The Duke's Daughter Is A Villainess (17)

Dahlia snuck the 'Dream Lover' potion into Noah's tea while he wasn't looking, and then returned to chatting to him casually as if nothing happened.

By the time Noah was called away, his percentage had went up to +11% already. Dahlia pat herself on the back for the amount of progress she made, and then announced to the maid waiting outside that she was going to take a walk.

Lucas wasn't training where he was the last time she was here, so she just decided to wander around and hope to bump into him somehow.

She didn't manage to find Lucas, but she did end up coming across Alice again. This time, however, Alice seemed to be troubled by something. Her pretty face was scrunched up into an ugly expression.

Dahlia was about to approach her but stopped when she heard some other maids nearby gossiping.

"Look.. that's her.. that's Alice." One of the maids whispered.

"Oh my, that's the one who...?"

"Yes! She's the one who seduced one of the gardeners!"

"I heard that she tricked him into leaving his wife!"

"I heard this too! I even heard that after he left his wife she suddenly broke up with him!"

"So she was just playing with him the entire time? How awful!"

"Someone told me that his wife was so upset that she had a miscarriage...."

"That's horrible! How could she do a thing like that?!"

~That talisman is quite scary....

[The talisman didn't even do that much... it's always people exaggerating things that lead to the rumours festering like this... humans are such insidious creatures...]

~What was the rumour originally?

[It was just that she was seen in a compromising position with one of the gardeners.]

~And then people took that small rumour and blew it up to this extent, huh?

Dahlia wondered if the rumours reached Lucas already. She didn't seem to gleam any strange behaviour from Noah so she assumed that he probably hadn't heard them yet. Lucas, however... it would be much easier for him to overhear something like this.

With that thought in mind, Dahlia turned around and tried to search for him more vigorously. Eventually, she came across him when she accidentally wandered into the knights' training ground.

All of them seemed to stop at once when they spotted Dahlia. Seeing their confused expression, Dahlia merely smiled and waved, causing a lot of knights to start blushing and turn away.

Ah... it was good to be beautiful.

"Oh, Lucas, hello." Dahlia greeted, acting as if she was surprised to see him there.

Lucas nodded to her, trying to ignore the jealous stares of the knights behind him. "What brings you here, Miss?"

"I was supposed to be having tea but then I got bored so I decided to take a walk. I got lost and eventually I ended up here, and honestly I'm a bit tired... so if you don't mind, could I sit and watch you train for a bit?"

Lucas was about to say no, but upon meeting the hard gazes of the knights around him, he decided to let her stay instead.

Dahlia said "Great!" and then sat under a tree nearby, watching as everyone practised with their swords. It seemed to her as if some of them were trying to show off, which actually entertained her quite a bit, but most of the time her eyes were glued to Lucas.

~Is there an item that will make Lucas trip?

[....Host, what are you planning?]

~Nothing nefarious... don't worry. I just want him to fall so that I can help him, and I'll have an excuse to touch him.

[Oh! So you can put the 'Love/Hate' sticker on him!]

~Exactly.

[There are many different items in my Buddy store that can cause that kind of accident. There's an 'Ankle Twister' gun that you can purchase for 20 points, a 'Dislocated Knee' slingshot also for 20 points, and a 'Toe Crusher' rock for 10 points!]

~That's.... why are there so many...?

[Don't ask me, Host, I didn't make them!]

~...Okay, I guess I'll take the 'Ankle Twister' gun then.

[Purchase completed. 20 points have been deducted from your points collection, rendering the total amount of points you have to 190. The 'Ankle Twister' can now be found in your dress pocket.]

For the second time, Dahlia aimed a gun and shot it at Lucas.