The Villainess was Loved

Chapter Five: Gratitude

“Let me just tell you, lady Alpensa, it is such an honour to work for you!” The new maid chirped as she struggled to handle my luggage up the steps.

The dorms were divided into three sections, upper and lower aristocracy, then finally the commoner section.

Technically, as the daughter of the Marquis, I was to be part of the upper aristocratic section though on the lower end; however, carrying a p********e’s blood did not grant such permissions. So I remained stationed with the lower nobility.

‘It matters not where your blood hails.’

The Marquis would often say; however, just as quickly, he would have me offer gratitude simply for being in the same room as nobility.

He knows my predicament; he knows that I am ill permitted to join the upper section, yet he still does nothing.

Perhaps this was part of the reason Arusei detested Regina.

All the child had to do was exist, and the world was hers.

Whereas Arusei, whereas I…was only accepted after the engagement to the Prince was made public, and even then, I had to bear insults at every turn.

So why did Arusei not get a written story?

Even if her tale were under a tragedy, someone would have placed a melody to her suffering, and perhaps then, she would have felt less alone.

Well, anyway, Regina would be here soon, and perhaps then my complaints would die down

The upper aristocrat section was basically, in a hotel setting, the presidential suite, while the lower aristocracy was the executive suite.

The upper aristocrats had private amenities, like a tea time lawn and indoor jacuzzi, whereas our amenities, lower nobility, were shared in a common area.

The commoner rooms housed three per room, with only access to public school amenities

As a rule, the school catered for security for all except the upper nobility.

In any case, my return to my allocated room in the lower nobility section is a testament to how I lived my first life as Arusei.

Grateful…grateful they did not kill me sooner.

*

*

*

“Oh wow, the room is splendid! And look-,” the maid rushed to the other end of the room and pulled open the white cream curtains as soon as I unlocked the door to my room, “Gods, but the school is magnificent!!”

The tall building offered an excellent overview of the compound. However, despite the beauty, all the windows served to remind was that the higher one was, the better.

So, what to do?

I like the upper rooms, but handling the atmosphere with the guards is a little…

“My lady, I will do the unpacking. You should rush to class!” the maid offered.

Rush to class? What for?

“I am tired. I shall sleep until late afternoon.”

“O-oh… but my lady.’

“Do the unpacking as quietly as possible; I would genuinely hate for you to sleep outside in the fall cold.”

“R-right… of course.”

*

*

*

Contrary to my instruction, I was not woken up in the afternoon, rather, the chirpy maid had also fallen asleep.

I do not hate her incompetence, rather, it makes it easy to tend to my matters privately, today’s being, research.

It was roughly six in the evening, and all who inhabited the central library, where I was, were either obsessed with their grades, their futures or f*****g in the history section.

All valid reasons to be in the library, but I was no exception.

I grabbed the third book off the shelf titled, ‘The Barren Abandoned City of Cerelle.’

Basically, one out of two things would happen.

The Emperor would grant me a good land from the neutral allied territories, then ask me to pledge my loyalty to him, or he would offer a dud land in hopes of my death during its management.

The worst option was the former. I can handle the Emperor’s hate; it is his love that suffocates.

I sat down in the corner, away from the moaning and shaking shelves, then opened the Cerelle book's first page.

“Would you like to open the audiovisual learning tool?” A pop-up mascot of the book, a dwarf, asked.

It was not unusual to have books imbued in magic. However, I was not in the mood to do a pop-up test after each chapter, so I rejected the offer then drew the book closer.

‘Cerelleavie or Cerelle is a land ruled by the vassals of the late tyrant Baethbe.

The barren land is a coastal territory located in the neutral highlands south of the western territory primarily occupied by humans; however, non-humans take up a whopping third of the total population of twenty-four thousand.

The land of Cerelle, though primarily a wasteland of crime and impropriety, holds a marvellous docking system that permits intercontinental trade making its primary source of income business as opposed to farming which is greatly supported by highland weather.

The low land of the region, from the waterfalls of drakesfall, experiences all four seasons like most lands; however, drought plagues the land from mid-spring to mid-fall, in what the vassals classify as a curse.’

Nothing was outstanding in the land other than the fact that it had no clear distinction territory wise, meaning that invaders from the West, Pirates and freaking seasonal beasts must be a whopping concern

The land had a river pass through it, yet still, it was termed as barren.

It made no sense…

A drought from mid-spring? How?

The hair in the back of my neck pricked, and as smoothly as I could, I switched out the book on Cerelle for a romantic book titled ‘The Stars are Us.’

The book, popularity aside, was pure garbage.

A stable boy and maid fall in love; however, once kidnapped by a count with insomnia, the maid slowly begins to alter her preferences because he ‘needed’ her. The boy tries to get her back and, on his quest, is killed by the possessive count who spends the remainder of the book lathered in guilt for hurting the maid and, well…sex because they loved each other, so they keep slipping up?

I am not sure…it was a bothersome read, no, a confusing read. But who am I to truly say what she felt for the stable boy was love simply because it was written as such?

The chair next to me was dragged, and a person who reeked of sweat and…sex sat himself down.

“Gods, you are as beautiful as the rumours dictate, you know.” A familiar sultry voice spoke.

“I greet his highness, prince Killian Norvi-,”

“Aww, do not do that, do not introduce distance between us! You will make me weep!”

The playboy prince.

I lifted my gaze to the greying eyes with russet specks that much redefined my thoughts on the colour’s beauty.

The rattling of the shelves had stopped, so the math placed itself; however, should he not freshen up before starting small talk with one he wished to converse with, or was I not deserving of his respect.

Pitiful.

“I see.” I sighed then closed the books I had opened.

“ ‘The Stars are Us?’,” he read the title of the book aloud, halting my motions, “My, my, I never pegged you as a romantic.”

“In the what, your highness, five seconds we have spoken?”

“I have known you long before this conversation.”

“Is that right?”

“Yes, I know all the girls in the academy.” He smiled.

“You graduate soon, lest you wish to be labelled a paedophile, I would ask you to rescind your statement.”

He chuckled.

“You have a tough exterior, but I bet you are soft in the middle.”

“Your highness, what kind words you share.”

“Is that sarcasm?” his laugh grew.

“I bid your highness-,”

“Wait, wait, uh…” he cleared his throat, “Do not leave yet! Do you not wish to spea-”

“As your highness wishes.”

“What? No,” he made himself more comfortable, “I am asking you to stay as a friend.”

“I understand; however, your highness, I do not believe it appropriate for us to speak for too long.”

“And why is that?” he asked, then proceeded to answer himself, “because you are-,”

“A woman, unescorted,” I interrupted, “while you, a-,”

“Man?”

No, a s****l deviant.

“Yes, your highness.”

“Well, at this moment, I come to you, a fellow book reader.” He smiled, “Leon!!”

A tall, well-built gold-haired man emerged from one of the tall shelves then walked towards us.

“This is my knight,” Prince Killian introduced.

Leon Tagen, a male lead. Rather, the knight that died for Regina sake.

“His name is Leon Tagen, he doesn’t like women, but he is pretty soft in the middle as well. He shall act as our chaperone.”

Oh right, Leon was a tsundere character.

“So, can the lady tell me why she reached for that book from the shelf?”

My heart lept at his ambiguity; he could not have seen the book on lands, could he?

I followed the line of his gaze to the topmost of the closed books, then relaxed in my seat.

The romance book.

“This lady wished to much better understand what love is.”

“I bet you the maid knew.” He answered.

“Has your highness read the book?”

“Yes, not out of my own will, the lass I wished to woo at the time of its popularity adored it, and what better way to captivate a woman than to hold her interests?”

Was that still not his own will?

“Does your highness really think the maid knowledgeable?”

“Of course, she followed her heart-,”

“She was kidnapped-,”

“With love, of course-,”

“Kidnapped..with love?”

I cannot believe I am speaking to a potential ruler.

“Well, you know what I mean, it is in the lines they recite together with the count.”

“So what of the boy she grew up with, what of his belief that she suffered from Stockholm syndrome?”

“The boy is deluded; can you not say so? I mean, look at the times she was granted freedom, yet apart from when she arrived, she did not attempt to run free.” He answered, “Even at the book's end, had she chosen the stable boy, they would have both died, still a testament of eternal love, but again she told him she wished to stay longer with the count. Thus, he died holding the loneliness she had, from the moment of her absence, placed.”

Hah…he had a point.

“It is as you say, your highness.” I bowed then stood from my chair.

“Is that it?” the Prince frowned. “Are you simply going to depart?”

“Your highness wished to discuss the book. We have discussed the book.”

He chuckled.

“Leon, you see this?” he smiled, turning his posture to Leon yet maintaining his gaze to me, “There is soft in the middle, and then there is just hollow.”

“At your request…” he took my bookless hand and pressed it to his lips, “I could-,”

“Dear brother, harassing the first woman you meet?”A sultry voice interrupted the prince's words.

A possessive hand snaked my waist.

“Ah, if it isn't the young bastard-,” Prince Killian began.

“I would remind you to watch your tongue; gods only know when my sword should slip from its scabbard.”

“Throw your glove, you coward.”

“I greet his highness, crown prince Étienne.” I greeted to loosen the tense atmosphere.

I used my slight bow as a way to escape his grip; however, either he was too quick, or I was too stupid to believe that subtlety was his suit because he rectified his hold on me.

“Lady Alpensa, I am glad you decided to wait for me, and as we discussed earlier, I shall walk you to the dorms.”

Discussed earlier? I was sleeping?

“Firstly, your highness, as we are not courting, I find it imperative to inform you that I do not appreciate your hands on my waist.”