TRTVCM chapter 45

‌⁠♡⁩ TL: Khadija SK

✧✧✧✧✧

 

“Of course, I plan to use some properties from the Sheringen estate for this. I have received the title of Marchioness, so I must act as the new head. But since I am not here for business today, I would prefer that you call me Anette. I haven’t been addressed by my first name recently.”

 

“It is the fate of a married woman. I’m about to forget my own name, hahaha.”

 

“Shall we call each other by our first names today?”

 

“Wonderful.”

 

As the women agreed here and there, the lively atmosphere returned, while Lascicia fell into silence once more.

 

“May I call you by your first name, Lady Lascicia? Please feel free to call me Anette as well.”

 

Anette skillfully expressed her desire for friendship, but Lascicia’s response was ambiguous.

 

“Doesn’t your husband call you by your first name often enough at home, Marchioness? Rumors say that you have a good relationship.”

 

“Oh my~”

 

At the mention of Theodore’s name, some women let out hushed squeals of admiration.

 

Anette smiled as if their reaction was amusing, but she was also internally observing Lascicia.

 

She sensed a strangely sharp aura.

 

She couldn’t determine whether Lascicia was merely commenting on their relationship or subtly warning her not to address each other by their first names.

 

Anette didn’t know which was the right answer, but it wasn’t a bad start for the social season, which was notorious for draining the nobility’s energy and testing each other’s intentions.

 

As she exchanged silent glances with Lascicia, the other women eagerly asked Anette.

 

“How did you meet His Highness the Grand Duke?”

 

“Tell us how you two got married.”

 

After all, Theodore, a member of the royal family with a handsome face, was the main subject of interest among the women.

 

Rather than feeling disheartened that he had become another woman’s husband, they were eagerly waiting for the chance to ask someone about him and uncover the truth behind his secret marriage.

 

And that someone was Anette.

 

“Our first meeting was quite ordinary. I never thought I would fall in love with him one day.”

 

As Anette began speaking, the women focused all their attention on every word she said, their eyes sparkling with excitement.

 

They were enjoying their conversation with her.

 

While Anette was engrossed in the discussion, she suddenly heard a scream from somewhere.

 

Naturally, everyone’s eyes turned toward the source of the sound.

 

It seemed that someone had spilled black tea on Yvonne’s dress.

 

But the scream came not from Yvonne, but from the person who had spilled the tea.

 

Sitting beside her was Hugo.

 

Shortly after, a maid came running over, helped Yvonne to her feet, and took her away somewhere.

 

Yvonne was steadily enduring the hardships of a female lead without Anette’s interference.

 

It appeared that some of the women who admired Hugo had intentionally spilled the tea on her.

 

This was originally supposed to be Anette’s role.

 

Was fate ensuring that events continued to unfold as planned, even without the villainess herself?

 

If so, what would become of the villains, Anette and Theodore?

 

Watching the scene from afar, Anette clenched her fists, feeling deeply unsettled.

 

As the woman in the dream had said, the flow of events in this world needed to change, but the life of the main character, Yvonne, was still proceeding as expected.

 

If fate had already been determined by the novel’s storyline, then there was no hope for Anette to return to her world.

 

But she couldn’t give up just yet.

 

Everything needed to change.

 

The most dramatic change would be to reverse the roles of the protagonist and the supporting characters.

 

Anette wondered what would happen if the villainess acted like the main character.

 

As Anette looked at Yvonne, the women exchanged glances among themselves.

 

They were curious about how Anette would react upon seeing Hugo and Yvonne together.

 

Anette felt sorry that she couldn’t live up to their expectations and paid no attention to the main characters today.

 

It was not yet time to approach Yvonne.

 

If Yvonne fell into the trap that Anette had set for her beforehand, she would be easy to deal with.

 

And by the looks of it, that day wasn’t far off.

 

Anette felt sorry for the protagonist, but she wasn’t going to abandon her role as the villainess.

 

***

 

“Good evening, Lady Sandberger.”

 

“Greetings. What a lovely sunny day.”

 

Hugo and Cassilia met.

 

It was not a coincidence.

 

Since both were heading to the same place, they met here as if it were by chance.

 

“Congratulations on the new beginning for House Sheringen.”

 

“I appreciate Your Majesty’s concern for the family’s affairs.”

 

“The Sheringen family has supported me for a long time, so my concern is only natural, isn’t it?”

 

“I no longer have any ties to House Sheringen. Anette is the head now.”

 

“I admire that generous heart of yours, my lady.”

 

To others, their conversation might have seemed meaningless, but its true implications were clearly conveyed between the two.

 

Originally, the Sheringen family was an ally of Hugo.

 

But instead of treating the daughter of this family with respect, Hugo ignored her, acted coldly toward her, and humiliated her in front of everyone.

 

Cassilia thought that Hugo’s attitude toward Anette was disrespectful to House Sheringen.

 

Amidst all of this, his sudden friendliness now was only because he was unhappy about losing his ally—not out of any fondness for them.

 

“It seems you are not pleased to speak with me.”

 

This time, Hugo got straight to the point.

 

Cassilia hated Anette intensely.

 

So Hugo was puzzled by Cassilia’s displeasure toward him, wondering whether his past treatment of her despised niece truly warranted such an exaggerated reaction.

 

“The honor of House Sheringen is my top priority under any circumstances.”

 

“That’s why I also hope Sheringen will continue to be a strong supporter of mine in the future, so it does not lose that honor.”

 

Anette’s succession to the title and her marriage to Theodore would change the relationship between House Sheringen and Hugo.

 

However, if Cassilia had become the head of the family instead, she would have stood by his side without hesitation.

 

Slowly, their smiles faded.

 

Just because you share the same enemy does not necessarily mean you are on the same side.

 

And so, both of them clenched their teeth in frustration.

 

Hugo did not want to sever ties with House Sheringen, which had been financially supporting him with massive sums. And while Cassilia was not the head of the family, she held considerable influence within it.

 

Likewise, Cassilia needed a powerful man by her side to help her overcome Anette and Theodore. And the only person with that level of authority was Hugo, the Crown Prince of the empire.

 

However, both Hugo and Cassilia were influential figures in aristocratic society.

 

Even if they wanted the same thing, it would not be easy to join forces.

 

If they did not trust each other but had the same enemies, they could still be on the same side—without trust.

 

As long as they could benefit from each other while setting aside their personal feelings, that was enough.

 

They hesitated over their relationship, but both had a gut feeling that sooner or later, they would clasp hands to fight their common enemy.

 

***

 

Among those gathered for the hunting festival, the lord in charge of the region where the hunting grounds were located and his aides were also present.

 

One of them was Ernest, who is responsible for the financial affairs of the Delberg region.

 

As always, he had to collect taxes in the province.

 

However, he had lured the lord to the hunting festival and traveled all the way to this distant capital.

 

The reason? His first love had suddenly appeared.

 

‘If the rumor that she is living in a house near the city of Laider is true, then perhaps she came with her family to the hunting festival.’

 

To get the lord to agree to attend the festival, Ernest had to resolve a dispute between Delberg and the neighboring territories.

 

Death was a difficult matter, but he could endure anything if it meant getting a chance to find Yvonne.

 

Some said that Ernest was a depraved man who loved any woman with pink hair, but that was completely unfair.

 

There was only one shade of pink he loved in this world.

 

Yvonne’s soft, delicate, and stunningly beautiful pink hair.

 

She had a gentle pink color, just like the hair of the woman standing over there… what?

 

“Huh?”

 

Ernest rubbed his eyes and looked again—he saw Yvonne walking right in front of him.

 

He had not expected to find her so easily here, yet there she was.

 

She looked entirely different from how he remembered, but he was not foolish enough to fail to recognize his first love.

 

“Hey—!!! I’m here… I’m right here.”

 

Ernest prepared to run toward Yvonne.

 

“Ernest!”

 

But unfortunately, someone called his name.

 

“Did you call me?”

 

In the blink of an eye, Yvonne had vanished without a trace.

 

Losing sight of his first love, whom he had spent years searching for, right before his eyes, Ernest flew into a fit of rage.

 

Instead of his beautiful beloved, he had to meet another woman.

 

There were many beautiful women in the world, but Ernest had never paid them any attention.

 

To him, there was only one woman whose beauty could capture his heart—Yvonne.

 

But who was this woman?

 

Her appearance was strikingly captivating.

 

Anette’s beauty was somewhat shocking to Ernest.

 

“I want you to guide the lady around Delberg’s territories.”

 

A tour guide? At such a busy time?

 

Seriously, fate had never been on Ernest’s side throughout his short life.

 

“Since I inherited the family, I have become very interested in business. I heard that Delberg has many promising investment opportunities.”

 

Surprisingly, what Anette wanted was not a simple sightseeing tour.

 

For some reason, this peculiar woman was interested in Delberg’s financial and tax matters.

 

The vile lord knew nothing about what she was saying and couldn’t answer her questions, so he called for Ernest to deal with her.

 

“So, wouldn’t it be beneficial to invest first in repairing the road between Laider and Delberg?”

 

“You’re absolutely right~”

 

Ernest was stunned.

 

A sly fox had appeared out of nowhere, charming and enticing the lord with her sweet words.

 

There was no reason for Marchioness Sheringen, a prominent and central noble in the imperial capital of Laider, to take an interest in this small, impoverished region.

 

That fox had disguised herself with a beautiful smile to hide her true intentions, but his foolish master didn’t notice it at all.

 

“That’s why I would like to make some investments in road construction.”

 

“My lady… No, I mean, we would welcome any investment from you, Your Ladyship~”

 

Ernest clenched his fist at his master’s eager response.

 

It was obvious that this cunning woman wanted something in return.

 

So even he needed to stay alert and figure out what she was after.

 

“However, it’s impossible to invest without sufficient information about the region.”

 

“I’ll give you all the information you need~”

 

You idiot—!

 

The lord had agreed to everything that sly fox said without hesitation.

 

“But I wouldn’t want to waste the time of a noble and trustworthy lord like yourself.”

 

“Oh, what a lovely compliment~”

 

“If you could appoint someone from Delberg to assist me, I would be able to trust you and invest in your lands. Oh… You mentioned earlier that this person is responsible for the region’s financial affairs, didn’t you?”

 

Anette pointed at Ernest and smiled.

 

Her smile carried a clear and simple message to the lord—without any pretense or deception.

 

Ten minutes after Ernest met Anette…

 

By the time he came to his senses, he had already become putty in her hands.

 

✧✧✧✧✧

 

T/N: Dear readers ^^

I hope you’re enjoying the translation so far (⁠◕⁠ᴗ⁠◕⁠✿⁠)

Since English isn’t my native language, I’d truly appreciate any feedback you have (⁠人⁠ ⁠•͈⁠ᴗ⁠•͈⁠)

Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts—whether it’s about clarity, flow, or anything else!

I’m always looking to improve, and your input means a lot to me ꒰⁠⑅⁠ᵕ⁠༚⁠ᵕ⁠꒱⁠˖⁠♡

 

Thank you for reading, and I hope you continue to enjoy the story! ♡