After that, everything went smoothly.
Denvers appraised the pile of gems in a frantic hurry and promptly handed her a pouch of gold coins.
‘Wow.’
Counting the sparkling gold coins before her eyes, Rodi couldn’t help but marvel.
‘To go from zero gold to this much money in an instant.’
Usually, when an exiled noble lady tries to sell her jewelry, getting fleeced is a classic cliché.
Nothing of the sort happened to Rodi.
‘This ability is way too useful, isn't it?’
Even the villainess persona came in handy in more ways than one. Fearing a curse, none of the villagers dared lay a finger on her.
Pocketing the pouch of gold, she checked her reflection in the shop window.
A black-and-red dress reflecting the “real Rodi’s” tastes to a tee, matching high heels, and long nails lacquered jet-black.
Her heavy makeup had even smudged in her sleep, casting her sharp, cold eyes in an even darker shadow.
Extravagant, and terrifying.
That was the impression her current appearance gave.
‘It’s not my style, but maybe keeping this look isn’t such a bad idea.’
Looking intimidating was far better than looking like an easy target.
Above all, it was immensely convenient.
With money in hand, Rodi first bought basic cleaning supplies and daily necessities.
To maintain her image as an ‘evil mage,’ she didn't forget to purchase a glamorous black dress and deep-red lipstick as well.
After buying various odds and ends, she hauled them home, panting, and set to work tidying up.
The villa was filthy, and massive.
Clearing the cobwebs spun in every corner and sweeping and scrubbing the floors alone took several days.
Once she finished cleaning to the point where it was roughly fit for human habitation, Rodi headed back into the village.
Her goal was to find a carpenter to repair the house.
‘Wonder if I’ll get to use my ability again.’
With that thought in mind, Rodi set out, fully committed to her concept.
A knee-length black dress with tailored black gloves. Bold eyeliner tracing the cold contours of her eyes, and lips painted a vivid red.
‘I can’t look like a pushover.’
Her reputation was already in tatters; if she seemed weak on top of that, someone might try to take advantage of her.
“Look at that woman….”
“She looks just like the rumors said.”
Seeing her resemble a venomous rose in full bloom, the villagers stirred with murmurs.
Paying them no heed, Rodi stepped into the carpenter’s shop.
“Welco— Gasp!”
The carpenter, who had turned to welcome his customer with a genial grin, jumped in shock at the sight of her.
“What… what brings you here?”
With her chin raised high, Rodi answered tersely.
“I’m looking to remodel the interior of my house.”
She had actually given a lot of thought to how she ought to speak.
Since she had technically been stripped of her nobility and reduced to a commoner, she originally intended to speak politely.
[Eek, p-please, just speak comfortably….]
However, when she tried polite speech with the jeweler, he had only looked more strained and terrified, so she decided to stick to informal speech for the time being.
“P-Please, have a seat over here.”
Realizing she was a paying customer, the carpenter cautiously offered her a seat.
“How would you like the renovations done?”
“To start with….”
Rodi rhymed off the plans she had mapped out in her head.
Listening intently, the carpenter nodded.
“You’re remarkably specific, but what you’re describing isn’t really suited for an ordinary residence….”
“I know.”
“Uh… are you sure? I’ve worked on plenty of trendy, modern interiors. If you wish, we could go in a direction the nobility prefers—”
“No, do it just as I asked.”
The carpenter scratched his head.
“It’s already a terribly old house. If the interior is finished in such a bizarre fashion, you won't be able to sell it at all later on.”
“That’s fine.”
The corner of Rodi’s mouth curved upward.
“I plan to flip it immediately, after all.”
The carpenter looked entirely mystified.
“Pardon…? Aren’t you remodeling it for yourself to live in, young lady?”
“No. As soon as the renovations are done, it’s going straight onto the market.”
She added with utter confidence,
“For a very steep price, too.”
“…”
Zeo, the village carpenter, was deeply skeptical of her words.
‘That’s completely impossible.’
His home, Lagro Village, was a seaside resort town moderately favored by low-ranking nobles.
And the kind of estates those nobles favored were freshly built villas with pristine white facades right against the shore.
In contrast, the property owned by the woman before him was a decades-old red-brick eyesore. What was worse, it sat a fair distance away from the sea.
In short, it possessed zero appeal for low-ranking nobles.
‘On top of that…’
She wanted a bizarre interior that didn't suit a residential home in the slightest.
‘Is she an idiot?’
He concluded that this woman was hopelessly naive and ignorant of how the world worked.
‘Tsk, tsk. The world runs on supply and demand, you know.’
Well, none of that was Zeo’s concern.
“…Let’s talk about the down payment first.”
He didn’t care if his client was a fool. As long as he got paid on time, that was all that mattered.
‘Just don’t come whining to me later when it doesn’t sell.’
With that thought in mind, Zeo began laying out the costs for the interior work to Rodi.
“Yes, so the down payment would be…”
Mid-sentence, a brilliant thought flashed through Zeo’s mind.
‘Wait, isn’t this a golden chance to rake in some serious coin?’
The woman in front of him had no sense of reality—arrogantly declaring she would sell an old brick house for an exorbitant price.
‘Even if I quote an absurdly high price, she won’t have a clue, will she?’
The rumor that she used curse magic weighed on his conscience, but she obviously wouldn't know the going market rate for carpentry anyway.
‘If she doesn’t even realize she’s being scammed, there’s no risk of retaliation.’
Having reasoned it out, Zeo gave his figure for the down payment.
“Ahem, all you need to pay upfront is four hundred and fifty gold.”
“…”
Hearing that, Rodi’s brow arched high.
‘Look at this guy.’
A down payment was typically about half the total cost.
‘He’s trying to rip me off?’
Which meant the total price this carpenter was angling for was nine hundred gold.
For the record, standard interior remodeling ran around two to three hundred gold.
‘A threefold markup?’
Even if this was an industry where the ignorant were treated as easy marks, inflating the price so blatantly was downright insolent.
Without batting an eye, the carpenter doubled down on his lie.
“Haha, truth be told, the deposit is usually around five hundred gold, but I’m giving you a special discount.”
“…”
Rodi stared fixedly at him.
‘How should I handle this?’
If she let it slide gently here, he would take her for a pushover and pull the same stunt again.
Resting her elbow on the table, she asked in a low voice,
“Is that so?”
“Pardon?”
“I’m asking if the down payment is truly four hundred and fifty gold.”
Unsettled by the unexpected reaction, the carpenter stammered,
“Y-Yes… it is four hundred and fifty gold.”
Rodi offered a faint smile.
‘I went out of my way to give him a chance to correct himself, but it seems that was a waste of time.’
“Your name is Zeo, isn’t it?”
“It is, but…?”
As he replied, Zeo realized he had never once introduced himself to this woman.
“Name: Zeo. Age: thirty-eight.”
Rodi stared at his system window.
[Name: Zeo
Age: 38
Weakness: Having an affair with the neighbor, Mrs. Austin; ??; ??]
She inquired coolly,
“How is Mrs. Austin next door doing these days?”
Zeo froze in panic.
“Wh-What are you….”
“Don't play dumb. You share a very special relationship with her, don't you?”
Shocked, his eyes went wide as saucers.
“H-How do you… N-No, customer, what on earth are you talking about? Haha….”
Zeo broke into a cold sweat and sputtered denials, but Rodi was entirely unfazed.
“You’ve surely heard the rumors about me.”
She tilted her head to the side.
“Magic reveals a great many things to me.”
Strictly speaking, this wasn't magic, but she chose to brazenly lie.
“Does your wife know? That you and Mrs. Austin share such an intimate bond?”
With every word she spoke, the color drained from Zeo’s face until he turned pale as a sheet.
“H-How do you really know….”
“Cheating on your wife. What an insolent man.”
The corners of her crimson lips curled into a lazy smirk.
“It's so insolent that I just might let it all slip.”
Zeo’s expression crumbled entirely.
“Pl-Please, anything but that!”
Rodi gave a low chuckle.
“If you scheme to cheat a wicked mage, shouldn't you naturally be prepared to handle the consequences?”
He stared at her in utter dismay.
‘And here I thought she was just an ignorant, naive fool…’
As their gazes met, the woman offered a smile as bright and enchanting as a rose in full bloom.
Only then did the rumors about her that had swept through the village come rushing back to Zeo’s mind.
A sinister villainess cast out from the royal capital.
An evil mage who wields curse magic.
‘She’s a terrifyingly powerful mage!’
Otherwise, there was no way she could possibly know about him and Mrs. Austin.
It was a massive secret shared strictly between the two of them.
“Now then, surely you’re ready to pay the price for trying to deceive me.”
Her long, black-lacquered nail tapped lightly against the table. Tap, tap…
“Ah, would about now happen to be the time your wife returns home?”
“…!”
In the dead silence of the workshop, that leisurely voice felt like a spoken curse tightening like a noose around his throat.
After roughly two seconds of silence,
“I-I’m sorry!”
He instantly bowed low.
“I-I was blinded by greed for a moment and tried to deceive you, Lady Mage!”
Zeo trembled violently.
“Please, just this once, keep my secret…!”
“Do you truly believe a mere verbal apology will suffice to let you off the hook?”
Scrambling desperately, he wracked his brain to come up with terms that might appease her.
“I-I’ll do the interior for two hundred gold—no, one hundred and fifty gold!”
“Hmm….”
Gauging her reaction, Zeo blurted out at lightning speed,
“One hundred and thirty gold! Please, have mercy on me… I have a wife and child to feed, so any less than that would….”
Hearing those words, Rodi was utterly dumbfounded.
‘You have a wife and child to feed, yet you went and had an affair?’
It was absurd.
Apparently, despite having an affair, his wife and child were still precious to him.
With a tearful face, he continued to beg.
“Well, very well.”
Rodi nodded with a look of supreme magnanimity.
“I’ll let it slide with this for now. But try pulling something like this again, and you’d best brace yourself.”
“Y-Yes, of course!”
With that settled, the two of them drew up a contract.
Zeo bowed deeply toward Rodi as she made her way out of the shop.
“I will put my absolute best into repairing your home, Lady Mage!”
“See that you do.”
A satisfied smile playing on her lips, Rodi stepped out into the open air.
