The Villainess’ Beloved Plan: The Struggles to Avoid a Doomed End

　Sophia stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her fluffy, wavy blonde hair was adorned with a red coral hair ornament. The red coral was carved out like a flower, a lovely hair ornament. It was a gift from Randall.

Sophia moved her face, changing the angle of her reflection in the mirror to touch the coral hair ornament.

She wondered why Randall had given her this hair ornament.

She did not know what Randall’s intention was, but touching the hair ornament made her feel warm and fuzzy inside.

“Sophia.”

“Uhm!”

Sophia, who was staring at herself in the mirror, was startled to the point of jumping up when she heard a knock on the door.

She got up from in front of the mirror and opened the door to find her favorite D’Artano standing there.

D’Artano had been in a meeting with Raqqa, Cyril and Randall. He was surprised when he heard that Raqqa was not just a painter but a member of the Saladora navy that was pursuing D’Artano, but was relieved to hear that Cyril had issued a legal pirate permit to prevent D’Artano from being captured.

　D’Artano was going to search for Marana’s stolen sealskin, which was currently with Viscount D’Silva.

Sophia was supposed to be here with Orion and the others, staying close to Marana.

It was a muddle, but they couldn’t get Viscount D’Silva captured for having taken the selkie sealskin. Nor can they go around telling the townspeople that Viscount D’Silva took Marana’s sealskin, the bride of the Dragon God, and that the Dragon God, enraged because of it, is going to sink the town of Caesars. No one would believe them.

“Do you think we can find Marana’s sealskin?”

“I’ll be troubled if we can’t find it. We can’t just stand by and watch a town sink to the bottom of the sea.”

“That’s right.”

Sophia doesn’t know the Dragon God, but if Karana says he’s going to sink the town of Caesars, she wants to prevent it at any cost. Above all, she feels sorry for Marana, who was made the wife of someone she didn’t like.

　When Sophia’s expression clouded, D’Artagno patted her on the head and said, “Don’t look at me like that, I know who did it. If I can’t do anything about it, I’ll beat him to a pulp. After all, I am a pirate.”

Sophia couldn’t help but laugh at D’Artano, who was either joking or serious. He was right, they knew who did it. They also found the manara. All that remained was to find the sealskin that Viscount D’Silva was hiding. That made her feel a little lighter.

　When D’Artano told her to wait for good news and left the room, Sophia opened the window of her room and looked down.

After a few moments, she saw D’Artano walk out the front door of the inn and down the white stone-paved path.

　When D’Artano was out of sight, Sophia looked at the sea in the distance.

The emerald green sea in the distance was so calm that it was hard to believe that a storm was coming and that this town would be swallowed up by that sea.

　A soft breeze with the scent of the sea ruffled Sophia’s hair,  and Sophia closed her eyes, as if in prayer.

　When she went to check on Manara, she found that she had recovered enough to get out of bed and was sitting in a chair by the window reading a book.

Sophia asked her about Orion, who was supposed to be by Manara’s side, but she couldn’t see him, and she told her that she was hungry and had gone to the landlady’s to get some food.

 “If you sit by the window too long, you will be seen from outside. It’ll be terrible if Viscount D’Silva finds you.”.

When Sophia said this, Manara paled, she immediately closed the window, and even closed the curtains.

Sophia sat down beside Manara and looked at the book she was reading.

“Is that a romance novel?”

‘Yes. The landlady lent it to me.”

“What kind of story?”

“A story about being happy with the person you love.”

This was a very rough explanation. Except for a few romance novels that depict tragic love, aren’t romance novels generally about being happy with the person you love in the end?

Manara closed the book and looked at the curtained window.

“I wonder if the Dragon God-sama is still waiting for me?”

“Do you love the Dragon God?”

Sophia asked, and Manara smiled as if a flower had bloomed.

“Of course I do! He is a wonderful man. He is a bit grumpy, but kind. I was so happy when I heard that I could be the Dragon God’s bride. I never …… thought it would come to this…”

” You’ll be fine. I’m sure you’ll be able to return to the sea.”

It is hard to be separated from the person you love. Even Sophia hopes that Dartano, who went to search for Viscount D’Silva’s ship, will come back soon. Since she felt that way even though he had just left her, she wondered how much Manara, who had been deprived of her sealskin and was now unable to return to the sea, must be feeling. She felt sorry for her.

Manara smiled and said, “Thank you,” and then fixed her eyes on Sophia’s hair ornament.

“That is a beautiful hair ornament. Is it a gift from your lover?” Manara said

Sophia touched her hair ornament and wondered what to say. Randall is still Sophia’s husband, but he is not her lover. He doesn’t love Sophia, and Sophia loves D’Artano. What then, should Sophia and Randall’s relationship be called? A fake couple? No, something was different.

“It’s Randall…”

“Oh, that kind man! That man is Sophia’s lover!”

She almost denied it, but for some reason she couldn’t say it out loud.

Randall was not her lover. He doesn’t even like her. He was a victim of being forced to marry Sophia out of spite. Then why did Randall give Sophia a hair ornament?

‘Again. My chest is getting a little fuzzy…’

When she thinks of Randall, for some reason her chest gets all fuzzy and sometimes it hurts a little.

It was the same when she got the hair ornament.

“Yes, Randall is… kind.”

Sophia couldn’t say that she was his lover, so she just smiled vaguely and covered it up.