Love For The Villainess

Friend?

Since I was grounded and my breakfast was cold once I got back, I decided to wait for lunch, so I wrote in my journal.

Suddenly I heard a knock, and I was
surprised; normally the maids just come in without knocking and leave just as quickly. I decided to ask,

"Who is it?"

Without sounding like I was nervous. I heard a little girl's voice; it wasn't Lilliana or Levi's voice, so who would come to my room? I had no idea.

She seemed surprised that I didn't open the door and seemed worried.

"It's me, Penelope"

She said, sounding urgent.

Penelope I don't know anyone like that; there was a girl mentioned once in the novel, but is the story already that far along?

Then I realized something: if Penelope has already met the villain, where are the other male leads?

Have they met the female lead?

After thinking for a couple of minutes, I decided to let her in and get to the bottom of things.

"The door is locked from the outside; you have to unlock it and let yourself in."

She seemed surprised, but soon heard an unlocking sound, and she opened the door.

Once she entered the room and closed it, I decided to wait until she spoke first.

She eventually started talking about how she told the Duke that it was her fault and that I was ungrounded. I just replied nonchalantly,

"Ok, and?"

I didn't really care if I was grounded or not; it didn't matter to me.

She sat down on the bench and started explaining things to me; apparently, awhile ago I told her I was going to ruin Lilliana's party and push her into the cake, and when she didn't see me, she decided to do it.

I sigh realizing she might get me into more trouble.

After thinking about what to say, I decided to turn towards her and say,

"I don't need your help; you're just being a nuisance. Because of your impulsive decision, not only did you get me into trouble, but now my reputation is even lower."

I quietly said looking away, "You should be proud of yourself," which startled her.

She soon started scrambling words; in the original, she was constantly bullied, but then one day the villainess stood up for her, and she has been following her around like a lost puppy since then.

I felt bad for her and would rather push her away so she wouldn't have such a fate. I decided to tell her the truth:

"If you keep acting like that, no one would want to hang out with you, and stop apologizing, just don't do it again."

She seemed to get the message, but she took it the wrong way, and instead, it just made it worse.

"Yes, I understand; I don't deserve your kindness. You're always looking out for me; I'll try harder next time so you don't get in trouble."

Before I could say anything, she left, and I didn't know how to process things after she declared her loyalty.

After rubbing my temples, I decided to get back to writing in my journal.

Even though I was ungrounded, I decided to stay in my room until everything calmed down because I didn't want to walk around my house or town and have to hear people gossip about me making up excuses.