After being told by her serious-faced father that her engagement with the prince was off, Rhiannon was in shock and cried all night.
Her pride, which was far higher than an ordinary mountain, was shattered, and she pessimistically thought, "I guess I'll never be able to marry anyone in my life."
However, since the maids took turns comforting her throughout the night, Rhiannon somehow managed to regain her usual overconfident personality.
"A guy who would give up just because I spilled tea on him? No way, I'm not interested!"
With tears in her eyes, Rhiannon declared this, and the first thing she did after bouncing back was to hunt down the culprit who had smeared mud on her face.
Rhiannon had a bad personality.
Her motto was "an eye for an eye." Since she had been humiliated so badly, she naturally thought the culprit deserved a fitting punishment.
(Anyway, my father will probably tell on the culprit and get them fired, but I can't just let it go without saying something sharp myself!)
Fueled by this thought, Rhiannon conducted a thorough investigation with all the maids who were present at the matchmaking event.
The search for the culprit surprisingly ended quite quickly.
"I saw a person in shiny leather shoes stepping on Lady Rhiannon's dress hem."
"Oh, I saw that too!"
The maids testified one after another.
There was only one person in shiny leather shoes at that place.
It seemed the culprit who had smeared mud on Rhiannon's face was rather careless.
Rhiannon immediately summoned the real culprit to her room.
That man was none other than the butler from earlier.
Rhiannon wasted no time and yelled at the butler, who entered the room with a cool expression.
"I'm going to tell my father and get you fired──!"
With her face flushed and breathing heavily, Rhiannon glared at the butler.
"Because of you, everything is a mess! How could you humiliate the only daughter of the Clahsen family, Rhiannon, like that?!"
With fiery anger and tears in her azure eyes framed by long eyelashes, Rhiannon stomped her feet and shouted.
Her prideful, shining milk tea-colored hair was a complete mess today.
The butler, neither denying nor affirming, stood in front of Rhiannon with a thin smile, hands clasped in front of him.
Rhiannon, feeling irritated by the butler's complete lack of reaction to her threats, crossed her arms.
"Hey, you! Can you at least react a little more? It's kind of creepy when you keep that cool face! Why don't you say something?!"
Rhiannon tried her best to make a scary face and glared at the butler.
The man had a rare brown skin tone for Tortone Kingdom and golden eyes.
His hair was jet black, casually tied back.
Upon closer inspection, he had a well-defined face and was tall.
His sweet, gentle features seemed like they would attract a lot of women.
(Wait, is this the first time I'm facing this butler like this? What was his name again...)
Rhiannon frowned, unable to remember the butler's name.
She vaguely recalled being introduced to him as the new butler a few months ago.
She hadn't really paid attention, though.
After all, Rhiannon's butlers usually couldn't handle her whims and would quit right away.
Because of that, she had stopped trying to remember their names.
(Oh right, this butler came a few months ago? Isn't that the longest record for a butler? Well, even if it is a record, I'll just tell father to fire him soon!)
Rhiannon pouted again.
"Hey, I'll ask you one more time, but you tripped me, didn't you?"
"Yes, that's correct. I stepped on the hem of your dress, on purpose."
The butler confessed nonchalantly.
His overly casual tone caught Rhiannon off guard, and she opened her mouth in surprise.
"...W-What? You admitted that way too easily. Was there a reason for doing that? Did something like a bug or a lint get stuck to the hem of my dress? I'll at least listen to your excuse. ...But, you know, you're getting fired anyway, so don't get the wrong idea! I'll have you out of here in no time──."
"Ha, hahaha! Oh, hahahaha!!"
As Rhiannon's words were interrupted, the butler suddenly burst into loud laughter.
Rhiannon's eyes widened in shock.
"...W-What's with you? Are you trying to laugh it off? That's not going to work..."
"Ah ha ha, hee hee hee, ah ha ha ha!"
"Hey, why are you laughing!? Did you go a little crazy? Did you hit your head or something?"
As the butler continued to laugh, Rhiannon finally turned pale, tilting her head in confusion.
After a while, as if he had laughed enough, the butler wiped the tears that had formed in his elongated eyes with his glove, smiled politely at Rhiannon, and slowly clapped his hands.
"Hehehe, congratulations! By being rejected by Sir Werner, you've avoided the doom flag, my lady!"
"H-Huh?"
Rhiannon was left speechless by the sudden remark.
(What the heck is this guy...?)
Rhiannon clearly looked taken aback.
The butler, satisfied by Rhiannon's cold glare, let out a contented sigh.
"Ah, I love that cold stare. It's just delightful!"
"That's so creepy!"
At Rhiannon's insult, the butler's smile only deepened.
At this point, it was unsettling.
It made no sense at all.
(Why do I have to hear this from the guy who messed up my engagement in the first place!?)
Rhiannon, now getting angry, saw the butler dramatically sigh.
"Oh, what a thing. You're trying to get defensive at this point, huh? It's completely nonsensical that your emotional patterns are so easy to read."
"W-What...!"
"Humans generally fall into 3 patterns. When cornered, they either lash out, give up or become docile, or think of their next move. You seem to be the type to lash out. Well, that's a typical reaction."
"Hey, if I stay quiet, you just keep rambling on, it's really rude! I'm considered a rare genius by my tutors, you know?"
"That's just flattery, of course. A genius who skips studying at every turn? Hahaha, that's just hilarious!"
"Ugh, you're really making fun of me for everything, aren't you?!"
Rhiannon's face turned bright red as she started shouting again.
It was the first time in her life she had been so openly mocked to her face.
"Ugh, you're fired! You're totally fired! Get out of here already!"
Despite Rhiannon's outrage, the butler remained completely unfazed.
In fact, he was grinning.
"Is it really okay for you to fire me? If things keep going like this, as I mentioned earlier, you, Lady Rhiannon, will be walking down the path to doom."
"Walking down the path to doom? Me?"
"Yes, right now, you're covered in doom flags."
"Covered in doom flags..."
Rhiannon looked puzzled.
The butler nodded dramatically at her confusion.
"Yes. Due to certain circumstances, I know your future. If things continue as they are, Lady Rhiannon, you will die before your 18th birthday."
"What?! I'm going to die like this?!"
Rhiannon exclaimed in a high-pitched voice, clearly taken aback.
The butler smirked.
"Oh, it seems even Lady Rhiannon is interested in what I have to say."
"Well... I mean, who could stay indifferent when someone says they're going to die? Even if it's a lie, you'd at least want to listen a little, right?"
"That's true. Especially since Lady Rhiannon is a bit of a coward, you must be feeling anxious."
"Hey, you're making fun of me again, aren't you?!"
"No, I'm just stating the facts. The reason you're upset is probably because I hit the nail on the head, right?"
"Seriously, everything you say just gets under my skin! Who would believe such a ridiculous story anyway?"
"No matter how much you doubt it, the truth is still the truth."
"What's with the overconfidence?"
Rhiannon gritted her teeth and plopped down on the sofa, resting her elbows on her knees.
It seemed she was finally willing to listen to the butler's story.
"So, what's your name?"
"Well, honestly, I've been serving you for 4 months now, and you still haven't remembered my name?"
"Well, it's just that... the butlers before you quit so quickly that I couldn't keep track of their names!"
Rhiannon made a face that looked a bit embarrassed and pouted her cherry-pink lips.
She knew very well that forgetting someone's name was quite rude.
The butler shook his head with a "good grief" expression and straightened his back again.
"I'm Kaine Ricciardi. I'm 19 years old. My hobbies include reading. My skills are accounting, martial arts, mind reading, cooking, flower arranging, poetry writing, lip reading, and I dabble in everything from stealth to assassination. Well, you can leave most things to me."
There was a brief pause.
"...Wait, you said you're a butler, right? Isn't that a bit too much for a butler?"
"Well, if I'm serving Lady Rhiannon, the only daughter of the Clahsen family, I should be capable of at least that much."
"Really? Is that so?"
When Rhiannon tilted her head, the man who called himself Kaine nodded with a knowing look.
Although it sounded so obvious, when Rhiannon considered it with her common sense, it felt strange to hear "assassination is a skill" come from a butler.
However, Kaine in front of her had a face that said, "This is completely normal for a butler," so Rhiannon just nodded, thinking, "Is that how it is?" She was the type to easily get swept up in the atmosphere.
"So, why am I going to end up in doom?"
"That's simply because you are the villainess."
"Villainess...?"
At Kaine's words, Rhiannon's heart suddenly fluttered.
"Oh, seeing that face, it seems you have some idea about it. Lady Rhiannon, you are quite the villainess, and your personality is rather unpleasant."
"Huh? Did I just hear something about my personality being bad? That's hard to ignore."
"Oh, you're not aware of it?"
Rhiannon's forehead twitched with a vein popping out as the butler provoked her.
However, if she kept arguing, it would lead nowhere.
Rhiannon rubbed her temples and brought the conversation back.
"...So, you say I'm the villainess?"
"Yes. You are undoubtedly the villainess. Given that you don't study and only read romance novels, I'm sure you understand what a villainess is, right?"
Rhiannon nodded hesitantly.
Villainess.
The villainous woman who disrupts the love story of the protagonist and their partner, envies the happiness of others, and delights in their misfortune.
She's the spice in other people's romantic tales, and you can almost always find her in romance novels.
With a theatrical gesture, Kaine spreads her arms and continues speaking.
"You know, in every story, the villainous noble lady is destined for doom. Lady Rhiannon is no exception."
"Really?!"
"If you were to become engaged to Sir Werner, Lady Rhiannon would be despised because of her bad nature and would likely be tossed aside without a second thought."
"That's such a terrible way to go down."
"Yeah, it really is."
With a serious expression, Kaine nods.
His tone is light, but his eyes are completely devoid of laughter.
Rhiannon presses her temples.
She's starting to get a headache.
It's such a sudden topic, but strangely, there's a credibility to what Kaine is saying that troubles her.
"So, how do you know all this, Kaine?"
"That's because I've been reincarnated."
"Reincarnated?"
"Yes. I died once and was reborn with the memories of my past life. In other words, I'm living my second life as Kaine Ricciardi."
After saying this, Kaine kneels respectfully, bows her head, and takes Rhiannon's hand.
"Next time, I will definitely help you, Lady Rhiannon."
Kaine's golden eyes fixate intently on Rhiannon.
Suddenly, Rhiannon feels a sharp pain in her chest.
Even though this is the first time they're facing each other like this, it feels like she's been gazed at by those golden eyes before.
There's something nostalgic about it──.
Rhiannon instinctively opens her mouth.
"...Hey, earlier, you said I was a bad person and selfish, right? If you know that much, a normal person would just abandon me. So why do you want to help me?"
"Lady Rhiannon, it's true that you're wicked, not very bright, self-deprecating, impulsive, and short-tempered."
"Wow, you really don't hold back, do you?!"
Rhiannon shouted, but Kaine just smiled a little and looked away.
"...But you're not completely rotten to the core. Lady Rhiannon actually set up this kind of situation to give me a warning. She scolded me in front of others while being considerate not to hurt my pride. And she didn't just blame me unilaterally; she showed a willingness to listen to my side of the story. On top of that, she seriously listened to my ridiculous tale."
"? I think that's pretty normal, though..."
"That's right. You're that kind of person."
"...Really?"
"Yes. I truly admire you for being that way."
Kaine suddenly stood up, averting his gaze from the puzzled expression on Rhiannon's face.
For a moment, Rhiannon thought she saw something glimmer in Kaine's golden eyes.
She blinked rapidly, wondering if she had misseen.
(──Wait, is Kaine crying...?)
However, while Rhiannon was blinking, the smile Kaine directed at her was cold and elusive, and there wasn't even a trace of tears in his sweet golden eyes.