Our Villainess Has Changed

Chapter 29

“It’s settled now, right? I’m done for today, and I’ll start leaving work in the evenings from tomorrow.”

“…Alright. I’ll have your room prepared again.”

“There’s no need for that.”

As long as the jewels were there, that was enough.

Anette stood up from her seat.

It was a satisfying negotiation for both sides. After concluding the discussion, Anette immediately headed to Lucas’s office.

She had to finish cleaning. If she wanted to be done before lunchtime, she had to hurry.

The only one who returned to where they were waiting for Anette was Berndt.

He didn’t even glance at Lucas or Charles. His focus was only on the two people who had come with him.

“Let’s go back. Anette will be coming home tomorrow. She said she’ll be commuting to work.”

“Understood.”

“Commuting?”

“…….”

For Lucas and Charles, who didn’t want Anette to return to the Lois estate, this was bad news.

Berndt smirked triumphantly at their scowling faces. Charles’s expression only darkened further at that smile.

Edwin glanced at Lucas and Charles before following Berndt and the knight who had come with them.

The door closed, leaving only Lucas and Charles behind.

“That twisted bastard.”

Charles muttered curses toward the departing Berndt.

Lucas got up and walked toward his office.

Anette had left her cleaning supplies outside his office earlier.

That meant she was probably still inside.

Charles, looking drained, also headed back to his own office.

Back in Lucas’s office, Anette flung open the windows and started cleaning. The weather was clear.

She sniffed the air, thinking of Enoch.

“No smell of rain. When will it come?”

Even looking at the sky didn’t help. The only way she could predict the rain was through her sharp sense of smell.

“Hurry up, rain.”

So she could run to Enoch and propose to him…

After briefly praying while looking at the sky, she scanned the office.

Since she had been the one cleaning it recently, the place was already quite tidy.

“Good, he hasn’t messed it up too much.”

Humming to herself, she resumed cleaning.

Just this morning, her day had felt miserable and painful, but after meeting Enoch, she had rediscovered her first love and faith.

And now, she had a chance to get the jewels.

“See? Life always finds a way.”

She wasn’t going to let this opportunity slip by.

She hadn’t yet figured out how to turn the jewels into cash, but just having them was like insurance.

“I’ll use them for buying a house later.”

And she’d give a few to Enoch, too.

Of course, innocent Enoch would probably refuse them.

Anette grinned mischievously, imagining how she could corrupt his pure heart with capitalism.

To do that, she had to work hard and save money.

She swore to herself that she wouldn’t lose this week’s wages.

As she was determinedly cleaning, the door suddenly burst open.

Of course, it was Lucas.

Anette looked at him, puzzled as to why he was there while she was cleaning.

Lucas, for some reason, looked angry.

What? What’s wrong with him?

She stared blankly at his furious face.

Lucas strode over to her, as if about to say something, but then hesitated and closed his mouth again.

He was upset. He wanted to be angry at her, but he couldn’t find the words.

No matter how much he thought about it, he had no right to be mad.

Even if she had suffered violence at the Lois estate, if she was choosing to return on her own, he had no power to stop her.

He had no right or authority to do so.

But in his heart, he wanted to lock her away in the temple so she could never return there.

He didn’t want to see her hurt again.

Why was she going back to the place she had sworn never to return to?

“Why…”

Lucas finally spoke after struggling to find the right words.

Anette, who had gone back to cleaning, lifted her head at his quiet voice.

“What did you say?”

“Why are you going back to the Lois estate? What do you mean by commuting? And why—”

“I have my reasons.”

Lucas shut his mouth again.

Was it because of Berndt ?

Berndt was the legitimate heir of an established noble family.

Unlike Lucas, who was just a half-noble.

“…….”

Lucas looked at Anette’s hands, still gripping the broom.

The wounds she had before had healed without a trace.

To her, those wounds were nothing.

Lucas suddenly felt like that wound was just like himself—something insignificant, something that didn’t leave a mark.

Why do I feel so defeated?

“…….”

Anette studied his face curiously.

The usual arrogance was gone.

Where was the sharp-toothed hunting dog from before? He now looked like a dejected puppy.

Did someone scold him?

Was it Berndt? Or Charles?

Both were possible.

But Lucas wasn’t the type to get discouraged by their words.

If anything, he would’ve lashed out even harder.

Something felt off.

“Did something happen?”

“…No, nothing.”

“Then why are you acting weird? This isn’t like you.”

Why are you suddenly pretending to be nice?

Anette squinted at him suspiciously.

She put down the broom and picked up a clean rag.

She wanted to ask if he was going to keep standing there, getting in the way of her cleaning.

She wanted him gone, but his unusual demeanor was bothering her.

For some reason, she was worried.

Well… He was the first man she ever thought she had a chance to flirt with, even if that turned out to be a misunderstanding.

She hesitated before asking again.

“Did someone bully you?”

“Hah, as if anyone could.”

Lucas scoffed.

Then why do you look like someone who just got bullied?

Anette was about to tell him to leave if he had nothing to do, but before she could, he suddenly turned and walked out.

“What the hell, that rude bastard…”

Lucas left his office and walked aimlessly before stopping to take a deep breath.

He had practically run away.

Why am I running away?

Lucas was confused.

He didn’t understand why he was acting like this or why he felt strange every time he saw Anette.

Anette had lost her noble status and become a maid, yet she remained confident.

She was stronger than anyone he knew.

But to him, she always seemed fragile.

He kept worrying about her, afraid she would get hurt.

Even the smallest injury made him anxious.

She always acted tough, as if nothing bothered her, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that, when alone, she must feel lonely and abandoned.

Just like him.

A half-noble and a half-royal.

Maybe that was why he felt a strange connection to her.

But she was different from him.

Lucas, despite his status, had taken a noble’s surname and lived as an aristocrat.

Yet, deep down, he still had a complex about his birth and looked down on those beneath him.

A pathetic inferiority complex.

He knew it was ugly, but he couldn’t help it.

Anette, on the other hand, wasn’t like that.

She had fallen from royalty to a commoner, yet she never once cowered.

She worked as a maid without shame. She ignored the whispers of others.

She had never once been embarrassed about her situation.

She thought differently from everyone else, carrying herself with unshakable confidence.

Even dressed in a maid’s uniform, covered in dust, she still shone.

She wasn’t radiant because she was a royal—she would have shone just as brightly even as a commoner.

Someone like him had no right to dream of having her.

And yet, he wanted her.

He wanted to cast off his inferiority and become someone worthy of her.

He didn’t want to run away anymore.

Lucas headed to the training grounds to clear his mind.