IVPCB 05

Chapter 05

The first thing that caught my eye was the massive sacred tree, Nebula, standing at the very center of the garden.

The enormous silver sacred tree, with no leaves and only branches, stood with its large branches supporting the domed ceiling of the glass greenhouse.

The branches stretched along the ceiling, reaching into every corner of the garden, and faint silver glimmers of light swirled around the branches, making them look exactly like stars seen in the daytime sky from a distance.

There were also far more diverse plants of various sizes and colors than in the outer garden, but the tree’s presence was so overwhelming that I had no time to pay attention to them.

Forgetting to even breathe, I slowly stepped toward the tree.

One step, two steps.

And when I finally reached the massive trunk, I discovered something and had no choice but to cover my mouth.

Because there was a boy sleeping behind the tree. The trunk’s diameter must have been several meters, so it seemed I simply hadn’t noticed him earlier.

Silver-bladed short hair that barely reached his neck, long eyelashes dark enough to cast shadows, and fine-looking clothes covering his slender arms and legs.

His lips were crusted with dried blood here and there, and his cheeks looked gaunt, yet despite that, the boy appeared noble and beautiful.

And I knew that boy.

‘Juran del Aldebaran!’

My heart began to pound wildly. Because I had never imagined I would encounter Juran here.

‘What if I get caught?’

Even though he was fifteen, the same age as Anais, Juran was an outstanding swordsman who had been trained from a very young age. Meaning he was more than capable of killing a thief who came to break off a branch of Aldebaran’s sacred tree—especially a mere noble young lady.

[Experiencing excessive fear! ‘Iron Face’ activated.]

What saved me at that moment was a passive skill I had completely forgotten about.

The passive skill had existed since my first possession as Anais, and whenever I committed an evil act and the situation seemed appropriate for it to activate, it would do so regardless of my will and assist me.

Among them, ‘Iron Face’ reduced the fear, shame, and other emotions one might feel when committing evil deeds. In other words, it was a skill designed to complete a thick-faced, shameless villainess.

‘I thought it was a useless skill, but it ended up saving me. Was it activated because I was in the middle of stealing?’

And with the fear gone thanks to the Iron Face skill, my mind grew calm.

‘There’s not much time left. Besides, I’m invisible right now. Right, breaking off a branch is the priority first.’

As I looked around the tree for a branch I could break, I spotted one located right next to Juran.

‘The other branches are too high for me to reach, and the one next to Juran just happens to look breakable.’

Carefully stepping so as not to alert Juran, I approached the branch, stood on my tiptoes, and reached out my hand.

But though it was lower than the other branches, that branch too was beyond my reach.

‘What do I do?’

I bit my lip in frustration. Of all things, Anais had a petite build, around 155 cm or so.

‘If only I were about 10 cm taller, I could break it off. Should I jump while on tiptoe? No, that would shake the ground and risk waking Juran.’

Just then, the tip of the Nebula branch I was trying to grab trembled ever so slightly.

‘What was that? Wind?’

But the glass greenhouse was perfectly still, without a breath of wind. It must have been my imagination.

‘Hah. I’m seeing things from how desperate I am.’

Just as I sighed and was about to lower my head, feeling dejected—

The Nebula branch twitched up and down once more, then slowly began to stretch toward me.

It was a slow, gentle movement, as if swimming through the air. And before I knew it, a warm sensation touched my fingertips.

The glimmers of light that had been hovering around the sacred tree now swirled around my fingertips, and within my outstretched hand was the branch.

As if entranced, I reached out and snapped the branch in my grasp.

Took.

The branch broke softly with a small popping sound.

And in that moment, Juran’s eyes fluttered open.

“…Who are you?”

The boy’s amber eyes met mine precisely.

‘Damn, did he catch me?’

Just as I was slowly backing away to put as much distance as possible between myself and Juran—

BEEP! BEEP!

A sharp warning sound, piercing enough to cut through the eardrums, echoed all around.

‘Just as expected, it works well.’

I recalled the name of the scroll I had purchased from the item shop and smiled inwardly.

—

[Item Name: Low-Grade Invisibility Scroll 10 Minutes, Defective. (Item Grade—Common)

Hides your sound and appearance for 10 minutes, but since it was made by a low-grade mage, it does not erase your footprints. Moreover, due to some error in the production process, a warning sound will go off after 10 minutes.]

—

As the usage time ran out and the grating sound blared, Juran flinched in surprise, frowned, and covered his ears. I used that opening to put as much distance as possible between us.

“…You!”

Juran tried to approach me as if he had something to say.

“There! The intruder is over there!”

But suddenly, voices from outside the glass greenhouse halted his steps.

“Stop them!”

“They’re toward the greenhouse!”

“But that place has the key held by Lord Cassis?”

Hearing the commotion, the guards of Heliweka Castle, who had realized my intrusion, seemed to be chasing after me by following my footprints that hadn’t been erased.

‘I originally planned to scatter my calling cards and leave, but since there’s a witness now, it doesn’t matter.’

Taking a deep breath, I spoke to the frozen Juran.

“Listen carefully. I am ‘Anais del Posha’ of the House of Posha. If you want to find the thief who stole the sacred tree’s branch, send someone directly to the Posha estate.”

Juran narrowed his eyes slightly. A thief turning herself in—he must have been dumbfounded.

“Well then, it’s time for us to part ways. Goodbye.”

And then, I pulled out a scroll from my bosom and tore it with a rip.

“Wait, hold on!”

I saw Juran sprint toward me and reach out his hand one last time. But soon, I was sucked into a rippling distortion of space and time and vanished.

No matter how skilled a swordsman Juran was, he wouldn’t be able to chase me. After all, the scroll I had just torn was a ‘Designated Return Scroll’ worth a whopping 100,000 gold.

‘I couldn’t use it on the way here because it was so expensive and I had other things to buy.’

After stealing the branch, I needed to escape as safely as possible to the Posha estate, so I made the bold investment.

‘If I got caught in Heliweka Castle, I’d face immediate judgment and probably have my wrists cut off. I had to prepare for the worst.’

After a moment in the darkened space, lost in various thoughts, I came to my senses and found myself safely on my bed in my room.

My stomach churned as if it were being turned inside out, but my mood was incredibly refreshing.

—

[Daring to steal a branch of the sacred tree, a splendid villainous act worthy of being a model for villainesses!

―Your <Villainess> progress: 53

―You are a ‘Small-Time Villainess’!]

The refreshing feeling I had upon arrival, praised by the system in an impassioned voice, didn’t last long before plummeting.

‘What a turbulent ride it’s been.’

Recalling the adventure from my possession to stealing the Nebula branch, I smiled faintly.

Things went smoothly after I stole the branch of the sacred tree.

The House of Aldebaran handled things quickly, and less than three hours after I had left, word of my theft reached the Posha estate.

The poor Count Posha nearly toppled over backward, foaming at the mouth. Of course, thanks to me catching him, he didn’t end up seriously injured.

After that, I was confined to my room as a criminal under house arrest, and the young gardener of Heliweka Castle, ‘Aegir Cassis,’ came to me as the Duke’s proxy and transferred me to the position of apprentice gardener at Heliweka Castle, just as I had intended.

And now that my departure to Heliweka Castle was confirmed, I had one final thing left to do at the Posha estate.

Jingle.

I pulled the bell cord to call a maid, and a light chime echoed through the room. Shortly after, a knock sounded, and a young maid entered.

“You called for me?”

The maid’s expression was tense. Seeing her pale, anxious face covered in cold sweat, I felt a pang of sympathy.

‘She must be nervous. Anais was quite a demanding mistress after all.’

According to the memories passed down to me when I first possessed Anais, she was exceedingly particular about everything visible in the mansion.

Having lost her mother at a young age, and with Count Posha busy with work, managing the household naturally fell to the only daughter, Anais.

Of course, she had servants’ help in the beginning, but after getting the hang of things, Anais single-handedly managed the estate’s affairs.

‘It was because she wanted her busy father to acknowledge and praise her when he came home.’

However, young Anais never became the wise and gentle lady of the house like her mother, Grace.

From the furniture and tableware to her dresses and hairstyling—if anything failed to meet her standards, she would scream and throw things.

‘Probably because of the obsession to look good in front of her father and the pretense of not showing her mother’s absence.’

It reminds me of the saying, “Every tombstone has an excuse.” It’s not wrong—after all, her servants suffered because of her.

So in my life after possession, I tried to maintain a certain standard of decency toward the servants.

‘But that’s all in the past now.’

After a brief recollection, I smiled as gently as possible and spoke kindly.

“I’d like to buy some jewelry one last time. Could you visit the ‘Raven Trading Company’ on Poplar Street?”

For a brief moment, a flash of shock passed through the maid’s eyes.

‘She must have thought it was pathetic that I’m still indulging in luxuries until the very end. I can understand.’

“Yes, understood.”

But whether it was because she was afraid of Anais, she bowed without complaint and left the room.

I packed the trunk I had prepared in advance for tomorrow’s journey and waited. About thirty minutes later, word came from outside the door.

“Miss, someone from the Raven Trading Company has arrived.”

‘Faster than expected.’

It would take about ten minutes by carriage from the Raven Trading Company to here, so I thought it would take a little longer. It was unexpected.

“Send them in.”

I roughly stuffed the remaining items into the trunk, locked it, and replied curtly.

The door opened, and a small person wearing a hood, their face hidden, entered first.

“I don’t need any tea or anything, so don’t come in. I’d like to look at the items quietly.”

I stopped the maid who was trying to follow behind the hooded figure to attend to me, and then locked the door.

“Phew, I was about to go crazy from the suffocation.”

As soon as the maid left, the figure muttered quietly and pulled off the hood.