Chapter 7: I Reincarnated as a Villainess…and Ended Up Stranded (6)

“The Youngest’s Airship Was Shipwrecked?”

“Yes, Young Master.”

A coastal city at the eastern edge of the Great West.

The Imperial mainland.

From there, at the heart that connects to the far western end where the Rosegarden family’s main estate lies, the eldest lion received word of the youngest’s airship being wrecked.

“Out of father’s excessive caution, they must have used the northern route… And yet it still got wrecked en route?”

“…I have no excuse, sir.”

Leonard Rosegarden.

He was the Rosegarden family’s eldest and rightful heir, the older brother of the youngest, Lin Rosegarden.

He was also significantly older than their younger brother and sister.

As such, he was already handling family affairs under their father, the family patriarch, when he received this thunderbolt of a report.

“Hah.”

Despite all the precautions taken,

Leonard let out a sigh of disbelief at the news that the youngest he thought he’d soon be seeing might be dead.

“Does Father know about this?”

“Yes. By now, he must have already been informed.”

“Very well. If it concerns the youngest, Father will take care of it. That will be all—you may go.”

“Yes, sir.”

The man who came to deliver the report bowed and exited at the sub-heir’s command.

Leonard’s reaction to hearing that his youngest sister had fallen from the sky was oddly lukewarm.

Though he had a reputation for being cold-blooded and tearless, even for one of the Rosegarden lions, his reaction was excessively composed.

Especially because, contrary to the saying that lions raise their cubs by pushing them off cliffs, the Rosegarden line was known for their fiercely strong familial bonds.

That made his demeanor all the more jarring.

“You seem quite calm about this,” the elderly butler assisting him finally asked.

Leonard, looking entirely unbothered, simply picked up his fountain pen again.

“The youngest is wearing our mother’s necklace. So even if she falls from above the clouds, she’ll land without a scratch.”

“However, Miss Lin is still young. As far as I’m aware, she has yet to learn the magic and knowledge required to handle it…”

“As long as it’s around her neck, it will suffice.”

It turned out Leonard had been confident she would survive all along.

The necklace their mother had crafted was embedded with a synthetic gemstone combining buoyant stone and lake crystal.

Even if the wearer didn’t know how to control it, it would still prevent both death from falling and drowning.

As for why those two otherwise unrelated stones were combined—only the maker and her husband knew that secret.

“Besides, she has her dolls with her.”

“…Dolls, sir?”

“Yes. The battle mage dolls created by the first mage scholar, Flask. Even the so-called greatest emperor in history couldn’t get a single one of them, yet our youngest has all three, does she not?”

Leonard then brought up the mage dolls escorting Lin.

They were the creations of Sara Flask, the first known mage scholar and the revolutionary figure behind the Empire’s magi-tech upheaval.

Though technically failed experiments meant to become homunculi or artificial elementals, the dolls were widely regarded by the public as legendary inventions of Flask.

These so-called failures, passed down through rumor and myth, eventually found their way into the immensely wealthy Rosegarden family—after swallowing up a small nation’s worth of silver and gold.

The family patriarch, hoping to protect his beloved youngest daughter, gave them to her disguised as ordinary dolls.

So the story goes.

“Still… It’s a shame I won’t get to see her just yet. I had a gift prepared in advance.”

“You’ll be seeing her soon enough, sir.”

“Indeed. I better.”

***

Meanwhile, in another room of the same building…

“It’s been a while, Lord Ruther. I trust your family is doing well?”

“Yes, they are—”

“Ah, no. My mistake. I misspoke. They’re to be eradicated anyway. No need to bring pain where it isn’t due, wouldn’t you say?”

“…! Archduke, please! Have mercy…!!”

A man with the same name as the crashed airship’s captain was groveling on the floor, bowing deeply and rubbing his hands together.

“P-please, hear me out! According to eyewitnesses, the day in question saw an unprecedented storm! Nature operates under divine law, and how could someone like me dare to comprehend the will of our holy, sacred Father…!”

“So you’re saying the fact that my young daughter fell from the sky was divine will?”

“That’s not what I meant…!”

The lions of Rosegarden are deeply devoted to family.

But—just as the word “family” implies—that love and tenderness is a privilege reserved only for those of shared blood.

The man lying flat on the floor knew this very well.

In order to win the patriarch’s favour, he had insisted that the northern route was safer than the stormy oceanic path.

But the unexpected storm and lightning had wrecked the airship.

Among the presumed dead was also the captain of the vessel—his own son.

Even so, the man continued to beg for his life, prioritizing survival above all.

“Just once! Please give me one more chance! I’ll summon every ounce of strength I have to bring the young lady safely back to you, Archduke…!”

“That is none of your concern.”

The patriarch of the Rosegarden family had already dispatched a special task force to search for Lin.

“Do not worry. If Lin returns alive, I’ll spare your family from annihilation.”

“…Pardon? What do you mean by that…?”

The man turned pale at the Archduke’s cold statement.

It meant that regardless of the outcome, he wouldn’t be spared.

“Even if you die, your remaining family should at least live, no?”

“A-Archduke…”

“Take him away.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Please, wait! Archduke! Wait—!”

The door shut, and all went silent.

The man’s voice would never be heard again.

Most likely, not ever.

***

Meanwhile…

“Kiriel! Tell these guys to stop licking me already!”

Ever since Kiriel became the alpha of the wolf monsters, many things had changed.

First, their cozy home was now ridiculously cramped.

Second, the dog smell had become unbearable.

Third… these creatures seemed to think I was either their alpha’s mate or some kind of baby to be protected.

“I told you to stop licking me because of the smell!!”

Maybe that’s why they kept slathering my face and hair in drool nonstop.

Even when I punched them with all my might, they didn’t flinch.

It only hurt my hand.

I think they were trying to groom me like a flower, but from my perspective, it was plain insubordination.

Do you hear me? I’m your alpha’s master!

So why aren’t you listening to me!?

“I just washed my hair and now look at this mess!”

Okay, fine, licking my face is one thing.

But soaking my platinum blonde hair—the symbol of a proper villainess—with dog cologne?

Completely unforgivable.

“Kiriel…!”

“…….”

I yelled at Kiriel once more, and only then did the damned mutts stop.

After all the punching and yelling, the moment Kiriel raised her hand, they instantly stood straight like obedient soldiers.

The nerve…

Hey! That’s basically my order, you know!?

Why is it you only follow indirect orders like that but never listen to me directly!?

“Haa… Guess I have to bathe again…”

Too late.

I waded into the lake once more.

Fourth time today, by the way.

…If they slobber on me again, I’m seriously turning them all into stew.

“Stop. Don’t come near me. Do that again, and I’ll toss you into a pot with some soybean paste. You want to be marinated?”

As I snapped with a voice full of irritation, the wolves finally backed off.

Except one stubborn fool who came panting toward me again.

Clang!

I smacked its head with a brass pipe I had lying around.

With a yelp, it drooped back to the pack.

…Wondering where the pipe came from?

Oh, the wolves brought it themselves.

For me to beat them with.

Of course, me being a kid, all I could manage was a gentle bonk at best.

Still, there were upsides to being the wolf pack’s “alpha.”

Thanks to their superior senses, our detection range was massive, and their numbers made scavenging airship debris incredibly efficient.

They fetched things so fast that they’d already retrieved every wreckage in the area.

They even hunted food on their own—boars, deer, all kinds of meat.

“…I told you I’m not eating goblins.”

And yet they brought back goblins for me to eat.

…How am I supposed to eat something so grotesque?

Also—wait—there are goblins in this forest?!

That was my first thought.

Still is.

I mean, I get it.

Monsters eating monsters, sure.

Goblins must be a decent source of protein for them.

But the real problem is this:
They think I’m just picky.

Like, why wouldn’t I eat this delicious food?

“Bark bark!”

“I told you I’m not eating it! I can’t eat it!”

“Bark, bark bark!”

“I’m gonna grow taller anyway so it doesn’t matter, okay!?”

They nag like relatives at a holiday dinner.

If they’re going to share, they could at least give me the good stuff—like venison or pork!

Why is it always goblin meat!?

“Woof!”

What? You think that’s the tastiest one?

No, it’s absolutely not.

If you think that’s tasty, you’d probably faint from a Hawaiian pizza.

In the end, I ordered Kiriel to bring me venison and grilled it myself.

I got judged twice—once for not eating goblin, and again for cooking my meat.

Yeah, well, maybe you can eat stuff raw and be fine.

But if I don’t grill it, I’ll get sick—or worse.

So just bear with me, okay!?

“Oh, right. One more thing. You guys mustn’t eat antlers, alright? They’re valuable alchemy materials—”

“Woof?”

Too late.

One of them’s already gnawing on a deer antler like a chew toy.

“Wa—Hey! Spit that out right now!”

“Growl…”

“You dare growl at your master?! Wanna get punished!?”

Clang!

In a deep lake within the Abel Forest,
the sweet sound of pipe discipline rang out once again as the cute little wolves and I spent another peaceful day together.

***

Elsewhere, far from the lake where they lived…

“Groooaaargh…”

“…?”

A troll, crawling on the ground and oozing precious alchemical fluids, let out a painful groan.

Oh?

Not dead yet?

A maid doll—identical in appearance to Kiriel—raised her sword, now glowing with aura.

The blade, now longer than its usual length, swung down in one clean arc, severing the troll’s neck in an instant.

Slish!

The sound soon stopped.

The doll, now sure the troll was truly dead, sat back down with grace.

She then resumed munching on the troll’s thigh meat she’d been eating.