Chapter 10 of “The Perfect Ending Plan of the Villainess in the Fairy Tale”:
“Here, the food you ordered hasn’t been touched, so you can take it and eat it.”
At that, the owner quickly picked up the plate of chicken and potatoes and brought it to our table.
The handsome man’s voice was on the lower side.
‘So he was the one who helped us.’
This was a world where it was taken for granted that women were essentially the property of men.
Wives belonged to their husbands, and daughters to their fathers.
‘But to take the side of women he doesn’t even know?’
I was a little touched.
Maybe kindness naturally comes with a handsome face.
Looking at him again, he seemed even more handsome.
They had mentioned his size for a reason—sitting down, his height and long limbs were still noticeable.
Even his broad shoulders and firm chest couldn’t be hidden by his torn clothes.
“Thank you very much.”
I bowed my head slightly, genuinely grateful.
Then the man looked at me with cold eyes for a moment, turned back to his plate, and said,
“I just don’t like noise. And I didn’t want to see kids being dragged away right in front of me. Don’t wander around needlessly—just finish your meal and go home.”
“…What?”
What did I just hear?
‘Did he say he only stepped in because the noise was bothering him?’
And he called me a kid.
Back home, there are tons of young men who’d kill to just hold my hand!
“If you cause a scene again, I’ll call that man back. Just sit quietly and eat.”
He started moving his fork without even glancing in our direction.
Then the man with glasses sitting across from him quietly resumed his meal as well.
‘What is with these people?’
I was about to get angry, but turned around instead.
Larisa was still hiding under the table, unable to come out.
For her sake, I held it in.
“Well, call me if you need anything,”
the owner said casually, as if nothing had happened, and disappeared into the kitchen.
I sighed and coaxed Larisa out from under the table.
Then I placed a fork in her tiny hand.
“Alright, let’s eat quickly. After this, we’ll get back in the carriage. We need to catch the train today.”
I had lost my appetite from the shock, too.
But to escape well, we needed to eat well.
I deboned a chicken leg with a knife and placed it on Larisa’s plate, then took a big bite of potato myself.
While we were eating, the two men finished their meal and left.
No other customers came in until we were done.
I asked the owner if he could call a carriage for us.
“There’s a place where you can hire carriages at the end of this street. You’ll probably find a covered one there. I can’t leave the shop…”
He pointed down the road apologetically.
Since he ran the shop alone, it couldn’t be helped.
As thanks, I paid three times the meal price and stepped outside.
All Igor knew about us was our height, age, and hair color.
I couldn’t hide our height, but hair color could be concealed.
Before leaving the restaurant, I tied a handkerchief around Larisa’s head and secured it tightly with a bonnet.
I wrapped my own hair with a scarf like common women did when going to the market.
‘As long as they don’t take special notice of us first, we’ll be fine.’
Since I could hear people’s thoughts, I might be able to prepare in advance if I got lucky.
Though only for negative thoughts.
I focused on the sounds around me and walked toward our destination, trying not to look suspicious.
One hand held our bag, and the other tightly gripped Larisa’s hand.
We had been walking for a while when—
—I’m scared. Is this really okay?
Huh?
I opened my eyes wide at the unexpected voice.
It was someone’s inner voice.
It wasn’t Larisa’s.
Just in case, I glanced down, but Larisa was blank-faced, her little legs busily moving as she walked.
People’s thoughts all sound different, but it’s hard to distinguish them like voices.
It’s more like hearing something straight through your chest rather than your ears.
‘It’s a stranger’s thought. I don’t need to care.’
I was already in a hurry.
I tried to ignore it and walk faster.
But then, a voice from the same person echoed again.
—You won’t kill someone with just this. So it’ll be fine. Just stab once and run. That’s all.
It was a voice filled with anxiety and fear.
So anxious, so scared, so desperate.
I frowned.
When I lived going back and forth between my mansion and parties, I never heard thoughts this extreme.
The moment I stepped outside, it was already like this.
If I couldn’t hear anything, I could’ve just passed by quietly.
But hearing someone talk about killing someone—I couldn’t pretend not to know.
I glanced toward the source of the voice.
It was a young boy, about Larisa’s age.
His clothes were ragged, and he wore a tattered striped cap.
He held a wooden bowl for begging in one hand and had his other hand buried in his pocket, staring intently at one spot.
—I don’t have to stab deep. Just draw blood. I’m not trying to kill him. If I do as told, I won’t go hungry today… It’s okay, it’s okay. So why am I so scared?
The boy kept murmuring in his mind, trying to reassure himself.
If I paid attention to every voice like this, my life would fall apart.
That’s how Marcia turned into a villainess, and I remembered it vividly.
So I was going to ignore it and move on.
If only the people he was eyeing weren’t the same two men who saved us back at the restaurant.
‘Why those two…’
I pressed my throbbing temples.
The boy was clearly watching those two men. No doubt about it.
Two huge guys in torn clothes.
One of them had a radiant face even under all the dirt, the other wore glasses.
The two were deep in conversation next to what looked like a half-destroyed vehicle.
When I saw what they were standing next to, I couldn’t believe my eyes.
‘Wait, is that a car?’
I rubbed my eyes.
Cars existed in this world?
It looked like a two-seater carriage without a roof, but there were no horses.
And it even had a steering wheel.
It must’ve been some kind of prototype.
‘Well, there are trains, so I guess cars should show up soon, too. Maybe they had an accident.’
It was obvious—test-driving a prototype car, getting into an accident, breaking the vehicle, ripping their clothes, and getting covered in dust.
‘So after the crash, they went to eat at the restaurant first?’
I shook my head in disbelief.
Well, they didn’t look injured, just dirty.
Anyway, the way they were distracted in conversation made it easy for a desperate beggar boy to stab them without them noticing.
‘Fine. Let’s call it repaying a favor.’
I raised my voice on purpose.
“Hey, you!”
The boy flinched. But he didn’t look at me.
“You, yeah, you with the striped cap. I know you heard me. Come here.”
I deliberately pointed out his features. That way, he couldn’t pretend not to hear.
The boy hesitantly looked my way.
Damn it, I heard him curse in his head.
I barely held in a laugh.
‘A beggar boy who says “damn it”—how fitting.’
“What are you doing? I told you to come here.”
I raised my voice a bit more.
My voice must’ve reached the men by the wrecked car, because they stopped talking and looked over.
The beggar boy saw that too.
‘Now he can’t sneak up on them.’
The boy drooped his shoulders and slowly walked toward me.
I hid Larisa behind me and stepped forward.
“Here. Buy yourself a piece of bread.”
I leisurely pulled out a copper coin, and the boy made a choked noise.
“Th-thank you.”
“Mm-hmm. But are you seriously accepting charity with one hand still in your pocket? Huh? Pretty arrogant for a beggar.”
I made a show of holding the coin and used Marcia’s favorite mocking tone.
“Not taking your hand out of your pocket? Guess you’re not that hungry, huh?”
I emphasized “pocket.”
‘He should get the message by now.’
The boy. And those men, too.
The boy slowly took his hand out of his pocket and held his wooden bowl with both hands.
I dropped the coin in.
Clink.
I took out another coin and gave it to him, too.
Then, without looking at the men, I turned and walked away.
That should be enough to repay the favor from earlier.
I was glad I could pay it back quickly. I hated owing anyone.
