I’m Going to Change My Husband With a Predatory Marriage - Chapter 99

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 99

Chapter 11. The Correlation Between Violet Research and Jewels

The Duchess of Muzen hailed from the Empire, but after her marriage, she rarely visited the Imperial Capital.
Once when her son participated in a tournament at fourteen.
And right now.
This visit had a very important reason behind it.
‘It’s about time for Aaron as well.’
Since the Muzen House was annexed into the Empire, they had always seated a woman from the Empire in the position of Duchess.
It was a way to demonstrate the House’s loyalty.
The next Duchess of Muzen would be no exception.
For that reason, she had come to the capital herself, bringing her eighteen-year-old son.
Since the Duchess disliked commotion, she had kept her and her son’s whereabouts as secret as possible.
Of course, once she formally held balls with her son or began attending them, it would be impossible to keep it hidden.
But now, having just arrived in the capital, she wanted to keep things quiet. At least for a few days.
When she arrived near the capital, a certain rumor reached her ears.

“At the banquet held at Artanus Hall this time, Her Highness the Crown Princess wore a new style of dress, and it was so beautiful.”

Within that rumor lay information that seized the Duchess’s interest entirely.

“The dress was in a mysterious blue-violet shade I’d never seen before.”

Upon hearing those words, the Duchess could no longer contain herself.
She had rushed here before even entering the Muzen residence in the capital.
Though it was not widely known in the capital, the Duchess’s love of violet was quite famous in the southern regions.
She had decorated her private chambers and reception room entirely in violet, and planted flowers and fruit-bearing plants in violet hues throughout the garden.
Naturally, most of what filled her dressing room was also violet.
She had even seriously rebutted her husband’s remark about whether she was simply buying violet clothing and accessories exclusively.

“It all seems like the same violet to me?”
“There’s no such thing as the same violet in this world! They’re all different!”

Upon hearing the description of that peculiar blue-violet hue, I naturally found myself drawn to it.
‘So I deliberately sought out the atelier that had created that dress, only to discover it was a counterfeit.’
Thanks to meeting the Crown Princess’s lady-in-waiting, I was able to locate the authentic piece.
The Countess gazed up at the shop sign, which bore all the telltale marks of having been recently opened.
‘Frida Wesra…’
It was a name I had never heard before.
Yet the Countess observed the handkerchief Anny held in her hands—a beautiful and mysterious color that made her heart respond.
‘It was a blue-violet shade I had never seen in my entire life. What dyeing technique could possibly produce such a color?’
Fascination and possessiveness surged to the very crown of my head.
Frida Wesra’s atelier had no customers.
At first glance, the shop interior appeared ordinary.
It was customary for establishments to create display windows outside to showcase their wares, yet there were none here.
Only a single dress form stood in the display space arranged at the very back.
Upon that form hung a blue-violet dress of exquisite and mysterious beauty that she had never before witnessed.
She felt a shock of emotion as if struck by lightning.
“Good heavens!”
When she had seen the handkerchief in Anny’s possession, she was already in a state of excitement.
Yet the color saturation of that dress far surpassed the handkerchief.
So much so that she drew near the moment her eyes fell upon it.
After the Countess and her party entered, a figure emerged from within moments later.
She was a young woman.
“How may I assist you?”
“Summon the proprietor at once.”
“I am the proprietor—Frida Wesra.”
The person now greeting the Duchess of Muzen was Isephin, who had been prepared in advance.
Just as Hillia had forewarned her, she stood ready, thoroughly prepared and waiting.
And at this very moment, she was disguised with a wig and makeup to appear as different as possible from her true self.
Deliberately made to appear several years older than her actual age.
It would be difficult to recognize her unless one was as close as family or intimate friends.
Now that the people of Count Sollenus’s household had departed for their estates, there was no one who could identify her save the Duchess of Axion herself.
‘Good. This is my first customer. I must do well.’
Hillia affirmed this with a smile.

“Frida Wesra will surely succeed. This is my absolute conviction as an investor.”

Isephin—or rather, Frida Wes—wanted to repay the trust of her employer and investor.
She had to do her utmost to honor Hillia’s efforts in bringing her such a distinguished first client.
‘I’ll seal this deal, no matter what!’
Frida Wes answered the Duchess of Muzen’s questions with kindness, yet brimming with confidence.
And the moment the Duchess of Muzen arrived in the capital, she ordered over ten dresses from Frida Wes’s atelier.
Those who had followed and watched their conversation with interest witnessed both the cyan-violet dress samples displayed in the shop and the Duchess of Muzen’s generous order.
Naturally, word spread.
“Did you hear? The dress for Her Highness the Crown Princess wasn’t made by Kemel Atelier.”
“Of course I heard. It was an atelier I’d never heard of before, and… what was it called? Anyway, the Duchess of Muzen went there, didn’t she?”
“It was called Frida Wes. They say she ordered ten dresses.”
Rumors spread faster than winged words through the capital’s high society.
Naturally, all the orders that had accumulated at Kemel Atelier were cancelled, leaving Melissa Kemel buried in debt.
No matter how much she cried out about her golden torso, no one believed her.
It took only a day for Kemel Atelier to collapse and Frida Wes’s atelier to rise as the fashionable destination of the capital’s elite.

* * *

The moment the Duchess of Muzen and her entourage, having just completed a satisfying shopping excursion, stepped out of Frida Wes’s atelier and onto Quirel Street.
An unexpected incident occurred.
The Duchess suddenly collapsed inside the carriage.
Count Aaron Muzen gasped in alarm and caught his mother.
“Mother!!!”
The Duchess’s complexion flushed crimson, and her skin swelled taut and distended.
And most troublingly.
“I… I can’t breathe…!”
With each breath she drew, a whistling sound escaped her.
Aaron hastily stopped the carriage.
“A physician! Fetch a physician! Quickly!!!”
Just as the panicked servants of House Muzen rushed to find a doctor.
A clear, melodious voice rang out from above.
“Is there some trouble I might assist with?”
The voice came from the terrace directly above the passing carriage.
Fragrant crimson flowers and densely woven green vines wound around the white marble balustrade of the second floor.
Between the blooms and leaves, a woman poked her head out cautiously.
Wavy golden hair cascaded down in the sunlight, and emerald eyes glimmered with interest.
She resembled a serpent coiled in the undergrowth, waiting for opportunity to strike.
Aaron shook his head.
“A physician’s aid is what we require. I don’t believe we need a lady’s assistance.”
The fan concealing the blonde woman’s lips snapped shut.
Coral-colored lips curved into a gentle arc.
“Observing the Duchess’s complexion, it appears to be a condition I’m familiar with.”
Aaron’s expression shifted.
She—Evangeline—spoke with an oddly confident demeanor.
“Might I be of assistance?”

* * *

“Is something troubling you?”
It had been quite some time since I’d heard that voice.
Evangeline had been confined to the Roux Mansion since the banquet at Artanus Hall.
Watching her lean over the second-floor terrace railing with her long golden hair cascading down as she smiled, I couldn’t help but marvel anew.
‘She calculated even the angle and timing of her entrance.’
Once again.
I was currently seated inside a carriage parked along the roadside.
Through the slightly open window, I observed Evangeline extending a helping hand to the Duchess of Muzen, disguising misfortune as mere coincidence.
I had witnessed a similar scene in my first life.
Evangeline had used me as a supporting player in a comparable scheme.
Based on information from the ‘original story,’ she was helping the Duchess of Muzen and winning the favor of her son, Count Aaron Muzen.

“I wish to know the name of the gracious lady. I, Aaron of Muzen, shall repay this kindness without fail.”
“There is no need to reveal such a trivial name.”

With apparent shyness, Evangeline swiftly departed.
Leaving me behind.
And Aaron turned to me, his companion, to inquire about Evangeline’s name.

“Forgive my impertinence, but might you tell me the name of my benefactress?”
“Of course. She is Evangeline, the Viscountess Roux.”

Back then, I knew nothing and simply passed Evangeline’s name to Aaron just as she wished.
‘I didn’t even understand why Evangeline had me play the role of introducing her name to him.’
Now I do.
‘The original heroine’—that was me—and she must have been satisfied that I was merely her supporting actress.
And she wanted that dynamic where her name would spread despite her own reluctance.
I moved exactly as Evangeline desired, and not long after, I heard that Aaron Muzen had become one of her passionate followers.
Aaron was not merely the heir to the southern Muzen ducal house.
‘That man would soon reach the realm of a Sword Master.’
It meant Evangeline found it worthwhile to go through the trouble of moving directly.
I sat with my legs crossed, watching Evangeline feign reluctance for a moment.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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