Isn’t Being A Wicked Woman Much Better? - Chapter 86

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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 86
Forty minutes ago. I manipulated Horse Number One, which was in poor condition, to appear as a popular horse in order to increase the payout odds for Horse Number Three.
In my previous life, I’d once heard it mentioned in a psychology elective. Gamblers induce people to bet on horses with low chances of winning.
People who understand horses as well as Thierry are actually quite rare in this place.
‘Most of them are just ordinary people who came to gamble casually, or those who simply guess on impulse.’
Ordinary people without discerning eyes naturally gravitate toward betting on the most popular horse. And I’d invested heavily at the outset, creating the illusion that Horse Number One was the most favored.
“When people aren’t confident about which horse to bet on, they end up betting on the one the majority backs.”
“Ah, so that’s why Horse Number One’s odds dropped so dramatically.”
“Exactly. Even if you earn less, you’re making the safer choice.”
Guillaume’s face flushed with excitement as he grasped my explanation completely.
“Then if Horse Number Three, the one Thierry picked, wins?”
“Fifteen to one.”
“The Princess is truly a gambler… no, a genius. Manipulating the odds like that.”
Thierry murmured with admiration gleaming in his eyes.
“It’s starting.”
Soon, the horses began appearing one by one at the starting line. With a considerable sum wagered and this being my first horse race, my throat tightened with tension.
Bang!
With the sound of the starting pistol, a red flag fluttered, and massive racing horses encased in rippling muscle surged fearlessly across the field.
In the early stages, Horse Number One shot ahead rapidly, and the grandstand erupted in roars. Likely because so many had bet on Horse Number One.
“Thierry, what on earth is happening? After Deborah Simour set up such a brilliant scheme for us, if we lose…”
Guillaume grew anxious, but Thierry remained composed.
“Wait. It’s still warming up.”
“What? Whoa!”
Horse Number Three, with its brilliant crimson mane reminiscent of the legendary Red Hare, suddenly blazed forward like wildfire in the latter half of the race.
“Whoa!”
As it overtook three horses in an instant, Guillaume clutched his chest and screamed as if breathless, while Thierry’s fists clenched tight.
‘It’s actually winning?’
In the end, Horse Number Three crossed the finish line first by the narrowest of margins.
Honestly, I hadn’t expected it, but I was genuinely impressed by Thierry’s eye for horses. I couldn’t fathom why someone who played piano so well and possessed such varied talents would live like this.
“We won! First place!!”
“This is exactly why I can’t quit gambling!”
The reckless young nobles, now holding sudden fortune in their hands, were in a festive frenzy. With flushed faces, they linked arms and bounced about, even breaking into some peculiar song.
‘Can they really be this happy?’
Well, it was essentially a miraculous comeback from a hopeless situation—one where I’d even fabricated counterfeit Holy Water eggs. When I inadvertently chuckled at the sheer absurdity of it all, Thierry and Guillaume suddenly froze mid-motion, their faces going blank as they blinked.
“Huh…?”
“What? Is there something on my face?”
I rubbed my cheek with the back of my hand.
“Oh, no, it’s nothing.”
“What is it? You two just seemed incredibly…”
For some reason, they both seemed slightly flustered before suddenly becoming composed.
‘At least he knows how to maintain appearances, being a high-ranking noble.’
I thought this while rapidly calculating the gold coins I’d earned today in my head.
After the match. The glorious moment of settlement!
We divided the heaping pile of gold coins into three equal shares. Judging by their bright expressions, they’d earned more than enough to reclaim their pawned items.
‘But I’m the real jackpot winner here.’
Not only did I make money, but I finally got my hands on the holy water stone egg I’d been coveting all along. I’d done well to bluff like a con artist in front of those naive young lords.
“I’ll make you earn at least five times the money you were hoping to double!”
On the day of the afternoon tea party, I’d stimulated their desire for a big score and their curiosity, extracting a promise from Thierry to transfer this incubation stone to me.
‘This is actually a truly jackpot rare item! Idiots.’
While I was fondling the egg that looked like a white pebble and grinning, Thierry approached me closely.
“Deborah Simour.”
He, who seemed like he’d blow away with a breath, now gazed at me with a rather serious expression. As the frivolous and light atmosphere disappeared, his distinctive yet refined features became sharply defined.
“What?”
Perhaps because I’d seen Isidore so much, or thanks to being trained by the beauty of the Simour Family men, I felt no nervousness even standing face-to-face with a tall, handsome man like a Milan Runway model.
“I had a dream where golden roses were blooming, and now that I think about it, it seemed to be a dream symbolizing you.”
“….”
“I kept doubting and being difficult… I’m sorry.”
He, with the corners of his eyes slightly reddened, gazed at me intently. His white cheeks tinged with a faint blush.
“Thank you.”
Despite being a high-ranking noble, it was a direct apology and expression of gratitude.
‘He must have been driven to the edge of a cliff, emotional enough to have tears glistening in his eyes.’
Indeed, if he’d been caught having gambled while his allowance was cut off and having pawned valuables? At minimum he’d face confinement, and at worst, he could have been struck from the family register.
“Deborah Simour, you remain composed even in the midst of this jackpot. Truly, a skilled player… no, a master has a different caliber….”
Guillaume murmured with an admiring expression.
Perhaps because I’d earned substantial income recently, I was delighted to have made so much from gambling, yet I could maintain a composed demeanor outwardly. Though in reality, I hadn’t even reached half of a billion yet.
“This much is nothing to me.”
I parted ways with them, maintaining a cold expression until the end, pretending to be a capable card reader who could read the game.
‘White turtle!’
The moment I returned home, I rushed to the Study in the Annex Building with my heart swelling with excitement.
‘What should I name my cute baby holy water creature?’
I took out my key and opened the last drawer that was firmly locked, retrieving the iron sword I’d won at the Auction House. I’d polished it diligently, and the blade gleamed brilliantly.
“Come out.”
I lightly struck the stone with the sword.
Clang!
And nothing happened.
* * *
“Why is Thierry lying sprawled out on the ground like that?”
“It’s been going on for a day or two.”
The White Knight Order knights inwardly clicked their tongues as they watched Thierry, who had thrown the sword aside like garbage onto the nearby grass and was lying there with a vacant expression.
The world was truly unfair. Though he seemed to have a screw loose, he’d inherited the talent of the bloodline intact, achieving a high level of skill at a young age.
While Diera commanded universal respect as a swordsman, when asked who I would choose to be, the answer was Thierry. In terms of results relative to effort, he stood unmatched among all the knights of the Empire.
“Sigh.”
Thierry exhaled deeply, his gaze fixed blankly into the void.
‘Everyone’s too much.’
That Deborah Simour possessed a dangerously lethal charm—why hadn’t anyone warned me beforehand? Only Isidore and the Fifth Princess had known of it.
‘Of all moments, she had to smile then.’
He sprang abruptly to his feet from the grass.
When my third gambit succeeded, my heart thundered wildly, flooded with exhilaration, and in that moment I glimpsed the Princess smiling faintly. Eventually, I couldn’t even tell anymore why my heart was racing.
‘She’s more beautiful when she smiles.’
In truth, I had always found her beautiful even when her brow furrowed or her expression remained blank. Her features bore the lavish brilliance of a rose, befitting her direct lineage to the Simour Family. But when she smiled softly—it felt as though I’d been struck on the head with a hammer from behind.
Even Guillaume, who had harbored a certain wariness of Deborah Simour, confessed that in the instant she narrowed her eyes and offered that faint smile, he wouldn’t have minded becoming a eunuch.
‘It’s so overwhelming, I keep thinking about it.’
He ran his fingers through his disheveled black short hair in frustration.
A woman who manipulated betting odds at the Horse Racing Track was unprecedented. Even if struck by a random slap on the street, it wouldn’t have been so shocking. And then, one more thing….
Had that final warning not existed, he might have ended things simply—discovering her serpentine(?) charm while sharing a sense of camaraderie as accomplices in crime.
Thierry recalled Deborah Simour’s parting counsel with an indescribable feeling.
“When you go to the Pawnshop searching for pawned items, if someone tries to lure you to a gambling den, ignore them. The probability of being drawn into a confidence game is high.”
She had spoken in a cool voice.
“You’re saying there will be shills in that alley?”
“Yes.”
True to her warning, the moment we entered the alley where the Pawnshop stood, disreputable-looking men were boasting about winning twenty times their stakes with dice.
As events unfolded precisely as she had predicted, Guillaume clicked his tongue in amazement.
“Indeed, the Princess must truly be a gambling architect as the rumors suggest. Being from the Simour Family, renowned for their intellect, she operates on an entirely different level than common ruffians like us.”
‘Truly, if I hadn’t been forewarned, I might have been tempted.’
Thanks to her counsel, my mind snapped alert as though I’d been struck across the back by the Nanny. Without her hint, I surely would have acted impulsively on impulse alone.
Thierry habitually sought refuge in addictive places. He drifted toward stimulation as though in self-torment, forgetting reality. Every time he was reminded that he must wield his sword daily, he felt weary and disgusted.
‘That’s how I was caught before too.’
Though I had earned money through horse racing, the reason I had squandered my entire fortune at the gambling den in the first place was because I had succumbed to the atmosphere of quick profits surrounding the Horse Racing Track.
I had received her help twice over. In exchange for a fossilized stone—nothing more than a dust-covered pebble rolling about in Diera’s sword storage—the debt was considerable.
‘Deborah Simour wouldn’t have given that advice out of concern for me, but….’
He rubbed his flushed neck.

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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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