The Villainess Is Too Difficult

I don’t know how long I, or more precisely, Ariel Walpurgis, had been asleep, but I think it wasn’t a short time. Otherwise, Muriel wouldn’t have made such a fuss when I woke up. And naturally, the meal served to someone who had woken up after sleeping for so long consisted only of easily digestible foods.

‘This is delicious.’

It’s a taste that could make all the food I’ve eaten until now seem trivial. The porridge I knew was a mediocre food with a bland taste, occasionally mixed with meat or vegetables for nutrition, but what I’m eating now feels like a proper dish? I don’t even know what I’m saying, but that’s roughly the feeling.

Muriel stood quietly beside me throughout the meal. I thought about saying something because it was bothering me, but I decided against it when I saw her excessively watching my every move. If I spoke to her here, wouldn’t her reaction be even worse than before? No matter what, that’s a bit…

“Thank you for the meal.”

Seeing the clean empty bowl makes me feel somewhat at ease. How long has it been since I ate so ravenously like this? It must have been at least a few months.

Come to think of it, it’s a bit embarrassing. Even if I was hungry, to eat so hastily… Muriel must have had a hard time trying not to laugh beside me.

Ah, anyway, since I ate so cleanly, it’ll be easier to wash up, so isn’t that better? That’s how it is. I’m not bad, right?

“Is there anything else you need?”

Muriel asked with a face that seemed to be holding something back. Look at that, she’s busy trying not to laugh right now. If I just throw out one small thing here, it feels like she might burst out laughing.

But Muriel’s appearance is in no position to talk about others. Her face twitching as she tries to hold back laughter, her body trembling slightly as if she hasn’t forgotten her fear, unable to meet my eyes and avoiding my gaze. This in itself seems to cause cognitive dissonance. I can’t tell if she’s trying to laugh or if she’s scared.

Ah, by the way, now that I’ve filled my stomach, what should I do? Ah, first I should wash the dishes…

“Ah, Young Lady!”

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

“If you do that… I mean…”

Why is she suddenly acting like this? Did she see something strange?

“There’s no need for you to clean up, Young Lady! I’ll do it!”

Ah, I was wondering why she was acting like that, but I just realized I was organizing the dishes and utensils. I only noticed now because I was moving naturally.

Muriel, as if her earlier hesitation was a lie, started clearing away the dishes at the speed of light. My hands, suddenly left with nowhere to go, flailed in the air for a moment before slowly returning to their place.

Well, fortunately, nothing got on my hands, but it still feels a bit uncomfortable. Should I wash them? It hasn’t been long since I woke up, and it doesn’t seem like there’s anything wrong with washing up.

“Um…”

“Y-yes!”

When I called out carefully, Muriel, who was just loading the empty bowls onto a tray, turned around with a startled look. I wish she wouldn’t look at me with that face… It’s not like I’m going to eat her or something. Come to think of it, the fear of the original Ariel wouldn’t disappear so easily. Isn’t it honestly a miracle that she’s shown signs of almost laughing until now?

I think this kind of miracle is a bit… Oh, this isn’t the time for that. If I called, I should state my business.

“I’d like to wash my hands…”

“E-excuse me! Please wait a moment!”

Before I could say anything, Muriel dashed out. Wait, hold on. That’s not what I meant, I just wanted to ask where the bathroom was. I was just going to wash my hands while I was at it. Where did she go…

Muriel returned not long after. With a basin in her hands. But doesn’t that basin look quite different from the ones I know? Is it my imagination? It’s kind of shiny… Oh, whatever.

“Excuse me. Your hand…”

She made a gesture asking for my hand, so I reflexively held it out. Then Muriel, watching my reaction, gently grasped my hand and started to carefully wash it using the water in the basin.

No, wait a minute. This isn’t what I had in mind. Of course, I did call because I wanted to wash my hands, but… Either way, the purpose of washing hands has been achieved, but…

“Ah…”

When she rubbed between my thumb and index finger, I inadvertently made a strange sound because it tickled. Muriel’s face instantly turned pale.

“I-I’m sorry! Please forgive me!”

Seeing her like this makes me feel sorry for her. How much abuse must she have endured from Ariel?

Ariel is a villainess. At the start of the original work, she had already gone too far, and it probably wasn’t any different before that. She must have been bullied countless times just for being a maid in this house.

When I gently met her gaze, I could feel the fear of what she had endured until now from her hastily lowering her head as if in awe.

It’s useless for me to apologize here. Of course, it would be comfortable for me, but from her perspective, it would only look like the crazy woman who had been tormenting her until now was suddenly apologizing and trying to whitewash herself under the excuse of losing her memory. That’s not good.

There was a similar content in a novel I read before. It was a story about possessing a good-for-nothing, and when the protagonist possessed the body and went around apologizing for the evil deeds done until then, it was described that those around felt various complicated emotions.

Come to think of it, that’s right. An apology is only effective when made by the right person. No matter how identical the body is, if it’s not the person who actually did the bullying, any apology will inevitably feel like it’s being made on behalf of someone else. If I hadn’t been caught losing my memory, it might have been different, but since it’s already been exposed…

“It’s okay, please continue.”

“Y-yes!”

In the end, all I could do was to treat her well from now on. Although I felt complicated in various ways thinking about the bullying she received from Ariel, this is all I can do right now. I’ll have to take it step by step.

“Then I’ll excuse myself for a moment, Young Lady.”

“Okay.”

Hearing a gentle voice she had never heard before, Muriel carefully closed the door. The moment she closed the door, she almost collapsed from the tremendous loss of strength she felt, but thanks to not forgetting where she was, she managed to avoid showing an unseemly appearance.

“How on earth can a person…”

Muriel muttered in a voice drained of strength.

The awakened Young Lady had changed in many ways. She seemed somewhat dazed, and was so gentle that anyone who knew Ariel Walpurgis would doubt their eyes.

Just a while ago, it was the same. Even when she couldn’t hold back and raised her voice, the Young Lady let it pass without saying much, and even when washing her hands, Muriel thought she might get hit, but the Young Lady just gently let it pass.

She had some guesses.

“Could it be that her memory…”

The awakened Ariel seemed to have forgotten not only where this place was, but even her own name. According to the priest who came for treatment, there might be side effects, could this be that side effect?

Amnesia. Muriel didn’t even want to imagine how big the ripple effect would be. First, it would reach the ears of the head butler and head maid. And naturally, the news would reach the Duke, the head of the family, and then… wouldn’t she be unable to escape for a while?

It was a plausible hypothesis. The current Ariel is in a precarious situation in many ways. To regain her memories or at least to make her function as a person again, she needs help from those around her. And the person helping would obviously be herself, the personal maid. Which means?

‘I’m doomed!’

Muriel’s complexion instantly turned ashen. At this rate, she would never escape from the clutches of that vicious Young Lady.

Although she’s showing a docile appearance now due to losing her memory, people’s habits don’t change so easily, so who knows when she might suddenly revert to her previous tyrannical behavior.

And when that time comes, the one who will suffer the most will ultimately be herself, the personal maid.

“Muriel.”

“Ugh, no. I need to do something before that happens…”

“Muriel.”

“Should I just run away secretly? No, if I get caught again, then it would truly be irreversible…”

“Muriel!”

“Eek?!”

Muriel, who had been muttering incoherently, was startled by the sudden grip on her shoulder and looked up. What she saw was a person who was a symbol of fear in a different sense from Ariel.

Although she appeared to be an intelligent and beautiful woman on the outside, it was in many ways unreasonable to view her as an ordinary woman. Because she was Matilda, the head maid who could be considered the leader of the female servants in this mansion.

The head butler and head maid, whom even the Duke respects to some extent. No matter if she was Ariel’s personal maid, she was absolutely not someone a mere maid could treat carelessly.

“I-I’m sorry, Head Maid! This is, well…”

“How is the Young Lady doing?”

Before Muriel could say anything, Matilda cut in. Usually, she wouldn’t interrupt like this.

“Ah, yes… She seems to have improved a lot. She just finished her meal safely.”

“Hmm…”

Matilda’s gaze turned to the tray Muriel had brought out. Her face relaxed a little as she saw the cleanly emptied dishes.

“Good. Then Muriel. You go straight to the head butler and inform him. Tell him that the Young Lady has awakened.”

“Ah, I understand. But this…”

As Muriel’s gaze turned to the tray, Matilda solved the issue by calling another maid who was passing by.

“Please return immediately after making your report. Someone needs to be by the Young Lady’s side.”

“Ah, understood!”

“Oh, and we’ll talk about what happened earlier separately later.”

Muriel’s face turned pale at the final ultimatum that fell as if to say there was no chance of it being overlooked.