Why Did I Become the Villainess?

Chapter 162 - : The Necklace

 I was busy reading in the residence's tea room when someone knocked on the door. I frown. Leander and Rufus are busy reading in the residence library, while Prince Fraser and Princess Paislee are busy training outside. So, I don't expect anyone knocking on my door.

 The door opens before I can even stand up. "Csille, are you here?"

 I frown when I see Rufus entering the tea room. What is he doing here? Shouldn't he be busy reading in the library? 

 I continue reading my book before answering him. "I'm not here. I'm just your conscience," I sarcastically said.

 I heard him chuckled. He then walked towards me and sat on the chair in front of me. "Are you busy, purplany?"

 I almost roll my eyes at his question. Is he blind? Can't he see that I am reading here? Doesn't it look like I am busy?

 "No, as you can see, I'm not doing anything here." I sarcastically said to him.

 Rufus sigh and grab the book that I am reading. "I need to talk to you."

 I groan. Why does everyone want to talk to me? Talk talk. I don't want to talk. I want to have a break. Can't the Villainess have a break? 

 "What do you want to talk about? Why does everyone want to talk about me these days? I hope it's something important, Rufus. As you can see, I'm busy reviewing here. The Queen will visit us tomorrow. I need to review, or else I don't know how I can answer to her highness." I sigh.

 "Have you reconcile with Prince Fraser?"

 I roll my eyes at him. Why does everyone seem so concerned about my relationship with Prince Fraser? Why are they all so nosy?

 "Does it look like we're already okay? Come on, Rufus. I know you already know the answer to that question. Did you went here just to ask me that question?"

 Rufus sigh. "Isn't it possible for the two of you to be together? We will see the Queen tomorrow, and in just a few days, we will need to attend the banquet. Do you want to let other people see that the Crown Prince and his fiancée are in a cold war?"

 I sigh. The Visit of the Queen and the Banquet are both scenarios that I have written. It means the real Csille will be the one who will be handling that situation. Even if I want to avoid Prince Fraser, I cannot do that because of the real Csille.

 "Rufus, the thing between Prince Fraser and I is complicated. Even if I want to fix it, I don't think I can do it on my own. So, instead of asking me, why don't you ask Prince Fraser too? Also, do you think we will be so dumb to let other people see what is the real score between us? So, you don't really have to worry. If there's nothing else, you can leave now."

 Rufus stares at me for a couple of minutes before he sighs. He shakes his head and gives me the book I was reading. "I really don't understand the two of you. Your relationship with Prince Fraser is complicated because the two of you are complicated persons. Anyways I didn't come here to gossip about your relationship with my cousin. I know I couldn't do a thing about it."

 I take the book and raise an eyebrow at him. "If you already know that you cannot do anything about it, why did we even talked about it? Don't you have any other thing to do so you're wasting your time here? Can't you see? I'm busy here. You should have to get straight to the point. Why are you really here, Rufus?"

 Rufus shakes his head and takes the Ruby necklace out of his pocket. "I am here to talk about this to you."

 I took the necklace and frowned. "About this? Why is there something wrong with the necklace? Is it not authentic?"

 "No, that's not the case. I still haven't talked to Prince Fraser."

 I raise my eyebrow at him. What does it have to do with me? I haven't even seen him since my last conversation with him. "Then talk to him. What are you still doing here? Does it looks like Prince Fraser is here?"

 I put the necklace back on his hand. I don't think I will like the reason why he is here. I didn't hear anything from Rufus yesterday, so I thought he already talk with Prince Fraser. 

 Rufus sigh and hold my hand that is resting on the table. I tried to take my hand off from him, but he won't let go. "Purplany, can you help me with this one? The Queen will be coming tomorrow, and it would be a great news if she knew that we already found Princess Celestine's Ruby Necklace. Purplany, help me."

 I shake my head. Have a conversation with Prince Fraser? That... I don't think that is a good idea. As much as possible, I don't want to talk to him as myself. I want him to talk to the real Csille and not me. So, he will start to get annoyed with me again, and that annoyance will become hatred. 

 "No, don't even start with what you want to say, Rufus. I won't help you. You do know I'm still not on good terms with him right now, right? Why don't you ask for Princess—" my eyes immediately widen. Oh no, I got a slip of the tongue. 

 "Princess? Who's Princess you are referring to? Beside Princess Paislee, there no other Princess that my cousin would let have a conversation with him."

 Great! Me and my mouth. I should have start calling Princess Paislee as Sir Farren in my head so I wouldn't have a slip of the tongue. How can I explain things to Rufus now?

 I sigh. "I'm sorry, my mind is thinking about something else. What I want to say is maybe it would be best if you ask Sir Farren for help. I'm sure he can help you. He's always with Prince Fraser, and he is the only one who seems not affected by Prince Fraser's temper. He's a better option than me. You won't get anything from me, Rufus." 

 I heard Rufus sigh. "I guess you are right." He then stands up from his seat. "I will be looking for Sir Farren to ask for his help then. Thank you for giving me the idea." 

 Rufus immediately leaves the room in a rush. I sigh in relief. That's too close. I almost say the name of Princess Paislee in front of Rufus. Thank goodness I stop my mouth in time, or else I don't know how can I explain things. It's a good thing too that Rufus didn't ask me why did I say Princess instead of Sir Farren.

 I slump on the chair and sigh. It will still take time before Princess Paislee's disguise will be known. It will also take time before Rufus knows about her disguise. For now, I need to make sure that everything is following what I have written. 

________________________________

 "Is everything okay? Ruler Laird will visit us tonight. Did you prepare everything?" I heard the head maid ask the maids.

 I sigh. Tonight will definitely be a busy night. The Great Ruler will be visiting us. He will also stay here for the night. 

 It's a good thing that Ruler Laird already started to visit each Kingdom, and now it's time for him to visit the Vrawyth Kingdom. He did this so people wouldn't be suspicious about anything. With Ruler Laird here, it will be easy for us to explain things to Queen Amalone tomorrow. 

 "Hey, Purplany, you look stunning tonight. Excited to meet your Godfather?"

 "How about you? Did you already gave the Ruby necklace to Prince Fraser?" 

 Rufus scratches his nape and sigh. "I didn't find time to talk to him. Even Sir Farren won't help me. Prince Fraser's mood today is really off that even Sir Farren refuses to help me."

 I knew it. He still hasn't given the necklace to Prince Fraser. I shake my head at him. What is this guy doing? He does know that the Ruby necklace is an important thing for the Vrawyth Kingdom. Prince Fraser needs to know about this before her majesty's visit tomorrow.

 I tap his shoulder. "That, my friend, is definitely a huge problem. Good luck dealing with it then." 

 I immediately leave him behind. I'm afraid that if I stay beside him any longer, he will use me to give the necklace to Prince Fraser. And I still don't want to talk to him. So, I have no choice but to let Rufus deal with it on his own.

 I walked towards the receiving area and found Leander, Princess Paislee, and Prince Fraser sitting on the sofa while talking.

 "Lady Csille, you are here. Come here. We're just talking about what we will do when Ruler Laird comes." Leander smiled at me.

 I sigh and sit beside him. I'll just pretend I didn't see Prince Fraser. Rufus followed behind and sat beside me. 

 "Purplany, please help me with this one. Just this one, I beg you."

 I raised my eyebrow at him. Is this guy blind, or he just doesn't see that Prince Fraser is sitting in front of him.

 "Prince Rufus, what help do you need from Lady Csille?" 

 I look at Leander and smile. "Yeah, tell me, Rufus. What help do you need?"

 Rufus sigh and takes the necklace from his pocket. "Prince Fraser." Everyone gasp when they recognize the necklace Rufus is holding.

 "Princess Celestine's Ruby necklace!" Leander exclaims. 

 I see Prince Fraser's hand tremble. "Is it really the Ruby necklace of Princess Celestine?" 

 Rufus nods his head. "It's really is. I already check its authenticity." He hands the necklace to Prince Fraser. 

 And with a trembling hand, Prince Fraser raises the necklace. He then stares at Rufus. "Where did you found it? We have been looking everywhere for this necklace. The Astalieu are almost on the verge of giving up the search for this necklace. Tell me, Rufus, where did you found this necklace?"

 "Don't ask me. You should ask Csille about this. The necklace comes from her and not from me. Apparently, some Prince of a Kingdom, I'm not going to say it's Prince Joachim, gave this to her as a gift."

 My eyes immediately widen. I couldn't believe this guy would sell me out. Just because I didn't help him? He knows how Prince Fraser hates Prince Joachim, and with the investigation Prince Fraser made, I bet he will be mad at me. 

 "You were with him? Is the reason why you were out the whole day because you were with him?" 

 I can feel the anger in Prince Fraser's voice. Oh, dear, he is mad again. I am about to explain myself to him, but Prince Fraser shakes his head and sighs. 

 "Do you know where Prince Joachim found this necklace?"

 Wait, he didn't yell at me? I observed him and noticed that his jaw tightened. He's controlling his anger. I sigh. At least I didn't have to deal with his anger. 

 "Prince Joachim brought me to an underground market in the Saiven Kingdom. Prince Joachim said that only nobles and royals could go there. He bought that necklace in that market even though I didn't want to. I didn't know it was an important thing for the Vrawyth Kingdom, though."

 "An underground market? It must be the black market of the higher ups. I didn't know The Saiven Kingdom has an underground market too."

 I look at Leander. Even Leander knows about the underground market? Am I the only one oblivious about it?

 Prince Fraser stares at me. "Where is this market? We definitely need to go there."

 "I don't know the exact address, but I can bring you there."

 Prince Fraser nods his head. "We all need to go there. After the banquet, we will go there to observe the place.. Who knows, maybe we can find another treasure of Vrawyth Kingdom."