Don’t Ask For Mercy From The Villainess - Chapter 18. The Return Of Anna

Even though she thought about it over and over again, she failed to come to any conclusion. The First Prince that she knew was someone who owned a lot of assets, not the type of person who would feel pity for any woman. No, he was someone who would rather stay away from women. There were even rumors that he didn’t like women and was interested in men, but Jessica knew it was not true.

She was looking for the person behind her mother’s death and all the nobles were suspicious of him. That was the reason why he couldn’t engage with their daughters.

Time just kept passing by, but there was no lead. Meanwhile, Anna returned when there were two months left before her debut. Although Anna wanted to come back earlier, she couldn’t come back in time. After she finished moving, she had to help the people in her village due to the fire that broke out in her old house, which she used to stay in before she moved.

She then ran into a landslide halfway into her journey and had to return after some time because the road was blocked. At this point, Jessica was starting to get suspicious whether there was someone preventing Anna from returning to her on time.

“I was late!”

Jessica smiled and welcomed Anna, who returned with beads of sweat all over her body.

“Welcome back.”

“I’m sorry for being late, my lady.”

There were also people who were not welcoming Anna’s return. Daisy stood by Jessica’s side as the Head Maid while Anna was away, but because Anna had returned, she had to come down from the position of Head Maid. There was no way she would’ve been happy by that. Jessica decided to make the situation worse when seeing Daisy had an unpleasant look on her face.

“Daisy, you can leave. Since Anna is here, you can do other things now.”

“……I understand.”

When she saw Daisy’s contorted expression, she didn’t say anything. Daisy didn’t leave immediately and chose to dawdle for a bit, shooting a sharp look at Anna before finally heading out with a ‘hmph’. Anna talked to Jessica carefully as she felt jumpy after watching the maid’s figure leaving the room.

“M-maybe it’s because of me……”

“What do you mean it’s because of you? From the beginning, that girl was appointed on your behalf. Now that you have returned, you obviously must return to your original position. Don’t you think so?”

Nodding at Jessica’s words, Anna then took out a piece of paper that had been hidden in her arms.

“Did Isanna give this to you?”

“Yes.”

There was no sign of the sealed documents being opened. The documents sent from the Monzarto General Store were attached with special seals.

She could tell if the seal had been opened by using the sunshine to illuminate through it; the color of the seal would have turned yellow if it were illuminated by the sunshine, meaning the documents had been opened. It remained the same as the original color of the seal, which was red, indicating that Anna didn’t open the document.

‘As expected.’

Therefore, Jessica entrusted Anna with this job. The first page of the document contained the difficult financial situation of the Russel Family and the fact that the family received debt from several people who had been listed there.

“Huh?”

“Is there something wrong, my lady?”

“No, nothing.”

When she went through the list of creditors, she caught a familiar name. Duke Arteus. It was the house of her close friend, Seilla. In her previous life, Seilla sat next to Darten and became an Empress. Darten said it was an obligated choice.

“Even so, I love you the most.”

Jessica smiled at his words. If anything, she felt bad for Seilla. Jessica had already become a Duchess, and Duke Arteus gave Darten both material and emotional support even before he became an Emperor. In return for that support was giving Seilla the Empress’ seat for her to sit on.

In her previous life, Jessica thought Seilla was just a titular Empress. So she felt even worse and tried to be nice to her.

‘No way…….’

Her friend, Seilla, was an angelic noble young lady. Duke Arteus raised his only daughter well. Her late debut in high society was also because of her delicate personality.

It was Jessica who comforted Seilla when she was always hurt whenever she was under other people’s control. Jessica also responded on behalf of Seilla to the spiteful remarks of other young ladies who spoke with venom in their tongues.

Befriending the precious Seilla was really worth it. At least, that’s what she thought.

When she was young and trembling in loneliness, she was the only kid who accepted her as a friend. She was a friend who smiled like a white daffodil, who let her know that she was the prettiest when sitting next to her.

Although she was jealous that her friend was the one who stood next to Darten, she thought there was nothing she could do at that time. Seilla was someone who was suited for Darten. Unlike her, who had been pulled too deep into the darkness and only had spite left in her, Seilla was just a good friend.

Her graceful friend that she couldn’t believe was the daughter of the ambitious Duke Arteus.

“I’ll have to find out.”

Although she was reluctant to do that, she had to investigate all of the suspicious people behind Baron Russel’s daughter up until when she managed to get into the Marquis of Viterne.

On the top of the list was Duke Arteus, followed by the Duke of Salemir, the dukedom she had joined in her previous life. However, she knew the strongest candidate was Duke Salemir.

‘For some reason, I can’t believe it.’

It was uncomfortable seeing the name of Duke Arteus on the list. Jessica could not let this questionable matter slide.

“Anna.”

“Yes, my lady.”

Anna’s face hardened as Jessica’s expression became serious while reading the document. She knew that the documents were very important to Jessica, so she took care of the documents, which were safe in her arms, by smoothing them down several times a day.

Luckily, there weren’t any problems except for when she ran into the landslide on her way back. When she delivered the documents and finally breathed a sigh of relief, it was also the first time she saw Jessica have such a serious expression.

“We have to stop by the Monzarto General Store.”

“Are you planning to go right now?”

“Call Sir Alter for me.”

“Yes, I will.”

Anna stepped away from Jessica, who hinted for her to go outside by telling her to call the knight escort instead of saying she wished to go there directly. Jessica was lost in her thoughts after she was left alone while unfolding and folding back the fan in her hand.

She wondered who was aiming at the Marquis of Viterne? And who worked together with Darten and pushed the daughter of Baron Russel to enter the Marquisate?

***

Daisy had a grudge after she exited Jessica’s room; it felt like she was just kicked out by her master. She was planning to report this to Young Lady Marianne.

Someone grabbed her from behind as she was trying to sneak out of the Marquisate and into the house of Baron Russell.

“AKHH!”

The man pointed a knife at her and warned in a low voice.

“If you don’t wish to die, let’s go over there.”

Daisy had a hunch that the man was about to pull her into a dark back alley. Thinking that she would die if she followed the man right now, Daisy averted her eyes around and found that the knights from the Marquis of Viterne were patrolling in the area and shouted to them.

“Sir! Please save me!”

One of the knights rushed to Daisy when he recognized her as the maid who stood by Jessica’s side when they walked around. However, the man’s movement was faster.

As another knight chased the man who ran away after attempting to stab Daisy with a knife, the knight ran to Daisy and applied pressure to the stab wound with his hand.

“Are you okay?”

“I-It hurts.”

To say it was a wound even though it was just a slight scratch… but Daisy was appalled.

‘Who on earth was targeting me?’

She was nothing more than someone who conveyed information to her master. She didn’t know anything. Even if it was wrong, all she had done was receive money from the daughter of Baron Russel and pass over the Marquisate’s information.

‘That information wasn’t even important, either.’

Daisy chewed hard on her lips. She didn’t remember even one mistake she committed. She had no intention of leaving the Marquisate anymore after finding out that there had been someone attempting on her life. Since the Marquisate’s knights saved her, the Marquis of Viterne couldn’t be responsible for the attempt on her life.

“It can’t be young Lady Marianne, right?”

After getting the information that she needed, this could mean that she wasn’t necessary for the young lady anymore. Daisy’s eyes were ablaze with anger; she had met those types of people countless times. She just couldn’t forgive them anymore.

Daisy thought she never caused harm to others. She forgot about the incident with her ex-lover. After he fell for her sweet talk and offered all of his possessions to her, she went to the capital and brought everything that was supposed to be his possessions in the house. Simply because she didn’t like his shabby house.

How could she refuse the words of Baron Russel’s daughter because she had no choice but to do as the young lady told her to? Therefore, she thought she wasn’t making any mistakes just because she did anything that her master wanted.

‘She’s trying to kill me?’

The report about the Marquisate told her everything. She originally came to the Marquisate to do that, to collect information. Most of them led her to receive rewards, but a few pieces of information were considered useless, and so she had to work harder to gain more valuable information.

She did this all because she thought the daughter of Baron Russel would give her something better in the future. Something like the position of the head maid who served beside her after she became a Marchioness. When Daisy found out it was nothing but a useless dream, she was filled with a desire for revenge.

“You’d better return to the Marquis’ house first.”

The knight who completed minor first aid for her wound spoke up. Daisy hesitated again after hearing his suggestion. She wondered if this was the right time to enter the Marquisate. Daisy’s worries didn’t last long. The knight who ran after the person that stabbed her earlier returned alone.

“Did you get him?”

“No, I missed him. He was pretty quick and knew the geography of this place well.”

“Oh, d**n.”

Daisy’s face turned grim as she looked at the knight who had a clear look of annoyance on his face. Afraid of the thought of being killed by someone again whenever she went somewhere, she grabbed the knight’s arm.

The knight’s expression changed slightly. Commoners were not allowed to touch the body of an appointed knight so recklessly. Even though Daisy was a maid who hadn’t worked in the Marquisate nor for the Marquis’ daughter for a long time, she held his arm thoughtlessly and had a look of displeasure on her face.

“Sir, can I….”

“I’ll take you back to the Marquisate first, let’s go together.”

“T-Thank you.”

Daisy couldn’t even see the knight’s face. She couldn’t stand still while holding on to this rotten string. She had to find a way to survive by all means. She thought quickly and concluded.

‘I have to stick to the Marquis’ daughter.’

If she told the young lady what the daughter of Baron Russel had done, there might still be a chance for Jessica to consider her as someone important. If she told Jessica the truth, she might be allowed to stay by her side.

Color slowly returned to Daisy’s face afterward. Although her breathing was still messy, she now felt like she had a way to live again. Daisy scurried in a hurry to find Jessica as soon as she passed by the Marquisate’s gate, but the young lady was currently preparing herself to go out.