TVBDP 4

Chapter 4

‘But… judging by how horrified the aide looked, it must be an enormous amount.’

I was saddened by the fact that instead of becoming a sloth, I would once again have to turn into a squirrel running on the hamster wheel of overtime work.

But I steeled myself and clenched my fists.

First, I had to make a good impression on the duke, the real power in the family, if I wanted to continue living in this luxurious Argenthoz resort somehow.

I was no longer a villainess, nor was I the final mastermind, so the future was changing. I needed to stay on the good side of my guardian.

‘I should even be prepared to work through the night. I can handle it.’

I lightly bit my lip before answering solemnly.

“I’ll do it. As long as you understand that I truly regret everything I’ve done up until now.”

“Hah. Good. You finally said something sensible. Do you have any idea how much money it cost to clean up the mess you made this time?! Yvonne, when are you ever going to grow up?!”

“Yes. All of this was entirely my fault. My actions were arrogant and impulsive.”

“Your impulsive emotions cost us a whopping two billion gold!”

‘Gasp.’

Two billion gold here was equivalent to two billion Korean won.

Yvonne, youuuuu!

The thought that money I had never even gotten to touch had vanished along with a magical bomb made me so distressed that my lips naturally puckered and my shoulders drooped.

“I’m sorry…”

“Ahem.”

The duke suddenly cleared his throat again and puffed himself up.

“Well, it’s not as though that amount of money is anything significant. But you keep damaging our family’s reputation, don’t you?”

No.

It might not be a significant amount of money to you, Your Grace, but I’m a commoner who suddenly became a duchess. It’s a completely different story for me.

‘Two billion gold is VERY significant.’

I answered gloomily.

“Yes. I suppose I really am trash for damaging both the family’s reputation and its finances.”

“…Are you doing this on purpose? What’s gotten into you? Tsk. Lark! Assign Yvonne work related to the Marta branch every day.”

“What? The Marta branch?!”

“Yvonne, come to the office attached to my study every day and work. I’ll give you a week. Finish everything within that week.”

“Your Grace!”

The aide glanced at me before hurriedly calling out to the duke.

‘A week?’

Judging by the fact that he had given me an entire week to finish it, I wondered if I really would have to work overtime every single day.

I sighed at the thought of my old routine returning, then glanced at the aide.

Perhaps he misunderstood my expression, because the aide turned deathly pale and began trying to dissuade the duke.

“The documents related to the Marta branch may be ordinary paperwork, but there is an enormous amount of them. A week? How could that possibly be enough? Even I have to sit and work for at least six full hours every day to finish it!”

“That’s precisely why I’m assigning it to her. I want to see whether Yvonne is genuinely remorseful.”

The duke stealthily glared at me.

‘Six hours…?’

I barely managed to calm my heart, which was pounding with excitement, and tightly grasped the hem of my dress as I answered calmly.

“Yes. I’ll do my best.”

The corners of my mouth twitched with excitement, but I managed to suppress my smile.

I rose from my seat, bowed politely, and left the study.

As I returned to my room with my personal maid, who had been waiting outside, I kept failing to suppress my laughter.

‘Yes! Only six hours?!’

Everything had gone much more easily than I had expected, so my footsteps felt light.

In my previous life, I had gone to work by seven every morning and worked until ten at night.

I had been an overtime workaholic who considered working fifteen hours a day perfectly normal!

“Hehe. I think I’d like to have some sweet snacks.”

Hearing me mumble, my personal maid sensibly headed straight toward the kitchen, and I smiled contentedly.

This really is such a comfortable and wonderful place.

I would survive here somehow.

Humming happily, I returned to my room.

Varden watched Yvonne’s retreating figure and narrowed his eyes.

‘Why is she grinning like that?’

Sensing something strange, Varden asked the aide about Yvonne’s situation.

The aide sighed and explained that starting tomorrow, the young lady would be responsible for the tedious and enormous amount of paperwork.

Varden muttered incredulously.

“If it’s Yvonne, I feel like she’ll burn the documents the moment she sees them tomorrow.”

“…I agree.”

The aide, whose face had gone deathly pale, hurried away, saying that he would come up with a countermeasure.

Varden decided that he would personally keep an eye on Yvonne tomorrow.

Her strangely obedient way of speaking earlier was suspicious enough, and so was the fact that she had been behaving herself.

Either something was seriously wrong with Yvonne, or she was simply putting on an act as a smokescreen before causing an even bigger disaster.

And then, the next morning.

Varden’s eyes widened as he secretly watched Yvonne, who had come to work at the duke’s study.

‘Good heavens.’

The speed at which she flipped through the documents and moved her pen was terrifying.

Varden watched Yvonne blankly, as though he were observing a performance, before glancing at the clock.

A chill ran down his spine.

Yvonne had been sitting in the chair for five hours, without moving an inch, completely focused on processing the paperwork.

Varden gathered his scattered thoughts and slowly reconsidered everything he knew about Yvonne.

Yvonne Argenthoz.

She was his only full-blooded relative and his younger sister, but he had never been particularly close to her.

Their mother, the Duchess, had died three years after giving birth to Yvonne.

Their father had never taken another wife, and the position of Duchess had remained vacant ever since.

Because young Yvonne, who had never received her mother’s love, seemed lonely, Varden had reached out to his little sister several times.

But he had given up quickly.

His sister, three years younger than him, had been far too sharp-tempered and sensitive. Growing up freely in the ducal residence without a mother, she had become a tyrant.

On top of that, Yvonne had displayed exceptional talent for magic from a very young age.

With her genius-level abilities, Yvonne had become so full of herself that she openly looked down on her own older brother.

Oh my, goodness. You call that magic? Pfft.

Varden’s brows furrowed as the memory of young Yvonne’s mocking voice came vividly back to him.

‘It pisses me off even more because it’s true.’

Honestly, when it came purely to magical ability, there was no question that Yvonne was several levels above Varden.

His little sister’s extraordinary magical talent.

Feeling threatened, Varden had worked even harder.

Perhaps the gods really were fair.

Fortunately, that damn little sister had no interest in becoming the heir.

More than anything, Yvonne absolutely hated taking lessons in anything other than magic.

She only liked magic, horseback riding, exercise, and anything that involved using her body.

She never attended the lessons that a successor to a ducal family—or even a duchess of the Empire—was supposed to receive.

Etiquette, history, politics, diplomacy, economics, rhetoric, and so on…

There was not a single subject among them that she had properly studied.

Burning her tutors’ hair and running away was the least of it.

She had also broken every tutor’s bones at least once.

After being subjected to such vicious bullying, no teacher was willing to volunteer to teach Yvonne anymore, and eventually even their father gave up on her education and raised his hands in surrender.

But what was even more absurd was this.

Despite never learning even the most basic social graces, Yvonne openly set her sights on becoming the Crown Princess because she was in love with Crown Prince Adrian.

Varden clicked his tongue.

‘She had no shame. It was obviously never going to happen.’

If their mother had still been alive, would that crazy, wild-horse-like little sister have been any different?

Varden recalled the faint image of his mother that remained in his memories, then shook his head and returned to reality.

‘Anyway. That Yvonne has been sitting there for five hours?’

Yvonne was strange.

It had only been a year since he had left home to fight on the front lines, where monsters were running rampant alongside the Crown Prince.

Could Yvonne really have changed completely in just one year?

No.

That was impossible.

A week ago, Yvonne had thrown a bomb toward the boutique that Cordelia Mare, the princess of the Mare Kingdom, and Crown Prince Adrian had visited.

Fortunately, there had been no casualties, but the property damage had been enormous.

A considerable amount of money had been spent silencing the investigators who insisted that the culprit who had created the magical bomb artifact should be immediately identified and imprisoned.

Yvonne was becoming not only a disgrace to the family, but also a dangerous person—someone being branded a terrorist who was wreaking havoc on the Empire.

Varden narrowed his eyes and glared at Yvonne, who remained absorbed in her paperwork.

‘It’s nothing but an act. Her results will definitely be a mess, too.’

Watching Yvonne refuse to get up from her seat made Varden restless.

Eventually, he gave up on keeping watch until the end and decided to go take care of his own work.

Yvonne would inevitably bring about her own downfall by continuing to run wild like this.

Becoming Crown Princess was obviously impossible.

She hadn’t properly established her own fortune or retainers, nor had she secured her position in high society.

It was only a matter of time before she became completely isolated, but for some reason, Varden still felt uneasy.

After all, there was no denying that Yvonne’s magical abilities were extraordinary.

Deep in thought, Varden decided that if Yvonne went on another rampage, he would persuade their father to send her somewhere along the western border.

Yvonne had now reached adulthood after celebrating her birthday, so he intended to send her to the monster extermination corps stationed at the border and make her spend several years there.

‘Hmm. I already know exactly how to provoke her, too.’

Varden knew the best way to get under Yvonne’s foul temper.

It was to provoke her by bringing up the relationship between Crown Prince Adrian and Princess Cordelia Mare.

‘Cordelia Mare.’

Varden thought of Cordelia, who had been smiling shyly beside the Crown Prince, and for some reason, he felt strangely uncomfortable as he rubbed his chin.

Everyone praised her as a pure and delicate beauty, but to Varden, Cordelia’s presence seemed too faint for someone who was supposed to be a beauty.

Yes.

If they were talking about beauty, wouldn’t his own younger sister sitting over there be a much more fitting example?

Varden unconsciously turned toward Yvonne as he thought that, then came to his senses and smacked himself on the back of the head.

‘You crazy bastard. What the hell are you thinking while looking at that mad dog?!’

A chill ran through his blood, and goosebumps spread across his entire body.

Shaking his head vigorously, he fled to his study in horror.

‘Is this my karma? Even after getting possessed, I still have to do paperwork.’

When I arrived at the duke’s study for work, I swallowed hard at the mountain of documents piled up on the desk.

Had I underestimated this ducal family?

Haha.

Still, I pretended not to notice the aide nervously watching me and calmly sat down.

“Well, this is quite nice.”

I even put on a show of confidence.

The aide looked sorrowful as he spoke.

“Lady Yvonne. Even if it becomes difficult… please, I beg you, do not burn these documents. If you become angry, please call for me immediately instead!”

The tearful aide looked truly pitiful.