Chapter 606 – 606. The Saint and the Villainess (1)
A total of three people were invited to a meal by the Duke of Armitas.
It was the owner of the Alteria store, Born Alteria, and two employees who assisted him.
‘What a beautiful woman she is.’
The moment Born saw Eleanor for the first time, he realized that rumors were just rumors.
More than rumors
The pure white dress they dressed neatly to greet them made Eleanor’s bright blonde hair stand out even more, and the pendant embellished with brilliant rubies the same color as her eyes further emphasized her beauty.
Eleanor’s appearance was very neat and sophisticated, and it was enough to draw people’s attention and make them mesmerize.
It was to the point of realizing that the nickname ‘Flower of Fernine’ circulating within the Fernias Kingdom was not made for nothing.
The beautiful smile that emanated from her bright skin with makeup reminded me of a benevolent priest who embraces and saves many people.
She understood why she was called the next saint without even thinking about the reason.
‘I will definitely make her my wife.’
Originally, Born was not very interested in a woman named Eleanor.
What he wanted was fame and power, and enormous wealth that could be gained by wielding that honor and power.
For Born, who wanted to make the Duke of Armitas his own in order to achieve that wish, a woman named Eleanor was just a means to achieve that goal, and he was only thinking of her as an ornament.
However, the moment he first met Eleanor, Born lost her heart to Eleanor.
In her face, in her body, in her voice, in her demeanor, the noble aristocratic grace and grace were enough to ignite the desire for male conquest.
There was no way that Eleanor could not have felt the gaze of such a man.
‘Now… It’s fine.’
Those gazes that think vulgarly about himself are the familiar gazes that countless nobles have sent to him from before.
In the past, that gaze had been hated to the point of shuddering and despising it, but now Eleanor was surprisingly calm.
Why on earth did my old self tremble at those gazes?
Eleanor laughed at the absurdity of it.
‘It must be because of that person.’
If it wasn’t for Eunhyun, who finally accepted her heart after expressing her heart after her plea, she would still have to tremble in fear of those gazes.
Avros, Eleanor’s father, heard of Eleanor’s plan and offered to do it herself, but Eleanor laughed and refused her father’s favor.
This is because she firmly nailed that it was her job as acting lord.
Because of her dazzling appearance and the title of princess and priest, her daughter, who was burdened by the fact that she had received a lot of male attention in the kingdom of Pernias, had grown up and was doing the job of a lord well, Abros smiled bitterly and backed away. It happened
And so, right here, in front of the one who would devour her, her own land, and her family, Eleanor painted her smile on her face as if she was trying hard to put on her mask.
The three of them were now being treated to the most luxurious dinner at the table in the ducal residence, with Eleanor in front of them.
“I don’t know if it will fit in her mouth.”
Dealing with people with a smile, no matter how disliked she was, was a basic skill in the social world, and Eleanor skillfully put on her mask and put on an expectant expression.
“Haha! Really delicious!”
“That’s right!”
“Such high-level cuisine!”
The reactions of the people from the Alteria Company, who were unanimous in their praise, were not false.
The quality of the appetizers that come out in order is also high, but the most surprising thing is the steak that came out as the main dish.
A piece of steak, which has the elasticity to bounce off a fork and has the softness to be easily cut with a knife, melts in an instant and disappears the moment it enters your mouth.
The savory taste and aroma that lingers in the mouth adds to the soft texture and stimulates the appetite, making it addictive to keep putting the next piece in your mouth.
While working as a merchant and running a store, he had tasted various foods and ingredients, but he admired that he had never eaten such a high-quality steak before.
“All of this by that maid alone… ?”
One of the store’s employees stared at Lily standing next to Eleanor with a shocked look on her face.
“Yes. Our maid prepared the meat while marinating it early in the morning to serve to the three of you.”
“It’s really great.”
“I apologize.”
Despite the admiration of her staff, Lily calmly bowed her head and showed only a plain response.
Curious about her identity, the staff continued to learn her words from Lily.
“Did you ever learn to cook formally before working in this mansion?”
“No. I learned to cook after I started working in this mansion.”
“Unbelievable… The level of education for maids in the duke’s family is staggering. It is simply amazing.”
“Thank you for the compliment. Not all maids in our mansion are like that. It’s just that Lily learns to cook with a little more enthusiasm.”
It’s not just cooking.
Lily received all of her education directly from the duke’s maid, Chang, and these days, the maid, Chang, was very sorry that Lily was not working in her ducal residence.
The owner that Lily wanted to serve was Eunhyeon, but she was not from the duke’s family.
She had no choice but to give up as the chief maid, who knew that she could not undo her steadfastness.
“Because I couldn’t be satisfied with the level of being able to take care of the master’s meal.”
“Haha! A maid who truly cares for the Princess!”
Born tasted the texture of her steak, swallowed it, and praised her in admiration.
Lily was explaining her attitude of taking Eun-hyeon as her master, but Born understood it as a word about Eleanor, not her Eun-hyeon.
“Thank you for the compliment.”
As if answering her favor, Lily smiled at the staff of Alteria Co., Whom she praised.
“Ah…”
The smile was so enticing that the staff stared involuntarily in awe.
To be just a maid, her off-white color is beautiful and wonderful.
Something intense, as if forcibly pulling something in her own heart.
Inadvertently, she failed to notice the alluring aura of the succubus that Lily had shed.
For ordinary people, Lily’s magical power is demonic itself.
“Okay, so the meal is over. Shall we move on to the main topic?”
After the main dish was finished, Eleanor changed the topic with a smile when the last dessert was served.
Born also nodded her head as if he had been waiting.
“Yes.”
Born, who was savoring the black tea placed in front of her, smiled and waited for Eleanor’s words to continue.
Her purpose of her birth is to engulf her ducal family and duchy while taking away the already married Eleanor.
But I couldn’t reveal the truth here.
This situation was nothing more than Eleanor inviting the Alteria Company, which had the greatest influence in the current dukedom.
That’s why Born’s plan had to be seen in the long term, and now he was thinking of taking steps by building friendships.
So Born could roughly guess why Eleanor had invited him this time.
‘Well, let’s keep a good relationship in the future and help each other when things get tough. Couldn’t it be something like that?’
“He made a donation in the name of support for the construction of a school that will soon be established in our dukedom. And even sponsored by orphanages. Thank you very much.”
“Haha! What do you do with that much! As the territory develops, we merchants will benefit as well. You don’t have to worry too much about it.”
He smiled kindly and waved his hand as if he was okay, but Born was quickly interpreting Eleanor’s words in his head.
‘I knew it.’
Convinced that her guess was correct, she continued to roll her head.
In order for her to buy Eleanor’s favor, she had to show her good side constantly and appeal that she was a capable merchant.
“There is something I earnestly want to ask of the Lord of Alteria.”
Eleanor, who was savoring the taste of the tea, put on a serious expression at once to set her mood, and Born also nodded her head.
“Tell me. Wherever I can, I will help.”
“Please get out of this estate.”
The atmosphere at her table begins to freeze due to Eleanor’s words full of coolness, different from her bright voice that she has shown so far.
Born and two other Alteria Firm employees looked at Eleanor and Lily with dumbfounded expressions, wondering if they had heard it wrong.
Since the story was so sudden, Born couldn’t hide her embarrassment and asked again.
“That is… What the hell are you talking about… ?”
“What your company was doing in this territory. Did you really think I wouldn’t know?”
Eleanor’s face, which had been maintaining a gentle smile as if wearing a mask, suddenly gave off a cold chill.
She then called her, beckoning her to Lily.
“Lily.”
“Yes. Little madam.”
Without giving her orders, Lily understood what Eleanor was asking for and she immediately took a bundle of her papers that she had prepared ahead of time and placed them beside Eleanor’s table.
Born and the two staff were unable to properly grasp even the sudden change in Eleanor’s mood, let alone find out what the piles of papers were.
“That… ?”
“These are the illegal things your superiors have been doing in this territory.”
The contents range from coaxing refugees with no relatives or orphans with nice words and then selling them as slaves, to exploiting local residents at unreasonable interest while lending money, to various crimes and types of crimes.
The malicious actions of Alteria Company, which developed rapidly and at the same time took advantage of the security of the dukedom, which became unstable due to the influx of large numbers of people, thoroughly made fun of the socially weak in the territory and sucked their blood while increasing its capital.
“I’ve been doing this well until now…”
As the acting lord, I have been trying to make the people of the village enjoy a more comfortable life.
She faced once again the fact that somewhere in a corner out of her influence, there were still people who could not resist and were exploited by irrational things.
Eleanor clenched her fists in rage, and she let out a lifeblood as if she wanted to dispose of Born and the two employees of Alteria Firm right away.
Those eyes were so fierce that the three of them flinched for a moment.
It wasn’t the gaze of a gentle saintess.
‘X foot. How did know?’
Born thought, feeling the pressure burning her insides.
Until now, most of the money exploited through merchants had quietly targeted only the refugees who had flowed in from the outside who were unable to take care of in the dukedom, or the less powerful, who were busy working and earning a living each day.
She had been doing well without being noticed, but at what point did she have time to check if Eleanor had noticed her.
For now, Born decided to hide his embarrassment and let go of his pretense.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“… What?”
“We never did anything like that. To be framed like this without proper evidence… That’s a little distasteful.”
Rather, if you go out with a strategy that puts a counterfire by going strong, it will take time for the duke family to punish Alteria Chambers right away.
If you just destroy all the evidence and witnesses so that you can claim that those documents were fabricated before that, at least you can avoid a major crisis situation.
“Ha, evidence?”
However, Eleanor laughed at Born as if she were laughing.
“I don’t need any proof.”
“… I beg your pardon?”
“Because you guys just have to admit the confession yourself.”
“What is that…”
They’re not idiots, and there’s no way they’ll admit what their superiors did in this situation.
“Why are you here now, Lily? And do you know if there are only three of you?”
“…”
Born didn’t answer.
It was strange when I thought about it.
Except for the three of them, Eleanor, Lily, and themselves, not a single person could be seen in this vast room.
At first, I thought that not only the escort knights, but also the servants of the mansion were bitten just to tell a secret story, but it is definitely strange that only the two women respond like this.
“Because no one can show you what will happen from now on.”
“What a pun… !”
Born, who thought she couldn’t hang out with her anymore, roughly kicked her out of her seat and tried to get up.
[Do not move.]
“Kuh!?”
Her body, which was trying to get up from her chair, became stiff in an instant and became an awkward posture.
“Sa, Lord Sanghoe?”
Born’s behavior was strange, so two employees called him.
“Suddenly, what is this… !”
[Sit down.]
She couldn’t resist the strange voice in her ears.
Born, she was forced back into her chair helplessly, as if she had lost control of her body.
“Sovereign Lord! Why do you… !”
[Close your mouth.]
“Town!? Eh!?”
When she couldn’t even open her mouth, the faces of Born and her two employees began to turn blue with incomprehensible horror.
The three of them turned their heads in the direction of the voice that was presumed to be the cause, and they had no choice but to stiffen their bodies when they saw something in sight.
The maid with light pink hair, who had been standing by Eleanor’s side all along, began walking slowly towards the three of them.
The tidy maid uniform that covered the whole body disappears like smoke, and is replaced by an alluring costume that only covers the woman’s vital parts, revealing pure white skin.
What surprised Born and her staff the most was a pair of black wings that appeared around her waist.
She could intuit it instinctively.
That’s not human
As if to confirm it, Lily, with her Illyana’s advice, improved her succubus powers and activated her own abilities that she had grown.
[Lily’s Unique Ability]
[Room of Truth]
Lily, who showed her true form as a succubus, opened her mouth.
“By the Little Mistress’s command, I will obtain a ‘confession’ from you.”
