"How dare!"
A fist with excessive force slammed into the dresser.
"How dare a bitch like she tarnish my reputation?"
Caroline's face was filled with anger. Karina was trembling and unable to move at every word she said.
"Even if I just sit there quietly, pretending not to exist, it's not enough."
Caroline muttered, biting her lower lip. Her pride was further hurt by the person she had always ignored.
"Your Highness. Merchant Abdul has asked to see you."
Nicole, the personal maid, observed her expression and then spoke.
"Ignore it. I don't need it anymore. Where would I put an idiot who can't even do one thing properly?"
Nicole bowed her head and stepped back at Caroline's cold retort.
"I can't just sit still like this."
She plucked a fully bloomed flower bud from the vase that decorated her dressing table.
"I need to show that arrogant little rat her place."
Caroline ground her teeth and crushed the flower bud in her hand. A slimy liquid flowed out between her fingers and dripped onto the floor.
***
“Ahahahahahaha!”
Karina, lying on the bed in the room, laughed so loudly that she almost cried. As she recalled the image of Caroline trembling in shame and humiliation at the banquet hall, she felt a thrill that went beyond exhilaration.
'I wonder if this is how Caroline felt when she embarrassed and bullied me in the past?'
Karina smiled with a repentant smile. Karina also knew that her plan would hurt the reputation of the Grand Duke's family. However, Karina had no hesitation in making and carrying out this plan. The reputation of the Grand Duke's family was not something she cared about.
'I'll pay you back for what you've done to me and then we'll get a divorce.
Before returning to the past, she was called a villainess and was subject to all kinds of criticism and contempt. She didn't even blink at this much.
'Now that the snobby Caroline has been publicly humiliated, she'll probably be quiet for a while, right?'
“Ha.”
Karina, who was enjoying the exhilarating feeling, exhaled comfortably.
'Well, this isn't the time for this,'
Karina, her excited heart racing, slowly began to recall what was going to happen next.
'What happened after this banquet?'
But nothing came to mind. Before returning, Karina had suffered great humiliation at the banquet hall and had been living in seclusion in her room for a while. But now, there was no need for that. She couldn't do that.
'First, I need to find out how I came to the past.'
The most suspicious thing was the wishing potion she had drunk just before returning. Karina recalled the route she had taken in the past to obtain the wishing potion.
'I must have saved you from the darkness.'
The Dark Merchant, who she had found the place with great difficulty after mobilizing all her connections, originally came to procure poison. It was to eliminate Lucia, Jeremiah's second marriage partner.
When she asked for the antidote along with the poison, the Dark Merchant gave her a suspicious potion instead.
'There is no antidote to this poison. Instead, I will give you this. It is a wish-granting potion. Make a wish and feed this potion to the target. If you are lucky, you may survive.'
He said there was no antidote, but he was giving her a potion instead. She couldn't believe it. No, the very phrase 'a potion that grants wishes' reeked of a quack. The dark figure smiled at her, who was feeling uneasy.
'Is there really a need to check if it's real? I remember you asking for the most toxic poison because you absolutely wanted to kill someone.'
It seemed funny that she asked for an antidote along with the poison she bought to kill someone.
"I drank the potion I was given instead of the antidote, and I went back to the past. Isn't that really weird?"
Even Karina's empty wish wasn't to turn back time. Nevertheless, she returned to the past.
'If I'm going to get what I want, I need to find out what the wishing potion is.'
Now that she had gone back in time, Karina's greatest weapon was that she knew the next three years of her life. Of course, she couldn't remember every single detail.
However, she did know the major events and accidents in general. To take advantage of this, she needed to prepare accordingly.
Karina got up and got ready to go out. Then, she suddenly thought that it would be bad if the Grand Duchess was caught visiting the Dark Merchant. Since it was a public wedding, there might be someone who recognized her.
Karina took out a simple design outfit with almost no decoration or lace and even took a robe to wear over it.
'At this point, no one would think of me as a Grand Duchess, right?"
Karian checked her appearance in front of the mirror once more and carefully left the room.
Fortunately, she didn't run into anyone until she reached the doorway, down the long hallway, and up the stairs.
'Nothing annoying will happen.'
If the maids or other employees had caught her now, it would have been very troublesome to explain the situation.
Karina sighed in relief as she opened the
mansion door and was about to leave, but stopped in her tracks at an unexpected turn of events.
A carriage was waiting in front of the mansion door. And the Grand Duke's employees were standing in a long line from the entrance to the carriage.
This!'
The timing was bad. There was only one time when employees would line up at the front door like this: when Jeremiah was out.
'I should have come down a little later.'
If she went out now, it would be no different from advertising the Grand Duchess's departure. Karina quickly turned around to close the slightly opened door and go back to her room. Then her eyes met with the man behind her.
"...!"
"Are you going out?"
Of all people, he was the one she most hated to run into.
***
A quiet scenery was flowing by outside the carriage window. Karina, who was looking out the window with a sullen expression, glanced at Jeremiah, who was sitting across from her.
"Shouldn't you at least tell me where you're going?"
Her plan to secretly visit the Dark Merchant ended before it could even begin. She ran into Jeremiah at the entrance to the mansion.
Jeremiah snapped at Karina, who was lying about going out to see the city alone.
'The Grand Duchess wants to leave the mansion and wander around alone? The thieves and kidnappers everywhere must really like it.'
'Shouldn't you be aware that you are the Grand Duchess?'
In the end, Karina, who couldn't find an excuse to go out alone, was forced to go with Jeremiah.
"Are you really not going to tell me?"
"I thought you said you were inspecting the village."
The northern part of the empire was barren and desolate. Nevertheless, its size was very large. Therefore, the cities and towns ruled by the Grand Duke were divided into four regions: east, west, south, and north.
"So which village? We're not going to inspect the whole area today, right?"
"You'll find out when you get there."
Jeremiah answered, his eyes fixed on the papers in his hand. She hadn't expected him to simply tell her where he was going, but his blunt answer made her feel bad.
"It's so uncomfortable."
"Uncomfortable?"
Jeremiah raised his head and glanced at Karina. It was the carriage of the Grand Duke's family. The carriage, drawn by six horses, was luxurious with seats covered with soft cushions, a soft rug on the floor, and a heavy interior. If this carriage was uncomfortable, then anything else would be uncomfortable.
"It would be more comfortable to take a cart."
"What are you trying to say?"
"I don't think that will happen, but if you have to go somewhere in the future, it would be better to take a separate carriage."
"You must be bored, seeing as you're talking nonsense."
"Does it sound like you said that because you were bored?"
"I'm busy right now, so try not to talk to me."
Jeremiah focused on the papers again. The carriage was silent. It was as if she had fallen into deep water, and her breathing was suffocating. Just when she was thinking that it would be better to just jump, Jeremiah blurted out in passing.
"I received a report about what happened at the restaurant yesterday."
When he said yesterday, she thought it was the day the maids gave her food waste.
"So?"
"They say you usually harass the maids with petty complaints."
Karina swallowed a laugh inside.
'I guess we ended up talking like that.'
"Is that what the maids said?"
"If you want to be treated like a Grand Duchess, act like one."
"What is it like to be a Grand Duchess?"
"It means don't act like someone impatient because they can't catch their subordinates."
“Ha.”
Karina smiled weakly with a frustrated sigh, not feeling like it was worth responding to his words.
"We have taken steps to ensure that employees are given appropriate punishment and discipline according to the mistakes they have made."
"You must be foolish."
After Karina's answer, there was a frustrating silence. Just before her patience was about to run out, fortunately, the carriage arrived at its destination. As she was about to get out of the carriage, Jeremiah warned Karina.
"Individual action is prohibited during the inspection."
Karina snorted and ignored him, internally excited.
***
On the outskirts of town, as they got out of the carriage, several knights who had been waiting ahead of time joined them.
"Recently, there have been large and small disputes due to the influx of outsiders."
"It's a common occurrence these days. Increase the security force."
"Two days ago, the mercenaries who came in as an escort for the merchants had a knife fight with local gangsters. The merchants are demanding leniency, saying that their escort is absolutely necessary"
"There are no exceptions. Deal with it according to the law."
"All right."
Jeremiah inspected the city while receiving reports. The northern region ruled by the Grand Duke of Colesburg was a trade route that merchants had to pass through when going to the eastern Kingdom of Ferdin. Despite the high and rugged mountain ranges teeming with monsters, the reason merchants used the north was because of the special products that could only be found there. In particular, after the beast hunts that subjugated the swarming beasts, merchants from all over the continent flocked to the north.
They did so to obtain various byproducts such as leather, beast cores, horns, eyes, claws, and teeth that were obtained after dealing with the beasts. Equipment and products made from byproducts of the beasts were popular not only with magicians but also with nobles.
However, Karina's eyes were filled with boredom as she watched the lively streets.
'If this is how it's going to be, then why did you bring me here?'
She wanted to go to the Dark Merchant as soon as possible. She didn't understand why Jeremiah was dragging her along for the security check.
The group, who had been moving slowly while checking the security situation, soon entered the bustling city. It was less boring to inspect the city where there was something to see than in the quiet outskirts.
The stalls that had body parts and skins of demons spread out all over the place changed into strange items as they went further inside.
Karina looked around without realizing it.
'Okay. Do whatever you want, whether it's inspection or whatever. I'll just go sightseeing.'
When she turned her attention, she saw quite a few things worth seeing. Cute porcelain dolls, amazing glass crafts that changed color depending on the angle you looked at them, soft balls of yarn made by twisting threads, ribbons tied in various shapes, etc. Karina looked at the items with excitement.
When her eyes were drawn to one side of the stall, someone suddenly pulled her wrist.
"...!"
She looked up in surprise and saw Jeremiah. He looked at her with a furrowed brow and a displeased expression.
"Have you already forgotten what I said?"
Karina remembered what Jeremiah had said just before he got out of the carriage.
'Individual action is prohibited during the inspection.'
"I didn't take any individual action. I just followed along diligently."
Maybe. Karina said, shaking off his hand. It wasn't a lie, since she hadn't run away secretly, intending to take another route.
"Don't look away and follow me carefully."
Karina's words caused a sudden surge of resistance. The moment she opened her mouth to say something...
BUANG!
A vibration shook the earth's axis and smoke rose up. Karina was startled by the explosion that occurred nearby. Just before the terrifying cloud of dust rose and covered them, a strong force grabbed her wrist.
Suddenly, Karina was held in a low embrace, and a soft voice leaked into her ear.
"Wait. Just stay here for a moment."
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