The Original Villainess

CHAPTER 11 pt2

I stepped out of the carriage, stretching my arms over my head with a groan. “Man, traveling is exhausting! Dorothy, purse.”

Dorothy handed the bag of money over.

This is ridiculous. I’m not allowed to carry my own money in this world. I have to have my servant do it for me. What am I, a spoiled rich kid? Really? SO stupid. I opened it and took out several silvers, handing them to her. “Go with the driver and take care of the horses. If there’s anything left, you can buy yourselves something to eat and drink before we continue.”

“Thank you, my lady!” Dorothy and the driver exclaimed at the same time, leaving quickly.

I glanced around. I don’t think Brynne has ever left the capital. This entire town is completely unfamiliar. I half skipped down the street, peering into windows like a tourist. That ribbon is pretty, I thought. It reminds me of Levi’s eyes. I shook my head. Nope. I’m not going to think of him today. He’s already taken up too many of my thoughts when I was supposed to be focused on the temple.

I paused as my eyes caught sight of a wooden sign that read ‘blacksmith.’ Here? I wouldn’t know where to find an ax. My best guess would be the armory. But if a blacksmith makes swords, then perhaps I can also find an ax? A small bell attached to the door rang when I stepped inside.

A burly man with a wide mustache and a bald head greeted me loudly. “Hello, miss!”

How stereotypical. I smiled innocently, my hands clasped behind me. “Hello, mister! Do you sell axes?”

“Why, yes, I do, little miss!” he boomed. “Whyever are you looking?”

“I’m looking for an ax for a teenage boy. About fifteen, sixteen. He needs to chop down trees, but the ax he’s using now is very old and dangerous.”

“Yes,” the man mused, stroking his chin. “Old axes are dangerous. Come this way, little miss!” He gestured toward a wall on one side of the shop. There were axes of various sizes and colors. “An ax to chop down trees would only need one head,” he explained, which immediately ruled out half the weapons on the wall. “Has the boy been chopping a long time?”

How any I supposed to know? Probably, considering what Mrs. Bristol said. “A few years, at least,” I told him with a shrug. “He’s very strong!”

He chuckled, seemingly enjoying my dramatized innocence. “Then a large ax that he can grow into might be okay.”

Mrs. Bristol said he was fifteen, but Dorothy said the boy who picked up the ax looked closer to thirteen. I shook my head. “He’s very strong, but very small.” I pointed to a medium sized one near the top. “What’s that made of?”

“You have a good eye, miss!” the man complimented, taking it off the wall to show me. “The handle is made of hickory, one of the strongest wood there is. The head is made of iron, which is perfect for tree chopping, and is drilled into the handle with four screws to prevent it from flying off. The weight is a little on the heavy side for a fifteen year old boy, but if he’s been chopping for a few years now, then he might just be able to handle it. What do you think, miss?”

I know nothing about axes, but just looking at it, it seems to be a pretty decent piece of weaponry. I clapped my hands together with a sweet smile. “I like it! Do you also have a sharpening stone?”

“We do! Would you like to add one to your purchase?”

“Yes, please!” I rested my folded arms on a display case while I watched him wrap up the ax and stone. “I have to leave with my friends soon. Can you deliver it for me?” I batted my eyes at him.

“Sure thing, miss,” the man smiled. “Where to?”

“Oh, can I have paper first? I want to write a note!”

He dug some paper and a pencil behind a desk and handed it over.

I c****d my head to think on my words.

Mrs. Bristol, I wish I could do more to help, but for now, this is all I have to offer. I never forget my promises, and I swear to do everything in my power to help the children under your care.

Brynne

I folded the paper and handed it to the man. “This needs to go to the orphanage at the edge of the capital. Care of Mrs. Bristol.”

“What?” His eyes widened as I dropped my childish tone and slid two gold across the counter. He blinked slowly at them before meeting my eyes again. “Not the one in the next town over?”

I shook my head. “It has to be the one at the edge of the capital.” I blew him a kiss and opened the door. “Thank you!” I called in a singsong voice over my shoulder. He was still staring as I shut the door behind me.

I asked a child on the street where I could go to rest up my horses, and he pointed me in the direction, for two coppers. I found the driver and Dorothy sitting at a table, eating, and my stomach growled. Oof. When was the last time I ate? I can’t even remember anymore.

Dorothy shot to her feet. “My lady! Are you done?”

“Hmm. I’m starving. What’s good here?”

“I’ll order something delicious for you, my lady!” She took off like a rabbit.

“I could have ordered it,” I sighed, resting my elbows on the table and closing my eyes.

“Are you still planning to visit more orphanages today, my lady?” Alec asked.

“Yes,” I murmured. “At least two more. Three would be preferable, but I don’t know if we’ll have time.”

“You will get back very late if you visit three,” he said.

That’s right. It takes a long time to go to each town. Dang it, I wish I knew how to ride a horse. I’d be able to travel faster. “I’ll think about when the time comes,” I told him. I heard Dorothy returning, and I sat up. “Hmm! Smells good!” I said cheerfully as she set a plate of food in front of me. It was a simple sandwich, but even the sight of it made my mouth water. What’s this? More pregnancy cravings? I devoured the sandwich, not feeling an ounce of nausea, and gave a contented sigh as I waited for them to finish their meal.

“My lady,” Dorothy whispered, eyes wide. “Are you okay?”

“Just peachy.”

“Just what?” Her voice and eyes were bewildered.

“Never you mind. Where’s the carriage? I think I’ll take a rest while I wait for you to finish.”

“Oh, just around the corner,” Alec said. “Be careful. Some suspicious people were hanging around earlier.”

I waved his concern off, and half-skipped around the corner of the horses’ watering hole. Ah. There it is. I should read some more before they return. I hoisted myself into the carriage and picked up the book I had set aside.

Whispered voices drew my attention, distracting me from the monotonous book. Hm? I peeked outside the window and saw several people in dark hooded cloaks scurrying about. Are these the suspicious people the driver mentioned?

“I think he went this way!” one said, raising an arm to point in the other direction.

They seem to be chasing someone. Oh, well, I thought as they raced this way and that, it has nothing to do with me. I settled back into my seat with my book.

Creak.

I looked up, but I saw nothing out of the window. I shrugged, lying down on the bench, one foot on the floor of the carriage, the other bent under my dress, resting on the bench. I held the heavy book over my face, my eyes scouring the pages for any interesting tidbit of information they might hold. Boring, boring, boring. I already knew this. You know, I’m pretty sure these books were written by someone biased in the temple’s favor. I should have checked Father’s library before I left. There has to be something somewhere!

Creak.

I blinked and rolled my head to one side, trying to pinpoint where the sound was coming from. Wait, was that—? I caught a glimpse of a dark fabric, then I locked eyes with someone.

The bench lid next to me thunked close.

Without thinking, in one fluid movement, I ripped a shoe off my foot and threw the bench open, ready to hurt someone.

A figure jumped out, a shadow throwing itself at me, blinding me, even as I heard a loud thud, and a string of curse words. I tore a piece of dark fabric off my head, raising my shoe to permeate justice, and froze.

Is that…omg, that can’t be possible!

A man with brilliant red hair and green eyes filled with tears, clutched at his head as he crumbled to the floor of the small carriage. I blinked at him. What just happened? I retraced my memory step by step, until it honed in on something I couldn’t place.

I stared at the man rubbing his head, and smirked, understanding settling in. “Aw. Did the poor puppy hurt his head?”

He glowered at me through tears, kicking a foot out as far as the carriage allowed.

I sidestepped him and shut the bench again. “You might want to take into consideration how tall the carriage is before you start jumping about,” I suggested, stepping over his twisted legs and sitting back down with my book. I took off my other shoe and set them both on the bench next to me.

He said nothing for a full minute. “Aren’t you going to call the guards?”

“Why should I do that? You aren’t dangerous.”

Anger flashed through his eyes. “How do you know?” he shouted, shooting to his knees.

I peeked at him over my book and gave a single laugh, half-scoff, before returning my attention to the words on the page.

“D-did you just ignore me?” he fumed.

I sighed, using a finger to keep my place in the book, and shut it. I crossed my legs, one elbow propping up my chin as I met his glare coolly. As soon as the fury in his eyes stuttered to a calm, I jutted my chin to the empty seat across from me. “Take a seat, Mr. Lee.”

“H-how do you know that name?”

I opened my book again. “It has nothing to do with you,” was all I could think of to say, stealing his catchphrase from the w*******l. Of course I know who you are! You’re one of the main supporting characters in Consider the Lilies! The author gave three characters red hair—Zane, because this father was from the Na kingdom, where red hair was common; the princess of Na, who was originally engaged to Prince Carson before he met and fell in love with Lily; and Lee, the owner of the most infamous information guild in the kingdom, and quite possibly the most powerful person in the entire story. He single handedly put Carson on the throne, even though there was a lot of backlash after the king died. Half the nobles were supporting Duke Langly to become the next king, while the other half were supporting Carson’s half-brother, son of the current queen.

If the king had died a natural death, Carson’s crowning ceremony would have gone off without a hitch, in my opinion. But the supporters for his half-brother killed the king and tried to frame Carson, at which point, Lee came out of the shadows and Carson is soon known as the most benevolent king in all of history.

I swallowed back a gag at the thought, remembering how he had used Brynne to bring her family to ruin and take control of the nobles.

I completely forgot about him until now. Probably because I’ve been so busy trying to convince Levi to abort my baby, then preparing for the wedding, and now this spontaneous trip to see if I can bring the temples back up to par with where they’re supposed to be. But, I mused silently as I peered at him through my lashes, at this point in the story, is he the crown prince’s dog? In the original story, he doesn’t show up as a stable character until after Brynne’s death. If I looked into it, the fall of the Sumner family could probably be linked back to him. I’ll have to be careful in my words. I’m lucky this carriage doesn’t have the Sumner crest on it, else he’d probably kill me now. I guess using a secondhand carriage for this trip is turning out to be more helpful than I had originally planned.

Hmm. I wonder what I should do with him. I can’t just leave him here until Dorothy and the driver get back, but I can’t just let him go. If he reports back to the crown prince, then Carson might figure out what I’m up to. If I’m right, and the temples are actively supporting him from behind the scene, using the donations from the people to fund their…rebellion, or whatever it is, then having Lee on my side will throw a wrench into Carson’s plans.

The biggest problem now is that I don’t actually know what Caron’s plans are, so I can’t stop them. But since Lee’s the guildmaster of an information guild, he might already know who I am.

“Um.” Something like a whimper escaped Lee’s lips.

I lowered my book. I could practically see the floppy ears dangling sadly, and his round eyes threatening tears again as he sat up straight, hands politely in his lap. I couldn’t hold back a laugh. “Does the puppy want a treat?” I smirked, and he lowered his head, his hands trembling as his fingers clutched at his pant legs. I gestured outside with a nod of my head. “Your friends are gone.” I went back to my book, waiting. As soon as he made his move to leave, I muttered, just loud enough for him to hear, “Of course, it won’t interest the guildmaster of the most secretive information guild in the kingdom to know why a pretty little thing like me knows who he is, would it?”

I clicked my tongue as I met his wide eyes with an obvious gaze.

He sat back down, and I smirked. Being able to pull the strings like this is fun. I wonder if that’s why Carson was such an obvious protagonist. The way he yanked everybody’s chain and made it seem like it was their own fault, or the fault of someone completely unrelated is a skill reserved to master villains. And that’s why I can’t forgive him for what he did to Brynne and her family.

Ah. No. My family.

“My lady! We’re ba-aaaah!”

I flinched at Dorothy’s scream, and set aside the book. That book is the most boring thing I’ve ever read, and I’ve had to read Grapes of Wrath in 10th grade. Honestly. How many ways can a man describe dirt? “Come on up,” I urged her. “We’re short on time.”

“My-my lady!” she bawled, pointed at Lee. “Who is that?”

“He’s coming with us.”

“What?”

I put my hands to my ears to block the shouts of protests from the three of them. I pointed at Dorothy. “You, get in.” Alec. “You, drive.” Lee. “You, sit down and be quiet, little puppy.”

They stared at me. Ah. Am I letting my real self bleed through too much? “Didn’t I say we were short on time? Get going.” Dorothy climbed in, and—careful not to touch Lee—took a seat next to me. The carriage started moving, and I turned my head to stare out the window.

“W-where is my lady going?” Lee asked tentatively, and I could feel the irritation rolling off of Dorothy in waves.

“The orphanage.”

“Huh?” His submissive demeanor changed drastically as he c****d his head in confusion. “Why the orphanage?”

I sighed, closing my eyes against the gentle breeze, temple resting on the wall of the carriage as the wheels wobble underneath us all. “Not that I owe you any explanation, but I—” I stopped. What was I thinking? I was going to lie to him and say something about sponsoring a child, but he’ll see right through that, especially if he already knows my identity. I met his gaze. “Actually, you know what? I don’t owe you an explanation. Keep wondering.”

Dororthy giggled and she gave me a thumbs up. “Nice one, my lady!”

“I’m right here,” Lee reminded her in a defeated voice.

“I don’t care.”

“I’ll gag you both if I can’t enjoy this trip in silence,” I threatened. Was Lee always talkative? I couldn’t remember. The sway of the carriage lulled me into serenity, and then it stopped.

“We’re here, my lady.”

Already? I thought it’d take another hour, at least. Did I actually fall asleep?

Alec hopped down and opened the carriage door. I stared, gobsmacked, at the orphanage in front of me as the driver helped me down. Hang on. The orphanage near the capital, the richest city in the kingdom, was run down, almost in ruins. This orphanage is miles outside a humble town, and it looks like someone built a house made of gold! What is going on?

The front doors flew open and several adults, men and women, tumbled out, leering at me. “Greetings, good lady!” the man at the front exclaimed, rubbing his pudgy hands together. His glasses sat on the tip of his nose, remaining in place with a gold chain. His fat cheeks were a healthy pink as he grinned almost greedily at me. His short, round belly was well covered with a sharp vest adorned with a silver pocket watch, and his embroidered cravat was pinned with a broach as big as his fist.

I straightened my stance and stared down at him suspiciously.

He flinched ever so slightly, before blazing forward. “My lady!” he greeted again. “I am Mr. Lowt, the orphanage director. These are my fellow enthusiasts. Teachers, tutors, doctors, caretakers. Every one of us strives to make the orphanage a better place!”

I eyed each of them, taking in every single detail. Their hands are clean. Their shoes are clean. Their clothes are pressed. Not a hair out of place. Fancy clothes for an orphanage director and his crew. Fancy crew, period.

“May I ask the purpose of your visit?” Mr. Lowt asked nervously, still rubbing his hands.

I forced a smile on my face. “I am thinking about sponsoring a child–”

Each adult started clamoring around me excitedly. I caught tidbits of various information about various children, and I held up my hand sternly.

“Understand this. This is only one stop on my list of orphanages to visit. I cannot make a choice on who to sponsor if I only see a handful of children. I will not be making a decision today, but I will take all the information you tell me into consideration when I do make a decision. Understand?”

They cast sideways glances at each other, and Mr. Lowt put his hands in the air. “What a clever idea!” he cheered. Why don’t your servants wait outside while I show you around, and you can meet the children?”

Every word that comes out of his mouth makes me want to punch him in his mouth. I turned to Dorothy and gave her a nod, using my hand to discreetly gesture that she was to watch the grounds while I was gone. “Dorothy, stay with Alec. Mr. Lee…you’re with me.”

His mouth popped open, and he half-ran, half-stumbled to keep up with me as I followed the huge group back inside. “Wha–? Me? Why?”

“Why else? I don’t walk into suspicious situations alone.”

“So you’re taking the suspicious guy with you when walking into suspicious situations.” He shrugged nonchalantly. “Yeah, you’re right. That makes loads of sense.”

I smirked at him. “Don’t worry. I know you’ll never let anything happen to me.”

“How’s that?”

I stopped in my tracks, turning to smile sweetly at him. “Because if something happens to me, you’ll never find out how I know your real identity.” Leaving him behind as I kept walking, he hurried to catch up again.

“You can’t use that excuse forever,” he hissed darkly.

“Oh, sweetheart,” I winked. “Just watch me.”