I Awoke as an Imprisoned Villainess-Chapter 18 - I dont want to leave this tower.....

 I don’t want to leave this tower…..

Claude sama arrived about fifteen minutes earlier than the usual lunchtime.

“What’s the matter?”

Maybe he came in a rush; he was short of breath. He seemed to be holding a a bouquet of flowers, but when I looked at him, he moved his hand to behind his back, as if to block my gaze.

I wonder if he thought I would rob him as flowers are unexpectedly used a lot in medicine. I felt a little sad as I tilted my head at Claude sama whose expression was stiffer than usual.

“If you aren’t feeling well, should I prescribe some medicines to you? It might be a bit painful, but there are some capsules that work well even as a prototype”

“No, I’m fine”

His complexion was bad even while saying that. However, Claude sama said once more that he was fine, and opened his mouth again.

“His Highness asked me to deliver some messages for you…is it okay to talk now?”

“From His Highness? Of course”

“Yeah, but before that…His Highness said that the milk helped him sleep better and also reduced his body aches and pains. It must be very effective”

“Body pain?”

I let out an involuntary yelp of surprise. It’s because I’ve never heard that His Highness has body pain, but above all, the main benefits of that milk are to improve sleep quality and mental stability. I wouldn’t say it has no analgesic effect, but it is very slight. It would be doubtful if it would even make a slight headache go away.

“Does His Highness have any body pain? What kind of pain and other symptoms-”

“I can’t go too much in detail about that, but I’d like to talk about it again later….More than that, let’s get to the main topic”

After saying that, Claude sama seriously looked at me as if he was trying to make sure of something.

“You’ll be released in two and a half months, as scheduled”

“Well….I see….”

I knew it was coming, but my shoulders slumped with sadness.

“I’m very sad to be kicked out of here, but it can’t be helped…”

“It’s your punishment to be here”

“That’s true, but when I leave here, I won’t be able to say good morning to Claude sama anymore, and I’ll miss you…”

I won’t be able to eat those delicious meals then. I’ll never be able to taste chocolate again. Seeing me down in the dumps, Claude sama, for some reason, looked up to the sky and closed his eyes for a few seconds.

Then he shook his head as if to compose himself and indifferently opened his mouth again.

“After that, there’s a message from the ducal mansion. It seems a ball is to be held at Count Alcott’s residence. His eldest daughter who hasn’t made her social debut is going to make a debut. His Highness has ordered me to escort you if you’re going to attend”

“!!!???”

At the completely unexpected words, words that isn’t words came out.

“Alcott…Alcott!? Did you say eldest daughter? Not second daughter? Sophia Alcott?!”

“Ye-yeah”

“T-that’s…”

If we had switched bodies, then certainly, Violet sama would be in my body. But since it’s my body, she wouldn’t be able to do anything evil; is she okay; magic is no use in this tower so would the body swapping magic get cancelled….I was thinking like that.

Social debut. How on earth did that happen?

I trembled with disbelief, and Claude sama asked, “What’s wrong?”

“D-do people say Sophia Alcott changed?”

“No…I heard that she has recently begun to show her face, but she’s the same as the rumors say. Ah but, …I hear that her family members lost weight considerably”

“!!!???”

Violet sama, aren’t you too amazing!? From that situation!? How did you do it!?

While shuddering from the bottom of my heart at the potential of Violet sama who has reigned above people since birth, I said, “I don’t want to leave this tower…” and collapsed.

“!? Violet!? W-what’s wrong!?”

Claude sama hurriedly reached out to pick me up. I saw the gorgeous bouquet of flowers he held, and I escaped from reality while thinking of how beautiful the flowers are.

~~~~~

“Have you calmed down?”

“Yes. I’m sorry for the inconvenience…”

I drank the tea Claude sama made for me, and let out a sigh of relief. I was so shocked that I showed a disgraceful behavior. I feel like Claude sama has seen all of my embarrassing moments.

“What’s the matter with you?”

“Uh, um. Well…an event after a long time, I’m nervous…?”

“…I see”

After I quickly cooked up something, Claude sama seemed to be in deep thought with a hard expression on his face. I was even feeling nostalgic, wondering if this might be the first time in a long time that I would be told to “stop acting badly,” when he seemed to make up his mind and held out the bouquet of flowers to me.

“….Lady Redgrave requested me to give them to you”

“Eh? For me?”

I accepted the bouquet with surprise. The bouquet was white and colorful, there was a flower which resembled a rose called peony, accented with a slightly incongruous wild thistle, and violets.

“Wow, how great…! None of these flowers bloom in winter, so how did she get her hands on these?”

I looked at the bouquet seriously. All of them are flowers that bloom from spring to the end of summer. Though it’s winter now.

“Thank you very much. Could you relay Redgrave sama my thanks as well?”

What kindness has she showed to me even though Violet sama/I slapped her and made her do a dogeza? I’m beaming happily because she’s an angel like Julia said. Someday, I’d like to give her something in return and ask how she got the flowers in different seasons.

“Flowers are great, aren’t they? They are beautiful, edible, and medicinal. This gorgeous flower called peony is also a symbol of the god of medicine in other countries, and in countries much further east, it is the king of flowers. Oh, the peony flower is just for decoration, but the root has many benefits for women! And this thistle can be used as hair growth agent-”

Updat𝓮d fr𝙤m ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com.

As I was talking passionately about the benefits of flowers, Claude who was turning pale, quietly opened his mouth again.

“…You like this bouquet? Even the violets?”

“? Of course, I do! And it’s the same color as my eyes”

More than that, isn’t your complexion really bad today?

I was about to say so, but at the next moment, my eyes were about to fall down from the eye sockets.

For some reason, Claude sama was kneeling in front of me.

“Eh? Wait, Claude sama!? What on earth-”

“I apologize from the bottom of my heart. What have I done to you who made no mistake…”

“Eh?”

I wanted to cry a little at Claude sama’s eccentric behavior as I was sure he wouldn’t ever kneel down to me, but he knelt down and threw a question straight at me with an expression as if he regretted something.

“And, I want to ask you one question. Who are you in front of me right now?”

Translator Notes:

Eyy, Claude finally believed the body swap, plus he’s slowly developing feelings for Sophia. Things are going well. I’m looking forward to how this Chapter will turn out in the manga.

By the way, just a little rant, but I could’ve posted this Chapter a lot more earlier if my sister didn’t call me right when I was about to work and made we wait for two whole hours. I had to prepare to go out in a hurry, and in the end, she stood me up anyways. Sisters ugh…

P.s. I guess I’m going back to irregular updates. Honestly, I don’t even know if there’s any dedicated readers of this novel; it’s kind of discouraging since it’s my first novel.