The Villainess Lives Twice
chapter-21

Chapter 21. Saintess Olga’s Heart (2)

Translator: Gold / Editor: Kassy

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Bill panicked.

If Miraila had been here, she would not have allowed these people to enter the manor house.

And Artizea would have been punished for receiving gifts from a man without her permission.

But now Miraila had gone on vacation, and Bill was a simple butler.

He had always oppressed and belittled Artizea, but he had done so in accordance with Miraila’s will.

That doesn’t mean Bill didn’t enjoy doing it.

He fully enjoyed the twisted sense of superiority that came from trampling on the successor to the Marquisate Rosan, and the pleasure of mistreating a young girl.

But strictly speaking, Miraila was the mastermind behind it all.

Bill had a wonderful talent for understanding Miraila’s thoughts and acting accordingly.

While he wondered if he should stop her, Emily entered the foyer without hesitation. Her employees followed her with different garments and mannequins.

It was then that Bill decided to stop Emily, but when he saw the last man who entered, he shuddered and kept his mouth shut.

At first glance, one could tell he was a knight. Not even his clothes could hide his great physique and well-developed muscles.

The clothes he wore were rugged and simple. But he emanated dignity and composure. Moreover, he wore a sword on his waist.

The four squires who followed him were also armed.

Bill belonged to the lower class. He would not dare to pounce on an armed man, especially if he was a knight.

He was more afraid of the knights who were used to killing than of the nobles who opposed Miraila.

“Welcome!”

Alice came cheerfully running to greet Emily.

When the head maid saw Alice welcoming Emily, ignoring both her and the butler, she lashed out at her.

“Alice!”

However, the shouts that should have continued did not arrive.

Artizea appeared on the stairs and looked down.

Emily smiled, gripped her skirt and greeted her politely.

“Greetings, Lady Artizea.”

“Welcome, Madam Emily. I don’t recall calling you, what brings you here?”

“His Grace the Grand Duke Evron sent me.”

“…”

Artizea responded after a brief silence.

“Sophie, accompany madam to my boudoir.”

“Yes, Miss!”

Entranced, Sophie, who was standing behind Artizea, ran down the stairs.

Sophie gently took Emily by the arm and guided her to the second floor, as if she were an aunt she hadn’t seen in 30 years. Her employees also went up behind her.

The maids whispered as they watched the scene.

This time, Artizea turned her attention to the knight, who was also standing in the foyer.

The knight put his fist to the side of his chest and bowed his head politely.

Artizea went down to the foyer and stood in front of the knight. Then the knight knelt on one knee and greeted her.

“I am knight Alphonse Luen. I was knighted by Grand Duke Evron and have served in the Grand Duchy’s Guard until now. It is an honor to meet you.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you as well. I am Artizea Rosan. You may rise.”

When she extended her hand, Alphonse respectfully kissed the back of it and then stood up.

“Only if you allow, I will escort you from today onwards on orders from His Grace.”

“I will be grateful. I hope you can feel comfortable in the Marquisate Rosan.”

Artizea calmly expressed.

However, inside she felt strange.

Alphonse was one of the Grand Duke Evron’s most capable and reliable knights.

He was honest and without a doubt loyal. He had the strong spirit of the Grand Duchy Evron.

The fact that Cedric placed this man as her escort made Artizea feel uncomfortable.

If he had chosen Knight Freyl or any other knight of similar rank, she would not have felt that way.

With any other escort, she would have thought he had come to observe and evaluate whether or not this marriage would really be useful.

And that would be the norm.

But that he sent Alphonse proved otherwise.

To have sent him meant that Cedric was only thinking of protecting Artizea. That made her feel strange.

In the past, Cedric had entrusted Alphonse with the role of protecting Licia. Alphonse did his duty to the end.

He had died at the hands of Lawrence.

There was no need to think about it now. Artizea shook her head faintly to clear her mind.

Then she looked carefully at the people standing behind Alphonse.

Among those people, there was a familiar face – a woman dressed in maid’s clothes, her head bowed behind the squires.

It was Lise Hanson. Marcus’ granddaughter.

“Sir Alphonse, did His Grace mention anything else?”

“I have been His Grace’s sword until now, but he had asked me to become Lady Artizea’s shield henceforth.”

Alphonse slowly declared.

A shield is a weapon that protects the inside from the outside, but at the same time attacks the outside from the inside. It can be used not only as a support weapon for the attack, but also as a decent offensive weapon within a limited range.

Moreover, weapons do not think for themselves. Alphonse would follow the wielder’s orders.

Artizea fully understood the implications of this. Cedric must have thought of all this.

Moreover, the arrival of Lise Hanson meant that Marcus had made up his mind. In that case, there was no need to hesitate.

She called Bill, who was watching her.

“Bill.”

Bill lowered his head hurriedly. Artizea told him.

“Prepare a room for Sir Alphonse. I would like him to be in the same corridor as my room, and for the squires, it will be better to prepare rooms for two people, in an annex. You can let Alice take care of the maid.”

“A small space where they can lay down is sufficient. These guys can sleep well in a stable.”

Alphonse said. Artizea smiled.

“Don’t worry. There are still plenty of rooms available. Even if it’s not for long, I hope you’ll feel comfortable in a strange house.”

Bill didn’t seem to think so. He smiled and said, with a troubled face.

“But miss, preparing rooms without the permission of madam or the young master would be problematic…”

“Bill.”

She knew Bill would say that. For that reason, she took the opportunity to speak in front of people.

Artizea deliberately lowered her voice, making it further sound frigid.

Bill was even more surprised to see that Alphonse had a more severe expression than Artizea.

The boutique employees also looked at the scene with rigid faces. Even Emily turned around and looked at the scene, instead of going to the boudoir.

An icy atmosphere descended on the foyer. Artizea asked in a deliberately soft voice.

“Bill, can you tell me who I am?”

“Well, miss…”

Bill sounded embarrassed.

The servants and maids of this estate were under his control. However, without Miraila’s instructions he could not physically coerce her daughter.

Even more so in front of Grand Duke Evron’s knight and Madam Emily, a woman with many connections.

“There is no need to make a scene, let’s go inside and talk. This is a private matter, right?”

Bill was trying to calm Artizea and extended his hand to pull her arm.

Just then, Alphonse hit him with his sheathed sword in his arm.

“Ow!”

He screamed and took a step back as he felt a terrible pain in his arm.

When the knight stepped forward, two of his squires also came forward and twisted Bill’s arms to hold him.

“On your knees!”

Alice shouted fiercely.

Bill was stunned as he knelt on the ground.

Artizea bent one knee in a graceful movement to meet his eyes.

“Bill, this is the second time the Marquisate Rosan has been disgraced by its useless butler in front of Grand Duke Evron.”

“Miss…”

“Once can be overlooked. That can happen to anyone. If one neglects his work, one may not even know their master’s whereabouts. But to be useless twice is a disgrace to the family. Sir Alphonse acts as the eyes of His Grace. It is incredulous that you have behaved this way in his presence.”

Bill rolled his eyes. Cold sweat began to form on his back.

Artizea asked again.

“Bill, can you tell me who I am?

“Miss…”

*Slap!*

Alice slapped him hard on the cheek.

“Miss! If madam finds out about this, Argh!”

Alice slapped him again.

His eyes turned red, not from the pain, but from the shock.

He had never imagined that something like this could happen.

The situation might seem ridiculous, of course, from the perspective of Miraila and her followers. But the person in front of Bill was the future Marchioness Rosan, and he was no more than a commoner.

Besides, Miraila was not present, nor was Lawrence. And they would not return for the time being.

Bill realized that Artizea had enough time to deal with him.

Alice slapped him on the cheek once more.

“What of it if madam finds out?” Do you mean to say that our miss will be beaten this way?

It depended on Miraila’s mood, however, that was probably what would happen.

But Lawrence was different.

He took honor very seriously, and he would not tolerate that Artizea had made a scene in front of the knight of the Grand Duke Evron, no matter what punishment Miraila imposed on her.

And even if Miraila later became angry with Artizea, it did not mean that Bill was safe at this time.

Finally, he responded by shivering.

“H-heir apparent…”

Artizea smiled. Her smile looked completely different than before.

The squires released Bill’s arms.

“Bill, prepare accommodations for Sir Alphonse and the squires. When you have finished, come to my room with the key and the account books.”

“Eh, the key?”

“Haven’t you understood? I mean the key to the safe. Jacob.”

Artizea called Jacob, the dejected assistant butler, whose shoulder was hunched in the corner.

“Go to Bill and help me with that.”

“Yes, yes!”

“Do you really understand the meaning of Lady Artizea’s words?”

Alice inquired sharply.

Although Jacob was tired of being treated like a nobody, he nodded obediently. Then, when he turned around, his shoulders rose as high as possible.

If she were to take the key away from Bill, then Jacob, as assistant butler, could be left in charge. And from his attitude, he seemed to have realized this opportunity.

Artizea then ordered Alice,

“Alice, go and help that young maid.”

“I want to see your new garments too… ”

“Who else could I trust but you?”

Alice stuck out her tongue and said, “All right, I will.” Then she laughed.

When Artizea turned around, Emily and her employees dispersed quickly as if they had not been looking.

Alphonse followed her silently.

Stopping at the door of the glamorous boudoir, her expression completely different from that of a few moments ago, Artizea stated,

“My apologies. You saw a horrible image of me as soon as you arrived.”

“No.”

Alphonse responded with courtesy.

“Lady, you don’t have to worry about your image in my presence. His Grace has told us that you are in a very complicated position within this family, and that although you seem to be acting incomprehensibly, there must be a reason for it, so we must not doubt you.”

“His Grace…”

Artizea said, feeling strange.

Even Lawrence, to whom she had been loyal all her past life, had never trusted her in this way.

More than garments, he sent her confidence and strength.

Now she could take the next step.