Ironically, Lady Armando was more frightening than the Empress. The Empress didn’t hide her lingering feelings for Damon, but Sierra was different. She concealed her emotions so tightly that Elysia couldn’t notice.

If it were in a romantic novel, it wouldn’t make sense for the female lead, Sierra, to love the villain Damon. Still, no readers questioned those emotions.

“I wish Your Grace good luck.”

“Thank you.”

The two of them were fundamentally polar opposites, and no one knew it better than Sierra herself. Because of that, she suppressed her feelings for him and helped the male lead. Sierra, who could even ignore her own feelings, was more frightening.

Did she really like the male lead to the end?

According to her memories, Lady Armando harbored lingering feelings for Damon until the moment she died.

It might be described as lingering regret for something unattainable. She remembered feeling regret. However, even with those emotions, she didn’t choose him. Instead, she went further, struggling to eliminate Damon.

“Ha…”

Sierra left, and Elysia, still holding her throbbing head, sighed.

Everything was difficult.

She didn’t want to encounter Sierra, the lead of the story, as much as possible. Sierra felt repulsive, as she could become ruthless if it served her purpose. Perhaps she was a more challenging adversary than the Empress herself.

Seeing the scene where she showed no hesitation in killing her blood relatives, Elysia couldn’t help but frown. She was a character she absolutely didn’t want to get involved with. Moreover, her reasons for liking Damon were impure and downright questionable.

While the Empress liked Damon’s appearance, Sierra did not. Sierra loved Damon’s cruelty, which made her even more twisted.

“Why on earth was a story like this created?”

She continued to feel that it was really a world without dreams or hope. She actively said that things were better to be more provocative and continued making a fuss about it.

In the end, she fell into the trap she had set. If there was God, God might have been punishing her.

She sensed that the climax of the story was approaching rapidly, even faster than expected.

* * *

Time passed in the blink of an eye.

When she saw Sierra smiling as she claimed the position of the heiress with a radiant face, Elysia couldn’t fathom how much her heart raced. It pounded so loudly that she could hear the sound in her ears.

The beginning of the story.

The story begins with Sierra becoming the heiress. However, it was too fast and too abrupt. At least, for the story to begin, Elysia had to die and Damon had to be left alone again…

Yet, she was still alive and well.

“Elysia.”

Even as she saw Damon smiling at her, the fear of not knowing when he would change gripped her. She finally realized that, no matter how much the extra tried, she couldn’t stop the flow of the original story.

“You’re going out today.”

“Yes, there are things I want to buy, and… I want to take a look around.”

She would just casually buy a few books and submit them as evidence. It felt somewhat futile to go through all this trouble, knowing that the impending event would happen regardless. Even if things seemed amicable between her and him now, Damon would eventually kill everyone, including her.

“Have a good trip.”

She worried that he might suggest going together, but fortunately, Damon didn’t bring up such a proposal. Perhaps, considering it was her first outing, Elysia was cautious.

It didn’t seem wise to act as if the goal was the bookstore.

“I’ll be back.”

She couldn’t understand why the story was advancing so quickly. Was it because her existence itself deviated from the original flow? Since she was supposed to die early on but continued to live, it could have altered the course.

Even as she bid farewell with the intention of returning, she found it so amusing that she couldn’t stop chuckling.

When did she start saying such things as if this place was a place to come back to?

It felt like the sensation of the sword approaching her steadily.

She should hurry up and leave.

“Madam, would you like to use the Grand Duchy’s carriage?”

“I’m not going on an official trip… I’m just quietly looking around, and the Grand Duchy’s carriage is too conspicuous.”

Even if it wasn’t the formal carriage with the Grand Duchy’s crest, the one she was currently riding stood out significantly. It was too large to be considered a carriage to be used covertly.

“Where are you headed?”

Accompanying her on this outing were Chloe and Rachel.

There were likely also the Grand Duchy’s knights secretly tailing them. Damon wouldn’t just let her go peacefully. It was fascinating how she had come to know so much about him. It wasn’t about him as a character in a novel but simply about Damon Raphael himself.

“Just sightseeing? I’ve been too confined to the castle. Besides, I was busy preparing for the party.”

It wasn’t entirely untrue. She hadn’t really wanted to go out, but Elysia felt like she had to keep up appearances from now on.

“Let’s go to the dressing room first.”

The warning signals in the situation, practically urging her to get out of this story, made her unhappy. What had she done wrong? Was being born as an extra a sin? If she were asked whether she could easily divorce him in this situation, the answer would be ‘no.’

“Yes.”

In truth, she hadn’t expected her to buy a dress anytime soon. She thought the dresses in the Grand Duke’s castle were already abundant, and she had no intention of buying any.

Maybe she had forgotten her real purpose in this brief happiness.

When Elysia found that she couldn’t escape, she didn’t make any effort to do so. In reality, she didn’t want to run away at all.

“Grand Duchess!”

“Catherine.”

Upon arriving at the dressing room, Catherine greeted her with a bright face. From Catherine’s perspective, she was an important guest, thanks to Damon being a significant figure.

“I apologize for not being properly prepared since you came without notice.”

“No, it’s okay.”

In the dressing room, various dresses were neatly displayed. Perhaps due to Damon’s stern warning, there wasn’t a single design among them that she had worn before.

He certainly seemed intimidating.

“Let’s go to the reception room first.”

Catherine’s figure seemed pleased with the thought of earning a good share today. That was the correct answer. Today, she really intended to sweep the entire dressing room. The budget allocated to her was thirty million gold. Since she rarely spent it, it was still intact.

“Did you come because you need new designs?”

“Oh, I need a lot of dresses, whether they are existing products or designer ones.”

“To what extent…?”

“All the ones in this dressing room… No. I’ll buy dresses of the same color every week.”

Death, infidelity, luxury—none of them were easy. Elysia, who had never properly spent a single penny, couldn’t indulge in luxury. However, that didn’t mean she could do nothing. Spending money recklessly would surely attract attention.

“Yes?”

“Madam should be able to make a certain quantity of dresses. Supply me with the maximum number of dresses you can make every week.”

Luxury was not just about spending money.

It required purchasing unnecessary items. When ladies were criticized for their extravagance, it often involved matters related to adornment, such as dresses or jewelry. Especially dresses made by designers tended to be more expensive.

“How many can be made in a week?”

“Around… a hundred dresses.”

“Great. Then, send a hundred dresses to the Grand Duchy every week. Let the first week be in red.”

Those who had experienced spending money would know how to, while Elysia had no idea how to spend it. So, she thought about buying dresses by color. After all, she had no intention of trying them on.

“Yes?”

“Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. Change the color every week like this.”

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet—anyone could immediately recognize these as the colors of the rainbow. It was an order that didn’t sound sincere to anyone who heard it. Ignoring Catherine, who was dumbfounded, Elysia left the dressing room.

She had a lot to do today.

“To the Grand Duchy.”

“The payment will be sent to the Grand Duchy.”

Afterward, she visited several dressing rooms and placed the same order. It was the same for jewelry. She decided to receive supplies of jewelry in the same color every week.

“Now, where are you going?”

Chloe and Rachel were uneasy about her rampage. Since she seemed to have achieved her goal to some extent, it was probably time to get to the point.

“I’m going to the bookstore.”

“To buy books?”

“Yes, that’s right. Wait for me in the carriage.”

Whether unfortunate or fortunate, Chloe and Rachel were completely exhausted. They couldn’t even think about getting off with the continued forced march. It was fortunate for Elysia.

“Laduelle Bookstore.”

The exterior looked like an ordinary bookstore. It was the largest bookstore in the bustling capital. It was surprising that there was a place here that led to the information guild. Elysia entered the bookstore, covering her face with a wide-brimmed hat that she had prepared in advance.

Jingle.

A clear bell rang.

There were five employees. It was quite a few for a regular bookstore. She wondered if it was prepared in case someone caused trouble. Elysia, with a wide-brimmed hat hiding her face, chose a few books that seemed readable.

They were just distractions.

“I’ll pay.”

“Yes, understood. Shall I wrap them for you?”

“No, no wrapping. I want to buy a limited edition book.”

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