A Painting of the Villainess as a Young Lady

n, tried to hide such ugly sentiments.
But in the end, her wish did not come true.

That sense of inferiority followed Aileen evermore.

“Aileen.”

“……”

“You must have come here to blame me.
You’re in pain? You’re in that situation right now? In your position right now, you can’t even do or achieve anything at all.”

As Violet moved away from her while asking Aileen all these things, the girl stared at her.

Her hair shimmered with the moon’s illumination.

“I hate you, Aileen.
I hate you and everyone in this residence.
Everything here is so horrible that it’s impossible to endure.”

“…You’re crazy.”

“So, I’m leaving.
No matter how hard you struggle, you can never be me.
No matter how good you are at pretending, you can never be a good person… But since I’m myself, I’ve decided to live the life that I want.”

The woman who once wept as she had been ostracized finally, after all this time, looked at peace.

“As you say— I may be crazy.
But one thing’s for sure.”

Violet drew closer to Aileen once more and, again, caressed the girl’s cheek.

“In the end, it’s all your doing.”

“……”

“The situation you are in right now, your despair, your anger.
Everything.”

You brought it onto yourself.

The girl who had collapsed hit the ground with her fist.
Slightly perplexed at the girl’s enraged reaction, Violet tilted her head to the side.

“I will claim what’s rightfully mine.”

“Yes, yes.
Take it if you want.
If you go and do that, let’s see if you can change anything.”

“……”

The girl on the ground cried.

Violet walked forward, leaving Aileen behind her.

There was no reason for her to look back.

* * *

A new morning had dawned.

As she had not slept a wink all night, Violet’s expression was dark.
Stomping her feet slightly, Mary examined Violet’s face and asked,

“Milady, by any chance, did something happen?”

“Nope, nothing at all.”

After Violet had let it all out at Aileen, sleep eluded her all night while thinking about it.
She laughed.

It’s a good morning.
It had to be a good morning.

Because today was the day that Violet would be getting away from this endlessly tiring ducal household.

“Um, firstly then, here’s a basin so you can wash your face, Milady.
After doing so, shall I put on some make up for you?”

“How troublesome.”

Though Violet wouldn’t be using this room any longer from tomorrow onwards, Mary tidied up the room.

After she washed her face with rose water with some rose petals floating above the surface, Violet went on to change into a new set of clothes.

Violet often shopped, but most of her recent purchases were only art materials.

“Now, there we go.
Pretty, right?”

“Sure.
Your skills are improving day by day.”

As Mary tied up Violet’s hair neatly, she smiled.
Then, when Violet beckoned to her, Mary bowed her head.

Liking the touch of her master’s hand upon her, the girl smiled as Violet patted her head.