Once out of the shop, Rodi let out a sigh of relief.
‘Phew… If not for that ability, he would have taken me for an absolute fool.’
A system window displaying the secret weaknesses people wanted to hide.
‘It really is convenient.’
Rodi hummed a little tune on her way back to the mansion. She had saved on budget, making it an advantageous deal in more ways than one.
‘Zeo’s claim that the house will never sell can be safely ignored anyway.’
Rodi had a plan in mind.
In truth, she had already decided on the buyer from day one.
The target was none other than one of Utopia’s male leads—
‘Yubar.’
…Or rather, his father, Noien.
Commoner-born Yubar was the master of Night of Plenty, one of the empire's preeminent merchant guilds.
He was also wealthy enough that even nobility dared not treat him lightly.
At this point in time, Yubar was growing thoroughly sick and tired of searching for a vacation villa for his father, Noien.
That was because his father had turned down every single luxury retreat he had recommended.
While traveling far and wide together to find a getaway that could satisfy the finicky old man's tastes, Yubar was destined to eventually visit this very village.
‘Because I already know why Noien is acting like that.’
She had already figured out the psychology of Noien, who appeared as a major supporting character in Yubar’s individual route.
Even the small yearning Noien himself had shoved into a corner of his heart and forgotten.
‘From here on, this house will be tailored for one person alone: Noien.’
Rodi smiled faintly as she turned the doorknob to the front entrance.
✦ ✦ ✦
A few weeks later.
As the interior renovations neared completion, Rodi purchased flowers to fill the estate’s garden.
The florist tilted his head, puzzled by the seedlings she had selected.
“Most people tend to prefer rose gardens, though…?”
“No, it must be these flowers.”
The florist scratched his cheek and nodded.
“Well, if you say so.”
When she stepped into the street, curious gazes from the villagers converged on her.
Rumors had spread thick and fast through the small village that she was remodeling the red brick estate bizarrely and had even boasted she would sell it for a fortune.
Whenever Rodi’s house came up in casual chatter, most people wrote her off as an idiot.
A simpleton who knew nothing of property.
A foolish, wicked woman.
Over drinks, the villagers had gone so far as to take bets on how much the house would fetch.
“Will it sell for… maybe three thousand gold?”
“That old relic? I say it won't even fetch two thousand.”
“I doubt it will sell in the first place.”
A few more days passed in that manner.
Having finished planting the flowers in the garden, Rodi finally drove a small sign into the ground in front of the house.
[For Sale.]
Beneath it was written:
—Price: 5,000 gold.
…Exactly double the market price.
Regardless of whether the sign she had planted stirred up a fuss in the village, Rodi was lost in thought.
‘It’s still not enough.’
Of course, the estate's interior and garden were completely ready.
Yet too many uncertainties remained.
First of all, if Yubar realized she owned the house, he might refuse to buy it, no matter how much his father liked it.
‘Because Yubar and Rodi despise each other to the bone.’
Their relationship had always been like oil and water. Rodi constantly sneered at his commoner origins, calling him a parvenu, while Yubar detested her vicious nature and her torment of Simone.
‘The solution to that problem… is actually simple.’
Give Noien a motivation strong enough to desire the house despite his son’s objections.
“…Hmm.”
Deep in contemplation, she let out a long sigh.
“I would have preferred to stay quietly in the village if I could… but there’s no helping it if I want to obtain that item.”
Changing into traveling attire, Rodi headed out.
Her destination was none other than the capital, from which she had been banished just a month prior.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Ugh…”
Stepping down from the carriage, Rodi stretched out her limbs.
The distance between the capital and Lagro Village was vast. Traveling so long by carriage left her body aching all over.
‘I really didn’t want to come here around this time.’
She blankly watched the crowds passing through the streets of the capital.
In a place where all sorts of people gathered, even her attire hardly stood out.
‘I should finish my business quickly and head straight back to Lagro Village.’
After walking for a good while, Rodi came to a stop before an old antique shop in the relatively quiet Old Town.
“Is this the place…?”
Confirming the faded sign where the lettering was barely visible, Rodi opened the door.
A light chime rang.
The small bell attached to the door echoed softly.
“Yaaawn… Welcome in.”
An elderly man dozing behind the counter yawned as he greeted her.
Blinking his dim eyes rapidly, he asked,
“Looking for something in particular, customer?”
“I’m looking for a jewelry box.”
Pointing toward a corner of the shop, the old man replied sluggishly,
“Jewelry boxes… are all gathered on those shelves over there.”
Rodi headed toward the shelves he had indicated.
Old, worn jewelry boxes of various shapes were jumbled together in disarray.
Quickly scanning the cluttered shelves, Rodi soon discovered a blue-green jewelry box tucked in a corner under a white layer of dust.
She picked it up with careful hands.
The blue-green box looked like an antique crafted several decades ago.
“…”
Rodi slowly turned the jewelry box upside down.
Engraved on the bottom was an inscription:
—To my beloved Renda, from Noien.
Discovering those words, Rodi muttered under her breath,
“…Found it.”
With a faint crack along one corner, the box looked so fragile it might shatter into pieces if dropped.
Cradling the jewelry box gently against her chest, she stepped out from between the shelves and paid the bill.
‘Now all I have to do is head back to Lagro Village.’
Just as that thought crossed her mind upon stepping out of the shop—
“Lady… Rodi Evant?”
Someone called her name from behind in sheer shock.
Rodi turned around slowly.
A short distance away stood several knights dressed in uniform.
“…”
Her eyes landed on the woman standing right at their center.
Porcelain-fair skin, smooth pink hair, and features as exquisitely sculpted as fine artisan craftsmanship.
Rodi drew out the woman's name in a low murmur.
“…Simone Gretia.”
So they had run into each other after all.
Simone, the heroine of Utopia.
‘This is why I didn’t want to come to the capital.’
By now, Simone would have fully recovered and returned to the knight order.
It was also the period when she was actively patrolling every corner of the capital alongside her fellow knights to maintain public order.
Rodi glanced down at the jewelry box held in her arms.
‘Originally, this jewelry box was something Simone was supposed to find.’
Long ago, when Noien and his wife Renda were still lovers, this box had been his gift to her.
After their marriage soured drastically, however, Renda had pawned it off to an antique shop for reasons unknown.
Renda eventually passed away, and Noien tried to recover his late wife's keepsake, but he could never track it down.
In the game, an event occurred where Simone stumbled upon this jewelry box and handed it over to Yubar, earning his favor.
“Rodi Evant…!”
“You wicked villainess!”
Simone's admirers and fellow knights nearby glared at Rodi with naked hostility.
“You were banished from the capital! What are you doing here!?”
“…”
Rodi briefly weighed how she should react.
‘There’s no chance of winning any goodwill anyway.’
Rodi had already committed countless malicious deeds against Simone. Pretending to be friendly out of the blue would only make her look mad.
‘Besides, it’s not like I want Simone’s favor in the first place.’
Rodi had never cared for the character named Simone.
Her very presence always felt like a bone caught in the throat.
‘I'll just stick to Rodi's original persona.’
Yunseo had loved the villainess Rodi Evant the most.
Even if purely fictional, Rodi had been the sole figure she cherished during her grueling life under her parents' demands.
She had no desire to tarnish that character's identity with her own hands.
‘If it were the real Rodi.’
She wouldn't turn servile now, nor would she pretend to be nice.
A villainess stays true to herself until the very end.
Curling the corners of her crimson lips, Rodi offered a cold smile.
“You’re looking quite healthy, Dame Gretia.”
Her eyes crinkled into an airy beam.
“It would have been so much nicer had you stayed bedridden a bit longer. What a pity.”
