The Villainess Does It With Class

Chapter 77 - Conspiracy

A girl with long blonde hair watches as carriages from different families, sped in front of her. She was just on her way from buying something in the capital when she noticed that a lot of wagons were passing by, and they were all going in the same direction. She watched them all go, full of curiosity.

'Is there an occasion?' was her unspoken question.

She had not heard of a festival, but she knows that it was someone's social debut. It was, after all, a widespread rumor, though it wasn't considered a rumor at all. She has heard most of the people in the Capital talk about it, just like the shop that she was in earlier. They were all talking about a certain lady's birthday celebration.

'She's probably famous, or she must be from a very influential household.'

She lingered for a bit before she resumed walking again. As she rounded the corner where her carriage was waiting, she caught sight of a bookstore across the street.. There was a big signboard in front, indicating that they are on sale. She halted on her steps and gazed at the shop while biting her lip.

She was silently contemplating if she would go or not. Her eyes went to the sky, she still has some time to waste. She likes reading thus, she decided to visit.

The chime made a ringing sound when she opened the door. Her eyes were then greeted by rows and rows of shelves on the walls, where books in different sizes lined up. There were also signs over them that tells you the genres and classifications of the novels. An old chandelier lighted the whole place, giving a cozy warm feeling.

"Hello~ Welcome to my humble store!" a cheerful voice sang at the side.

She slowly whirled to look for the owner of the voice and saw a young woman leaning behind the counter. The woman was smiling brightly at her so she repaid them with her own.

"Meow~"

She then felt something furry touched her leg and was so surprised that she made a step backward. It was only a black cat though...

"Sorry about that. Luna just likes seeing new people," the lady remarked.

She awkwardly let out a smile that looked more like a grimace.

"Ah, I was only surprised. That's all..." she uttered.

Her eyes then strayed to the little black feline which had leaped over the counter and sat there while licking its tiny paws.

The longer she looked at it, the awkwardness from earlier slowly dissipated.

'It's kind of cute...'

"Are you looking for a specific book?" the woman voiced out, getting her attention.

She immediately snapped away from her thoughts and shook her head.

"I'm just going to look around and find whatever is interesting..."

From the number of books surrounding them, it would be impossible that she wouldn't find something that would grab her attention. She then walked straight to the shelf in front of her and regarded all the books with focus.

"Oh, then can I suggest a book for you?" The lady inquired.

She blinked at the smiling shop owner then slowly nodded. She did not think of it as something burdensome hence why she agreed.

The shop owner then left the counter and sauntered toward a shelf not far from her. Her white silk robes flowed around her body, creating an illusion of her looking delicate and airy. The gold bangles around her wrists rattled as her hands stretched out to grab one specific book out of the bunch.