I Became the Villainess in an Anticlimactic Novel

ass suddenly disappeared.

Instead, a light brown drink was placed right in front of me.

It was the drink I had been thinking about a while ago, so my eyes were bound to widen into circles when I saw it. 

Nah, no way.

“What is this?”

“Try it.
You’ll like it.”

Instead of answering my question, he suggested me to taste it. 

I slowly tasted the drink with a trembling heart.
The sweet yet savory taste soaked my tongue and flowed down my throat. 

‘Is this really multigrain powder…?’

I was confused.

Of course there was no law against the people of the empire eating ground and roasted soybean powder or glutinous rice powder and the like, and mixing it into milk.
It’s just that in my mind, multigrain powder was a very ‘Korean’ food, so I didn’t think that I’d see it here at all.

‘Nothing is impossible if you have the right ingredients.’

But just because I had understood it didn’t mean that I could make any sense of it.

When I looked up in confusion, Lecht was staring at me with his chin in his hand, leaning against the table.

Looking at his languid expression and his unwavering eyes, it seemed as if he had been watching me ever since he had given me that toast.
When our eyes met, he added, as if he had just been waiting.

“Apparently it tastes better when you add honey instead of sugar.”

My heart started to beat faster at those meaningless words.

“Ah, yes… That’s right, it’d taste better with honey.”

Why was my heart in such a fluster over such an offhanded remark?

Was it perhaps because multigrain powder was just exactly to my liking? Or maybe it was because I noticed that he was watching me eat? Ah, or was it just because Lecht’s face was just that handsome?

Well, to be fair, with a face like that, even if he said, ‘Ma’am, this jade heating mat is a premium high quality product,’ I would still be excited and buy everything.

Yes, this rapid heartbeat is because of that sharp jawline and those dark features of his that were sexy, even this early in the morning.

I tried to calm my heart down by chewing on my toast and drinking all the multigrain shake, rationalizing all my thoughts.

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“Thank you for the meal.”

“Will that be enough for you?”

Linden asked, as soon as I put my glass down.
The look of concern was obvious on his face.

“I’m fine.
I don’t normally eat a lot in the morning anyway.”

“I see…”

“Have you eaten enough? It seemed as if I was the only one eating.”

“Yep.
I finished eating already.”

“That’s a relief.
Lecht, have you eaten… Huh? Where did he go?”

When I turned my head back again, Lecht was nowhere to be seen.
The jingle of the doorbell and the shaking of the door showed that he had already gone outside.

“So fast, I didn’t even hear the sound of him moving…”

“Meliara.”

As I was still blankly awestruck, Linden called out to me again.
Turning his head, he asked me with an extremely serious expression on his face.

“How do you know that person?”

“Rather than know each other… did you see that dog there? Kelber.
I ran into that kid yesterday and then happened to also meet him for the first time.”

Although Lecht spoke as if we had met in the past, this was the first time I had met him.

“It was my second time meeting him last night when I was with you.”

“But why…”

He trailed off at the end of his sentence. 

But I seemed to know what he was trying to say.

It was why he was so openly hostile to Linden, but not to me? He was definitely treating me differently from Linden, so much so that it was even obvious to me.

“Perhaps he’s one of His Highness, the Crown Prince’s people? He might not know that our engagement has already been broken.”

That was the best guess I could make.

“That’s not it.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“The thing is…”

He seemed to be extremely cautious with his words.
The place where he sneakily glanced towards was where Butler Tanma was waiting for Linden and I with a friendly smile.

“Since he’s someone who’s a close acquaintance of His Majesty the Emperor.”

“Ohhh.”

The Prince of Misfortune who was rejected by the Emperor.
A direct power who had a close relationship with the Emperor.
It was understandable for Linden to act low-key in front of him.

‘Wait no, you’re one of the Emperor’s people, yet you don’t know that I’m the Princess of Darchez?’

What a mysterious man.

“Would you feel more at ease if I swore on the Lake of Moonlight that I’d protect you?”

But I didn’t hate it for some reason.

“Try it.
You’ll like it.”

He may have done such things without putting much thought into it, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it and smiling over it again and again. 

What could I do if it was something good? It wasn’t a crime for my heart to flutter, right? 

After experiencing the natural unspeakable magic that occurred no matter what a handsome man said, I began to have high hopes for my journey in the future.

*** 

The carriage that greeted me the day I came out with all my luggage was extremely nice. 

Unlike the dazzling carriages I had seen in the Darchez Duchy, it carried a dignified aura, and was made of dark varnished wood.
At the same time, the decorations which weren’t too excessive only added to the carriage’s luxurious feeling.

“Get on.”

“It’s okay! I can just go there via the public carriage.”

“Is there a need for us to travel on the same road with different carriages?”

“Ah…”

That’s true.
It would be strange for me to pay to rent a public carriage when there was one already readily available.

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“Then I won’t refuse you! Thank you.”

“It’s only natural for this to happen.”

Oh my.
Look, even his answer is perfect.

“It seems like I’ve found a really good companion.”

Aside from the cost it saved from renting a carriage, sharing the same one was a wonderful choice, as it would even take into account his responsibility for my safety too.

I smiled happily and entered through the door Lecht had opened for me.

The inside was just as nice as the outside.
Contrary to its dignified feeling, it was still cozy.
It also seemed to have a subtle scent of peony.

“Even the seats are spacious.”

Is this what it feels like to ride an expensive limousine?

I burst into laughter for no reason upon experiencing this sort of luxury for the first time.

‘But what are you all doing instead of getting on?’

I seemed to have seen enough of its interior, yet still heard nothing from Linden or Lecht, so I poked my face out of the open door.

Sure enough, the two men were glaring at each other with the cold wind blowing in the background.

“Of course, isn’t it a given for everyone to ride in the same carriage together?”

“I’m not sure why you would think that was a given.”

“Wow, you’re so cold-hearted.
Can’t we share one of them?”

“What’s wrong must be your attitude of claiming a favor as a right.”

“I’m not claiming it as a right, but it’s common sense in this situation…!”

From what I heard from the contents of their argument, what I seemed to get from it was that Linden was roughly saying that, “Doesn’t it make more sense for us all to get in the same carriage since we’re all going together?”, and Lecht was, “It’s my carriage, so why should you get on it?”

“Haa…”

I suddenly heard the sound of Linden calling out to me just as I had sighed, at a loss on who to convince.

“Meliara, can’t I get on the carriage too?”

“Huh…? This carriage isn’t mine, so…”

At my words, Linden’s face reflexively looked as if it were close to tears.

“Then am I supposed to follow you guys on a horse by myself…?”

“N-No, it’s not that, but…”

Since you’re someone with a lot of money, shouldn’t you rent your own carriage…?

No, but as Linden said, we’re all going the same way, so wouldn’t it be strange for us to go separately? It was reasonable for Linden to get on the same carriage as us using the reason I was using to ride in Lecht’s carriage.

“Meliara.
Take me too… okay?”

Linden, who had suddenly closed the distance between us before I knew it, gave me a pitiful look.
Even if it wasn’t the case, I still felt as if I were bullying him, since his expression was so pitiful, like a child’s, and was a mixture of both a puppy and a rabbit’s.

“O-Okay.”

I, who didn’t want to feel like I was a gangster bullying a child, answered impulsively, causing Linden’s face to brighten like a blooming flower.

“Thanks!”

And then quickly climbed into the carriage.

Ah… I received yet another critical hit from his beauty.

It was then that I catch sight of Lecht behind him.

“I’m sorry.
It’s not my carriage, yet I…”

“It doesn’t matter.”

He answered immediately before I could even finish my sentence.

“If you’re comfortable with it, then do it.”

He was someone who had been acting extremely firm, saying that he’d never allow Linden to ride with us, but when Linden did get on the carriage with us, he acted as if it only an insignificant matter.

‘Are you just trying to meddle with Linden’s every move?’

As a person of the Emperor, do you not like Linden, who is ‘the stain on the Imperial Palace’? Or did the Emperor send you to ‘test’ Linden?

Although my head was filled with all sorts of thoughts, it didn’t seem to have anything to do with me, so I simply let it all go.
I was just happy to be able to see these two handsome men at a glance.

So I shouted out energetically.

“Then shall we not stop until we get to Chiban Village?”

…I didn’t know at that time. 

That our journey to the temple would be so difficult…