"It is an immeasurable honor to meet you in person, My Lady. I am Helen, the second daughter of Baron Jihohto."
Helen, the guest who visited today, was currently one of the most popular boutique designers in the capital.
Deborah had personally picked her while shopping in the city's bustling shopping district.
The moment Deborah saw a dress displayed in front of Helen's shop, she barged in and barked at her to make a dress just for her.
Well, in the end, I was the one who got the benefits from that.
"I'm truly delighted to present the dresses from our boutique to Your Ladyship."
"..."
As I remained silent, Helen's cheeks gradually grew paler.
The truth was, I was intentionally keeping quiet—afraid that the moment I spoke, I might accidentally expose my pushover self.
Strangely enough, people just accepted my silence as Deborah being Deborah. It was both absurd and incredibly convenient.
"This dress follows the latest trend, My Lady. We've trimmed the sleeves with white rabbit fur. Would you like to take a closer look?"
Forcing a professional smile, Helen began explaining the dresses she had designed.
There was one with a sapphire the size of a fingertip embedded in the chest, and another with pearl-studded lace around the collar.
Seeing the array of extravagant dresses laid out before me made my heart race.
For someone like me—who even wore hand-me-down school uniforms from my sister—this level of luxury felt overwhelming.
So this is what it means to be born with a diamond spoon?
I had never really envied rich kids before—I always thought I was content with a simple life.
But now, faced with this lavish reality, I felt awkward… and yet, secretly pleased.
'Everything would probably look amazing on me.'
Isn't the key to fashion a good face and physique?
Just imagining these dresses on this model-like body made me excited.
As I eagerly admired the dresses, I suddenly frowned and bit my lip.
The rabbit fur on one of them was triggering a sneeze.
But for some reason, Helen misinterpreted my expression, and her face went ghostly pale.
"Y-Your Ladyship, these are just a small sample of the designs currently in production…"
'Wait, there's more? Even though this is already a lot?'
Trying to hold back my sneeze, I bit my lips tightly and stared at her. Helen looked like she was about to faint.
"We'll bring something even more glamorous and sophisticated. Please—just give us three more days…"
Watching my every reaction nervously, Helen suddenly dropped to her knees.
"I'm so sorry. I'll immediately revise the dress to suit Your Ladyship's taste!"
"…Add lots of jewels. The more extravagant, the better."
The more gems, the better. Worst-case scenario, I could always pry them off and exchange them for gold coins.
As I rubbed my itchy nose, I added the suggestion kindly.
***
"So what if I'm a villainess? This face is genius."
Every chance I got, I stood blankly in front of the mirror like a narcissistic maniac.
I absolutely loved this face. Just a slight arch of the brows radiated a dominant, boss-girl energy from another world. I exuded an aura so intense that no cult recruiter would dare come within a hundred meters of me.
While admiring the sharp, cool lines of this face, I was snapped out of my daze by a servant informing me that my tutor was waiting.
In the mornings, Deborah received private lessons in astronomy, history, poetry, and more from renowned professors of the Empire.
Most noble young ladies received private tutoring from an early age, and the status of the tutor or etiquette instructor often reflected a family's power and prestige.
'Kind of jealous, honestly.'
I used to get scolded for saying online courses were too expensive. Compared to that, this was like getting a million-won-per-hour tutoring session from a top university professor.
Of course, Deborah, who had zero interest in academics, always skipped class.
True to her villainess nature, she routinely ditched her tutors. Once, she even hung one upside down from the window just for nagging her about homework. The rope snapped, and the famous history professor nearly broke his neck. That story was so iconic, it was directly written in the novel.
'The more I learn about Deborah, the more horror stories I uncover.'
Every time I recalled those fragmented memories, I sighed—and realized something big.
The Law of Crazy Person Conservation.
The more insane you are, the more comfortable your life becomes. That brutal truth hit me hard—along with the fact that I had lived as a complete pushover.
'…But seriously, this place never ends.'
I walked down the long corridor, heading to my lesson. Maybe because I majored in civil engineering in my past life, this mansion amazed me every time. Just how much money and manpower would it take to build something this majestic?
While admiring the sculptures lining the hall, I ran into a silver-haired young man who looked just like Duke Seymour.
Belec Seymour.
He was the second son of the house. When our eyes met—icy, silver-blue—an instinctive repulsion surged through me. It was a reaction deeply engraved into Deborah's body.
Deborah despised her older brother, Belec. And Belec made no effort to hide his contempt for her.
He hated incompetent, lazy people like Deborah. Perhaps because his entire life had been a struggle to surpass his twin brother, Rozard Seymour.
Strangely, heirs to the Seymour family were always born as twins. Their crest—"the twin-headed serpent"—symbolized this family trait.
Gifted twins destined to lead the family were thrown into fierce competition from the moment they were born. As a result, most Seymour twins grew up as emotionally warped individuals.
Following tradition, the brilliantly deranged Rozard and Belec ended up kidnapping the heroine, Miya Binoche, and locking her up in the mansion.
Since I already knew the vile nature and sadistic personalities of these twins from the novel, it was hard to like them—aside from their faces.
"Deborah."
Just when I thought he would pass me by, Belec suddenly swept back his long silver hair and called out to me in a low voice.
He only brushed his hair, but it felt like watching a full magazine photoshoot.
'Goddamn.'
No wonder he was one of the heroine's potential love interests. His cold features and monocle suited him too perfectly.
…What a disgustingly handsome pervert. Eye candy, but still a damn weirdo.
"Who's your tutor today?"
"Patrick."
I replied briefly, just like Deborah would, swallowing the strange tension in the air.
I swallowed the strange tension and answered briefly, just like Deborah would.
"Word of your delinquent behavior has even reached the Mage Tower. Patrick is a scholar I personally value. So behave, just for today."
Belec threw out only the words he wanted to say, then brushed past me in quick strides, radiating an intense and cold atmosphere.
When Belec lashed out like that, Deborah usually couldn't contain her anger and would end up taking it out viciously on innocent servants.
But since I wasn't actually Deborah, his provocation didn't particularly upset me. Compared to my past life's family, who used me like a housemaid whenever they had the chance, Belec seemed almost noble.
Besides, he was the one shouldering all the troublesome responsibilities of the household. While Rozard and Belec worked themselves to the bone, competing for the title of Seymour's next head, here I was, pretending to be under house arrest while basically living the good life.
'I owe you, big bro.'
I gave Belec a silent thumbs up and made my way toward the sitting room where a young professor was waiting.
Since Deborah skipped her history classes every week, this was only the second time I'd seen Professor Patrick in person. He was from a lower noble family. Seeing me—someone who never showed up before—suddenly appear made him visibly nervous as he bowed.
"Y-you're here?"
He bowed with a tense expression. I crossed my arms and gave a curt nod, mimicking Deborah's usual attitude.
"Then, let us begin the lesson."
He pulled out a hardcover titled "A Thousand-Year History of Asteya" and began to lecture about the achievements of the family whose body I now inhabited, in a voice that trembled like a goat's.
'This professor knows how to survive.'
No wonder Belec favored him. It seemed he had carefully selected flattering historical facts tailored to please Deborah, who took great pride in being a direct descendant of Seymour.
'An environment full of sycophants... not bad at all.'
It was much better than being scolded under the guise of "concern" by nosy people who always thought they knew best.
'Power really is sweet.'
To summarize Patrick's overly flattery-filled lecture:
The 11th Emperor of the Empire greatly favored the head of House Seymour, who had contributed to strengthening imperial power. As a result, the emperor granted the Seymour family the authority to manage the Mage Tower—a custom that still continues to this day.
Since the Seymour family always produced highly capable leaders, the position of Tower Master had belonged to them for the past 500 years.
In modern terms, it's like a third-generation chaebol who also serves as a cabinet minister.
'My dad is both a Duke and the head of the Mage Tower? That's excessive.'
Deborah's endless arrogance was starting to make a little more sense.
Seeing my reaction, the professor doubled down and elaborated on the heroic story of Seymour's founding patriarch.
The first head of the family, Mirdzju Seymour, was an 8th-class grand mage who played a major role in the founding of Asteya, assisting the first emperor and the goddess. The founding heroes each established a great house:
Seymour of Magic
Montes of Spirits
Orgo of the Sword
Visconti of Gold
These four houses held power second only to the emperor in the Asteya Empire.
No matter how outrageous Deborah's behavior was, the mere fact that she was a direct descendant of Seymour granted her a free pass in this world.
I wasn't just holding a diamond spoon—I was born with a top-tier Orichalcum Spoon of Legend.
'Insane.'
Since the fragments of Deborah's memory came in scattered pieces, today's history lesson really helped me get a grasp of where I stood in this world.
'There are temples and mages too... this is like a full-blown fantasy novel. Kinda fun.'
Maybe because he realized I was actually paying attention, the professor became more enthusiastic and ended up teaching longer than scheduled.