The Villainess is a Millionaire Solver - Chapter 4

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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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Chapter 4

The beginning of my bitter relationship with that person goes back two years.

“Last night during my prayers, I suddenly received a divine revelation. The late Emperor’s coffin must be lavishly decorated with amaranchia flowers for peace to come to the Empire.”

At the Empress’s words—my stepmother—both the Crown Prince and Second Prince went into emergency mode.

“We’ll procure them immediately!”

The problem was that this amaranchia was the ‘sunfish’ of the plant kingdom.

It died if slightly cold, died if slightly hot, died if slightly humid, died if slightly dry, died if given too much attention, and died if given too little attention.

Like its nickname ‘Heavenly Flower,’ it was extremely difficult to cultivate on earth.

You had to plant the seeds and tend to them for 100 days just to maybe get them to bloom.

“Your Highness Crown Prince, our family will provide the insufficient flowers.”

Various noble families stepped forward to make their mark with this opportunity. Coincidentally, they all shared the common trait of having daughters.

“The revelation story is a lie—apparently it’s actually like a Crown Princess selection.”

At such rumors, Aristina, who had a one-sided love for the Crown Prince, became desperate. She stubbornly insisted “I want to do it too!” and obtained the precious seeds, but actually succeeding was truly difficult.

All the heavenly flowers withered and died, and Aristina, like a runaway carriage without brakes, made a bold decision.

“Then I’ll raid the ‘Forest of the Gods’!”

“Pardon?”

The ‘Forest of the Gods’ was a sanctuary managed by the Empire’s Holy Order. There was a flower garden lush with amaranchia there.

“Young Lady! You mustn’t! These flowers are endangered—you absolutely cannot pick them!”

“Has anyone here ever seen someone picking flowers?”

“That was a botanist! Young Lady! Stop being unreasonable and come out right now!”

The servants tried to stop her, but Aristina just went ahead and did it. And she got caught red-handed.

By none other than Ruellian Lacroix himself, the head of the Holy Order.

“Oh, dear God…”

Even Aristina’s vision went dark at that moment.

God’s representative. The Empire’s only Holy Knight who commanded all the Paladins. A noble being whom even Aristina, a Duke’s daughter, had to respectfully address as ‘Your Excellency.’

But far from being a pious and merciful Pope-like figure, he dragged around hordes of Paladins as subordinates and mercilessly retaliated with deadly force if anyone dared touch his territory… He was like a crime boss.

“If you’re going to cause trouble, at least don’t get caught! Of all people…!”

Duke Canel spat blood as he began damage control.

However, Ruellian had also inherited his title at a young age and held equal Duke status, with wealth that was nothing to scoff at.

He was someone who would speak directly before the Emperor and Empress saying “This is wrong,” so what was one mere Duke’s daughter to him?

“Good grief! There’s nothing I can do.”

Father eventually swallowed his tears and sacrificed a precious family heirloom.

The price House of Rosen had received for saving starving clergy in the past. An indulgence that would forgive a religious crime just once, no questions asked.

Ruellian reluctantly withdrew from this incident, saying:

“Duke’s daughter, if you do this again, it’s a Sacred Tribunal!”

That’s exactly it.

‘I’ll somehow pick amaranchia flowers and get dragged before Ruellian. I’ll show him the evidence there and try to draw his attention to this incident!’

The rest could be left to Ruellian.

Though he despised Aristina, this was an attempted poisoning case that had turned the entire Empire upside down.

The fact that there were suspicious points would surely stimulate his curiosity and competitive spirit.

This was the strategy of borrowing a sword to kill an enemy. A cunning plan by any measure.

‘Good. To pick the flowers, what should I do first?’

…Running away from home.

Obviously, to get to the flower garden, I had to leave the house.

I couldn’t escape the Duke’s Mansion’s watch for long, but a brief escape seemed possible.

‘If I catch the Duke off guard, that is.’

Looking at the mannequins in new dresses and the ‘Aurora Star,’ a strategy came to mind.

“Good.”

I first took the papers from the desk. When I thought about what I wanted to write, my right hand, accustomed to this world’s writing, smoothly did it for me.

Next was the ‘Aurora Star.’ Rummaging through the drawer, I found a letter opener and used it to cut the necklace’s thin string.

The pearls that had been strung together came tumbling down onto the plate.

Oh my.

The maids who had been desperately avoiding me while dusting, cleaning statues, and trimming flowers became agitated. I called them over.

“Come here, all of you.”

I realized anew that Aristina’s voice was very cold and chilling.

Moreover, her automatically imperious tone made listeners feel intimidated.

The maids rushed over and lined up like disciplined soldiers.

“What do you need? Food? Hand washing? Face washing? Bedtime?”

“None of those, it’s something rather new…”

I slid the plate containing the pearls forward.

“I’ll give one of these to each person who volunteers for that task.”

“Pardon?”

The maids were shocked.

The Young Lady who would slap them for removing dust from jewels without permission was giving pearls to the maids? Impossible. This was definitely a trap. A wicked test.

I could clearly see their train of thought.

“We have absolutely no desire for your jewels, Young Lady!”

“Of course! Of course! How could we dare!”

“We’ll just work hard within our station!”

Just as the maids gave model answers and tried to hurriedly return to their positions, a menacing BANG! echoed through the room. Their legs gave out and they collapsed.

“Aaah! We’re sorry!”

But what they saw was a scene completely different from their imagination.

Their villainous Young Lady was stamping papers with a seal.

“If you can’t trust me, there’s nothing I can do. Here, this is a certificate that I’m formally gifting these pearls to you.”

The seal of House of Rosen. It had the same credibility and value as an official document.

Even the wayward Aristina knew this fact well, so she only used the seal for her own benefit.

“…?”

The maids were bewildered. Making certificates too—so the gifting of pearls itself must be real?

Of course, there must be some even more sinister intention behind it… But the natural pearls’ luster was very beautiful and brilliant.

Weren’t they all enduring the extreme job of being a villainess’s maids anyway, unable to quit or escape because of money?

Eventually, one maid who really needed money squeezed her eyes shut and asked:

“Wh-what kind of work are you trying to make us do?”

“It’s simple. Just move some items around.”

I looked around the study and added:

“That’s all you need to know.”

* * *

“What did you say?”

Duke Canel frowned his pale forehead and asked again.

“Surely! Someone must have made a false report because they couldn’t resist threats.”

“No! I just saw it with my own two eyes and came straight here! The Young Lady said she truly repents now and returned all the new dresses she ordered right before the incident!”

At the butler’s words, the Duke’s advisors stirred.

“Really? That can’t be possible?”

“The Young Lady never lets go of luxury items once they’re in her hands.”

“Did she really feel something this time, even a little?”

“Nonsense.”

The Duke snorted and turned his head.

“How could that scoundrel do such a thing? She’s up to some scheme again. Don’t look! Don’t give her attention!”

It was visible beyond the window.

The sight of gorgeous mannequins being carried by maids on wheeled carts, heading straight into the freight wagon.

Clatter.

Finally, the freight wagon departed.

‘Perfect!’

I sprang up from among the mannequins.

【Operation Name: Escape by hiding among the mannequins being returned.】

This strategy succeeded smoothly.

Thanks to Aristina being so tall and slender, plus having straight shoulders and proper posture befitting a noble, it wasn’t difficult at all. I just had to breathe quietly.

“You know nothing and are simply returning the mannequins as the Young Lady ordered.”

“But Young Lady, will this really be alright? Scary thieves roam the night streets. If they find out you have such an expensive necklace, it’ll be stolen immediately.”

Come to think of it, there were rumors of a phantom thief who roamed these night streets, targeting only expensive items. That was one of the elements that made me mistake this for a mystery novel.

But…

‘This coachman thinks I don’t know anything and is trying to sweet-talk me?’

I snorted and replied.

“That phantom thief always sends a warning letter before stealing anything. Besides, we’re going to dispose of this necklace right away, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

After dismissing the coachman’s words, I looked at the maid.

“You brought that item, right?”

“Yes, Young Lady. Just as you said, I searched through the guardhouse storage and found this.”

The maid held out an object wrapped tightly in cloth. It was an old, shabby robe, and when I put it on over my head, everyone was startled.

‘Why would she use that raggedy thing when there are plenty of new robes for disguises?’ That’s what their expressions said.

But they didn’t understand.

This was a family heirloom that only members of House of Rosen could use – the ‘Angel’s Rags.’

This old robe contained mysterious divine power that thoroughly concealed the wearer’s identity.

Also, while it couldn’t prevent bizarre perfect crimes, it provided safe protection from most attacks.

Duke Canel had hidden this treasure in the bottom compartment of the raincoat storage at the guardhouse, using it conveniently whenever he went somewhere secretly…

‘All those secret outings were to clean up the messes his daughter had caused.’

The Duke’s life was quite harsh too. With that thought, I pulled my collar tight.

My preparations for causing trouble were complete. But before getting started in earnest, there was one thing I had to do first.

“We’ve arrived.”

The coachman spoke from beyond the window by the driver’s seat.

Before my eyes stood an ancient building with a round roof. It seemed like a place Aristina would never have any connection to in her lifetime, but not anymore.

I naturally blended in among the zombie-like people entering and exiting the place, wearing my shabby robe. Then I traded the ‘Aurora Star’ and bought something incredible.

‘With this, even that terrifying leader of the Holy Order can’t put me on the stake.’

I carefully tucked it into my bosom.

Having created an escape route made me feel very secure.

Now it was time to really cause some trouble.

The cargo wagon mixed in among various carriages on the street, left the busy district, and stopped again at a quiet place.

“Young Lady, should we drop you off here?”

“Yes. Go on now.”

When I gestured, the coachman and maids fled with faces that looked ten years older, saying “Thank you! Thank you!”

After they disappeared, I looked around.

The magnificent sanctuary glowing under soft lighting in the darkness. This was the headquarters of the Holy Order.

The chapel was always open, but there were hardly any people around in the evening. This was because the sculptures condemning sin shot terrifying glares from their eyes.

Everyone had one or two things that pricked their conscience, so they were too scared to enter.

But Aristina was so bold that she didn’t care about such things, so she had casually walked in like she was shopping and plucked flowers.

‘I need to have that kind of shameless face too. That way I’m less likely to get caught.’

I boldly walked into the sanctuary and safely reached the ‘Forest of the Gods’ surrounding the chapel.

But when I hadn’t walked very far, a loud metallic sound suddenly came from beyond the densely grown trees.

Clink. Clang. The sound of a small chain-like object dropping to the ground with a thud.

‘Could it be a guard dog?’

Thanks to the sacred robe, I wouldn’t get hurt, but I was still startled. I quickly hid behind a tree and looked ahead…

Fortunately, it wasn’t a fierce dog.

In the direction where the sound came from stood a person. A tall man wearing a cloak like me.

When I met his black eyes that shone clearly in the darkness, I somehow got the feeling he might be handsome.

But when moonlight shone through the clouds, I could see that his face under the hood was wrapped in bandages.

Below that, one side of his chest that was slightly exposed through unbuttoned clothing was covered in scars – twisted scars as if burned by fire.

“…!”

The man seemed flustered and immediately buttoned up to hide his wounds. He apparently hadn’t expected someone to suddenly appear. He looked at me and spoke.

“Why are you sneaking around the sanctuary alone at this hour? As if you came to steal something.”

Having been momentarily dazed by the man’s unusual appearance, I immediately came to my senses.

‘How did he know?’

He was quite perceptive.

I had no choice but to be on high alert. If I lost in a battle of wits even with a random extra I met on the street, how could I survive in this harsh world?

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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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