Episode 66

Diana turned to my maid and asked.

“That’s right, my lady! If someone is caught earning talents through someone else’s ability, they’ll be kicked out of today’s event immediately!”

The new maid nodded her head vigorously in agreement.

I wasn’t sure if Diana was genuinely curious or just pretending… but there was no particular malice on her small, pale face.

However, her comment drew attention to me once again.

To figure out her intentions, I stared at her for a moment, then closed my eyes and smiled brightly.

“Yes! I know the rules too! Thank you so much for worrying about me, Diana!”

“……”

Diana just stared at me without responding.

But only for a moment.

“What are you saying? We’re friends, aren’t we?”

She followed up with a smile.

I nodded my head exaggeratedly.

“That’s right! We’re friends! So, did you buy a dress like mine, too?”

“Yes! We’re frie—what?”

Diana, who had been agreeing with my words so smoothly, suddenly stopped and turned to look at me.

I pointed innocently at her green dress.

“And! Last time when you visited the Marquis, you liked the dress I wore so much that you bought one just like it, didn’t you?”

“W-What…!”

She clearly looked flustered.

She quickly looked around and denied it.

“W-Why would I follow you? No, this was given to me by the Marquis today to encourage me to do well…!”

“Yes! But your Marquis asked our Duke where I got my dress!”

“W-What…!”

At my innocent remark, Diana was so speechless that her mouth just hung open.

“And then the Duke said that my dress was custom-made? That there’s only one like it in the world! It’s a shame. It would be nice if we could wear the same dress, right?”

As I finished speaking and grinned, the murmurs erupted as if they had been waiting for this moment.

“What? So that’s what happened?”

“Diana is copying Belze…”

“The Duke of Kallios must really be something!”

There was no way Diana couldn’t hear the comments that I could clearly hear.

“……”

She glared at me with a face as red as a beet.

It was the first time.

It was the first time she had shown such intense emotion.

In situations like this, the one who smiles in the end is the true winner.

I shouted with an innocent smile, as if I knew nothing.

“But I have plenty of similar ones, so if you ever want one, just let me know! I can give you one, especially for you, Diana!”

At my final counterpunch, Diana bit her lip and trembled with anger.

Then she said,

“…I don’t need it.”

With a surprisingly cold voice, she turned on her heel and walked away.

‘…That’s what you get for provoking someone who was minding their own business.’

Watching her back as she headed towards her booth, I wiped the smile off my face.

Maybe it was because I had died and come back to life, but now I felt like I could handle this too.

Dealing with people without raising my voice.

As I turned around with light steps, Dr. Gordon looked at me with surprised eyes and muttered,

“Last time, she just got walked all over like a fool…”

“What does ‘fool’ mean?”

I asked, pretending not to know, and he squinted his eyes at me.

Then, lowering his voice, he whispered,

“…Did the Marquis of Barelotte really ask the Duke about that?”

“No?”

“Ha!”

When I answered honestly, the old man let out a baffled laugh.

“Why would you tell such a lie?”

“What does it matter?”

I shrugged and replied nonchalantly.

“She lies a lot too, doesn’t she?”

“That’s true, but… What if she goes to confirm it with the Marquis and then confronts you?”

“Then…”

I thought carefully about the old man’s quite realistic concern.

In fact, given her personality, it didn’t seem likely, but if she did…

“I’ll just apologize, saying I thought she bought it because it looked exactly the same.”

“Ha…”

The old man laughed as if he were exasperated.

Then he shook his head and muttered,

“Tsk, tsk. The Duke has really taken in quite the troublesome creature. This is a big problem…”

“You’re a silver-haired monster, grandpa!”

“You brat! There are people with more gray hair than me, so why am I the silver-haired monster?”

Realizing he was probably referring to Diana, I couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

Thanks to that, my mood lightened considerably.

It was then.

“Attention, everyone!”

From inside the clearing, beyond the space where the nobles would be seated, a priest stood on a high platform and shouted loudly.

“The guests invited to today’s event will arrive in one hour! If there are any booths that are not yet ready, please finish them up quickly!”

“Oh no, Grandpa! We need to get ready too!”

“Let’s do it!”

Dr. Gordon and I hurriedly began setting up our booth.

When we opened the box the old man had brought, we saw it was packed with small bottles.

We busily arranged them on the booth table.

After a while…

“One, two, three, four, five… ten! One, two, three, four… ten!”

“Hmph. Can you still only count to ten?”

The old man sneered as I checked the quantity.

“I-It’s not like that! I can count higher than that! Eleven, twelve…!”

It was unfair!

I was only counting in sets of ten because it made it easier!

‘Ugh… Thanks to the old man interrupting, I lost count of where I was!’

Trying to count differently only made me forget how many I had already counted, so I ended up starting from the beginning with tears in my eyes.

“One, two, three, four, five… t-ten….”

“Heh.”

The old man snickered again, but I held back since we were short on time.

“…Ten! Fifty! 500 total!”

Having confirmed the quantity, I quickly pulled out the crumpled paper I had brought.

“Now, please stick this up around our tent!”

“W-What is this?”

“The name of our product!”

“…”

After skimming the contents written on the paper, the old man was momentarily at a loss for words.

He was silent for a moment before finally speaking.

“…Are you serious?”

“Yes! I even registered the trademark!”

“Ha… I wonder if anyone will even recognize it.”

He let out a hollow laugh, clearly bewildered.

‘Tsk.’

I pouted my lips.

Even I knew that my writing skills weren’t great, so I didn’t want to write it myself!

‘But as that girl Diana said, if it’s obvious that someone else helped, we’ll be disqualified!’

We couldn’t afford to be kicked out before we even started selling.

Though the old man clicked his tongue, he still took the paper I handed him.

He even corrected a few typos (not all of them, of course) and added some missing information, which I was grateful for!

“The esteemed guests have arrived!”

At that moment, a loud announcement echoed from the platform.

Time was up.

The curtain was finally rising on the nobles’ hypocritical and lavish volunteer activities.

“Marquis Barelotte has arrived!”

Unfortunately, the first to arrive was the Marquis.

He was notorious for arriving earlier than anyone else each year, persuading the nobles to flock to Diana’s booth.

“Oh, no need to look over there, Count! Just look at how not a single fly is buzzing around—that tells you all you need to know about their skill!”

“Just wait a moment. Let me assess the situation and I’ll move you to the front of the line…”

Because Diana’s booth always had a long line, he would rush over like a ghost and divert any noble who showed the slightest interest in my side.

In my previous life, his behavior had been infuriating and disheartening…

But now, it was just amusing.

‘It’s like having a free flyer distributor without spending a dime…’

What a helpful man!

“Baron Hanson and the Baroness have arrived!”

“Marquis Graham has entered!”

“Countess Selena…!”

The names of the nobles who followed behind Marquis Barelotte were announced one by one.

Listening to the list, I began to feel a little excited.

‘When will the Duke and Edwin arrive?’

However, there was still no mention of Kallios.

“Marquis! How have you been? Oh my, who is this! Why, your face looks so worn!”

In the meantime, Marquis Barelotte started gathering people.

The nobles who had arrived early immediately flocked to Diana’s booth.

Irritatingly, although my booth was in the same central area, it was slightly behind Diana’s, making it less visible when the crowd gathered.

‘This must be the doing of the director and the priests.’

It was expected, but I couldn’t help feeling a bit bitter.

“Baron Hanson! I’ve spoken to Diana and moved you up in line! You injured your finger, didn’t you? How did that happen?”

Just as in my previous life, Marquis Barelotte swiftly noticed anyone who glanced in our direction and skillfully redirected their attention.

Unfortunately, with his broad frame, our table was likely completely obscured.

“Tsk, tsk! This is beyond unfair.”

Dr. Gordon frowned and then turned to me, grumbling.

“Belze, my dear. At this rate, we won’t sell a single thing before the Duke arrives, will we?”