EMHFTVBSH C7

Villainess Who Hid Her Identity, and Everyone Got It All Wrong — Episode 7

“Y-Young Lady… thank you! Sob, thank you so much…!”

As soon as morning broke, Jinny rushed into my room and dropped flat on the floor.

Her eyes were so swollen it was obvious she had been crying all night.

“Ah—geez, you scared me!”

Startled, I instinctively recoiled.

Jinny was smeared with tears and mucus, crying like the world had ended. No—had the world been rebuilt instead?

“Y-Young Lady…!”

“What?!”

“I heard you visited my mother yesterday and bought her medicine. Sob, thank you so much! You’re my lifelong benefactor…!”

Jinny wailed and bowed so low she was practically glued to the floor. Outside the room, I could hear whispers.

No, seriously—how did she find out?

I covered my face, didn’t give my name, didn’t say anything—there was nothing to trace me back!

Don’t tell me… Rakiel?

But I immediately shook the thought away.

We had barely even met properly, let alone had a conversation. It was more likely that someone had seen me leaving the estate yesterday.

As expected, Jinny, still prostrated, muttered through her sobs in a barely intelligible voice.

“Sniff… Y-Young Lady… y-you came yesterday… sob… my mother saw the noble crest embroidered on the robe… and… and Annie said she saw someone in a robe leaving the Young Lady’s room… sob… it must be you, right… w-wahh…”

Who is this Annie? And a robe with the family crest?

I raised an eyebrow and quietly flipped over the robe I had hidden away yesterday.

There it was—clearly embroidered on the back: the family crest.

……Damn it.

Ding!

[Quest “Maid Jinny’s Worry” conditions not met. Rewards reduced by 50%.]

“Are you kidding me?!”

“Y-Yes?!”

My stats!

Jinny looked at me with wide, rabbit-like eyes.

I quickly opened my status window. My freedom stat had already dropped. And of course, my level had reset back to 0.

So even if I get exposed later, it still gets reduced?!

My hands trembled as I clenched my fist.

This scam system!

“Y-Young Lady! Thank you so much… sob… my mother also said she wants to meet you again…”

“Ugh, stop sniveling! It’s loud enough to kill someone! Why did you even come here crying like this?!”

“G-gasp!”

This is insane!

Because of her, my reward got cut in half!

At my current low level, every stat point mattered—this was a massive loss.

“So what now?! What, did I save your entire family’s lives or something?! I just bought some medicine worth like 50 gold!”

“F-fifty…?!”

Jinny stammered, unable to continue.

“T-thank you, Young Lady! Sob, thank you! Thank you!”

My anger only made things worse.

“Be quiet!”

“Y-Yes, sorry! Thank you, Young Lady… sob… sorry, thank you…”

“Are you apologizing or thanking me?! Seriously, what kind of useless maid did they hire? Stop crying and get out!”

As I grabbed an ink bottle from the table in frustration, Jinny finally scrambled out of the room.

Ha… at this rate, when will I ever reach max freedom stat?

I need freedom. Now.

Even now, the crown prince in the imperial palace was turning into a tyrant, and with my current abilities, I couldn’t stop him.

“Damn it… isn’t there any other way to speak freely besides this freedom stat system?”

[<Freedom> can be increased up to Lv.10.]

“Not that… forget it.”

I collapsed onto the bed and buried my face in the pillow.

It felt like all the hope I’d had just moments ago was ripped away. Like I had started something boldly, only for it to sink deeper and deeper into failure.

……Should I just give up? Honestly, does it even matter anymore? Even if I try now…

……

“…No way!”

Giving up my ass! I’ll break through head-on!

I, Evelyn Rosenthal, had a mental strength stat of 3,259.

With the energy of someone ready to overturn everything, I sprang up.

Naturally, my first task was to find quests.

I ran through the mansion like a madwoman, causing complete chaos.

“…What’s wrong with the Young Lady?”

“Dunno! Did she finally lose it?”

“Come to think of it, I saw Jinny crying as she left her room earlier.”

“Tsk tsk… another incident, huh.”

The maids whispered among themselves.

One glare from me and they scattered instantly.

Hmph. Useless things—making noise where everyone can hear.

I stomped through every corner of the mansion. I needed to collect quests from anyone I could.

Investigating Jonas came later. First, I needed a stable foundation to move freely.

Thanks to that, I spent the whole day shouting things like “Get out of my way!” or “Drag that one away and lock him up immediately!”—my voice went completely hoarse as a bonus.

But when I returned to my room, I smiled in satisfaction.

[Quest: Stable Boy Tomi’s Love Life
Reward: Stats +6]

[Quest: Sir Maren’s Wish
Reward: Stats +10]

[Quest: Cook Fern’s Missing Recipe
Reward: Stats +10]

…and so on.

Just by locking eyes with people, I kept collecting quests. If I cleared them all, my freedom stat could reach Lv.3.

Of course, it would be halved if they found out it was me.

I rolled up my sleeves and began tackling the highest-reward quests first.

“Please deliver this to Fern. Who am I? You don’t need to know that.”

“This is tuition money for Sir Maren’s younger sibling. Just say it’s from an anonymous benefactor.”

“Can you pass this note to Ria? Just say it’s from Tomi.”

This time, I even found an old robe without any crest, turned it inside out, and ran around in it until I was sweating.

I had to make sure no one recognized me.

It was during the completion of the final quest.

Ding!

[Freedom has reached Lv.3. “Conditional Branch Selection” feature activated.]

[In certain situations, additional “non-standard actions” may now be available alongside existing choices.]

[※Available only under specific conditions: certain individuals, emotional states.]

……Huh?

“Non-standard actions?”

Was this what appeared when I met Ludwig earlier?

Options like “Threaten them”—actions that increased my perceived freedom?

‘Oh, not bad.’

As long as the system considered it acceptable, it meant I could act with more flexibility within given choices.

Satisfied, I closed the status window.

It seemed it was time to move.

Time to purge the traitor of the family.

[Warning! When under observation, <Freedom> restrictions may control behavior.]

Ah, the hood.

Only after seeing the system message did I realize my face was uncovered. I quickly pulled the hood up.

‘Better hurry before I get caught.’

I moved silently through the moonlit corridor.

I was heading toward Jonas’s room.

Jonas Kramer—the financial aide of the ducal house. A position so trusted that no one would suspect her… or rather, no one should suspect her.

If Jonas really was a spy…

I didn’t even want to imagine it.

Her office was locked. After glancing around, I reached toward the corridor window.

Oh, it was open. Careless.

Creeeeak.

“…!”

At the sound, I held my breath and pressed myself against the wall.

After confirming no one was there, I carefully opened the window and climbed inside.

Once I closed it behind me, I exhaled.

“Haah…”

At this point, sneaking around like this was more trouble than just acting openly and trashing the place while pretending I didn’t know anything.

[Impossible.]

“…Why?”

[Access to the administrative wing is restricted.]

Ah.

Right. Evelyn Rosenthal would never come here. The premise itself made this impossible.

Anyway, the room was neatly organized—files stacked in perfect order, books aligned by color and height.

“…?”

Did Jonas have obsessive-compulsive tendencies?

Everything was so perfectly arranged it felt unnatural.

This is bad. Even the slightest disturbance would be obvious.

I cautiously approached the desk.

If I touched it clumsily, Jonas might erase all evidence immediately—like a turtle retracting its head.

As I hesitated, a familiar notification rang out.

Ding!

[Due to Player’s <Observation C+>, a clue has been detected.]

[A mismatch in arrangement has been found.]

[Details: Lower-right drawer — protruding handle]