A Thousand Years Of Separation~Today, I Shall Be The Villainess~(WN) Chapter 18

—not long after that.

Amelia immediately became familiar with John's friends—they drank, ate, and made fuss together. At first, we were confused as h.e.l.l. But everyone was greatly accepting of us—before I even realized it, I spoke with them naturally.

We could speak without regard—there was no need to worry whether or not our words would upset anyone. There was no need for excessive flatteries, either. We needn't pay any mind to our appet.i.te, and we also didn't need to fake our responses. In short, the atmosphere was really carefree and comfortable.

In the end, we made acquaintance with all the customers in the pub. No matter how old or young they were, we all became friends.

We also heard a lot from them. About work, politics, romance, family—they were all outside the norm—it made a tremendous impact on our lives.

No, no, actually we were taught about it before;

Our lives are made up of the people who support us—something that should never be taken for granted.

Only now, after perceiving everything that happened in front of me, did I fully understand it.

Sure, it was a lot to process at once—but somehow, I found myself enjoying it. My time here was truly enjoyable. Bryan surely would agree with me.

Time pa.s.sed without us realizing it—the ball was about to end.

"Oi, be sure to come again, okay!?"

"We'll be here around this hour!"

"Don't forget that sometimes you need to go home early too! Especially you! No wonder your wife is cheating on you!"

The people saw us out of the pub—

—I was truly, truly glad.

"That's when we decided we'll do whatever we want and say whatever we want! Even now, we still go incognito as ordinary folks and visited the capital at night!"

"Uh-huh! That's why, I'm very grateful to Lady Amelia. She might be forthright, sometimes—but you definitely can't chalk her up as a mere wallflower!"

Seeing the two nod to each other, Arthur finally couldn't keep up his straight face.

"Ahahaha—!! What is this—!! Turns out you guys know her so well—!! What a wild girl Amelia is—!! She turned the two of you around in no time—!!"

Arthur laughed, literally holding his stomach. "If Chris were to learn that you frequently go incognito and making merry around town, he would surely be driven insane!"

Carla couldn't allow this to continue. "Arthur! This is no laughing matter!" Her ears were blaring red. "I can't forgive all of you—be it William or my brothers!!" Her shoulders trembled with fury.

Edward and Bryan looked up at their sister.

"Ehhh, but why? It's not like she seduced us into it, you know. We do it out of our own accord." "Yeah, yeah. The story we told you just now, did you actually listen to it? About the warmth and the—"

"—Shut up!! So Amelia is the reason why my brothers turned into such chaotic messes—!? And don't you dare say that!! You guys were totally seduced by her—!!"

After saying that, Carla left the room in anger.

"Ah-hey …Carla—!!"

"…Just now, did our image as brothers collapse?"

"I think it has—since a long time ago. She did refer to us as 'chaotic messes.'"

"Yeah, she did say that, huh…"

Edward and Bryan shrugged their shoulders as they watched Carla's back.

After he had noticed something, Arthur muttered softly. He watched their att.i.tudes, before finally grinned and opened his mouth.

"—is that it?"

The two looked at Arthur, unsure of his question. There were also hint of wariness in them. Arthur continued without concern.

"Is that the whole story? Or did you guys perhaps skipped some important things?" Arthur's gaze was sharp.

"W-what are you talking about?" "Of course that's the whole story!"

"Okay, should I inform Chris about the night city joy walking?"

The two tensed up immediately.

"…You are playing dirty." "Okay, we'll talk as long as you don't say anything to Chris."

"I have no choice since you guys are tight-lipped, right? Don't worry, I won't tell anybody, you have my words."

The two were forced to speak.

"—the continuation is… after becoming a regular of that pub, Lady Amelia started spreading rumors, little by little…"

"Rumors…?"

"Yes, her fake ident.i.ty is called 'Roza'. She pretended to be a maid working for the Southwell Family. Thus, she start circulating her own rumors—that she was bullied by Amelia."

The two continued.

"Roza continued spreading rumors—one month, two months, three months …as time pa.s.sed, the rumors became a lot worse. Everyone became concerned about her. In the meantime, Amelia's bad reputation also become wide spread. Probably because lots of servants from other households also visited the pub, and thus, helped spread the gossip."

"After confirming that her bad reputation had made her infamous in the n.o.ble society, she stopped going to the pub. Finally, we went to the pub to inform everyone—'Roza quit being a maid. She was going to return to her hometown and get married.'"

Thus, they concluded their story.

"That's all we know. Since then, we haven't seen Lady Amelia." "After that, I tried speaking to her at a ballroom, but she completely ignored me."

There was no way they could accept this—Edward's and Bryan's gazes told Arthur that much. Arthur nodded with a serious expression;

"—in other words, her bad reputation is something that she invented herself. Now, as to why—"

"Nah, we didn't ask why."

"Gut feelings told us not to."

"But why would she be engaged with William…?"

"Yeah, that was truly surprising…"

They muttered so. After a while, Arthur spoke again.

"Okay. Let's go see Lady Amelia."

Towards that, Edward and Bryan were awestruck.

"What—!? You're going to demand explanation from her—!?" "If you do that, then she would know that we spilled the beans! We don't want that!"

"I didn't say that. I just want to meet her. In the first place, isn't she William's fiancée?"

Arthur smiled, greatly pleased.

"Well, you should go by yourself, then." "We won't go. It's going to be awkward, for sure. Going to meet her only after this long…"

"Nope. You guys are going, too. Moreover, you are going to bring William with you while I accompany Miss Carla."

"Huh!? Now you're dragging William into this, too!? Everything has become even more complicated!!" "Why do you need William, anyway!?"

The two panicked, but Arthur paid no mind towards them.

"Give Lady Amelia some face. We cannot make one lady converse with four men. Besides, Carla wants to meet Lady Amelia, too, no?"

"Well, to say that Carla wants to 'meet' her isn't exactly accurate…" "Arthur's mind is set, eh… he won't listen to us, now."

"You understand me well." Satisfied, Arthur sat down.

***T/N : LOL and here I thought it was a filler side chapters but nooo xD it tied everything together and is important as h.e.l.lll