Isn’t Being A Wicked Woman Much Better? - Chapter 9

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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 9
“I… what did you say?”
Beleck Simour stood stunned for a moment as if struck, then let out a hollow laugh, concluding my words were a joke.
“Your talent for infuriating me grows by the day. If that was meant to be a jest, it’s not amusing.”
“It’s not a joke.”
“Deborah, you don’t carelessly speak such nonsense. To declare you’re abandoning your duty as a noblewoman—have you lost your mind, or are you truly planning to enter a convent?”
“….”
The moment the convent ending I’d desperately wanted to avoid spilled from his lips, my heart sank.
“Mind your words. Stop bringing shame upon this house.”
As attendants approached behind Beleck, who radiated a murderous killing intent, he clicked his tongue and withdrew.
“We’ll discuss this later.”
“There’s nothing to discuss.”
I clenched my trembling hands and shot back.
“Whether you wish it or not, you will. And as your brother, I’m giving you sincere counsel—abandon Philaf Montes.”
“….”
“Louis Gazel is respectable enough. He’s the heir of a wealthy house, so you’ll come to appreciate it eventually.”
Beleck Simour offered a superficial smile and lightly patted my shoulder.
“Aren’t you past the age where you can have whatever you desire?”
He spoke his piece and strode away with quick steps.
‘A convent….’
I pressed my temples as they began to throb, standing motionless for a long while.
* * *
After the confrontation with Beleck Simour, I fell into a state of panic. Never did I imagine Beleck Simour would personally push a betrothal upon me.
His influence and authority within the family far surpassed mine as a mere lady—this was an extraordinarily grave situation.
‘I’m going mad.’
Deborah was nineteen this year.
Come autumn, after my debutante ball, I would legally be of marriageable age. If things continued as they were, I’d be trapped marrying that pervert Louis Gazel….
“It’s over.”
Such a terrible plot twist had been hidden in the novel. No wonder Deborah had been so vicious toward the heroine. How could someone as arrogant as Deborah, whose pride reached the heavens, tolerate constantly being presented with some count’s heir from House Gazel? It was unbearable.
And the young master of House Montes, whom she’d had her eye on for so long, was throwing himself at some unknown fallen noblewoman’s daughter. Every time I saw Mia, I wanted to explode with rage.
“Argh!!”
I was exploding with rage too. I’d been burned by a bastard like Kim Han-jun and didn’t even want to fall in love, and now marriage to a perverted bastard? This was absolute nonsense.
‘I thought things were going too smoothly.’
Feeling frustrated and resentful, I pounded the soft pillow like a punching bag.
I’d thought too simply—that if I didn’t mistreat the heroine, I could avoid the convent, and then I could continue living as I was.
“Wait a moment.”
I suddenly sat up from where I’d been lying face-down with disheveled hair and stopped the maid who’d brought tea.
“Yes, my lady.”
The maid quickly prostrated herself, her face gone pale as she set down the tray.
“What happens when a noblewoman refuses a marriage her family is pushing? I’m suddenly dying to know.”
When I clutched my head in despair, the maid’s complexion grew even more ashen. A madman was always more terrifying than a villain.
“I-I’m terribly sorry, but there’s no such case….”
“Then use your imagination.”
“If one doesn’t marry….”
What the maid said next was utterly bleak.
If I refused to marry and held out, I would have no surname to inherit, which meant my title would naturally be stripped away, and I would be exiled from noble society to a convent.
‘I’m going insane. How is this different from the original ending?’
Was my fate always meant to end in a convent? Now I finally understood why Beleck Simour had found my declaration of remaining unmarried so absurd.
‘It was truly nonsensical.’
Feeling dejected, I grasped at straws and pressed the maid further.
“That’s strange. Why would there be no cases of refusing marriage? A family could still push an unwanted person as a betrothed, couldn’t they?”
In a world where people lived, there had to be exceptions.
“There must be exceptional cases, right? I’m just curious. I can’t sleep when I’m curious. If I can’t sleep, will you take responsibility?”
I pressed on relentlessly with flawed logic. Something would surely come out if I dug deep enough.
I already knew from the original novel how well-informed the maids were about high society. Servants in noble households were essentially breeding grounds for rumors. Huddling together during breaks and gossiping about all manner of social scandals was one of their favorite pastimes.
“Think about it until you remember.”
When I glared at her fiercely, making it clear I wouldn’t let her leave until she answered, the maid began sweating profusely and, after frantically racking her brain, suddenly spoke up.
“Ah! There was a noble lady who fell in love with a commoner mercenary and eloped for love.”
“And then?”
“That lady received a title, which solved the problem. She was a 5-class flame mage. I heard she and her husband, a mercenary captain, made great military contributions in war and conquered foreign territories.”
“So she obtained a title through military achievements?”
“Yes.”
Ah, I see. If I want to live as I please, I just need to go to war and seize territories to rule.
But that’s easier said than done. I can’t even handle mana, let alone be a 5-class mage….
Floundering deeper in the swamp of despair, a fragment of memory suddenly surfaced in my mind—something related to titles.
There was a house that Deborah had scorned as having no foundation, and the reason was that the previous head of that house had purchased a title from a bankrupt family.
‘There’s a precedent of buying a title with money, even without going to war!’
If I purchased a title myself and established my own house, I wouldn’t have to marry Louis Gazel or anyone like that.
As the head of my house, who would dare tell me to marry?
“If one buys a title, one wouldn’t be bound by custom, right?”
The maid hesitated before answering my question.
“W-well, even the lowest baronial title costs an astronomical sum, or so I’ve heard.”
No matter how expensive, it was far more feasible than going to war.
“How much?”
“I’m not sure of the exact amount. I’m truly sorry.”
Well, buying a title wasn’t a common occurrence, so she couldn’t possibly know such specific details.
“Leave. I’m tired.”
I sent the terrified maid out of my room. Then I immediately sprang up from my bed.
‘First, let me investigate my financial situation.’
* * *
“Wow….”
There’s so much. What is she, a dragon?
I couldn’t help but marvel at the countless jewelry boxes Deborah possessed and the sheer quantity of jewels within them. She owned enough gems to rival the dowries offered by respectable noble houses.
Just how extravagantly has she lived all this time? Thank goodness for that.
Thanks to the pile of jewels in my possession, I could finally regain some semblance of stability.
‘The gems adorning her dresses are equally staggering.’
If I squeezed the Simour infrastructure to its limits while building up slush funds, I might actually be able to purchase a title.
The problem was time.
‘Considering the marriageable age, couldn’t I postpone marriage by two or three years?’
The noble ladies here typically married between nineteen and twenty-two years old. It was a blessing in disguise that the marriageable age had shifted roughly two years later than the early days of the empire, thanks to more young ladies completing the Academy’s advanced curriculum.
‘Fortunately, I’m currently attending the Academy myself.’
If I postponed marriage, accumulated funds in the meantime, and purchased a title, theoretically there would be no problems….
‘What if the family head changes to that bastard Beleck before I can buy a title?’
I shook my head immediately.
Duke Simour was the only Class 7 mage in the Empire, which meant he wielded tremendous influence at the Magic Tower. Besides, with Enrique Simour being the youngest and still quite young, he wouldn’t hand over the position of family head anytime soon.
Still, there could be unforeseen variables. The wisest approach was to accumulate funds as quickly as possible and purchase a title.
‘Even here, money is ultimately all-powerful.’
As I pondered how to amass gold coins, a knock sounded at the door. Standing outside the Study was none other than the Duke himself.
“You’ve come, sir?”
I quickly tucked my notebook into a drawer and rose from my seat.
“Did I perhaps interrupt your studies…?”
The Duke regarded me with a peculiar expression. It wasn’t difficult to understand his reaction—Deborah had rarely used the Study.
“Not at all. I shall have black tea and refreshments prepared.”
“Very well.”
I sat across from the Duke in the reception room adjoining the Study. He was taciturn, and I had little to say either, so a heavy silence blanketed the room.
‘This is suffocating.’
I fidgeted with my hands before finally speaking as I added a sugar cube to my tea.
“I shall deliver the letter when you depart.”
At my words, the Duke exhaled softly.
“I didn’t come to receive a letter today.”
Then, could it be—is he about to tell me to marry? My heart raced as I awaited his next words.
“Deborah. That poem you recited. Could you read it to me once more sometime?”
The Duke’s request was entirely unexpected.
“Whenever white blossoms bloom and heavy snow falls, I shall read it to you.”
I subtly hinted at my desire to remain in this Simour household for a long time. But the Duke merely sipped his tea with an indifferent gaze.
‘As expected, it’s not easy.’
I inwardly clicked my tongue and reached for a pastry.
“By the way, the poet must have been quite prolific—it couldn’t have been easy to locate the poem mentioned in the letter, especially without the title provided. It must have taken considerable time.”
It probably didn’t take nearly as long as the Duke imagined. In Korea, we honed the technique of grasping the essence of poems in an instant for college entrance exams….
There’s no way to explain that.
“I was fortunate.”
“Fortune? You seem to be weighing your words carefully of late, but excessive humility doesn’t suit you, Deborah. Mere deflection is just as hollow.”
“….”
“I mean it when I say I want to give you what you desire. When you spoke of becoming the bridge between myself and Marien, I felt the sincerity in those words—belated though it was. I’m not testing you or probing for weakness, so speak freely about whatever you wish.”
He was asking so earnestly for me to voice my desires that continuing to refuse felt foolish. Perhaps because I had never asked for anything in my entire life, I found myself unexpectedly nervous.
I moistened my lips, which had grown dry.
“Then….”

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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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