A Painting of the Villainess as a Young Lady

Chapter 33

When the duchess—a mother of four and the woman who had absolute power in high society—passed away, Violet was only six and Cairn, the youngest child, was only five.

She was originally a frail person.

Duke Everett was devastated by the death of his beloved wife. It took him quite a long time to function again.

And less than two years after the duchess’ death, Duke Everett’s older brother died as well. It was a carriage accident.

The sudden accident claimed the lives of both the duke’s brother and the wife of his brother. They were just a young couple. The only survivor was their small daughter, who wailed at the funeral.

“When’s Mommy and Daddy coming back, Nanny? You said they’re getting Allie a gift…”

Still unable to comprehend death, the little girl cried and wailed throughout the solemn funeral. The duke adopted the child and entered her in his family registry.

Ever since the duchess departed, a shroud of glacial air hovered over the ducal estate.

Duke Everett wasn’t formerly very involved with the household’s internal affairs, and the children were still in shock after their mother’s death. They no longer ran around and made a lot of noise inside the house—it became completely quiet.

In a place seemingly frozen by a midwinter storm, one bright child came in like spring itself.

Violet, at eight years old, could not easily understand why her cousin suddenly became her younger sister.

However, she wished to become a wonderful person just like her late mother, and so she started behaving like a dignified adult despite being a child herself.

And so, in this ducal household, the only child who remained a child was Cairn.

As a cousin, Violet quite liked Aileen. But not as a younger sister.

Ever since the girl was adopted into the family, the attention of Violet’s brothers and father were all focused on Aileen.

But she’s a pitiful girl. As a big sister who was two years older than her, Violet figured that she should take care of Aileen.

In truth, Violet also needed the care and attention of someone older. But until two years prior, she endured the heavy, oppressive air in the household all alone.

The start of it all was, yes, only a trivial matter.

Something small and forgettable that no one else but Violet remembered.

“Nanny said something to me. The previous duchess is a gorgeous woman who has beautiful golden blonde hair, but why is Sister’s hair silver?”

It was a very small opening.

Such a thing was whispered covertly amongst the maids and the handmaids, but Violet did not know that. She heard it first from Aileen.

Violet got angry.

She merely threw a tantrum as a child would, and she pushed Aileen straightaway. But the moment the little girl burst into tears, the brothers came running.

“What did you just do, Violet?!”

“But she started it first!”

“Shut up. It doesn’t matter who started it. Is it right for you to use violence like this?!”

One small child had collapsed to the ground and was crying. Another small child was huffing with anger.

On the surface, it was obvious which child was wrong. So, the person who got scolded was inevitably Violet.

Violet was only eight years old. She was also young, and she also just lost her mother.

But in this situation, Aileen was outwardly more pitiful.

Violet defended herself and was outspoken about her innocence, but she was completely ignored. Mikhail carried Aileen in his arms and scolded Violet for a very long time.

Mikhail was yet another child who was pretending to be an adult. But, in the end, it’s obvious that he was not a mature adult just yet.

It couldn’t be counted just how many more similar incidents occurred, even though they all started with only normal squabbles between children.

Aileen secretly wore Violet’s clothes, but when she returned them, they’re all ruined. So of course, Violet got angry.

Because Violet could never seem to understand her younger sister, and because she was always angry at the girl, Violet was the only one who always got scolded.

The day that Violet finally exploded was the day Aileen lost the necklace that the duchess had left behind.

A fight broke out.

The memento Violet had of her mother’s was lost. It was only obvious that she’d be furious the moment she saw Aileen again. She had told Aileen not to touch her stuff over and over and over again, but the girl would not listen.

And Violet’s anger intensified further because no one ever sided with her.

Then, the duke stepped in.

“She took my stuff! I told her not to!”

Shouldn’t their father react differently?

Unlike Mikhail, who was only pretending to be a grown-up, and Roen, who never failed to follow behind the eldest brother…

“You’re grounded for a week.”

Violet was expecting something different, but all her hopes were disastrously shattered.

She was punished for the reason of not behaving properly as a ducal lady.

Aileen was also reprimanded for taking Violet’s belongings without permission, but it was nothing more than a light slap on the wrist.

Once or twice could be called a coincidence, but a third time could never be just that.

Violet could not understand why Aileen kept doing it—she didn’t know what kind of thoughts went on in the girl’s mind whenever she did.

But at some point before, the roles had already been set.

Violet was the bad older sister who always bullied her younger sister.

Aileen was the pitiful younger sister who was always persecuted by her new older sister.

And that was the time that Violet’s life began to fall apart.

“Hiic, hiic…”

“What happened this time?”

“I-I’m okay. B-But Brother… Sister, she…”

“…Haa. Violet, you again. How many times must I tell you—”

“But she started it first!”

“You’re making the same excuse again. Fine, I guess it’s impossible for you to treat your younger sister kindly. But why are you always so eager to harass her?”

Oh so consistently, the timing was always perfect.