I Thought a Villainess' Divorce Would Be Easy

“Ma’am, how about taking some more rest today? I will invite the tailor as soon as possible so that you can buy more tomorrow.”

“No. What you decide to do, you have to do it right away.”

She wanted to go out. So she was leaving.

She felt like she had to rush forward with this momentum to be able to spend the Duke’s money like water. Of course, she would lose some stamina while riding in the carriage, but it was something she could do as long as she could take it easy.

Even though she chased Rosa around the mansion and tried to interfere with her until her legs were swollen, the response she got was very weak. She thought the response would be better if she spent a lot of money and acted like a luxurious Duchess.

After making that decision, Marley went out to the main street with her maid and escort, but as expected, the gray buildings discouraged her desire to consume and were blown away.

“Whew. Even if you try to spend real money, there is no place to spend it.”

“Ma’am, how about ordering fabric or items that suit your taste?”

“Well, rather than customizing what you already have, you just have to order the fabric you like and make it.”

She always chose items with the Countess, but had never purchased them herself, so she had forgotten that they could be custom-made. Anthea’s face lit up at a belated thought.

“That’s right. If it were custom made, it would be really expensive. Good idea.”

“Then, let’s leave for today and call someone at a later date.”

“What are you talking about? Now that we are out, I’m going to go order right away.”

Looking at Anthea, who was smiling brightly, Julie swallowed hard to say that if she were a Duchess, she would not go out and buy things herself. This free-spirited behavior suited the innocent Anthea. Anyway, since she married into the dukedom, Anthea would change accordingly.

Julie and Ellie decided that they were fortunate to have an innocent madam for just now, and soon began to actively voice their opinions by Anthea’s side.

“Would you like to go see the jewelry that matches the outfit?”

“Yes, I’d like to go see it when I have time.”

“You can also order the lace design separately.”

“That would be nice too. It must be busy today. You two need to take care of it.”

“Of course.”

“Please leave it to me, ma’am.”

There was a look of relief in the maid’s eyes when they saw their master finally regaining her strength.

The dressing room in the center of Gwyntede territory was quiet as always.

“I’m free today too.”

“Shall we prepare invitations to send to our regulars?”

“No. It meant that it was nice to have some free time. Please bring me another cup of tea.”

The owner of her dress shop, the young widow Eve, spent her time in the quiet shop as usual, drinking tea with the girl who was her waitress and her maid. All of the new winter dresses have already been completed and displayed, and the costume design for next spring is not expected to change much from this year, so it was leisurely.

Eve, who was thinking about stopping by the bookstore for the first time in a while when there were no customers in the afternoon, raised her head when she heard the sound of the bell on the door.

Other clothing stores deliberately had a clerk stand at the entrance, and she would open the door and greet customers before they came in, but Eve, who was well-off, had no reason to stoop that low to do business.

“Welcome. Welcome to Madame Eve’s dressing room.”

When the door opened, one of several times a day, the maid reacted faster than the owner, Eve. Two women wearing ducal maid uniforms entered the wide open door.

These were women who visited a few days ago. With hawk-like insight, they carefully checked the stitching of dresses made of sturdy fabrics, quickly selected them, and bought them without haggling. It was a pretty good day because most people just looked around or made reservations. However, even if they were duke’s maids, there was no way that they, being commoners, would come back to buy a dress after just a few days. In this case, she was worried that the truth might be that they wanted to be excused for returns or late defects.

Eve wondered if the long-awaited cool deal had been broken like this, but since it was a familiar occurrence, Eve held her heart together.

Eve’s complexion became cold as she wanted to avoid petty squabbles as much as possible. When she calmly got up and turned around, intending to give at least a few pennies if possible, a shocking sight, as if a light bomb had been dropped in a room decorated in a calm gray tone, was waiting for me.

It’s dazzling. It’s so beautiful.

Eve slowly blinked her eyes as the unknown lyrics popped into her head.

Even though a cold wind blew through the wide open door, the girl’s presence alone made the air feel warm, as if spring had arrived.

“She is the Duchess of Gwyntede.”

As Eve was just staring blankly, she opened her door and came in, and the maids on either side announced the identity of the lovely and noble-looking girl.

“We… You are welcome.”

Eve gave her greeting, almost mechanically forming her familiar posture. She couldn’t take her eyes off her. She had a vision of the bright, brightly colored dresses that had been thrown away in her warehouse after marrying up north, leaving her husband at an early age, and setting up her own clothing store because none of them were sold, all of a sudden becoming a duchess. She didn’t know what to do with it, so she cut it into pieces with the intention of salvaging at least a thousand of them to make accessories, so she piled them up in a reasonable amount. If you had known that this kind of luck would come your way, you should have kept it well. Belated regret tightened Eve’s heart.

“May I come in?”

Even her voice was so refreshing and sweet, like melted lemon candy, that Eve had to swallow her dry saliva without realizing it.

Eve’s heart, which had been peaceful in the gray world she had become accustomed to while living as a Northern woman, began to beat uncontrollably.

“Madam?”

“Hurry up, don’t take us inside, hurry up and don’t miss it.”

Even while everyone was embarrassed, Anthea did not lose her refreshing and cheerful expression.

Occasionally, there were people in the arts field who showed overly exaggerated reactions when they saw Anthea. Therefore, despite her extreme reaction that seemed to cause Eve’s breathing difficulties, Anthea just calmly headed to the sofa guided by her waiter.

Just the simple act of slightly lifting her dress, turning her body halfway to sit on her sofa caused Eve to react so violently that her hand on her heart began to tremble. In the past, a young designer who visited the count’s house to get Anthea’s custom-made dress couldn’t control her excessive emotions like that.

“Tea, no, refreshments, anything sweet.”

Seeing the owner of the clothing store showing signs of hyperventilation, Anthea lifted her fan and covered half of her face as if she was used to it. As the loveliness and sacred light that had been pouring out indiscriminately diminished, her Eve’s breath returned.

“If Madam is uncomfortable, we can leave like this.”

“Oh, no! What are you saying such horrible things?! Please visit us every day. No, just call me anytime and I will come running.”

Her servant, a maid, was surprised by the excited appearance of her master, Eve, who had always been calm and even looked a bit depressed, but she quickly prepared a new teacup and snack.

As Anthea put down her fan to pick up the teacup, Eve’s gaze followed her down.

“Even your fingertips are so lovely. Lace, which is popular in the East, is placed on the wrist and back of the hand, and the fabric is imported this time…”

“Sir, a guest is in front of you.”

At the maid’s whisper, Eve seemed to come to her senses and raised her head. Seeing Anthea smiling brightly when her eyes met, Eve vowed that she would find a dress that would suit the duchess, even if it meant going through her design book.

The moment Anthea entered the clothing room, she had already completely lost her desire to buy when she saw the toned-down colors of the dresses hanging. She just came in to order something that wasn’t there in the first place. Judging from the enthusiastic hospitality of her dress shop owner, it seemed like most of her orders would be easily fulfilled.

Sure enough, she didn’t even have samples of the colors and soft, light textures that Anthea was constantly releasing. Her Eve wrote Anthea’s orders down diligently, lest she forget even a single word. Not only did she not show any signs of displeasure, but Eve even felt a sense of duty as she filled out her order form to the last line, with her eyes shining. Anthea looked a little downcast with a hint of regret on her part.

“Did I order too much… Can I get this much?”

“Of course. It looks like we can get most of it from the eastern part of the country, so if we place an order, we will be able to prepare everything in about a month.”

“It’s good.”

Thanks to Eve actively accepting Anthea’s opinions, her order form was completed in an instant.

Without hesitation, she signed the bill the waiter presented her, and Eve repeatedly expressed her gratitude as if she was moved. She may have been happy about the sudden influx of money, but more than anything, she seemed excited about being able to see Anthea again. Judging by the clothing store owner’s reaction, she seemed to be able to find a dress that would suit Anthea well, even in the North. 

Anthea left the dressing room earlier than expected, and now she was worried about where she should go and spend her money. Even though I spent over 100 gold on her first visit, she still got nothing. She felt proud because she had accomplished something great, as if she had thrown money into the air.

“Then what should we do now?”

It was the beginning of a successful money run.

Her motivation to run rose. She was a little hungry, so while she was contemplating whether to go to a restaurant and ask for everything on the menu, she made eye contact with a child sticking his head out from between the alleys. His face looked vaguely familiar.

She didn’t think there would be any familiar faces in the North, but suddenly a memory from a few days ago flashed through her mind.

These were the kids she ran into when she went out not long ago. At the time, he was thin and she thought he was in pain somewhere, but over the past few days, his cheeks and small hands seemed to have gained some weight. After all, children should be chubby.

It’s still a long way off, but when she first saw him, it was nice to see a clean, plump face instead of the miserable demeanor that looked like he didn’t even have parents to care for him.

“Are they those kids back then? It’s nice to see them gaining some weight…”

Anthea, who was about to express her feelings in a normal way, quickly changed her words when Julie’s delighted gaze was directed at her.

“It’s nice to see… What a thin child! It’s still not enough!”

 

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Translator Note:

This week there will be a double release 😉