As we arrived at the front of the futures exchange, the bustling crowd of people came into view.

The time was 3:30 PM.

It was about half an hour before the start of the third trading session.

“Quite a crowd has gathered today as well, Your Highness.”

Adrian said as he escorted me out of the carriage.

“I’m worried there will be a lot of competition.”

I held onto his arm as we walked out of the carriage waiting area.

As we reached the exit, I saw the pamphlet display stand next to it.

‘It seems to be a pamphlet with today’s trading information.’

I picked up a pamphlet and leisurely spoke as I flipped through it page by page.

“Well… There probably won’t be many competitors for the item I want to buy.”

At my words, Adrian’s voice jumped unusually high.

“What? Do you mean you intend to purchase an item with low buying popularity?”

After confirming the location where the futures were being traded, I nodded as I handed the pamphlet to Adrian.

“For now, that’s the plan.”

At my nonchalant words, Adrian looked like he had a lot he wanted to say.

However, it seemed he couldn’t bring himself to lecture me, the Duchess, so he just kept sighing.

“Where shall I escort you?”

“Hestia Hall.”

“Hestia Hall…”

As Adrian examined the pamphlet I had handed him, his eyes slowly widened.

Then, with an expression of even more concern than before, he lightly bit his lip.

“Are you really planning to invest in this item?”

“Yes.”

“…The special carriage?”

He asked again, as if he couldn’t believe it.

“Don’t you know that the current public opinion about that item is at rock bottom?”

“Yes, I know. I know better than anyone else.”

I nodded casually and walked resolutely towards Hestia Hall.

The special carriage, developed with demonic technology, cut the travel time of ordinary carriages in half.

That’s why when the special carriage was first released, the buying fever was very intense.

Of course, that was the story before the accidents caused by the special carriages began to occur.

The special carriage technology was first introduced about a year after the human realm and demon realm began to interact.

Unfortunately, at that time, no one knew in advance that demon realm technology could have side effects in the human realm.

The imperial court recalled all the special carriages that had been shipped, and after that, the value of special carriages plummeted endlessly.

Even now, 5 years later, as the newly developed special carriages are about to resume sales.

“Of course, I’ve heard. This time, they’ve developed an improved special carriage, learning from the previous accidents.”

“…”

“But Your Highness. Even so, wouldn’t it be safer to wait and see the trend a bit longer?”

Adrian continued to offer sincere advice as he walked beside me.

“As of now, the special carriage has far too great a risk of investment failure. Given the nature of futures trading, where you purchase items in advance at the current auction price for future delivery, if the value of the purchased item rises in the future, you’ll make a big profit, but…”

“…”

“Conversely, in case the value falls, don’t you know the loss would be enormous?”

Such concern from him was only natural.

If I didn’t have information from the original work, I would have thought buying futures for the special carriage now was a foolish thing to do.

But having seen Henry achieve massive success with his investment in special carriages in the original work, it was an investment opportunity I absolutely couldn’t give up.

“Just wait and see, Adrian.”

I looked at Adrian and raised the corner of my mouth leisurely.

“Very soon, this special carriage will be worth whatever price I name.”

* * *

When we arrived at Hestia Hall behind the futures exchange, an employee standing at the door guided us.

As we entered the hall, we couldn’t help but pause for a moment.

‘I expected it, but I didn’t think there would be so few people like this.’

There were only about three people in the vast Hestia Hall.

It was a strikingly small number compared to other investment halls.

Adrian looked at me with even more anxious eyes.

“Are you really sure about this? It might be better to head to another hall even now…”

Instead of answering, I raised the corner of my mouth with sparkling eyes.

‘What? No competition? This is even better!’

It meant that even the variables I had worried might appear were completely gone.

‘Now I just need to outmaneuver Henry and Camilla according to plan…’

As I was thinking this and looking around once more,

A pair of a man and a woman sitting in the front row of the hall came into view.

As expected, it was Camilla and Henry.

Those ominous lovers seemed to have not noticed my presence yet, busy whispering subtle affection to each other.

I walked towards them with a relaxed smile.

“Oh my! We meet again here?”

As I greeted them with an artificially raised voice, Camilla and Henry, startled, roughly pushed away each other’s hands they had been holding under the unfolded handkerchief.

“Du-Duchess!”

As Camilla exclaimed while looking at me, Henry also turned pale and hurriedly stood up from his seat.

Henry Bart.

The first husband of Robelia, the female protagonist of the original work, and a deranged sub-male character.

‘I cursed you so much while reading, I never thought I’d actually meet you in person like this.’

I slowly examined his appearance, feeling a strange sense of familiarity.

A handsome face with likable features, hair shining like an autumn wheat field, and a smile that even gave off a fresh boyish charm.

Indeed, he had the appearance befitting a pretty trash who had captivated both the female protagonist Robelia and the villainess Camilla.

Henry, who had been flashing a coquettish eye smile towards me, eventually bowed his head.

“Duchess, it’s an honor to meet you here.”

“I’m glad to see you too, Count Bart. This is the first time we’re talking without the Duke, isn’t it?”

“That makes it even more of an honor for me, haha.”

As I extended my hand, Henry politely grasped it.

‘The meeting of the ex-husband and ex-wife of the original protagonists. Indeed, whether in this world or that world, the world is truly a kaleidoscope.’

At my self-deprecating smile, Henry glanced back at Camilla as if something was bothering him.

“I heard that Countess Dmitri had also come to invest in special carriage futures… It was such a pleasant coincidence that we were just chatting.”

“Ah, is that so?”

I turned to Camilla with a slight smile.

Until then, Camilla, who had been anxiously biting her lip, abruptly stood up as soon as our eyes met.

“Du… Duchess, have you been well?”

“Of course, Camilla. I’ve been enjoying myself ‘thanks to you’.”

At my words “thanks to you,” Camilla’s complexion visibly darkened.

‘Oh my, it’s almost painful to watch.’

The corners of Camilla’s mouth were now trembling as she forced a smile while watching my reaction.

“But Duchess, what brings you here…?”

Camilla’s tone suggested that I had come to a place where I shouldn’t be.

But due to the information I had leaked in advance, she should already know that I was venturing into investments.

Yet, her attitude clearly meant she was disregarding me.

‘Ah, it’s not me she’s disregarding, but the original Rebecca.’

Until now, Camilla had been manipulating Rebecca at will by exploiting her emotional deficiencies and economic ignorance.

It was rather unfortunate news for Camilla, but…

The current me was a completely different person from the previous Rebecca who had grown up ignorant of the ways of the world.

However, I decided to let Camilla continue treating me like a fool.

‘The more the opponent disregards me and lets their guard down, the more advantageous the fight will be for me.’

I deliberately put on a face ignorant of the world and smiled brightly.

“Oh my, futures investment is all the rage these days! And how could someone as sensitive to trends as me fall behind?”

.

.

.

Camilla turned slightly to look at Duchess Rebecca.

Sitting in the middle of the spacious Hestia Hall, she flashed a bright eye smile when her eyes met Camilla’s.

While Camilla responded with an eye smile in return, inwardly she was mocking her.

‘Investing because she doesn’t want to fall behind trends? I thought she had changed a lot, but it seems stupidity can’t be fixed no matter what.’

It was rather fortunate.

She had been wanting to somehow ruin Duchess Rebecca’s mood, but there had been no way to do so.

After all, she was a witness to her adultery.

If she were to upset Rebecca and the news of the affair reached her husband, her dream of securing her personal assets and divorcing safely would turn to bubbles forever.

So she had been enduring, suppressing her boiling insides until now…

‘My goodness, to think such an opportunity would come?’

If she won this competition and profits rose in the future, the Duchess would surely be beside herself with envy.

Not only that,

If the Duchess missed out on the special carriage futures, she would be desperate to invest her prepared funds somewhere.

‘Then I should recommend something that’s sure to lose money, pretending to comfort her.’

The Duchess would then lose a huge fortune, and her relationship with the Duke, which she said had barely recovered, would surely become precarious.

‘That stupid woman’s pride will be flattened again. Should I pretend to reluctantly accept when she comes crying and clinging to me then?’

Camilla, who had been wearing a malicious smile, eventually poked Henry’s side repeatedly.

“Why, Camilla?”

“Henry, let me call the final price.”

“…What? Why?”

Before coming here, the two had agreed to combine their investment funds and contract the futures under Henry’s name.

Henry had to make tremendous efforts to draw out that agreement.

First of all, it was no easy task to appease Camilla, who had been thoroughly upset due to their argument at the last banquet.

But Henry, thinking only of the result, suppressed his rising emotions. He coaxed and encouraged her with plausible words.

Saying things like, since it was wealth they would enjoy together after remarrying anyway, what did it matter under whose name the profit was gained?

…To overturn such a hard-won agreement in an instant.

A faint crease appeared between Henry’s brows.

“Camilla, we’re on the same team anyway. And this is different from our initial agreement.”

“Seeing the Duchess made me change my mind. I want to beat that woman somehow.”

“Even so…”

“Henry! Have you forgotten that my share is larger in our investment funds?”

Camilla glared at Henry secretly while gritting her teeth.

At her fierce gaze, Henry turned his head away with a face struggling to suppress his irritation.

“Damn it, do as you please.”

At Henry’s words, Camilla flashed a satisfied smile.

She had already inquired about the scale of Duchess Rebecca’s investment funds when she heard the news of her investment.

She had even secured additional investment funds to match that.

‘That means the probability of me losing to that stupid woman in this game today is close to zero.’

As Camilla was inwardly raising a slightly premature toast,

The bell announcing the start of the trading session rang, and the trading facilitator appeared on stage.

After greeting, he began introducing the item to be traded today.

“This special carriage has been crafted with delicate technology devised over several years by experts from both the human and demon realms gathered by the imperial court…”

As the facilitator’s presentation continued in full swing,

“Yawn~”

A languid yawn echoed through the quiet hall.

Camilla and Henry simultaneously turned their heads to look back for the source.

Then, Duchess Rebecca, whose eyes met theirs, smiled sheepishly as if embarrassed.

“Oh my, a slip-up! It’s a bit boring.”

Camilla quickly turned her head back, trying to suppress the laughter that was about to burst out.

‘I knew that stupid Duchess would be like this.’

As Camilla was inwardly sneering at the Duchess, considering her pathetic,

The facilitator, having finally finished introducing the futures, climbed onto the platform and declared in a thick voice:

“Now, let’s officially begin the trading!”