TVBDP 9

Chapter 9

“Find out exactly what happened.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Once the aide who had received the order left, Cordelia, who was supposed to have lunch with him today, entered the room and greeted him with a bright smile.

“Your Majesty.”

“Ah, Cordelia.”

Noticing Adrian’s stiff expression, Cordelia cautiously asked,

“Your Majesty, is something troubling you?”

“No.”

“Is that so? Then that’s a relief.”

Although he had answered that nothing was wrong, Adrian felt unsettled as he watched Cordelia naturally link her arm through his.

Cordelia chattered on about this and that, but Adrian found it difficult to concentrate on their conversation.

‘Ah, right.’

He decided that he should call Varden, the Marquis’s younger son of Agenthoz and a mage who had fought alongside him on the battlefield, and casually ask him about it.

‘……’

Unlike usual, Cordelia noticed that Adrian’s mind was elsewhere. Her eyes gradually turned cold.

I grinned.

I had been so happy lately. Maybe this was what true happiness felt like.

The joy of learning. Was this how people who went back to school later in life felt?

After learning to read late in life, there was a ninety-year-old grandmother who reportedly took great joy in writing every day. For the first time, I felt that I could understand her feelings, at least a little.

‘I love studying so much.’

The tutors the duke had assigned to me were all excellent.

It was only after starting my lessons that I realized just how starved I had been for knowledge.

The reason was probably because I had started working immediately after graduating from high school.

Until high school, I had maintained fairly good grades, ranking near the top of my class. But after taking the college entrance exam, I was thrown into a major dilemma.

I had been in poor condition on the day of the exam, and my results had turned out terribly. I was devastated.

In the end, getting into the university I wanted became difficult.

But I didn’t want to go somewhere else simply because my grades allowed it.

I suppose it was pride.

So, leaving behind the laughter of my competitors and the people who looked down on me, I chose to get a job instead.

I told myself that I would work for exactly one year, stabilize my finances, retake the entrance exam, and go to the university I wanted.

But perhaps there really was a proper time for learning, because I never got the chance to sit down and study properly, nor could I actually concentrate.

Just enduring the endless overtime, the bullying from my senior coworker, and my financial struggles was exhausting enough.

Five years passed like that, and by then, making up my mind to retake the exam had become incredibly difficult.

One day, I happened to tell my senior coworker about this over drinks.

What did that bastard say again?

He told me that if I really wanted to study, I could make time after work and study. He accused me of simply lacking determination.

Damn bastard.

Because I had found a place to live on the outskirts of the city, my total commute to and from work took three hours.

And on top of that, there was overtime. I didn’t even have enough time to sleep, let alone rest.

Sure, maybe I really did lack determination. Maybe other people would call it an excuse.

But… as a famous celebrity once said, youth isn’t painful because you’re young. If you’re hurting, you’re a patient.

‘But that youth of mine, which was slowly being destroyed, is getting a fresh start in this villainess sister’s life!’

I could study again now, and how could I not be happy about that?

For now, my priority in life was to satisfy this thirst for knowledge and quietly enjoy a happy, comfortable life.

‘No blind dates or anything like that. Romance can come later.’

Today, too, I listened intently to my history tutor’s lesson. When the lesson ended, he suddenly began to cry.

“Lady, to think you have… changed this much… Ah, no, that’s not what I meant.”

“Hmm.”

“I truly didn’t want to come when you summoned me again… but now, I don’t regret it at all.”

I glanced at the burn marks remaining around the history tutor’s ear as he dabbed at the corners of his eyes with a handkerchief, and guilt washed over me.

They were traces left by Yvonne’s fire magic.

“It was a good lesson. Thank you for your hard work.”

So I quickly sent him out.

Once all of today’s lessons were over, I lightly stretched.

“My lady. Aren’t you pushing yourself too hard?”

I gave Carol a small laugh as she nagged me as usual, even while trembling with fear.

“I’m fine.”

Compared to my high school days, when I had a standard schedule of ten periods of classes a day, my current schedule was so relaxed that I could practically yawn.

Besides, I genuinely, truly, absolutely loved studying.

The original me hadn’t been stupid by any means, but Yvonne’s brain was truly exceptional.

It was almost as if someone had installed software overflowing with enthusiasm—me—into incredible hardware.

Being able to concentrate on studying every day while enjoying luxurious food and a leisurely life…

I wanted to spend the rest of my life learning like this and living forever at the Agenthoz residence.

Maybe, eventually, I would somehow figure out a way to use magic again.

Or perhaps quietly giving up being a mage and finding some other occupation wouldn’t be so bad either.

Since I’d thought of it, I decided to read the magic book I’d secretly brought from the mansion’s library yesterday.

‘Hmm.’

《Basic Theory of Magic》

I opened the hardcover of the thick magic textbook and began reading.

‘W-What?’

I was stunned.

I rapidly flipped through the pages from beginning to end, but the situation remained exactly the same.

‘Oh my god. Does this mean… I can’t become a mage? Is it because I’m not Yvonne?’

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

I was half-slumped helplessly in the armchair when someone began pounding roughly on my bedroom door.

I spoke sluggishly.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me. Yvonne Agenthoz.”

Varden Agenthoz.

Yes. I knew you’d come.

Still, Varden was more sensible than I’d expected. He hadn’t barged straight into his little sister’s room; he’d actually knocked and waited.

And considering he’d called me ‘Yvonne Agenthoz’ instead of ‘Mad Dog,’ it was obvious he had come because of that matter.

“Come in.”

I smiled sweetly as I watched Varden enter the room, then slowly rose to my feet.

It had been a while since I’d last seen him. Varden stood before me with a deeply suspicious expression, his arms crossed.

For a moment, I instinctively shrank back, reminded of how I used to feel around my senior coworker.

But I decided I wasn’t going to be afraid anymore and straightened my shoulders.

That’s right. The miserable, stupid life of quietly taking everything my senior coworker threw at me was over.

I had to speak my mind confidently and somehow turn this guy into an ally.

‘Yes. Varden is different from my old senior coworker.’

That horrible senior coworker wasn’t related to me by blood at all. But this guy was Yvonne’s actual brother.

I decided to trust that.

A long silence passed between us as we sized each other up.

Eventually, after quite some time, Varden narrowed his eyes and spoke first.

“What the hell are you plotting?”

“What do you mean, Brother?”

I answered sweetly with a gentle smile, and Varden recoiled in horror.

He bit his lip as if desperately suppressing his emotions before finally continuing.

“…Fine. Your changed way of speaking is creepy too, but I’ll ask about the important thing first.”

“Yes.”

“You told Father that I helped you create that new method of organizing the sales figures. What the hell are you really up to? Tell me everything.”

‘Heh. Just as I thought. That’s why he came.’

I smiled inwardly.

The new method of organizing sales figures that I’d arranged into a ‘table’ had caused quite a stir within the Hoz Merchant Company.

Apparently, it was such a revolutionary method in this world that they were planning to implement it throughout the entire company.

The duke’s aide had praised me excessively, saying that the employees handling the actual work were so moved by how much their workload had decreased that they were practically in tears.

As the aide praised me, asking if I understood just how incredible my achievement was and what a revolution it was for their reports, I almost instinctively said,

‘No, all the credit goes to my senior coworker, Assistant Manager ○○○, who did such a great job—’

That fucking bastard was still ingrained in me as a habit even though I’d been given a new life. Just thinking about it was exhausting.

But then, a brilliant idea struck me.

I would give the credit to Varden, who was basically my senior coworker in this world.

My instincts told me this was how I would survive.

If I suddenly showed off my abilities now, would Varden, who had called me ‘Mad Dog’ all this time, be pleased?

He would probably become wary of me instead. And if that happened, I’d only be creating another enemy within the household.

That would go against my goal of living a quiet, comfortable life.

‘Of course, even while giving Varden the credit, I’m not going to let him take advantage of me like I did before.’

In my previous life, I had been a fool who let my senior coworker steal all the credit for my work and kept my mouth shut.

This time, I would threaten my new senior coworker just enough to make sure I got my share.

So I’d already done some groundwork with the aide and the duke.

And finally, today…

Varden had returned to the Agenthoz townhouse after several days away on an investigation trip to prepare a report on the battle against monsters in the west.

After returning, Varden must have suddenly received an enormous amount of praise from the duke for developing the new method of organizing documents.

His bewildered expression as he rushed straight here and anxiously stared at me was rather cute, but I didn’t let it show.

Instead, I calmly threw out my next move.

“Do you think I have ulterior motives? If you disliked what I did so much, then you obviously would have immediately told Father that you weren’t the one who did it.”

Varden’s expression twisted fiercely, and he irritably ran a hand through his hair.

For a moment, his handsome forehead was exposed, and I realized anew that the guy really was handsome.

If only he could fix his temper, he’d be someone I’d want to see often…

What a shame.

While I was lamenting the waste of such a handsome face, Varden bared his teeth and stepped closer.

“Hey. What the hell is wrong with you? Damn it, when you started taking the required classes, including the liberal arts courses, I thought you were seriously aiming to inherit the title. But what the hell is this supposed to be?”

“What? Inherit the title?”

“Yeah. The heir can be changed at any time.”

I was dumbfounded by the ridiculous misunderstanding. Varden was actually wary of me because he thought I was after the position of duke?

And here I was, dealing with a duke who had misunderstood my staying at home as me being heartbroken after getting spectacularly rejected by the Crown Prince.

Varden thought I was aiming to become the heir?

I didn’t want anything like that!

Well, considering the sheer variety of evil things Yvonne had done in the past, it wasn’t strange that he would think I was suddenly aiming to inherit the dukedom.

‘I was the one who wished to be reincarnated as a villainess, so I suppose I have to consider all of this my karma and get through it.’

I put strength into my eyes and glared at Varden with all my might.

Perhaps startled by Yvonne’s intense gaze after such a long time, Varden flinched and took a step backward.

‘He’s scared.’

Seeing Varden cower under his little sister’s glare was once again slightly adorable, but I maintained my momentum and spoke firmly.

“Listen carefully. I have absolutely no interest in inheriting the title.”

“……Then what is it? Why did you suddenly start studying? Your actions and words don’t make any sense.”

‘Why did I suddenly start studying? Well, first of all, I love studying. And right now I can’t use magic, plus… I don’t know enough about anything!’

But I couldn’t bring myself to reveal the truth screaming inside my head, so I began listing a string of other excuses instead.

“Listen carefully. I want to help you protect our family.”