"Oh, Miss! I don't quite understand... is it some kind of new business venture?"
Unlike my excitement, the maid stood firm in the doorway. 'Is there no such thing as a children's stationery store in this world?' I looked at the maid, then carefully searched through Meldenique's memories. Come to think of it, there wasn't a distinct category for children's stationery stores in this world. It seemed that places selling only actual stationery were simply categorized as 'general stores.'
'No dedicated stationery stores? Just general stores? This is a blue ocean, isn't it?'
Apparently, I was proposing a rather unfamiliar business idea. Of course, the mysterious and unique business ventures Meldenique had pursued in the past had all ended in ruin, one after another. So, I could understand why the maid was frightened by my suggestion of something she'd never heard of. Given my consistent business failures, she'd likely assume I was about to be kicked out of the family for good.
"Hey, if you leave the family and fail this time... you might not be able to wear your favorite satin dress!" Rosalyn cried out, desperately trying to stop me.
But I didn't need an uncomfortable satin dress. "It doesn't matter," I replied, shaking my head.
"You won't even be able to eat the fancy food from the Imperial Palace's head chef! What if you're forced to eat only oatmeal and rye bread, the food of commoners?"
Meldenique was a spoiled villainess, but I was a commoner from Korea. I used to eat rice, kimchi, and ramen. I smiled a little and walked past Rosalyn. "I like oatmeal and rye bread. They're healthy foods."
Meldenique was also twenty-five this year. I was old enough to take care of myself. I wondered if her reluctance was finally over as I brushed past Rosalyn. Then, she stood behind me and shouted, her voice filled with a desperate question:
Perhaps that was her main concern. "What if Madame Hildegard bullies you! Without the family's protection, you might actually die..."
Rosalyn's words weren't wrong. In the original Enchanted Lovers, Duchess Hildegard of Babyloa ultimately kills Meldenique. I looked at Rosalyn, who was crying with worry, and replayed the original story in my mind.
Let's get the situation straight. I was at rock bottom, except for my current position. The woman I possessed was Meldenique Babyloa, the male protagonist's fiancée and the villainess in the romance fantasy novel The Enchanted Lovers. Her biological mother was the last direct relative of the Marquis of Kinnoah, rumored to have lost all magical abilities due to a dragon's curse. Perhaps because of this, most of the direct lineage of the Marquis of Kinnoah died at an early age, just like Meldenique's mother.
And so, Meldenique began to be pushed into a corner. After her mother died, her stepmother and stepsister immediately joined the Babyloa Duchy. From then on, Meldenique's decline and the bad rumors about her began in earnest.
'There are rumors that she's from a cursed bloodline, and as she grew up, her businesses were ruined, so she certainly deserves to be called a bad woman...'
The important thing was that in Enchanted Lovers, Lennox and Meldenique had been engaged since birth. Nevertheless, Lennox and Meldenique's half-sister, Sheria, ignored her and brazenly flaunted their love for each other. Meldenique, who was desperately trying to break the bond between the two, became the target of public scorn. How ridiculous.
'In the novel, even though they're a man and a woman having an affair, it's always portrayed as if Meldenique is the one getting in their way.'
In the end, Meldenique is killed by Hildegard, Duchess of Babyloa and Sheria's mother. After her death, the two lovers have a happy ending without any hindrance. What kind of unlucky ending is this?
I looked at Rosalyn and smiled faintly. The maid seemed to want me to stay here and at least receive the family's protection. But that's because she didn't know how Meldenique was ruined and how she died in the original story.
"Even if you stay here, if you go against Hildegard's wishes, you will die anyway."
...If I said that, the maid with her innocent eyes would surely cry. Instead, I muttered in a low voice.
"If you lay a hand on me, do you think I'll just stand by quietly?"
I was leaving first. It was annoying to be an obstacle to an adulterous couple's love, and utterly pointless to die for nothing.
'If we don't get involved anymore, we'll go our separate ways.'
If they were sloppy, I wouldn't be able to put up with it.
Despite my sincere words, the maid cried, sweat beading on her forehead. She seemed to be replaying all the ridiculous things Meldenique had suffered.
"B-but you've been beaten every time until now...! I'm so worried. Please, be careful."
I walked over to her and gently stroked her fine hair. "Don't worry, I've got everything planned out."
Hildegard Babyloa. Meldenique's stepmother and the Duchess. If you think I'm still the Meldenique Babyloa you knew, you're mistaken. I have a rough idea of what she's going to do. Thinking of the thick, sturdy bundle of money in my suitcase, I looked at the maid.
"It might even be fun."
"Miss..."
"If things go well, I'll send for you too."
I checked my outfit one last time and then stepped outside the mansion. Instead of the Babyloa ducal carriage, I called for a rental wagon.
I was dressed in an ordinary dress and about to board the carriage. Perhaps the conversation between the Duke and me had spread quickly throughout the mansion, as people gathered near the carriage one by one. They began whispering loudly around me. Of course, I could hear their curses and insults, each one perfectly clear.
"Is she finally being kicked out?"
"That's the end of the villainess."
"...So, where is the flaw? It's the blood of that curse."
Oh, and even direct slurs.
"She's nothing like Madame Hildegard and the lovely Lady Sheria."
I cast a brief glance at those who dared to speak so presumptuously about a Duke's daughter. The reason why these people, in a rigid caste society, could get away with swearing at a Duke's daughter was because my mother was the last direct relative of the cursed Marquis of Kinnoah. My stepmother, the Duchess of Babyloa, hated me, and my biological father, the Duke of Babyloa, offered no protection whatsoever. Meldenique, a poor villainess with no one to side with her and no power, naturally had no choice but to isolate herself from this family.
"The Duke's ugly duckling nickname fits her."
"Lady Sheria is too good, she covers up what she likes."
Sheria was hailed as an angelically good heroine, even forgiving Meldenique, who had tried to harm her.
'That's why people hated me even more.'
I ignored all their voices and looked at the coachman in the carriage. It was too troublesome to deal with each one individually.
"Where shall we take you?"
Since I had no servant to explain on my behalf, I spoke directly to the coachman. "Go to the slums."
After saying that, I got into the carriage without an escort. I was told I was uncultured and ignorant, but I didn't care. Anyway, these weren't faces I'd ever see again, so what did it matter?
One might think that the Duke of Babyloa hadn't perfectly insulated or excommunicated me, but from my point of view, it was different. I would never return to this ducal household.
I leaned against the carriage's backrest, which wrapped tightly around my back, and opened the window wide. I saw the mercenaries and some of the vassals who had gathered near the carriage, gossiping about me, stiffen with embarrassed faces.
"Everyone."
I raised my middle finger in front of everyone. They would never know what it meant. But I knew it was a swear word. I shouted in a very grandiose, elegant, sweet voice, as if reading from a magnificent Bible:
"Me."
Again, I have no intention of coming back.
Canceling out the noise of their chatter, I closed the curtain on the window tightly and hummed. So that everyone would perish on their own.
I'll eat well and live well, alone!