

“Yes.
The one who came last time….”

 

“Ah, you mean that guest.”

 

Recently, the Duke of Angellus often met with a wizard.

 

They seemed to talk about investments, but since he is an important guest, they told the servants of the mansion to serve him well.

 

Perhaps the conversation had ended, because the “guest” and the Duke of Angellus were leaving the drawing room.

 

‘He’s covering his entire face again today.’

 

Dolcinia greeted her husband’s guest in a casual manner.
The opponent nodded his head slightly.

 

“I’ll go first.”

 

“Take care,” the Duke of Angellus responded. 

 

“See you then.”

 

Dolcinia tilted her head at the wizard’s unusual voice.
Because it was ambiguous whether it was a man or a woman.

 

After the guest left the mansion, Duke Angellus, who finally faced his wife properly, frowned.

 

“Duchess, what’s wrong with your face?”

 

“Oh.
I’m embarrassed if you say such a thing out of the blue.
Am I that pretty?”

 

“No, it’s not that.
Your face…..look in the mirror.”

 

Dolcinia wondered what was suddenly wrong with her husband to say she should look in a mirror.

 

She felt weird for some reason, so Dolcinia opened a nearby guest room and went in to check herself at the dressing table.

 

And– 

 

Aaaaaaaaaaaah!

 

An eardrum-shattering-high-pitched sound rang through the mansion.

 

Bang, bang, bang!

 

At the same time, Dorothea burst into tears and ran down the hallway.

 

“Mother, Father—!!”

 

No one pointed out that such behavior was unbecoming for a lady from a noble family, who should try to suppress their emotions as much as possible.

 

Because the situation was serious.

 

“Mother, look at this! My skin is full of hideous things!”

 

’

Oh gosh.

 

In an instant, the hallway became a sea of tears.

 

As Dorothea said, her face was full of blisters or something like that.

 

Dolcinia’s face was not much different either.

 

The duke could not help but be surprised at the lightning strike of his wife and daughter.

 

“Why are your faces like this? Did you eat something wrong?!”

 

“Eat wrong–”

 

Ah.

 

The mother and daughter thought of the same thing at the same time.

 

The tea.

 

The only thing that they consumed before was a sip of tea given to them by Themis Perdia.

 

“I’m sure Themis did that!”

 

‘You deliberately let Elodie act as bait, and made her drink tea, and while actually you poisoned it.’

 

They immediately called in the family doctor to examine them, but-

 

“No poison was detected.”

 

“What, what does that mean, doctor? Do it again!” Dolcinia hissed.

 

“Even if you say so, I can not say that there is poison that is not there…..”

 

It was the same with every doctor they called.

 

“It’s not poison.”

 

“It’s a lifestyle problem…..”

 

Everyone just said that.

 

To make matters worse, the family doctor even showed reluctance after the examination.

 

“It will be difficult to treat it right away.
The condition is serious.”

 

At those words, Dorothea’s complexion turned white.

 

“What are you talking about? Treat us as soon as possible.
Where can we go like this!”

 

Dolcinia gnashed her teeth while trying to soothe her sobbing daughter.

 

“Themis……!”

 

Themis, as an excellent poisoner, must have used an undetectable poison.

 

However, no poisoner could be charged with a crime when it’s said that there was no poison detected.

 

 ‘That damned cunning vixen! She must have used a poison that would never be detected!´

 

But they couldn’t go and beg for an antidote, so they had no choice but to cling for a treatment.

 

They went there just to humiliate the Perdias, but Duchess Angellus and her daughter were unable to step out of their mansion for a while.

 

***

 

While they were having a hellish time.

 

[Dorothea Angellus – The flower of the social world: What happened to her?]

 

“Hahaha.”

 

I was enjoying a leisurely teatime while reading the headline of a local gossip magazine.