C4
Realizing that he had exceeded the time, Patrick glanced at his watch.
Then, he seemed to remember the catastrophe of one of the empire's most prestigious professors who was hung upside down outside the window.
"L-lady, there's no homework for today. Thank you for listening to my humble lecture...”
He rambled nonsensically.
"Dismiss."
"Yes-yes!"
As soon as I gave the order, Patrick disappeared in an instant.
"He doesn't believe I'm going to do my homework, so he didn't give me any."
I thought randomly.
After the history class, I had a theory class, and now it's the magic class, which is the last one on today's schedule.
It was surprising that Deborah was annoyed by this four-hour morning class.
"It's not good to be lazy..."
I shook my head and walked to a separate building, where a tower mage was waiting for me.
"He's here, miss."
When I entered a separate training room in the annex, a woman with dark gray hair greeted me and bowed 90 degrees.
Her trembling intertwined hands revealed her fear.
I had no choice but to attend this class.
Throughout this time, Deborah had had too many magic tutors to count.
"It's not that I can't feel mana; it's just that the teacher is stupid and incompetent! I'm a direct descendant of Seymour!"
Deborah never admitted that she had no talent for magic. She blamed everything on her instructors and threw everything in her path.
Just by looking at the displays of fake items that could be thrown, I could see how bad Deborah had been.
The Seymour lineage is famous for its great affinity for mana, but how come Deborah couldn't do it at all?
Most of the characters in this novel use magic as a standard, are talented with the sword, and even play with spirits.
"But the villainess was given a disadvantage instead..."
Sighing for my ability that was below the ground, I quickly turned my thoughts into positive ones.
Deborah has overwhelming beauty and talent for things unrelated to magic.
That's enough for me.
The novel's heroine was persecuted as much as a measure of her abilities.
In contrast, Deborah was full of inferiority complexes and pursued people.
If I behave, the day can go by without a single incident.
Isn't that enough?
After class, I happily ate 77 macarons that were considered the best in town.
After lounging around all day, the maids carefully prepared a bath in the evening.
"Miss, is the temperature alright?"
"It's fine."
A pleasant sigh escaped my lips as I immersed my body in the bathtub filled with water and petals.
The maids gently loosened my muscles with natural fragrance oil.
Then they washed my hair with care and meticulousness.
At first, I was uncomfortable having maids while I bathed, but they were so skilled that I got used to their convenience.
"Alright."
Wearing a silk dress that gently clung to my skin, I lay down on the bed and immersed myself in my thoughts.
Everything has gone peacefully today.
I hope the coming days are the same as today, but for that to happen, I have to change Deborah's future as the novel's villainess.
I lay in bed for a long time before getting up and entering my study.
I illuminated the room with a mana lighting stone and started organizing the events in the novel that I could remember.
Deborah is the typical villainess who will have a bad ending after her cruel harassment of the heroine, Mia Binoche.
From the cliché of pulling her hair and slapping her cheeks to giving Mia a poisoned drink that could melt her esophagus.
Her most terrible act was getting a doll that looked exactly like Mia and cursing it.
It was the crown prince, one of Mia Binoche's fish, who revealed Deborah's atrocities.
Her horrible deeds were revealed in one of the chapters.
The crown prince accused Deborah of blasphemy.
It was a clever strategy.
There was only one person who had more authority than the emperor and other high-ranking aristocrats.
The Saint.
Santa Nyla, who drove away evil at the expense of her own life, is the most revered figure in the empire.
The saint, who sculpted her body into six pieces to establish strong power, was called a goddess, and everyone admired her.
"But how can a saint have a hardcore?"
Mia Binoche had a high level of sanctity to the point where it was comparable to a deity like Santa Nyla. Because of this, the crown prince's claim of Deborah's "profanation of the goddess" gained more influence and strength due to all the misdeeds that Deborah had accumulated up to this point.
Even though Deborah is the daughter of one of the founding families of the empire, she was guilty of defaming the country's saint, so she was brought to trial.
One of Mia's fish created a jury, and Deborah, who was defeated in the trial, was imprisoned in a monastery.
Deborah had done so many crazy things that the writer was criticized for ending the drama by simply sending Deborah to a monastery.
What were the author's words again?
"She is a lady of the Seymour family. She is the daughter of a founding and meritorious family, so she cannot die."
There were readers who abandoned the novel due to the writer's obsession with sticking to the script.
"To avoid the monastery, the key is not to intimidate the heroine."
The reason for Deborah's downfall despite being a Seymour is simple.
She laid a hand on the novel's heroine.
But I have no intention of bothering Mia.
Fortunately, Deborah has not yet met the heroine, as the novel is about to begin.
The first time I realized that the novel I once read and the world I am in are the same was when the Duke of Seymour mentioned the "pink diamond necklace."
It is related to the first chapter of the novel.
Near the valley, a strong mana from a mysterious rift severely injured Philap Montes, one of the heroine's fish.
It was Mia Binoche, the heroine, who healed the severely injured Philap with her divine powers.
As in most reverse harem novels, Philap fell in love with her the first time they met, which was when Mia saved his life.
He wanted to do everything in his power for the fallen aristocrat.
"Lady Mia, I really want to repay you for saving my life."
The Montes family, like Seymour, is one of the founding and meritorious families, so his words could not be taken lightly.
Mia simply shook her head and smiled sweetly at Philap's offer to give her everything.
"That, I just did what I had to do."
"Lady Mia..."
"I hope you get better soon."
Impressed by Mia's pure heart, Philap, who accidentally found out that her birthday is just around the corner, wanted to give her a wonderful gift.
He inquired everywhere for anything suitable to give her. That's when he learned of the existence of the pink diamond necklace.
Since it was the first time a pink diamond had been extracted, and coincidentally, Mia's hair was also pink, Philap thought the pink diamond necklace was the most suitable gift for her.
However, Deborah, who was so eager to show off, coveted the empire's only pink diamond.
Other aristocrats became interested in the idea that both Seymour and Montes were aiming for the pink diamond. At the same time, the jewel's price skyrocketed.
To sum it all up, it was Philap Montes who bought the pink diamond necklace from the novel.
The price rose to the point where even Deborah couldn't afford it. The Duke of Seymour, who was fed up with Deborah, had no intention of buying it.
The innocent Mia Binoche, who was unfamiliar with the value of gems, appeared at the academy with a splendid pink diamond necklace.
"Then the necklace caught Deborah's attention..."
Deborah ripped the necklace off Mia, and her neck was bruised.
After that, Deborah's torment of Mia worsened day by day, especially since she had captured the heart of Philap, whom Deborah had wanted since childhood.
First, I will never grab her hair. Even if I see her with a pink diamond necklace, I will pretend I didn't see it.
I let out a fake laugh as I wrote down the things I had to keep in mind to survive in this damn novel.
It seems that avoiding a bad ending for the villainess, Deborah, is easier than surviving as Yoon Do Hee in Hell Joseon.
Deborah had wealth and beauty, but I had nothing.
I had to get a job to make ends meet, but my specialties were very insignificant.
I got caught and wasted money on useless things, but I never really took care of my own private life.
Even if I was lucky enough to get a job, I had a hard time after joining the company because my specialty was not suitable for that job.
"Indeed, I wanted to retake the exam."
"Hee, you know you can't afford another year at home, right?"
Just before my university entrance exam, my father became more ambitious to get rich, so my score was much lower than the practice exam.
I wanted to retake the university entrance exam, but I couldn't mention it due to our family's situation.
No, I didn't mention it because I was too kind and considerate of their feelings.
I think I was a complacent person who thought everything would get better if I worked hard, and I ended up getting used to it.
I sighed, reminiscing about my past life. I put down the pen and stood up from my seat.
"I have to be vigilant from now on."
I can't just spend my time playing.
No, I must improve my situation to avoid a bad ending.
"Improving my relationship with the Duke is the most important thing right now."
It would be a big problem if the Duke, whom I dislike, abandons me.
Even if he's turning his back on Deborah, all the money and benefits that Deborah has still belong to the Duke of Seymour. If I lose him, I lose the money.
It will be worth it to maintain a good relationship with the Duke.
Deborah is his only daughter who resembles his wife.
Pulling aside the curtain of the window, I looked out at Seymour's dark estate.
I have to make a move.
There's a mysterious garden around the main building where the Duke's office is located.
It's a place where flowers bloom and never wither throughout the year due to strong preservation magic.
The Duke of Seymour, who deeply loved his wife, preserved the rose garden she cared for when she was still alive.
Furthermore, the garden was quite important in the R19-rated novel because it was where the heroine, Mia, and Seymour's eldest son, Rosad, shared a sadistic love scene.
Thanks to the detailed description, I can still vividly remember "that side" of the garden.
"I didn't know at that time that it would turn into a flesh scene."
Thinking of it as an opportunity, I put the scroll back in the drawer and locked it.
Deborah is too quiet.
The thought suddenly crossed the mind of the Duke of Seymour as he looked at the books containing his daughter's expenses.
He knows his daughter better than anyone else. Except for the money spent on luxury items last month, there have been very few expenses from Deborah lately.
Why is that? Is it because she's on probation?
Amazement passed through his cold eyes.
Being on probation doesn't mean she can't spend money.
The public already knows that she calls people from boutiques and jewelers every day.
His daughter, true to her desires, is strangely being too quiet.
She had been fasting and hurting herself over a particular jewel.
Deborah, whose impulses can only be calmed when she gets what she wants, couldn't have given up on the pink diamond, which has become the most controversial topic in the entire history of the empire.
Of course, the Duke of Seymour was not fooled by Deborah's behavior. He still has no intention of getting her the pink diamond necklace.
"The more I think about it, the angrier I get. How dare she threaten me like that?"
He will never give her what she wants, thought the Duke of Seymour as he clenched his teeth.
"Y-Your Grace, the young lady is in the garden..."
It was then.
As reported by the aide, the Duke's face turned fierce.
"What?!"
The Duke jumped out of his seat, furious at the aide's report.