C3
"It's a great honor to finally meet you, Princess Deborah. I'm Helen, Baron Zihto's second wife."
Helen, who visited us today, was one of the most popular designers in the capital. Deborah was the one who demanded that she come here.
As soon as Deborah saw the dresses displayed in front of Helen's store, she rushed in and threatened her to design dresses personally for her.
Well, thanks to her, I had an advantage.
"I am so happy to be able to show you our dresses."
As the silence dragged on, Helen's cheeks became uneven.
In fact, I was deliberately not speaking. I'm afraid that if I open my mouth, I will be seen as an easy target.
It was ridiculous and quite reassuring that everyone was convinced that I am Deborah as long as I had a good attitude.
"Princess, this is the style of clothing that has been in fashion among noble ladies lately. The material of the sleeves is made of fur. Would you like to take a closer look?"
Helen managed to put on a business-like smile and began explaining the dress she had designed.
Some dresses were designed with a sapphire placed on the chest, while others were adorned with pearls on the lace collar.
When all the beautiful dresses came into view, I felt like my soul had left my body.
As a poor citizen who had to wear her older sister's uniform, my heart began to beat faster.
Is this how someone who was born with a silver spoon in their mouth lives?
I never envied kids who were born with a silver spoon in their mouth because they moderately engaged with reality, but when I personally experienced that environment, I felt embarrassed but happy inside.
I think everything will be fine.
Wouldn't you be able to pull off any look if you had such a beautiful face and body?
The idea of wearing such a dress with a dazzling face and a model's body makes me feel like it's the beginning of a new year.
I furrowed my brow and bit my lip as I carefully examined the dress, feeling like I was about to sneeze from the fur sleeves.
However, Helen interpreted my expression in such a way that her face turned red.
"P-Princess. These dresses are only a small fraction of what I've prepared for you."
"Um, these are already plenty, but are you telling me there are more?"
I looked at her while biting my lip to hold back the sneeze.
Noticing my expression, Helen looked like she was about to faint soon.
"I will bring you more colorful and sophisticated styles of dresses. Just give me three more days..."
Helen, who was looking at me, suddenly knelt in front of me.
"I deeply apologize! I will adjust the dress to your liking right away!"
"..... Make sure to add plenty of gemstones to make it as elegant as possible."
The more jewels, the better.
I can take them off and turn them into gold in the future.
I rubbed my sore nose and added in a soft tone.
"And so what if she's an evil woman? Her face looks absolutely stunning."
Occasionally, my face would mesmerize me as I stared at it in the mirror for a long time like a narcissist.
I love this face.
I could feel the same aura my older sister had.
Even if someone wanted to ask me how to find the way, they wouldn't dare to approach me within 100 meters. That was the aura I had now.
While immersed in Deborah's sharp and cold features, I managed to regain my senses when a servant informed me that my tutor was waiting for me.
In the morning, Deborah would study and learn about astronomy, history, poetry, and more from the distinguished professors of the Empire.
Most high-ranking aristocratic families were taught at home from childhood. The identity of the professors they would invite to their homes served as a measure of their power, while the number of women who were well-educated in the arts served as a measure of their honor.
"I envy you."
I was told that having a personal lecture was expensive.
Comparatively speaking, a private tutor from a high-priced university professor was worth hundreds of thousands of won per hour.
Of course, Deborah, who had no interest in studying at all, used to skip classes all the time.
As she was a villain, it was common for her to avoid her tutor. There was even a moment when a tutor who was scolding her for not doing her homework was hung upside down by the window outside.
That was an incident where the rope broke, and the neck of the history professor, who had a prestigious reputation in the Empire, was broken, almost killing him. It was so well-known that it was written and described in detail in the novel.
The more you think about Deborah, the more rumors you remember.
Every time I looked at the fragments of memories floating in my mind, I sighed and felt deeply enlightened at the same time.
The law of conservation of mass.
I realized the truth that I was more comfortable than anyone else, along with the fact that I was still an easy target.
"...But, no matter how far you walk here, there is no end."
I left the room for private lessons and started walking down a long hallway.
Every time I walk through the mansion, I am fascinated. Perhaps it's because I am a student of architectural engineering.
How much money must be spent, and how much labor is required to build such a magnificent and beautiful mansion?
While enjoying the pieces lined up in the hallway, I came across a young man with silver hair who resembled the Duke of Seymour.
Belreck Seymour.
He was the second son of this family.
As I momentarily looked into the young man's silver-blue eyes, I instinctively felt the need to show hatred towards him. It seemed that this reaction was deeply ingrained in Deborah's body.
Deborah despised her brother, Belreck Seymour.
That's because Belreck showed contempt for Deborah. The reason for that was because he detested incompetent people who didn't even try to do anything.
Perhaps it's because his own life is marked by a bloody effort to outdo his twin brother, Rosad Seymour.
Interestingly, the heir who leads the Seymour family is always born as a twin for many generations.
Furthermore, the family seal of the Seymour family is "a serpent with two heads," symbolizing the family's traits.
The talented twins would fall into a fierce competition to become the head of House Seymour as soon as they were born.
That is probably the reason why most of the twins in the Seymour family develop such indifferent attitudes at an early age.
Following the family tradition, Rosad and Belreck, who grew up as intelligent monsters, were forced to kidnap and detain Mia Binoche.
And so, it was hard for me to think of a single good trait in either of them, except for their faces, especially since I knew the sadistic tendencies of the twins from the novel.
"Deborah."
Belreck, who had thought he would pass by me, suddenly approached me with his long silver hair and called me softly.
"Deborah."
I thought Belreck would just walk past, but he suddenly lifted his long silver hair and called me softly.
He only tied up his hair, but it felt like I was looking at a magazine model.
"Crazy."
As expected from one of the heroine's catches.
His glasses complemented his cold features very well.
...What a useless talent for a pervert.
"Who is your tutor today?"
"Patrick."
I replied briefly as Deborah would, and swallowed nervously due to the strange tension.
"I've heard about your foolish behavior from the tower. Patrick is a scholar I personally care about, so make sure to behave well today."
Belreck, who said what he had to, passed me with coldness.
If I were the real Deborah, I would have responded to Belreck that I would torment Patrick with cruelty.
But maybe because I'm not the real Deborah, I didn't even get angry at Belreck's attitude.
Belreck, being an aristocrat, is better than the family from my previous life, which always treated me like a servant.
He's even taking all the trouble for the family.
While Rosad and Belreck worked their bones off competing with each other to be recognized as the heir of Seymour, all I did was play.
I gave a thumbs-up to Belreck's back and walked into the room where the young teacher was waiting.
Professor Patrick has been Deborah's tutor for two weeks, but she skipped her history class every week, and she never got to see his face.
As someone from a lower-class family than the aristocrats, he inclined his head with an anxious look when I appeared.
"Is he here?"
The professor's head was nervously tilted.
As Deborah, I crossed my arms and raised my chin.
"Then, I'll start the lecture."
He took out a book that said, "1000 Years of Azutea's History," and began explaining about the Seymour family in an audible voice.
This professor is quite good.
Belreck was right to respect him.
Since Deborah takes pride in being a direct descendant of Seymour, he seemed to have prepared the class content by sorting historical facts that she would like to hear.
"An environment without flatterers around... not bad."
This is much better than hearing false praises.
It's good, without a doubt.
To summarize Patrick's flattering class about Seymour, here's what he discussed.
The eleventh emperor of the empire favored the Seymour family, which contributed to the strengthening of imperial power and gave the Seymour family the authority to manage the tower. The custom continues to this day.
Since Seymour has always produced highly skilled magicians, the tower has been dominated by Seymour's magicians for nearly five hundred years.
Comparatively speaking, it's like a third-generation conglomerate owning even the country's ministers.
"My father is a duke and a magician at the same time. That's too much."
Deborah's boundless arrogance makes sense.
In response to the slight attention I paid, the professor went on to explain the history of Seymour's first magician.
The first head, Mirj Seymour, was an eighth-class magician who made a great contribution to the foundation of Azutea by helping the first emperor and received merits.
The families that received merits for their contributions were Seymour, Montes, Orge, and Visconti.
Seymour, the magician.
Montes, the spirit.
Orge, the sword.
Visconti, the wealth.
These are the four most prestigious aristocratic families to whom power was given after the emperor ascended to his position in the Azutea Empire.
Deborah was only allowed to act as crazy as she did because she is from the direct Seymour family.
What I'm biting on is not just a diamond spoon but a very special spoon with a polisher.
"This is amazing."
All the information I have is only from Deborah's fragmented memories, so the professor's lecture helped me learn about things I still need to know in this world.
"It's like I'm in a fantasy novel with all these tower and magician things, so it's quite fun."
The professor began to focus on his lecture as if he felt I was listening more attentively.
He was so absorbed that he was able to continue the class longer than scheduled.