The Villainess Intends to Have It All - Chapter 41
The interior of the dress shop was just as bustling with noblewomen and young ladies as the outside.
“Welcome to Samuela’s Dress Shop.”
The employee standing at the door greeted routinely and looked up to check if they had a reservation, only to be surprised.
“May I ask which family you’re from…!”
Erina smiled quietly as she looked around the dress shop and said:
“We came suddenly without a reservation.”
The employee covered her mouth in shock upon seeing the dark purple hair neatly braided and the bright golden eyes.
The first thing Bilche Samuela, the baroness who was the designer and owner of the dress shop, did after the imperial announcement was circulated was to inform her employees about Erina’s appearance.
The combination of Erina’s purple hair and golden eyes was uncommon, so she emphasized it repeatedly as if brainwashing them.
‘A lady with purple hair and golden eyes, no, now we should call her Young Lady, remember. If Young Lady Medelia comes, notify me immediately no matter what!’
The employee was flustered to see the person Baroness Samuela had described right in front of her.
The dazed employee came to her senses when she saw Haila following behind, closing her parasol.
“This way, please!”
As Erina and Haila followed the employee, the gazes of the noblewomen and young ladies who were selecting dresses on display turned towards them.
“Oh my, is that…!”
“Wasn’t she Mrs. Iolls?”
“Mrs.? I heard rumors that her marriage was already annulled!”
“Really? Not a divorce?”
People started whispering to their companions or those around them as they looked at Erina.
Erina just smiled and followed the employee, hearing snippets of people’s conversations.
The employee guided Erina to an elegant room at the very back of the dress shop.
“I’ll call for Bilche. Would you mind waiting for a moment?”
Erina nodded as she looked around the room, and the employee quickly went outside.
The fairly spacious room was structured to allow for quietly trying on clothes.
Erina, who had been looking at the mirror occupying one wall, surveyed the room sharply.
Just as Erina was about to speak to Haila, the door burst open.
“Oh, Young Lady Medelia!”
Baroness Bilche Samuela entered with one assistant, calling out to Erina in an affected voice.
Bilche, with her dark brown hair tied up simply and purple eyes, had bright red lips that stood out due to her heavy makeup.
“Thank you sincerely for visiting our dress shop, Young Lady. I am Bilche Samuela.”
Bilche, who had quickly rushed in front of Erina, greeted her with a pleased expression.
“I’m sorry for coming without a reservation.”
“Not at all! If you just visit anytime, I’ll rush over like this in no time!”
Bilche waved her hands in alarm at Erina’s apology.
“What kind of dress shall we prepare?”
“Baroness Samuela.”
As Erina looked at her, still smiling, Bilche said to the assistant standing quietly behind her:
“Go do fittings for other noble ladies in my place for a moment.”
The assistant looked at Bilche in bewilderment but, sensing the unusual atmosphere, hurriedly left the room.
In the brief silence that followed, Erina and Bilche’s calm gazes met.
Bilche immediately realized that what Erina wanted from her was not a dress, but something else.
The reason she was able to create such a large dress shop after being widowed early and left alone was not only due to her dressmaking skills, but also her excellent social skills and sharp intuition.
Erina broke the silence at Bilche’s perceptive action.
“Quite a few bills have come in.”
“For some reason, Baroness Medelia and Miss Viana ordered dozens of dresses.”
Erina inwardly clicked her tongue at Bilche’s skillful diplomacy.
Bilche deliberately called Viana by name to let Erina know that she was treating Erina and her cousin sister Viana differently.
“I’ll get straight to the point.”
“Please speak freely, Young Lady.”
Bilche placed her right hand on her chest, lifted her dress with her left hand, bowed her waist, and slightly bent her knees, showing the utmost respect shown to royalty.
“As Medelia will have a new owner soon, I no longer wish to receive bills for items I didn’t purchase directly.”
Bilche’s body flinched.
It was as good as telling her not to take any more orders from the two of them.
The reason the two of them could recklessly buy dresses they could barely afford once a year was thanks to the woman right in front of her.
Yet that woman herself was now directly blocking their extravagance.
Bilche also found the two’s ill-fitting arrogance and vanity distasteful, but thanks to them, this month’s sales had been quite lucrative.
When Bilche couldn’t answer due to her regret, Erina quietly called her.
“Baroness Samuela.”
Bilche swallowed a sigh and met Erina’s gaze.
She had thought she was just a young woman, but her piercing gaze that seemed to see right through her was sharp enough to make her whole body tremble.
“…I will do as you say.”
When a slow but affirmative answer came, Erina smiled brightly.
“Good. Then, let’s entrust you with the dress for the banquet after this celebration.”
Bilche was momentarily surprised by the unexpected answer, then her eyes sparkled.
The scale of future banquets Erina would attend would be extraordinary.
If Erina wore her dress at such a grand banquet that everyone would pay attention to, it was clear that much larger sales would follow than those from the two women.
“My, what a happy deal this will be.”
“I’ll invite you to the Medelia mansion later.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
Erina bid farewell to Bilche, whose eyes were twinkling, and moved.
As she left the room, the employee who had guided her at the entrance was waiting, apparently ready to guide her again.
Just as Erina was about to leave the dress shop, someone quietly called out to her.
“Erina?”
Erina stopped at the voice that was somehow familiar yet terribly unwanted to hear.
Haila, who had been walking quietly behind Erina, saw who had made Erina stop.
It was a woman with bright orange curly hair, narrow and long slanted eyes, and brown irises.
Viana Medelia, one of those who had made Erina’s childhood miserable, her younger cousin sister.
Others might not have noticed, but Haila could tell.
Judging by her body, which was more tense than usual, it was clear that Erina’s mood was plummeting.
“Erina!”
When Erina stood still without turning around, another irritable call was heard.
Erina had thought she had endured everything and pulled herself out of the mire by leaving Iolls.
She thought there was nothing to fear after shaking off and rising above even those who would later drive her to death.
But the trauma still existed.
It seemed that the subtle bullying she had endured constantly from the age of 7 until she became an adult and married Feiron was engraved on her soul.
Her body stiffened at just one irritable voice from that small woman.
The disappeared scars left by the mental pain inflicted by Viana ached.
It was Haila who pulled Erina out of the abyss where her tired and wounded soul was endlessly sinking.
“Erina, look at me.”
Haila carefully took Erina’s slightly trembling hand, turned her body, and came close enough to hear her breathing.
Haila’s strong and beautiful red eyes sparkled.
Erina’s body shuddered.
Even though she had only given her a look without saying anything, Erina felt strongly protected.
Meanwhile, Viana, who had called Erina twice, had somehow come closer.
Viana’s face was deeply furrowed, as if something displeased her.
“I called you twice, Erina!”
Erina got goosebumps at the sound of Viana’s voice up close, but strangely, unlike before, she was fine.
Erina patted Haila’s hand, which was still holding hers and looking into her eyes up close, and let go.
Standing in front of Viana, who was quietly fuming, Erina instinctively tried to calm her pounding heart.
“It’s been a while, Viana.”
Erina sighed as she faced Viana, who was frowning as if something displeased her.
It was Viana who always mocked and looked down on Erina, saying she had lost her family and had nothing.
Moreover, in the Medelia mansion, she openly treated Erina like the servants, causing even the employees to disrespect her.
At that voice alone, some days Erina had to clutch her hungry stomach all day, and other days she had to be locked in a closet all day.
Saying that it would leave evidence, Viana never used direct violence, but the cunning Viana always pushed Erina to her mental limits.
Because of this, Erina’s whole body would tremble whenever Viana called her.
She was afraid, unable to imagine how Viana would torment her next.
But it was really strange.
This person had been so frightening that just facing her was scary, but with the fact that Haila was by her side, becoming her true ally, her pounding heart calmed down.
“You seem to have come to buy a dress.”
“What? Come on.”
Viana snorted when Erina’s tone, which had always been submissive and frightened, sounded like she was addressing a subordinate.
“But Viana.”
“You’re now…!”
“Erina? You should call me sister.”
Erina became rather calm at Viana’s behavior, unable to control her emotions and acting out in this state where people’s gazes were focused on them.
She looked more immature than young ladies just debuting in society.
She looked like a mudskipper, still not properly understanding her situation and acting out.
“Ah, but you don’t have to call me sister. We probably won’t see each other again after this.”
“Erina!”
The nobles watching the situation were rather shocked by Viana’s shouting appearance.
Even the emperor, who is said to be the noblest in the empire, valued Erina highly.
She was a figure that the entire empire considered important, to the extent that the emperor readily agreed to the difficult marriage annulment and personally prepared a celebration.
Erina Bril Medelia, as her name suggests, was a precious person with a middle name despite not being of imperial blood.
To treat such a person so carelessly.
The nobles were surprised and kept covering their gaping mouths while busy whispering to the person next to them.
Viana couldn’t help but hear people’s whispers in the unusually quiet dress shop.
Erina, looking down at Viana who was trembling with the shame washing over her, let out a small laugh.
Translation complete. 100% of original text translated.
Male lead is a Divorced Husband
She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”
Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.
After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.
She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.
But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…
Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!
――
This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!
The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.
That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”
Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”
The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”
That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”
Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”
The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.
Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.
“She was originally a ‘she’!”
At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.
The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”
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