Episode 6. The Infamous Villainess
Sola’s fun was ruined.
She had loved the attention from the knights—how they fussed when she whined about sore arms and legs after training, how they teased her for not being able to lift a heavy sword.
Even the rough answers made her feel cared for.
She looked forward to the day they’d discover the “weak little boy” was actually a girl.
She imagined their shocked reactions and couldn’t wait.
But then the duchess appeared.
The warmth and attention Sola had been soaking in disappeared instantly.
Seeing the “infamous villainess” walk onto the stage made her jealous.
The duchess acted like she was the star when Sola was supposed to be the heroine.
Even sick and pale, the duchess now wore an elegant dark blue gown, her platinum hair styled high, her amber eyes looking down with quiet dignity.
She looked every inch the noble lady.
It felt like the duchess was saying, I’m above you. Sola hated it.
‘The heroine is me, not her.’
That’s why she refused to drink the refreshment offered by the duchess’s maids.
Accepting it felt like acknowledging her as the one in charge.
She clutched the documents she had been sent to fetch for the Duke and thought, I wish the story would hurry up.
She was itching to reveal herself as a girl and steal back the spotlight.
Meanwhile, I was exhausted.
Ryan had changed the trade list I’d prepared and caused a huge loss.
Fixing the budget took so long that I didn’t finish until after sunset.
I massaged my sore shoulders, a maid stepping in to help.
‘I need fresh air,’ I thought.
I sent the signed papers to Ryan’s office and went for a walk in the east garden.
The air was chilly—autumn was creeping in.
Birds filled the orange sky, flying together in neat formation.
They looked so free and united, nothing like me, the outsider clinging to the Stroud family.
I was lost in thought when I overheard voices in the quiet garden.
Not Lady Roze. Not Jaive’s nanny.
Ryan’s voice. And Morant’s.
“So, what do you think?” Ryan asked.
“I think releasing more small animals so people feel like they’ve caught a lot is brilliant, my lord. As expected from you!”
“…Hmm.”
“This hunting event will definitely succeed thanks to your idea!”
“I’m glad you think so.”
The two of them sat together at an outdoor table, heads bent over a map.
They looked less like master and servant, and more like equals—or something else.
Morant’s cheeks were flushed with excitement, and Ryan was smiling.
Smiling.
The man who hadn’t smiled at our wedding, or even when his son was born—smiling now, with his servant.
‘Really…’
I remembered the ugly rumor spreading through the estate.
Ryan and his servant. At the time I dismissed it, but now… seeing this, I couldn’t help but wonder.
I turned to leave quietly, but Ryan spotted me.
“What are you doing here?”
The garden was still bright with the fading sunset. No way to slip past unseen.
“Just walking,” I said.
His smile vanished. The familiar cold face returned.
“So you take walks alone.”
“Sometimes.”
“You’re not following me, are you?”
“I don’t do things like that.”
Morant jumped up, flustered, cheeks pink as he brushed his hair back and cleared his throat.
Even in a servant’s clothes, his mannerisms were oddly feminine.
His smooth neck, his soft skin—it clicked.
That strange feeling I’d had around him.
“I’m sorry for disturbing you. I’ll go another way.”
But Ryan suddenly strode over and grabbed my arm.
Without thinking, I yanked it free. I just couldn’t bear his touch—not his hand, not even sharing the same air.
He stared at me, startled, then muttered, “In case you misunderstand—I was working. Nothing more.”
“I’m not misunderstanding. But…” I looked at Morant, wearing Ryan’s jacket, while Ryan himself sat there in only a thin shirt in the chilly evening.
“If others saw this, they’d misunderstand easily. Be careful—for Stroud’s sake.”
It was sound advice, but Ryan’s brow furrowed.
He didn’t like hearing it. I turned and left.
The sky had darkened from orange to deep blue.
The rumors about Ryan and Morant only grew.
Some said, “The lord would never.”
Others muttered, “If the duchess was that cold, maybe it’s no wonder…”
By lunch the next day, even the maids were whispering. The head maid came to me, worried.
“My lady, I’ve been punishing the worst offenders, but it won’t hold much longer. Even the staff are starting to talk.”
I had worked so hard to protect the Stroud name.
I pulled Morant aside and told him bluntly about the gossip.
“B-but the Duke keeps calling me,” he stammered. “I can’t do anything about it…”
His answer unsettled me.
So I went straight to Ryan.
“Just so you know,” he said coolly, “Morant is my personal attendant. Don’t interfere.”
Like a cracked pipe leaking water, the situation only got worse.
Already distant as husband and wife, this drove us even further apart.
The mansion felt suffocating.
Then Lady Roze barged into my office, fresh from a tea party, her face red and furious.
“Well? Did you enjoy yourself?” I asked politely.
“Enjoy? Do I look like I enjoyed myself?!” she snapped, her voice sharp as glass.
“What happened this time?” My head throbbed.
“Are you even managing this house? Do you know what people are saying? That my son prefers men!”
So the gossip had reached the noble circles of the capital.
“Sometimes deep friendships can be mistaken for more,” I said carefully. “And if such rumors spread, it’s you who should be working to stop them, as his mother.”
But Lady Roze exploded.
“Don’t you dare lecture me! If these rumors reach the Emperor or the court, you and Pardia will both be ruined! Do something before the imperial knights arrive!”
The knights were due in two days.
Two days to stop an unstoppable rumor.
Her face twisted like a witch as she screamed.
I couldn’t hold back anymore.
“Should I just kill everyone spreading it? Wipe out the staff? That would stop the rumors, wouldn’t it?”
“What—what did you just say?” she gasped.
Anger and pain boiled inside me.
Why was this my problem? Her son had created the mess, not me.
If she’d heard it at a tea party, then the whole capital already knew. Why blame me?
Why threaten my family?
I couldn’t stop the tears spilling down my cheeks.
“Oh, so now you cry? For what? You’ve done nothing right, and you think you deserve to cry?” she sneered.
Her words cut like knives.
“What about you, Mother? Have you done anything to fix this? You attend endless parties—did it never occur to you to protect your son’s reputation instead of piling all the blame on me?”
“You’ve gone mad! How dare you talk back to me!”
She shook with rage, clutching her head. But I pressed on.
“The ugly rumor was made by your son. The least you could do is offer help—or even an apology—to me, the one forced to clean it up!”
We shouted until the butler rushed in with knights to separate us.
Lady Roze stormed out, shrieking with fury.
The head maid handed me a wet cloth.
In the mirror, my tear-streaked face looked back at me.
