The Abandoned Villainess Takes Everything This Time - Chapter 73
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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73.
Chapter 21. Where the Butterfly Lands
Iris Floren.
Originally, this would have been the time when both the main and branch stores would be bustling with customers.
Especially since they had decorated with illustrations promoting their new products on a grand scale.
However, the onlookers wore ambiguous expressions.
“There was an accident with the ‘Fairy’s Bracelet’?”
“That’s what they say…”
The Second Empress stepped forward personally to try to cover up the incident as much as possible.
But she couldn’t silence everyone who had witnessed that day.
“Our master said… when Prince Kail tried it on, the bracelet completely shattered!”
“Then that means it couldn’t contain his ability?”
“How terrifying!”
Those listening held their breath.
Who didn’t know that Prince Kail was born with the deadly poison ability?
If the artifact couldn’t control his power, just imagining it would have been a catastrophe.
“But how did they resolve it?”
“The Crown Prince was also at the same location at that time.”
“Ah, I see.”
Indeed, if it’s someone with the annihilation ability, there’s no choice.
“That’s right. Don’t tell anyone about this anywhere!”
Telling someone not to tell anyone was basically asking them to spread it.
Such chatter naturally carried through the glass walls of the shop.
Eventually, a customer inside the store quietly put down their item.
“I’ll purchase this next time.”
“Customer—”
“I’ll cancel my previous order too, next time!”
The customer left as if fleeing.
The Store Manager of the main store, watching this, went upstairs with a frustrated heart.
Upstairs was Iris’s room.
“Um, Miss Iris. We have a big problem…”
“What is it!”
“…!”
The Employee shrank their shoulders.
Iris always smiled sweetly; she had never shouted so sharply before.
But after the banquet ended, Iris’s bright expression had turned sharp.
Like a cornered mouse that bites people’s hands.
“Net profit… has decreased by 20% compared to last quarter.”
“So what!”
Iris shouted irritably.
Didn’t that mean 80% was still fine?
“Why are you making such a dying expression over something like that? It makes people uncomfortable to watch!”
“B-but.”
The Store Manager felt frustrated.
‘The current 20% decrease is just the beginning.’
If they couldn’t recover quickly from here, it would only get worse.
“Miss Iris, about the new products you prepared separately… releasing them…”
“…Cancel everything.”
“Pardon?”
“The things I was going to release! Cancel them all!”
Iris bit her lips hard.
She had actually prepared things to release.
But!
‘Copy this too, Iris.’
The papers that had fallen at her feet.
Lillian who had sneered.
That humiliation!
‘Archive. I trusted you so much, how could you make me look like such a fool!’
Iris angrily confronted the Archive.
But do you know what they said?
‘We’re sorry, Miss Iris. How could we have known that Miss Lillian sold under a pseudonym?’
Their skill at feigning innocence was artistic.
‘And among the drafts we showed you, there were works by other creators too. Wasn’t it you who chose them, Miss Iris?’
Among the numerous drafts the Archive had procured, she chose the most plausible ones.
It was her own discerning eye’s fault for choosing only what Lillian had made!
If Iris tried to protest by involving even her grandfather and cousin?
She would have to reveal the entire draft purchase history.
‘What should I do about this?’
She had to do business well to avoid being dragged into external monster subjugation.
But she had no idea how to…
While she was wracking her brains, a commotion arose outside.
A pale Employee came running.
“Miss Iris! You need to come down and see this right now!”
“Why? What’s happening?”
“A-across the street, a New Artifact Shop has opened… and the owner is—”
Iris’s heart sank.
She had a bad feeling.
Iris hurriedly went outside with the employees.
It was the moment when the building, which she hadn’t paid attention to because she heard construction was going on, finally removed its finishing materials.
“…What is that?”
Iris’s mouth fell open.
A shop with a light purple awning.
It had an even more elegant aesthetic than ‘Iris Floren’, and she could tell from the lily painted on the entrance.
“Lillian…!”
Iris forgot that people were watching and stormed inside.
Seeing the woman standing in the center made her feel like she was going crazy.
“You…!”
“Oh my, Miss Iris, you came?”
Lillian greeted her elegantly.
Greeting her while maintaining the status difference was even more insulting.
“What is this! This kind of… not knowing business ethics…!”
“Hmm, business ethics? Ah, that’s right. Having a competitor move in across the street was a bit much, wasn’t it?”
Lillian covered one cheek with her hand.
“But… the business ethics I think of isn’t releasing what your sister made under your own name, you know?”
“D-don’t slander me!”
“Oh my, in the Empire, stating facts isn’t slander, so what are you talking about?”
If she heard “oh my” one more time, she felt like she would explode.
But behind Iris, voices filled with curiosity could be heard.
“That person is the miraculous awakener…”
“Wow…!”
People’s eyes lit up.
If she could control the contamination of an S-class ability user, what incredible divine blessing must she have received!
Even though she was abandoned by her family, seeing her awaken like this, it was surely divine favor without a doubt.
Then someone from the crowd shouted.
“My goodness, Madame Rochette has come!”
An expert in aesthetic and functional artifacts.
But the face of this woman, said to be so proud she wouldn’t even mind the Five Great Families, was filled with excitement.
Iris thought that since her heart had already plummeted once, there was nowhere further to fall.
But she learned for the first time today that there had never been a bottom to begin with.
* * *
What do you usually do when you open a shop on the first day?
‘You need to promote it, obviously.’
When I was at the brand company, we would invite celebrities and media specifically for the soft opening day.
Perniers hasn’t developed such advanced capitalism yet.
However, there was someone who combined both celebrities and media in one, so that worked out.
Lillian smiled brightly at Madame Rochette.
Her expression was incredible, as if amazed that she hadn’t found this place because it was dark under the lamp all this time.
“So this was that Mariposa.”
“Yes, Madame Rochette.”
“You certainly know how to surprise people.”
There had been quite a commotion over the unbalanced earrings.
I was very grateful for creating such a buzz.
The Madam looked around the surroundings.
“Decent.”
This was also not a bad compliment.
“Miss Lillian, is there something special you’d like me to take a look at?”
“Then let me introduce you to this.”
“…This is.”
Madame Rochette received a thin case decorated with small opals and control stones.
“Is this a paper knife? The decoration is nice, but-.”
Madame Rochette stopped speaking mid-sentence and held her breath.
When she pulled the clasp attached to the case, eyeglass frames came out from inside.
Lorgnette.
‘Folding glasses.’
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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