I’m a villain, but I want to live a long life.

Chapter 5  I’m a villain, but I want to live a long life.

“Lord Walther was here this morning! His lordship wished to dine with you…….”

The “lord” she was referring to was no doubt Duke Tigeris, Selenea’s father.
(Selenea: Doesn’t call Duke Tigeris “father,” uses “Dad” hesitantly for the first time.)

“The Duke…… No, my father?”

“Yes, he seemed to have heard that you had fallen yesterday, and that’s why he was so worried. I guess…… because he’s your father!”

I looked at Anna with a puzzled smile, emphasizing the word ‘father’.

Suddenly, a very easy and simple thesis popped into my head.

“Did Selenea always hate her father?

And the answer that followed convinced me.

“……You’re going to go today, right? You don’t have any plans, and it’s been a long time since you’ve had a meal together.”

“I’m sure. He must have refused to sit down to dinner a lot.

I nodded at first.

But a million thoughts were racing through my head.

Selenea’s father,Aleon Tigeris, was no ordinary man.

Perhaps even more so than Estelin’s father, Calypso Laurent.

If Calypso Laurent was the Emperor’s sturdy shield, Aleon Tigeris was an uncontrollable sword.

He graduated from the Academy at the top of his class and revolutionized every battle in the conflict zone.

He was one of the Empire’s finest military forces, and for good reason: he had a terrifying ability.

“Wasn’t he one of the strongest men in the universe in the original?

Even if the end was a bit of a dud.

Anyway, the way things were going, it was all thanks to her father that Selenea was able to get away with doing horrible things without worrying about the consequences…….

“You mean she didn’t get along with her father?

This was another thing I didn’t know.

* * *

“You’re …… late.”

Aleon Tigeris sat at the head of the large table and glanced at the empty seat across from him.

“It’s still five minutes early, Your Excellency.”

His lieutenant, Walter, said.

Duke Tigeris remained impassive, his gaze fixed on the firmly closed door.

Click-clack-clack.

The sound of his fingertips striking the solid oak table echoed through the vast hall.

Walter glanced at the Duke and then at his watch.

There were only two minutes left until the promised meal.

“I see you’re not coming today.

Walther rubbed his stiff temples. If the princess didn’t show up again today, he’d surely be the one to be called out.

“I’ve got a lot of work to do…….

It would be bad enough if they ordered special training to prepare for the winter’s demon slaying.

I’m sure Lord Mana would be full of life and swinging his fearsome sword around.

Walter shuddered as he remembered his previous dueling training opponent.

He had no desire to do that again.

“Shall I serve the food?”

Just then, the chef quietly approached and asked. I looked at my watch, the hour and minute hands pointing to the hour.

It was a beautiful day.

Letting out a small sigh, Walter cocked his head at the chef.

The Duke remained seated, unmoving, his eyes fixed on the door.

The princess would not show up today. Experience had told him so.

Soon the chef stepped back. A line of cooks began to serve the food.

Just before the first plate of silver was placed on the luxurious tablecloth.

Bam!

Against everyone’s expectations, the tightly closed door creaked open.

Soon, a long-lost head poked through the crack.

* * *

“Uh…….”

I looked up to see the Duke sitting majestically at the head of an impossibly large table.

His platinum hair was the same color as mine, his eyes as red as wine.

His lips were slightly parted in surprise, tucked beneath a stubborn forehead and a prominent nose.

“Now, will you excuse me for a moment…….”

Under his watchful gaze, I quickly crossed the dining room at a shuffling pace, pushed past the huddled cooks, and took a seat.

A stifling silence descended around me as I hesitated, unsure of where to look.

I quickly ducked my head, realizing I’d forgotten to say hello.

“Oh, hello?”

I hesitated a moment, then added a word.

“……Dad?”

I realized that I had forgotten to greet him.

I had never said “father” before, not even as Se-bin-lee.

I looked up from my embarrassed expression to see the Duke facing me, stiff and rigid.

Next to him stood an indigo-haired man with his mouth hanging open.

“Is that Walter?

I was sure it was Walther, Duke Tigeris’s lieutenant, who had visited Anna that morning.

But why he looked like he’d seen a ghost was a mystery.

I muttered timidly.

“Am I a little late? I thought I was right on time.”

I even flashed a deliberately awkward smile, but the mood in the restaurant didn’t improve.

“Did I smear something on my face? Why is everyone looking at me like that?

The servants looked at me as if they saw something they shouldn’t…….

As he looked around in bewilderment, Walter coughed in vain.

“……What are you all doing, and why don’t you bring the food?”

The stiffened cooks and servants hurriedly set the food they were carrying down on the table.

The silver covers on the plates disappeared. At last, the delectable food was revealed.

A glistening meat dish, a soup of vegetables and bacon, and a variety of desserts on relatively small plates.

Each one looked like it would make you drool if you let your eyes wander.

“This is amazing”.

I cheered inwardly, swallowed hard, and froze in place as I reached for my fork and knife.

I stopped in my tracks as I realized that the Duke of Tigeris was still as stiff as ever.

“Are you not eating ……?”

I asked cautiously, watching him carefully. A million thoughts raced through my head.

Was there some kind of greeting etiquette I didn’t know?

Or should I have started with small talk, like how have you been?

I stare at him nervously, and the Duke finally looks away from me.

Though his expression still looked somewhat uncomfortable.

I glanced at him as he slowly picked up his fork and thought.

‘So this is what it feels like to have a father and daughter who don’t get along.

The atmosphere in the restaurant was awkward, almost breathless.

But I shook my head inwardly and took a deep bite of the steak in front of me.

“I don’t know. I’ll think about it later.’

I wasn’t thinking about anything else right now.

How much steak was this?

A wave of emotion washed over me as I remembered the days when I was broke and my only meat was frozen chicken breasts.

My stomach churned with hunger.

I quickly popped a piece into my mouth, and the light, clean flavor washed over my tongue.

But before I could close my eyes and savor the flavor.

Without warning, a voice burst into my ear.

“You’ve been starving.”

My closed eyes fluttered open and I looked across the table, bewildered.

The Duke of Tigeris stared back at me, his fork in the air.

“You’re ……?”

“I asked if you’ve been starving.”

His voice was sharp for some reason. I opened and closed my mouth in a daze, then stammered out a gibberish answer.

“Uh, well, I didn’t eat breakfast, so I was kind of hungry…….”

“…….”

A chilling silence followed.

The Duke’s cold gaze was still fixed on my face.

I slowly put my fork down and thought to myself.

“This is…… serious”.

It was not that we didn’t get along.

Otherwise, his first words to his daughter at the head of the table would not be, “Have you been starving?

“Walther.”

That’s when the Duke called out to me.

I froze, finishing the last bite of meat in my mouth, feeling uneasy.

“Who is Selenea’s direct maid?”

“Anna Vardi.”

“Lock her in a cellar and don’t let her out until she’s dead.”

My eyes widened. The meat I’d been chewing caught in my throat in surprise.

“Now, wait a minute, I said the wrong thing!”

I cackled, and the duke stared at me wordlessly.

“I didn’t eat because I overslept!”

I picked up the glass of water on the table and gulped it down, then added in a huff.

“Oh, it’s not that Anna didn’t eat, it’s that I woke up late and she said I was ready to eat……!”

Amid my panic, a thought struck me.

“Oh, no, she’s doing this on purpose, making an example of me because she’s unhappy with me, or something.

Joint and several liability!

But the Duke of Tigeris had no answer. He just stared at me, his cold eyes searching my face.

“……servant.”

I straightened up nervously, and the Duke continued.

“I had no idea you thought so horribly of him.”

His cold voice echoed through the silent dining room.

I stared at him in surprise and disbelief.

“Is that a horse shoe?

I was sure. And a highly skilled spin.

A short sigh rose to the top of my throat.

……I fell asleep, euphoric that I had just left the company yesterday.

‘Is there a social life here?

This was a mountain out of a molehill.

I’d just saved my heroine from being poisoned, and now I felt like I was going to have to fight to keep her from getting kicked out of the house.

But then.

“Speaking of which, let me ask you a question.”

“Yes, yes……?”

“Where did that come from?”

The Duke spoke low, his brow furrowed. His expression was even more murderous this time than it had been a moment ago.

I stared at him wordlessly, my mouth slightly open.

“No. What the hell is going on here?

He came out on a whim. He wanted to eat with me.

But what a ridiculous reaction.

“I don’t know what it is, but you’re pissed off.