Home/The villainess's personal maid is very good at her job/ch 120

Episode 120

At Connor's sincere concern, Janet smiled and answered.

"It's really fine. Soon, the true value of Velfia will be revealed."

At Janet's confidence, Connor tilted his head in puzzlement.

---

That evening.

'Surely she won't actually report me to the Marchioness?'

Returning to his manor, Viscount Knox was still trembling with fear.

He never imagined that woman was truly the Marchioness of Ortega's daughter.

Moreover, judging by the attitude of the man who seemed to be her servant, the Ortega couple clearly doted on her.

"Sigh, sigh!"

Just as he was pacing around the room with a heavy sigh—

Knock, knock.

"Who……!"

"My Lord, you have a guest."

Startled by the clueless knock, the viscount was about to snap, but paused.

Letting out another deep sigh, he irritably opened the door.

He immediately headed to the guest room where the visitor was staying.

All the while, his head was spinning with thoughts of the Velfia field, the Marchioness and his wife, and their daughter.

'It's all because of that guest……!'

If not for that guest, he wouldn't have pressured Connor to sell the Velfia field and earned the Ortega lady's displeasure.

But regret came too late.

He had already joined hands with the 'guest,' and he knew it was too late to let go.

Opening the door, he saw the guest seated with his back to the window.

The youthful-faced man smiled at him.

"You've come."

"Hehe, you called for me?"

At the viscount's words, the guest smiled and gestured for him to enter and sit on the sofa.

"What happened with the Velfia? Did you dispose of it all?"

"Well, you see……"

Hm?

The smiling man's face began to freeze coldly.

"Don't tell me you failed? After speaking so confidently?"

"I-I'm sorry. The Velfia investor suddenly appeared and interfered……!"

"The Velfia investor?"

"You know of her? The Marchioness and his wife recently adopted a daughter."

At the viscount's words, the guest's eyes narrowed.

"Janet Ortega."

"Yes, yes, that's her! And she turned out to be the Marchioness's biological daughter."

"Janet is the Marchioness's biological daughter?"

The guest's expression was peculiar as he muttered.

After a moment of thought, his lips curved upward.

"I see. That explains it."

He'd roughly guessed from what he'd seen at the hunting party, but receiving confirmation was different.

Nodding with a relaxed face, his eyes sharpened again.

"So Lady Ortega was the Velfia investor?"

"Yes, that's right. That tenant farmer was about to give in, but then that Ortega lady appeared and ruined everything!"

In truth, Connor had never given in, but the viscount glossed over it.

Glancing. Sneaking looks at the guest, he timidly added.

"G-give me one more chance, and I won't fail this time. So the treasure and money you promised……"

"Of course. I'll give you one more chance."

"R-really?!"

"Yes. And I'll give you this as well."

Smiling, the guest pulled a small bottle from his clothes and handed it over.

It contained a unique violet liquid.

Turning the bottle over in his hands, the viscount blinked.

"What is this?"

"Poison."

"Poison?! You mean, you want me to kill the tenant farmer……?"

The viscount's hand trembled as he held the bottle.

Though short-tempered, he wasn't bold enough to kill someone.

Hiring a mercenary to threaten was entirely different from killing someone with his own hands.

The guest looked at the trembling viscount with a mocking gaze.

Then—

"Don't worry. It's not poison that affects humans."

"Then what kind of poison is it?"

"Poison that kills plants."

"Ah, plants! You mean to spray it on the Velfia trees!"

Nod.

Nodding lightly, the guest continued.

"It's a potent poison, so even a small amount will kill the trees down to the roots. With that amount, you can destroy all the trees in the field—have it done by tomorrow."

By tomorrow?

It was a tight deadline, but recalling Connor's answer that harvest would be possible in four days, he nodded.

"Yes, understood. However—"

"?"

Glancing around, the viscount smiled awkwardly and added.

"The job's a bit complicated, so I'll need to hire people…… and I'm short on funds……"

Tsk.

At the blatant request, the guest clicked his tongue.

Just as the viscount, sensing the suddenly chilling atmosphere, regretted "I shouldn't have said that!" and gasped—

Jingle.

Thump.

A small pouch landed at the viscount's feet.

From the sound, it was clearly money.

"Here, use this to supplement."

"Th-thank you! I'll make sure to succeed this time!"

Scrambling to pick up the pouch, he couldn't hide his excitement after checking the contents.

Clutching the money pouch, he fled the room as if escaping.

Watching him, the guest clicked his tongue again.

But only for a moment.

Left alone, he wore a contemplative expression.

Janet Ortega's face came to mind.

'I never imagined Janet Ortega would be the Velfia investor.'

It was truly unexpected.

'How many times is this now?'

How many times had she crossed paths with them like this?

As if they were bound by a fate of ill fortune.

'Fate……'

He too was well aware of the rumors spreading across the Empire.

That a child born with a 'Blessed Phrase' in the Ortega family would inherit the fate of Veronia.

That Janet was the Ortega couple's biological daughter, and that they had hidden her existence for so long.

From all this, it seemed certain that Janet was that child.

'Is that why?'

Because she carried Veronia's fate, was she clashing so often with them—enemies of the Empire?

A violet gleam flickered in the guest's eyes before fading.

What he wondered now was why Janet had invested in Velfia.

Was it pure coincidence that she kept interfering with them, or——

'Did she know something and invest in Velfia from the start?'

But if so, that was strange.

They had started spreading the unknown epidemic across the Empire only a few months ago, but at that time, they hadn't known that 'Velfia tea leaves' could be a cure.

They'd only learned that relatively recently.

That's why they were urgently trying to dispose of the Empire's Velfia tea leaves.

However, Janet had started investing in Velfia cultivation around the time the epidemic first began to spread.

When no one had yet identified the disease.

'So it really is just coincidence?'

There was no other explanation.

But what was this uneasy feeling?

The guest gazed out the window with narrowed eyes. The days in the North were short.

Night was already falling.

'In any case, by tomorrow, all the tea leaves in that field will be ruined.'

The man smiled with a slight raise of his eyebrow.

---

But the next day—

"What do you mean?"

At the guest's chilling voice, the viscount trembled.

Though his face was that of a youthful young man, the guest radiated an indescribable pressure and fear.

Trembling, the viscount bowed deeply.

"I-I sent someone to spray the poison on the Velfia field early this morning, but…… all the Velfia tea leaves had already been harvested!"

At the viscount's report, the guest gritted his teeth.

'You're telling me all those tea leaves were harvested in a single night?'

He was so dumbfounded he couldn't even laugh.

Janet Ortega.

It was surely her doing again.

---

And his guess was correct.

"I harvested all the tea leaves as you instructed, but what are you planning to do with them? They're not even fully grown yet."

At Kendrick's question, Janet smiled and answered.

"No? Actually, this is the perfect time."

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