The breakfast was quietly lively this morning thanks to the lady of the house, who was in a great mood. The sisters babbled back and forth, and even the Marquis was complimenting his wife’s glowing beauty. Marlica glanced at the scar on my lady's cheeks ever so often, her face blooming like a wildflower. No one bothered to ask about the scar, and the loving sisters, along with the maids, were thrilled to see it.

“I heard Letitia demanded money from a poor commoner at the entrance of the school yesterday,” Arabell said, her face contorted. Gasps resounded all around me, and for not for the first time, I wondered if they rehearsed the breakfast ambiance every morning. “Why do you always do things to tarnish our reputation, Letitia? Because of you, we are bullied every day,” her voice sounded mournful as if the existence of my lady was her bane. It would be soon, but not yet.

The Marquis looked interested because he would get another chance to strike at my lady. His hatred for her ran deeper than I had ever imagined, so I couldn’t let him live for long. If the situation demands it, I will torture him to death soon. But graduation came first, and the second lady’s marriage so that the household would have a legitimate heir. After all, we needed a roof overhead until my lady became a full-fledged mage. And money for my bread.

My lady’s marriage was my immediate concern because I didn’t know how many bodies it would take until she would be labeled as cursed. I had to discuss this drastic step with her, and I was sure her thoughts would align with mine. The royal family will never get their hands on my lady, for the crown prince had labeled her as the villainess. Though, the second prince scum was a different story.

“Is that true, Letitia?” The lady of the house asked, showing a horrified expression. “Don’t we give you enough allowance?”

The silence was the only response everyone at the table got until Marquis bellowed, “She’s your mother, Letitia. Answer her!”

Family is a fickle thing. Once they turn against you, they can become the worst archnemesis you could ever have.

“My mother is dead. How come that bitch is still yapping like a madwoman? ,” my lady replied, and I heard despondence in her voice. No one else did because they hadn’t been around her enough to know it.

“That traitor does not belong to his family!” The Marquis gritted his teeth as my lady touched his nerves. “If you want to be that traitor’s daughter, then walk out of this manor!”

For a moment, I thought she would, but she didn’t. She had learned to endure over the past week. She didn’t talk anymore, and the ambiance at the table turned around to become quite heavy. Not even the chattering siblings spoke, and even the maids didn’t dare breathe loud. Everyone knew the Marquis hated hearing about his late wife, so silence lingered in the room. Uncomfortable at that. Nevertheless, my lady didn’t get slapped, and we reached out of the mansion with heads on our shoulders. Or probably their heads on their shoulder.

Marlica hadn’t talked anything about my lady’s friends’ stay-over party, so I presumed she hadn’t gone back on her words. To be honest, it didn’t really matter who occupied the bottom floors to her, so it kind of annoyed me that my lady had to hurt herself to get her approval.

“What is your opinion about my mother, mongrel?” she asked on our usual commute to the Academy. The market plaza was occupied like yesterday evening, but with different people and many excited vendors.

“She was an excellent matron, my lady. Greatly respected in your maternal family and perhaps the most honorable woman I have ever seen. The bitch back home is not even worthy of touching her soles,” I paused. “But I don’t want you to become like her.”

She laughed because I had called the lady of the house a bitch for the first time. And it felt good somehow. I can understand why my lady likes to hurl curses.

“But she was a traitor,” there were repressed emotions in her voice; bitterness and anger for having left her alone amongst the wolves.

“Do you like this kingdom, my lady?” I erected [Ward] around us.

“The royal family and their followers be damned.”

“Then it’s all right. We can become traitors of the realm too,” I resumed my machinations, instilling hatred toward the kingdom in my lady.

In the future, I might be labeled as the most despicable undead in the whole of history for straying an innocent maiden down the wrong road. Well, that’s who I am, so I don’t really mind.

“You are quite the mongrel, aren’t you?” she looked down, hiding her curling lips.

She had become expressive since she shed all pretense after being humiliated by the crown prince. This was her true self, so I wondered if my manipulations were helping her become true to herself. Either way, as long as my lady became a promising villainess, this world be damned. And everyone in it.

We reached the gates of the school, and the booth, where my bread lad was counting money in his hands. My lady glanced at me, and I shook my head.

“Hey, Garlan,” I called out, looking through the opening in the glass. “What’s with that money? You told us you were running low on cash, right?”

“Yo, Rudolf!” he beamed, his smile extending to my lady too. “You see, thanks to your lady, I’ve made some good money. Let me treat you to some good loaves as gratitude.”

“Explain yourself, mutt!” My lady snickered, and the smile on Garlan’s face only grew broader.

“More, lady Letitia,” he rushed out of his both through the door on the right and almost prostrated before her. “Shout a bit more loudly, noble goddess, and I’ll pay you some commission.”

“Hey, perv!” Beth’s voice dropped by soon, Casey trailing behind her. Beth’s tan skin complemented really well with Casey’s pale skin tone, and their messed-up attire helped. They looked like true delinquents. “Ahoy! Ruddy and Leti. We heard that bitch Gladiata paid this perv handsomely yesterday. Ignorant brats were raving about that bitch’s mercy all the way from my manor.”

“Well, Beth is exaggerating, but this pervert did earn some money at Leti’s expense,” Casey added. They maintained quite a safe distance in public, scared of the general outlook of society. Despite being unruly, they were still young girls. I wonder why the creator made the world as such. Is this another death flag for villainess’s aides?

“What are you talking about?” my lady asked her two friends, confused.

“You see, there’s this rumor that the abandoned daughter of the Marquis, along with her cronies, used her status to steal money from this perv. The bitch then helped this destitute by collecting some funds from her lovers. It’s quite the story,” Beth replied, tying her hands behind her head.

“She is such a noble soul,” my bread lad joined his hands and looked to the sky. “All hail such great nobles!”

My lady grunted while Beth and Casey exchanged looks. Evil looks, I correct.

“Pay our commission, perv,” Beth said, and my bread lad stared at us in surprise.

“Our families don’t pay us much for we share amazing reputation in the Academy,” Casey justified with a smile. “So you need to help us out for ogling at all the noble ladies.”

I laughed, patting my bread lad on his shoulders. He was getting threatened by girls half his age, yet he was dumbstruck like a pine log on an abandoned wasteland. That is quite the comparison, but you should get the gist of it.

“You see,” Casey continued, “if people come to know we stole from you again, Gladiata might pay you more tomorrow. You can always pay a percentage to us and keep the rest to yourself. You are losing nothing, and we girls don’t mind trashing our reputation more.”

Garlan’s eyes lit up. “I’ll pay you forty shins for now and pay you more if I get a second installment.”

“Eighty, perv,” Beth stopped Casey before she could agree.

“Forty-five,” Garlan snarled. “Don’t try your luck, noble lady.”

“We can’t share forty-five amongst the four of us,” Casey pointed out, and by now, there were enough bystanders to see our exchange. Not that they could hear us, for my [Ward] did a good enough job.

“Is he getting a share too?” He blatantly pointed his finger at me, and I offered my sweetest smile. “That faithful d- I mean, yea, he should get it too, yea, right…”

“Fifty then,” he said begrudgingly.

“Sixty,” Beth pointed out. “Fifteen for each of us. How much did that bitch pay you, anyway?”

Garlan hurriedly agreed and came back with sixty shins, which included a mixture of ten shin and five shin coins.

“Hey, mutt,” my lady said. “We’ll be back tomorrow too, so don’t you dare hide!”

Beth shared the money amongst us, and I handed the two coins in my hands to my lady. The Academy’s students didn’t really carry bags, so a pochette hung across her waist was all my lady had, which entailed all our savings. My lady didn’t feel safe storing her, and mine, desert money in the manor, so she carried it to school every day. Stealing from a bully is unheard of, after all.

We walked through the gates, earning repulsive stares for our deed, though they quite misunderstood Garlan. He was in cahoots with us, but it was a secret that would bring us enough money. If, as an undead, I should feel embarrassed for my deeds, then don’t bother pointing it out. I have too thick skin to care. And same goes for my lady and her entourage.

“What happened to your cheek, Leti?” Casey asked on our way.

Beth noticed it too and refrained from tracing her fingers across her cheek. They both knew my lady hated being touched. “Did the bitch back home do it?”

“No,” my lady gave me a glare. “This mongrel was careless while teaching me spell casting.”

I was baffled, but I nodded apologetically and said, “I promise it won’t happen while you three train together.”

“You got us permission, Ruddy?” Casey asked, her face lighting up.

“My lady got it from the bitch back home.”

“Did Ruddy just say bitch?” Beth laughed, Casey and my lady following the suit.

When they had calmed down, Beth pulled my hair and burned them in her hands. “Did you clean a room for us?”

They knew a couple of spiders from the western courtyard, so it didn’t surprise me to hear her say it. Though, just because I was my lady’s butler, they took it for granted that I would serve them.

“I have prepared the dirtiest room for you, so let’s clean it tonigh–”

“Don’t pull his hair, Beth,” my lady said, her voice cold. “They belong to me.”

“Oh wow,” Beth retreated a couple of steps. “That sounded so damn possessive!”

“Yea,” Casey nodded, staring blatantly at my lady. My lady and I were the only calm ones here.

I parted ways with them, letting my [Devil eye] follow their trail to the classroom. Beth and Cassy couldn’t see the strange eye yet, but they would soon should they become my lady’s sparring partners. Of course, if my lady lets me, that is.

I lazed around the nameless tree as always and watched my lady and her two friends huddled in the seats at the back left corner of the room. The seats around them were empty, and no one approached them thanks to their excellent reputation that had just reached a new peak.

The first lecture started, and my lady glanced at me through the eye, gesturing me to put her to sleep. My [Devil eye] cast [Fatigue], the only spell it knows, and my lady slept through the next three hours, her two friends following the suit soon after the first hour.

Don’t blame me. I didn’t put them to sleep, nor did my [Devil eye].