Chapter 7
Demonia was an incredible chatterbox.
It wasn’t until dawn broke that Penelope was finally able to leave the sealing demon’s chamber.
She had planned to sneak out and sneak back in unnoticed, but in the meantime, the mansion had discovered her absence and had been thrown into chaos.
“Young Lady, your health isn’t even good—where on earth have you been?”
Anna dropped to the floor where she stood and clutched Penelope’s hand.
“Uh, I just… felt a bit stuffy… so I went to get some fresh air in the garden?”
“Really? We already searched the garden once!”
Behind Anna stretched the sight of a garden reduced to ruins.
Gasp. What is that? Why did they dig up the dirt? It’s not like I’d be hiding underground.
Penelope was taken aback but pretended to be unfazed. Demonia had told her to keep their meeting a secret.
“Hmm. Now that I think about it, maybe it wasn’t the garden—might’ve been one of the guest rooms in the mansion. I went there and… fell asleep.”
“We opened all the guest room doors too!”
“Then… I slept under the bed. It reminded me of when I used to play hide-and-seek as a kid.”
The awkward lie made her feel pangs of guilt. Just then, a faint voice echoed in her mind.
“…Well done!”
“Lying… bad thing!”
Demonia could track Penelope’s demonic energy and watch her every move, speaking to her when she wanted. Of course, because of the black door, her words didn’t always come through clearly.
Still, she spoke again:
“Born… liar!”
“Demonic energy… slightly… increased!”
Although it was lucky that her unintended lie had boosted her demonic energy, Demonia’s “praise” somehow felt more like mockery.
Anna’s expression grew darker as Penelope’s face shifted from one expression to another.
Yesterday she suddenly asked if there was nothing to do and then fainted. The doctor said there’s nothing wrong with her body, so… could it be an illness of the mind?
Penelope was only an eight-year-old child. She had lost the family she lived with, her surroundings had changed completely, and now she was living in the Calix ducal household. The pressure was bound to be heavy.
Anna’s voice softened as she gently pulled Penelope’s hand.
“All right. You don’t have to say any more. The dawn air is chilly. Should I prepare some warm bathwater so your body can thaw?”
“Huh? Uh… okay…”
Penelope’s voice trembled at the kindness.
And Demonia shouted once more:
“Good… guilt… doubled!”
“Demonic energy… doubled!”
“Ugh. Anna’s gaze felt strange when she looked at me. Could she have caught my lie?”
Penelope tried to shake off her unease as she flopped onto her soft bed, recalling her earlier conversation with Demonia.
“That right there… is what it means to do something villainous!”
What?
“Demonic energy is, in the end, the devil’s power. To fill it, you need to commit the corresponding evil deeds.”
Are you telling me… I have to live harming others?
“Exactly. And from now on, kindness is banned. Your body’s already one that had its demonic energy completely drained once. If you act kindly, your body won’t be able to take it.”
You mean… the reason my heart hurt was because I was being nice?
“Exactly! What noble young lady gives flowers to a maid to show gratitude? Oh, and polite speech is banned too! You need to toughen up.”
Hmm… I don’t want to live like a pushover… but that doesn’t mean I wanted to become a bad person.
“Think about it—you’re a Calix now. The Calix lot are pros at committing misdeeds. You’ll have to learn if you want to adapt to this household anyway.”
I… guess so?
“If you want to live here long-term, you’ll need to become the kind of person the Calix want.”
At the same time, Penelope recalled the Duke of Calix’s words:
“You must also show conduct befitting the dignity of House Calix.”
That was what he had said when signing the adoption papers.
Was… that what he meant all along?
Given the duke’s notorious reputation, it didn’t seem unlikely.
“…Then I guess I’d better think about how I’m going to live from now on.”
A villain like the Duke of Calix wasn’t something one could become carelessly. And Penelope was someone far removed from the word “villain.”
Since I have no talent, I’ll just have to make up for it with effort!
She hopped down from her bed and sat at the table, laying out paper and picking up a pen.
How to Become a Villain
“I absolutely must not get kicked out of this house.”
At least until her demonic energy could recover naturally, she couldn’t afford to be thrown out. She had no idea what might happen to her body otherwise, so she had to stay close to Demonia until then.
This life, I’m going to live long and happy—even if I have to be a little selfish!
No more living like a pushover! She’d live making other people the pushovers!
Thus began the grand journey of “Villainous Young Lady” Penelope.
2. How to Become a Villain
From that day on, Penelope’s speech and behavior became rather audacious.
Of course, this was only her own idea of “audacious” — to Demonia’s eyes, it wasn’t even close.
“Pfft. Well, sure… a grain of dust at a time makes a heap. At least you’re working hard at it every day.”
Penelope also made it a rule to commit one bad deed every single day without fail.
A model of a… most well-behaved rebel.
“Ugh… life is so exhausting.”
It was far too heavy a complaint for such a small child to make… but truly, becoming a villain was hard!
She had tried her whole life to live kindly — never once had she tried to become a bad person.
So she had no idea what exactly would count as an “evil deed” that earned her villain points — that is, demonic energy. She just hoped she wouldn’t accidentally do something kind and end up sick again.
Every night, Penelope would clutch her head and list out on paper every wicked act she could think of. She carefully recorded every bit of Demonia’s advice as well.
And she had been doing this for two weeks already. Yet, despite the time invested, her “Penelope’s List of Evil Deeds” was still pitifully short.
Today’s plan was to steal flowers. Penelope reached out and snapped off a tulip — one of the blooms that Felix, the gardener, had lovingly grown.
Ugh… I feel bad. I’m sorry, Mr. Felix.
After all, the garden had already been turned upside down once because of her. She knew full well how hard Felix had worked to restore the Calix estate’s grounds.
Perhaps that was why the guilt weighed even heavier than usual.
But… I have to survive too…
As if she’d been heard, the voice of the demon sword Demonia rang out from somewhere far away.
“Bad… deed!”
“Successful…!”
“Demonic energy… recovering… smoothly…!”
“Phew, thank goodness.”
Penelope pressed a hand to her pounding chest in relief.
If she’d done all this and it had no effect, she would have felt ten times guiltier toward Felix.
I might have even run straight to him to beg forgiveness.
By the time she had mercilessly claimed the lives of three yellow tulips and four orange ones—
“What are you doing here?”
A cold voice came from behind her.
“Eeek! Hic!”
She nearly jumped straight into the sky in fright.
“D-D-D-Duke!”
“Yes. It’s me.”
The Duke of Calix stood there, clad in a pitch-black uniform, leaning slightly to one side.
It was a pose worthy of a street thug, yet when he did it, it only doubled his dangerous charm.
Penelope sighed inwardly.
As expected… someone born a villain through and through just has a completely different aura.
Would she have to become like that too? The road ahead was long.
“Were you picking flowers?” he asked.
Penelope quickly adjusted the tulips in her arms.
“W-well, you see…”
There was no way she could admit that she’d been planning to pluck Felix’s precious tulips, crush the blooms, and bury them to destroy the evidence.
“I don’t like people going back on their words. What were you doing to be so flustered?”
The Duke’s relentless questioning made the world spin — likely from all the frantic darting of her eyes.
“I-I-I was…!”
In her panic, she shoved the bundle of tulips toward him.
“I was picking them… to give to you as a gift, Your Grace!”
Since it wasn’t an act of kindness but merely an attempt to get out of trouble, her heart didn’t ache this time.
Meanwhile—
“…For me?”
The Duke’s expression shifted oddly. Penelope realized she might have made a mistake.
There’s no way a scary noble like the Duke would like flowers!
A memory from her past life surfaced — back when she sold flowers in the town square.
Once, she’d brought home a few unsold blooms for her mother, thinking they were beautiful. Her mother had scolded her harshly, demanding she sell them instead of bringing home something that made no money.
Perhaps the Duke was the same sort of person.
And these aren’t just any flowers — they grew in his own garden.
He could very well be furious that she had damaged his property.
Penelope squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself for the storm about to fall on her head.
Instead, the Duke snatched the seven tulips from her hands.
“Uh?”
She blinked in surprise as he looked down at her with a cold gaze.
“You said they were for me.”
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
“You looked at me as if I were some kind of thief.”
“Absolutely not!”
She shook her head rapidly, startled, and the Duke handed the bouquet to the man standing behind him.
“Derrick, keep these.”
The name was familiar. Looking closely, she realized it was the man who had brought her to the Calix estate.
When their eyes met, he winked at her.
“Don’t do anything stupid, Derrick.”
“Oh, how scary. Understood.”
He backed away with impressive composure, and before long, the garden was empty except for Penelope and the Duke.
