Living a Scheming Marriage with a Mad Villain - Chapter 41

“But… I like it here now. So I hope the harbor never gets sold.”

 

Elia gave a faint bitter smile and started walking again. After walking a little, we soon arrived at the small glass greenhouse where we would enjoy today’s tea party.

 

Passing by the fresh flower beds and opening the glass door once more, we came out to an outdoor table with a perfect view of the harbor.

 

But since entering the glass greenhouse, Elia looked a little strange.

 

There was nothing obvious to worry about, but she kept looking around nervously. It was hard to tell whether she looked uncomfortable or just anxious.

 

“It feels like she’s waiting for someone.”

 

Could it be that she felt uneasy being alone with me and was waiting for her parents?

 

Elia caught my eye and awkwardly smiled.

 

Then suddenly, she stood up quickly. Right after, there was the squeak of the glass greenhouse door opening, followed by several footsteps in heels.

 

Surprised by the unexpected situation, I put down my teacup and stood up. Then I saw the people entering the greenhouse and my face hardened.

 

“I didn’t hear anything about anyone else coming…”

 

Reus clearly told me that the Viscount Pillaren couple arranged this meeting just for me.

 

So no one else was supposed to come. But now, unexpectedly, three people appeared here.

 

They were people I knew well.

 

Sasha, who always liked to brag about her fiancé.

 

“Is this the first time we’ve met again since the Princess’s birthday banquet about a month ago?”

 

Camilla, who always hosted salons just to mock me.

 

“You look even prettier. You must be living very well at the Grand Duke’s castle.”

 

And finally, the woman with dark brown hair…

 

“?”

 

It was , one of the original story’s villains. Her appearance was so different from the birthday banquet that I barely recognized her.

 

I was startled but tried not to show it and smiled faintly.

 

“I didn’t expect to see you all here. It’s been a while. But… can you explain what’s going on, Lady Pillaren?”

 

“W-well… I had originally planned to meet Lady Plona today… Since I had to serve Your Highness instead of my parents, this unfortunate situation happened. I’m really sorry, Your Highness…”

 

Elia’s answer was a weak excuse that even a naive country girl wouldn’t believe.

 

A proper noble wouldn’t allow strangers on a day when a VIP was expected.

 

“Even if something unfortunate happened, basic manners require prior notice.”

 

But the Viscount couple went out on an urgent estate patrol the day I came, leaving without even a simple apology.

 

And, very coincidentally,  and her group, who had already planned to meet Elia, came right where I was.

 

What are the odds that these things would happen at the same time?

 

It was clear now that Elia’s anxiety wasn’t just because of ’s visit but something more.

 

It looked like Elia had planned something for my meeting with .

 

“I don’t know how she did it, but this is going to be a headache.”

 

If I were invited as Lady Ivelle, I might have let it go quietly, but today I came here as the Grand Duchess Rochester.

 

If I ignored this, it could harm Reus and the Rochester Grand Duke family. So, even if I didn’t want to, I had to take some action.

 

I was already upset by this unwanted situation, but seeing  sitting across from me made me even more down.

 

“She loves flashy things so much…”

 

liked to wear bright red gemstone accessories like her eyes. That taste also showed in her clothes and shoes.

 

But for some reason, today she wore a simple white dress with plain accessories and even her shoes were unusually plain.

 

The necklace had gems smaller than a fingernail. Her clothes and shoes too…

 

“They look too much like mine.”

 

Most importantly, her hair color. There was no sign of purple dye.

 

“Should I just call it a coincidence that  dyed her hair brown and came to see me?”

 

Early in the story,  tried everything to catch Cassien’s attention, including copying the heroine Iris’s appearance.

 

The first thing she did was dye her hair. Even then, she couldn’t imitate the blonde fully, showing up with dull brown hair in front of Iris.

 

But now,  with dyed hair appeared boldly before me, a platinum blonde…

 

That meant Cassien still hadn’t lost interest in me.

 

“Why is he still interested in me?”

 

I didn’t understand Cassien’s obsession or why  came like this.

 

I also felt a bit wronged.

 

“Even if in the original story Iris and Cassien had feelings for each other, that’s understandable.”

 

But I already had a husband, and I had no interest in Cassien.

 

Though there were small troubles with the broken engagement, the families settled it firmly and the wedding happened. Since the birthday banquet, I hadn’t met Cassien even briefly.

 

“Why go this far…?”

 

Then Sasha, who had been talking casually with Elia, fixed her gaze on me. As usual, it was to pick a fight.

 

“But I’m curious… Are you still seeing Sir Ersian?”

 

“Oh, Sasha…! Of course not!”

 

Camilla reacted in surprise, trying to stop her, but then more openly mocked me.

 

“Even if you broke off a 4-year engagement and married the Grand Duke immediately after, surely a proper lady wouldn’t continue a secret relationship, right? That’s just a ridiculous misunderstanding.”

 

“Oh dear, I made a mistake. Please be kind enough to understand. But… what does Lady Plona think about this?”

 

looked up at Sasha’s question.

 

“I don’t know well… I just hope nothing bad happened.”

 

“We’ve never met. How could anything bad have happened?”

 

Despite how they seem, ’s group cared a lot about appearances.

 

They usually showed their true colors only around people who openly ignored me or where it wouldn’t cause problems.

 

I heard there was no connection between ’s group and the Pillaren Viscount family.

 

Then…

 

“Did Elia get caught in some weakness?”

 

Or maybe something happened between them.

 

Then Sasha said,

 

“Why can’t you say anything? Are you really letting rumors like that be true?”

 

Camilla glanced at my expression and laughed quietly, joining in.

 

“Sasha might be right. Since people say Sir Ersian hasn’t forgotten Lady Ivelle, maybe Lady Ivelle really failed to behave properly.”

 

“Right? I thought so too. Honestly, even when engaged to Sir Ersian, Lady Ivelle was the one who didn’t behave properly.”

 

quietly sipped her tea, enjoying Sasha and Camilla’s words.

 

She probably hoped that since she couldn’t get Cassien’s attention, I would give up on him.

 

“I’ve done that many times already. What more do you want me to do?”

 

It was ridiculous enough that they made this meeting with bad intentions, but what annoyed me most was that even after becoming the only Grand Duchess of the Empire, they still openly ignored me.

 

No matter how much they looked down on me, this was crossing the line.

 

“Exactly. If Lady Ivelle had kept Sir Ersian under control, none of this would have happened. It’s really a pity.”

 

“Luckily, my fiancé wouldn’t do that. If a woman is good, the man won’t look elsewhere.”

 

Listening to Camilla and Sasha made me want to laugh bitterly.

 

“Did they really think I’d be scared of this?”

 

I had smiled brightly even when treated worse, so maybe they thought I was weak and that this scolding would be a warning.

 

But the reason I never made an issue was not fear of them but concern for Peria.

 

“If things got noisy, I’d either get beaten so badly I couldn’t go out or be locked in the basement. How could I speak up?”

 

So their talk looked like childish play to me.

 

“Of course, Sir Ersian going astray is because Lady Ivelle didn’t try hard enough. Whether she didn’t try or couldn’t, I don’t know.”

 

I had stayed quiet to see how far this would go, but Elia, who had been restless, suddenly stood up.

 

“Isn’t this too harsh? No matter what, this isn’t right! Please keep your words respectful!”

 

Elia’s pale face showed she didn’t expect things to go this far, and I felt sorry for her.

 

But once you do something wrong, you must expect bad things to follow.

 

I quietly stood up.

 

“I’ve heard enough.”

 

Sasha and Camilla, who had been talking excitedly, looked up dumbfounded. After a moment of understanding, Camilla said,

 

“Lady Ivelle, what rude behavior is this?”

 

“Stop standing there stupidly and sit down.”

 

Camilla said that, and both she and Sasha glared at me with genuine anger.