This Villain Is Mine Now

Chapter 112

Meanwhile, Anna, who had come out of the Marquis’s study, quickly descended the stairs. In the entrance hall, she pulled her hood lower to hide her face from the butler who was waiting for her.

The butler looked at her disapprovingly and handed her a pouch of coins. Snatching the pouch of clinking gold coins, Anna scurried out of the mansion.

“Like a filthy rat.”

The butler muttered as he watched her retreating figure. Did she really think wearing a hood would conceal her identity?

The fact that she was a mere maid from the House of Grant and yet received more money than his monthly salary infuriated him to no end. In his frustration, the butler took it out on the young new maid standing beside him.

“Why are you just standing there? Go clean the study. I’ll be up shortly, so go on!”

“Y-yes, understood…!”

Due to the Marquisate’s financial difficulties, many maids had to be let go. Though they had received the rights to Nathan Hennet’s medicine, the medicine didn’t help much now that winter had begun.

Experienced maids demanded higher pay, so the new hires were mostly fresh-faced novices like her. With so many inept new staff, the butler had to keep an eye on countless matters.

Though he hadn’t lost his job like the others, the butler’s circumstances weren’t any better. His salary had been reduced. With more work and less pay, he had long since lost any affection for the household. He had already submitted his resume to several families and was just waiting for a position to be confirmed so he could quit at once.

“Um… Butler?”

The timid voice of the young maid looking up at him made him frown.

“Didn’t I tell you to go clean the study? Why are you dawdling?”

He clicked his tongue and gave her a look of clear disapproval. Instead of hiring such useless brats, they should’ve raised his salary. Still stewing over his reduced pay, the butler’s tone was gruff.

“You must be very tired. Should I go clean the study on my own?”

The maid’s cautious suggestion slightly softened the butler’s mood. He had thought she was clueless, but she seemed rather considerate.

The study was a space the Marquis especially cherished. Perhaps out of concern that the household staff might mishandle its contents, the rule was that a maid and the butler must always clean the study together.

“Ahem.”

The butler let out a couple of fake coughs. The meek-looking maid jumped in fright at the small sound and bowed her head deeply.

Such a timid girl would never dare touch the Marquis’s possessions. That thought made the butler feel an overwhelming fatigue and a longing to return to his bed.

“Mark my words. If you lay a finger on anything in that study…!”

“Ah, I know! I only have one life, there’s no way I’d do such a thing. Don’t worry. I’ll just clean up quickly and come right back.”

The maid shook her head with a pale face, reacting innocently. A girl like her wouldn’t dare touch the Marquis’s belongings. Convinced of this, the butler finally gave in to temptation.

***

As she cautiously turned the doorknob, the study door opened with a creak. Entering, the maid slowly looked around the room.

“Hmm, hmm, hmm.”

She hummed a tune and smiled broadly. Her demeanor had changed so drastically from the innocent girl she portrayed in front of the butler that it was hard to believe she was the same person.

Her cheerful steps carried her to the Marquis’s desk. The maid reached for the kerchief tied around her head and pulled out a single hairpin she had tucked in to hold back stray hairs.

“I didn’t think I’d get a chance today either.”

The maid’s name was Rapina. Born with a naturally meek appearance, she also possessed an innately flexible body and nimble hands. With such talents, it was only natural that Rapina would become a first-rate thief.

“Please, Rapina. Help Madam.”

In the entertainment district, the Archducal couple were famous figures. Despite being high-ranking nobles, they frequently visited Colin’s tavern and, unlike the arrogant types, treated commoners with kindness. Moreover, for Rapina, she couldn’t ignore the request of Anna, whom she had grown up with since childhood.

“Ugh. But I can’t do this anymore!”

She was also at her wit’s end with the maid work that didn’t suit her. She no longer wanted to wash cups or do laundry outside in the cold winter weather.

Thankfully, Anna had done quite well today. Keeping the butler lingering at the entrance with her report until late had paid off. Since the butler, who always shadowed her during study cleaning, had vanished, it was finally time for Rapina to show her skills.

The task was to find the item the Marquis treasured. That was what Anna and the Lady of House Grant wanted. They hadn’t asked her to steal it—just to find out what it was. Rapina had to work hard to hide her bewilderment on the day she received that strange order.

A month had passed since she infiltrated the Marquisate as a maid. During that time, she had snooped all over the place looking for anything suspicious. With the low number of staff, the job was relatively easy.

It hadn’t taken long to deduce that the most likely place to hide “that item” was the study. Unlike other rooms, even a servant entering it alone was strictly forbidden—suspicious by anyone’s standards.

Of course, the study contained many expensive items. Just as the butler warned not to touch anything, the room was overflowing with rare old books and pricey decorations. But Rapina didn’t spare a glance at any of that.

“It’s not like this is my first time hitting a place like this.”

Rapina carefully bent a bobby pin and inserted it into the keyhole, wiggling it around. There was a click. The drawer opened far more easily than she expected.

“…Huh?”

Rapina frowned. It was because of a sudden light. The Marquis Redwood’s study was pitch-dark, shrouded with blackout curtains. But as soon as she opened the drawer, light poured out from a jewelry box as if luring her.

***

The next day, the butler made Rapina run errands at the market as punishment for not cleaning the study properly. But judging by his lack of further remarks, it seemed no one had discovered she had opened the drawer the night before.

Despite being punished, Rapina wore a strangely relieved expression, which made the butler even more furious. He had already been scolded by the Marquis that morning and was in a foul mood for having entrusted the task to her in the first place.

Unfortunately, running errands to the market was no punishment for Rapina. On the contrary, it was just what she wanted. With light steps, Rapina left the Marquisate and never returned.

“It was glowing? From the jewelry box?”

“I told you, didn’t I.”

At Colin’s tavern. The sun had just risen, and the shop hadn’t opened yet. Their hushed voices echoed inside. Anna had come running after receiving word, and Rapina had changed out of her maid uniform into her original clothes.

“But how does it glow? A jewel glowing in a dark room by itself?”

“Yeah! Just like the sun or moon in the sky, it really glowed on its own. Now I get why the Marquis is so obsessive about locking everything up.”

Rapina nodded, saying that even she would get stingy if she had something so valuable. She admitted to Anna how tempted she was to steal that sparkling ring, but it was obvious her life would be on the line if she did. She confessed just how hard it had been to suppress her desire.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but if your Madam is looking for something, it has to be that ring.”

“You didn’t touch it, right? Didn’t the madam clearly say…!”

“Am I crazy? Unless I want to die, there’s no way I’d touch something like that. You don’t even have to nag me about it—I know better than anyone. Instead, I brought this.”

Afraid Anna would continue scolding her, Rapina quickly pulled an ornament from her pocket and showed it.