Chapter 3 — The Villainess Unni Is Terrifying

Fortunately, even Perioje unni hadn’t noticed my ability.

After handing the child over to the person who turned out to be their aunt, I went back upstairs and found Perioje unni elegantly savoring her latte.

I sat down across from her and apologized.

“So, why did you call me here?”

Perioje unni stared directly at me, her expression clearly telling me to get to the point.

I hesitated for a moment before finally looking at her and saying,

“Please make me your right-hand woman!”

At my request to become her loyal subordinate, Perioje unni merely snorted.

Fortunately, our coffee and bread arrived just then, so we put that matter aside for the moment.

I savored the delicious latte and bread while carefully observing Perioje unni’s expression.

Maybe it was because I had been drinking my latte while so nervous.

I suddenly needed to use the bathroom.

Unfortunately, the café’s only restroom was on the first floor.

I didn’t like the idea of leaving Perioje unni alone, so I tried to hold it in, but I couldn’t endure it any longer.

“Um, I’m going to use the restroom for a moment.”

I had no choice but to jump to my feet and hurry down to the first-floor restroom.

After taking care of business, I quickly left the restroom and headed back toward the stairs so I could return to Perioje unni as soon as possible.

But as I turned the corner leading toward the first floor, I heard the whispers of several young ladies who had been forced to leave because I had rented out the entire second floor.

My feet instinctively stopped.

“Isn’t this seriously rude? How can someone rent out an entire café?”

“She comes from a nouveau riche family that has nothing but money. They’re so uncultured that this is probably the only way they know how to show off their wealth.”

“Even so, isn’t this going too far? Does she really have no common sense?”

They were all badmouthing me for renting out the second floor.

I had been prepared to be criticized, so I was about to simply walk past them.

But then the young ladies began badmouthing my unni as well.

My feet stopped completely.

“I heard this was all Lady Perioje’s doing.”

“That’s what I heard. She can’t rent the place herself because of her reputation, so she used that nouveau riche young lady instead.”

“Do you really think Lady Perioje cares about her reputation? She’s only doing this because she doesn’t want to fall out of favor with His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“Isn’t that too much? At this rate, the nouveau riche girl will take all the criticism while Lady Perioje gets to enjoy everything and then just slips away…”

I couldn’t tolerate the rest.

I quickly stepped around the corner and approached the group of young ladies sitting near the wall on the first floor.

The ladies froze for a moment when they saw me.

Then their expressions changed into something that seemed to say,

So what if you heard us?

“Would you mind if I said something?”

My words made the young ladies exchange confused glances.

I smiled sweetly at them.

“It’s perfectly fine to gossip about someone if you want. But if you’re going to do it, you should at least stick to facts. Otherwise, you only end up making yourselves look ugly.”

Their faces twisted.

“What? U-Ugly…?”

“No, wait! Young lady, what exactly are you trying to say? How are we—”

“I am the one who rented the entire second floor and invited Lady Perioje. She simply accepted my invitation. Therefore, there is no reason for her to be the subject of your gossip.”

I cut off the flustered young lady and continued firmly.

“And there’s one more thing. You’re publicly insulting Lady Perioje, the eldest daughter of House McKenzie, in a public place. If this were to reach the ears of His Grace the Duke of McKenzie, do you really think those insignificant little heads of yours would remain attached to your necks?”

As I methodically laid out my points in a strong voice, the mouths of the young ladies who had been badmouthing both me and Perioje unni snapped shut simultaneously.

I smiled at them as politely as I could.

“Please be more careful from now on. Words are incredibly light and love to grow much larger than their original size. You never know what kind of misfortune a thoughtless remark might bring upon you.”

After saying that, I turned around, keeping my chin held as high and proudly as possible.

By the time I reached the stairs leading to the second floor, all the young ladies on the first floor had fallen completely silent, as though someone had stuffed honey into their mouths.

The Duke of McKenzie really must be terrifying.

I smiled to myself as I climbed back upstairs.

And then I suddenly met Perioje unni’s eyes.

She was standing halfway up the staircase with her arms crossed, looking down at me.

“Uh… unni!”

Perioje unni’s face was as expressionless as usual as she looked at me and then at the stairs I had just climbed.

“Um, unni…”

Before I could say anything else, she abruptly turned around and walked downstairs.

Knowing Perioje unni’s personality so well from the original novel, I immediately became worried that the young ladies downstairs were about to suffer a terrible fate.

So I hurried after her.

Once she reached the bottom of the stairs, Perioje unni slowly scanned the room, searching for the group of young ladies who had been talking with me.

The moment the ladies’ eyes met hers, they flinched nervously, clearly feeling guilty.

Perioje unni immediately realized that they were the ones who had been badmouthing her.

“You were having some interesting conversations.”

Her icy voice echoed throughout the first floor.

She had such overwhelming charisma that the bustling first floor became completely silent after just that one sentence, as though someone had poured ice water over the entire room.

Perioje unni didn’t seem remotely interested in the effect she was having.

With an arrogant expression and a voice filled with chilling coldness, she continued.

“Lady McKenzie is desperately trying not to fall out of favor with His Highness the Crown Prince… Wasn’t that what you were saying?”

Repeating their own words back to them, she made the young ladies go pale with terror.

Perioje unni narrowed the corners of her eyes slightly as she looked down at them.

She was definitely smiling faintly.

Yet there was something about the way she looked down at them that reminded me of a predator cornering helpless prey.

My heart went cold just standing beside her.

I could only imagine how the young ladies who had insulted her must have felt.

“I suppose having a loose tongue is understandable. After all, it’s the result of having an empty head. I won’t criticize you for that.”

“…!”

“But if you can’t distinguish between the people you may speak carelessly to and those you absolutely should not…”

Her smile disappeared.

“…then you shouldn’t show your faces in high society.”

The young ladies trembled.

“Because the price of moving those mouths carelessly may not only bring you down. It could drag your entire family down with you.”

Wow.

She’s threatening them so elegantly and terrifyingly.

She was basically telling them that if they crossed her, they wouldn’t merely lose their place in high society—the survival of their entire families could be put at risk.

And she was saying all of it with an utterly calm expression.

I couldn’t help but admire Perioje unni’s charisma once again.

She really could say whatever she wanted while keeping that perfectly expressionless face.

“I-I’m sorry!”

“I was wrong, Lady Perioje!”

“I’m sorry! I misspoke!”

The young ladies trembled as they quickly apologized under Perioje unni’s elegant threat.

One of them even burst into tears, making Perioje unni look even more like the terrifying villainess she was supposed to be.

“Why are you crying?”

Perioje unni tilted her head.

“I haven’t even cut off anyone from your family’s head yet.”

The young ladies froze.

“Well, go on. Enjoy yourselves.”

The corners of Perioje unni’s lips and eyes curled noticeably upward.

“Enjoy yourselves while you still can. I hope you realize just how precious peaceful days like today truly are.”

She smiled.

It was an incredibly chilling smile—so cold that it sent shivers down my spine.

My shoulders trembled involuntarily.

…Yep.

My favorite villainess unni is terrifying.