The Baddest Villainess Is Back
Chapter 67
After a moment of deliberation, Roselyn spoke.
“If I help you, you have to help me too.”
“Of course! Whether it goes well or not, I am your maid, milady.”
“That's true.”
Roselyn glanced at the girl's name tag and nodded.
“Jenna.”
“……Oh my, you knew my name.”
The maid spoke with a moved expression.
‘No, I just saw your name tag.’
Had she forgotten she was wearing a name tag right there on her chest?
Roselyn thought indifferently, but she didn't bother to deny it and simply nodded. It was better to earn some points where she could.
“Yes. Then, go with this one.”
Roselyn chose the cruder-looking one of the two papers.
Right now, the business hadn't even started, so they were practically begging for scraps here and there, but later on, it would be a skin toner that would take the Empire by storm.
However, the person selling it was a shaggy-haired, total scientist type…….
She had heard that he was a geek who knew nothing but how to invent, so he had struggled in the early stages of the business.
“This one?”
The maid looked puzzled.
“Yes.”
At Roselyn’s word, the maid tilted her head slightly.
‘Well, I suppose no one would look at a scrap of paper like this and think to invest.’
Roselyn clicked her tongue inwardly.
The only reason this scientist was even trying to sell the toner was because he lacked research funds. The business, which started with a small investment, took several years to get on track, but it would eventually become a massive hit. The toner was effective at clearing blemishes and providing deep hydration to dry skin.
‘Come to think of it, there should be quite a few things worth investing in around this time.’
Roselyn gauged the time she had left here.
‘Investing in advance will be helpful.’
Roselyn smiled brightly.
At Roselyn’s smile, the maid’s eyes widened in surprise.
“The investment decision is up to you.”
The maid opened the door Roselyn was pointing to.
“I’ll come to fetch you later, milady.”
“Okay.”
As Roselyn entered the meeting room, the maid, who had been smiling calmly, hurriedly clutched the scrap of paper and turned around.
‘This is a huge tip!’
The maid almost bolted down the hallway before barely remembering the mansion's rules and disappeared at a walking pace that was nearly as fast as a run.
* * *
“……Roselyn?”
“Good morning, Father.”
Or was it afternoon?
Roselyn looked at Cherti Bellion, who was sitting at the head of the conference table, and offered a casual greeting.
‘It’s just a guess, but there’s a high probability that by the time the owner of this body regains consciousness, I’ll return to my original world.’
Gerran Wilbrid had once explained that for a soul to settle into its own body in a parallel world, that body had to be empty.
Roselyn had grown into an adult without dying. That meant the Roselyn of this world would also grow up safely. As long as the current Roselyn existed and was alive, the past of ‘she is alive’ would not change. Probably.
Roselyn indifferently accepted the gazes pouring from the people in the meeting room as she trudged over to Cherti Bellion and spread her arms.
“There are no seats left, so please lend me your lap, Father.”
“What? When did I ever tell you that you could come to a place like this so recklessly……”
“A daughter came to see her father. Don’t you know what acting spoiled is?”
At Roselyn’s words, Cherti looked down at her with an expression that asked what kind of child she was.
“My arms are going to fall off.”
With a reluctant face, Cherti awkwardly picked Roselyn up and sat her on his lap.
“Why on earth have you come here?”
“Just because.”
In truth, she couldn't exactly say that his daughter from the future had come to prevent her father from having an outburst today.
“……Go back.”
“I don’t want to.”
“……Roselyn!”
Roselyn yawned.
Cherti faltered at his daughter’s blatant act of ignoring him.
“Keep quiet, then. And tell me if you feel unwell.”
“Okay.”
Roselyn nodded.
Pitying gazes were fixed on Roselyn. Cherti’s expression was not very good.
“Since things have come to this, let’s finish the agenda quickly.”
“As I mentioned, this is regarding business investment. I believe we should invest in this construction project.”
“Now, now, I heard that construction project has many problems! If we're talking business, surely it should be this lodging business!”
“No, travelers are starting to increase, so if you’re going to do a lodging business, then this food business should also be done together……”
What a load of bullshit.
Roselyn scanned the numerous documents regarding investment projects on the table. They were businesses that didn't exist in the future Roselyn’s memory. In other words, there was a high probability they had gone belly-up before she even knew of them. Cherti clicked his tongue quietly at the ongoing dispute.
Even though a gloomy aura was emanating from him, the gazes of the money-crazed collateral relatives showed no sign of subsiding.
‘Well, the Duke isn't here, the eldest son has gone to a conflict zone, and the deadbeat second son wouldn't be interested in this……’
She could see why they found her father, who had only recently become an adult, an easy target right now.
‘Is Father twenty-four now? Or twenty-five?’
Roselyn snatched the document Cherti was holding as if to check it for form’s sake, and neatly folded it into a paper airplane and let it fly.
“Hah! Milady, do you even know what that is?!”
“Uh……”
Roselyn rested her chin in her hand and smiled brightly with a radiant face.
“Trash?”
Her innocent gaze, unique to a young child, oddly held a dry light as it swept over those surrounding the conference table.
“Roselyn……!”
Roselyn glanced at Cherti Bellion and nodded.
“Yes.”
“I believe I told you to stay still.”
“Phew. They’re just people trying to fill their own pockets by tricking Father into signing things while Grandfather is away, yet Father is getting angry at me because of people like that. It’s upsetting.”
Looking down at his daughter, who had become quite the eloquent speaker in the short time he hadn't seen her, Cherti let out a deep sigh.
“Now, now! Why do you not realize this is no place for a child whose blood hasn't even dried on her head to intervene, milady?”
Roselyn glanced at the man sitting next to her and narrowed her eyes.
“Is being old something to brag about?”
Roselyn snorted with a prim face and then grabbed the family head’s seal sitting on one side. With her left hand, she rummaged through the mountain of investment request forms, picked one out, and slammed the seal down on it.
Cherti was horrified.
“Roselyn!”
“Go with this one.”
Thump!
She stamped another one.
“……What on earth have you been doing for a while now? Look how red your face is. Your fever is rising again because you’re wandering around as you please. I……!”
“This one too.”
“I told you that you coming outside is a nuisance……”
Thump, thump—!
“This and this too.”
Roselyn plucked out only the businesses that would turn a profit from among the documents and piled them into Cherti’s arms one by one.
“Why are you doing this, really? If you’re angry, just say so. Exactly how much more difficult must you make things for your father……”
“I’m not angry.”
Roselyn shrugged with an expression that asked why he was saying such strange things.
“Father, they say it’s good to raise your self-esteem. Otherwise, you’ll live life soaked in a victim complex.”
What you’re doing is a victim complex.
Cherti was lost for words at the remark that could be summarized in such a way.
“…….”
“Anyway, you were going to just pick one at random anyway, so can’t we just do these?”
Cherti looked at the projects Roselyn had chosen. Every single one of them was a business he didn't recognize. But it wasn't as if he could have identified the businesses the others had brought forward either.
“Goodness, what kind of business is this?! A business is, milady……!”
“Fine, let’s go with these.”
Seeing that Roselyn’s cheeks were flushed, Cherti Bellion gathered the papers the child had given him and held them out to the butler standing nearby.
“Proceed with these, Dean.”
“Yes, I understand, Little Duke.”
The butler accepted the documents without a word and glanced at Roselyn.
Dean, the butler, was well aware that rumors of an ‘efficacious young lady’ had been subtly spreading within the Duke’s mansion recently. He also knew that the Little Duke had intended to settle on something halfway decent and then dump the rest on the Duke.
In fact, everything Roselyn had mentioned in passing had turned out to be correct. The ‘rare foreign items’ the merchant had brought to the mansion and sold to the servants and the Ducal house were all frauds. Every single one of them, whether it was gems or whatever, was fake.
If Dean hadn't happened to overhear what Roselyn said, dealing with the aftermath would have been a nightmare. Because he had stepped in personally, he was able to catch the peddler and recover the full amount of damages before the man could blow all the money at a gambling house.
After that, the unprecedentedly large hailstones Roselyn had predicted fell upon the Empire. When he heard that the young lady had asserted the master of the mansion would not be able to attend the regular family meeting on time, he had wondered if it might be true. And indeed, he had failed to show—his master, who never missed a meeting. Whether the reason was the rising valley waters was unknown, but it was certain that heavy rain was currently falling in the region he was scheduled to pass through.
Given such events, Dean believed that Roselyn had her own reasons this time as well.