Chapter 5
“I can’t tell you how happy we are that the Duchess has returned after her long journey!”
“Yes, yes!”
“Hahaha, the empire will be buzzing with life again.”
There were more women than men in terms of gender ratio, but regardless of gender, they all shared one thing in common: their outfits were exceedingly luxurious.
‘Oh, just looking at the dresses gives me the price tag. That one’s from the empire’s top salon—a designer piece you have to wait at least three months for, even if you have the money.
One of the young lords is flaunting his watch like he wants everyone to see it.
‘That watch……is a pocket watch you have to pay hundreds of millions of gold to a craftsman with fifty years of experience just to commission.
My maternal grandfather had one of the top-tier models among those, too.
Somehow, just scanning them makes the estimates pop up in my head one after another.
How much luxury spending have these ladies done that I can price them out just by looking?
It’s like they’re barcoded.
“Ahaha, so here’s the thing. The Avalon young lord kissed my foot, of all things!”
“And?”
“So I poured liquor right on his head!”
The table was laden with bottles of liquor. Those were expensive vintages, each one worth a pouch overflowing with silver coins.
One of the young ladies was excitedly spilling her tale of bravado.
And all this had unfolded in less than twenty minutes since the table was set.
‘I can’t even imagine how wildly they must have partied, like total delinquents.’
None of them outranked me in status.
Of course, they weren’t quite on Charlize’s level, but there were some fairly highborn heirs mixed in.
The young lady gleefully bragging about her power trip was one of them.
They’d been giggling and laughing among themselves, but even as they did, they kept sneaking glances at me.
‘They think it’s weird that I’m not butting in.’
Of course, I was just sitting back and watching.
Observing, I suppose you could call it.
“So it sold out again, huh? I’m so jealous! I want one so bad!”
“You mean Designer Pasha’s bag?”
Maybe they sensed I wasn’t into their stories, because they switched topics.
What was interesting was that this empire had its own equivalents to real-world luxury brands, and the latest trend was a teensy little bag you could hold in one hand.
And the one who’d started that trend was none other than Charlize.
‘Figures. She’s beautiful and acts however she pleases. And no one with the power to rein her in exists. They badmouth her, but deep down, she’s an object of envy.’
They say superstars need both haters and fans, and in that sense, Charlize was a superstar of high society.
“Ugh, don’t even get me started. I want one so bad too……but four months on the waitlist? I about died.”
“Oh yeah, I heard they released new colors recently.”
The pretty young lady who’d been holding court in the center glanced subtly my way.
Hm, that young lady’s name is Cleria? Or maybe it’s her family name.
Anyway, she was the daughter of a baronial house that had struck it rich with trade caravans—a nouveau riche family with low rank but piles of money.
She harbored a hidden inferiority complex toward Charlize, who knew it but……couldn’t have cared less.
“Duchess, you mean the new bag…… I want it so much, but the wait is insane, right? Have you already gotten yours by any chance?”
“Yeah, we’re dying to know.”
I didn’t mind the young ladies openly baring their desires.
They didn’t quite suit it, but they reminded me of baby birds gaping for food.
“I don’t really need to buy one.”
I shrugged.
“They sent me one as a gift, and I think it’s that color.”
Pretending to look at my nails, I spoke like Charlize normally would.
“I’ll give one to the baron’s young lady.”
“Gasp, really? Eeee, the Duchess is so generous!”
The nearby young ladies looked at the baron’s daughter in surprise. Some eyed her with jealousy. Wow, it’s like Animal Kingdom here. Everyone’s so true to their desires.
“To celebrate something this great, you’ve got to have a drink!”
“Yes, yes!”
“I’m thrilled myself. Duchess, have a glass like always.”
They dove into the drinks like they’d been waiting for it, and I nearly gaped inwardly but held it in.
The reason I’d joined this gathering—and even promised the young lady a gift like Charlize would—was to scope some things out.
That said, I was certain today would be the last time for this group.
I sipped my liquor lightly.
I raised my glass confidently because I wanted them even drunker, chattering away. I planned to get them sloshed enough to spill everything.
Plus, Charlize was the empire’s top drunkard and lush, yet she held her liquor incredibly well.
Or rather, she held it so well that she could drink like a maniac and still cause a scene.
‘If I lived exactly like the real Charlize, I’d die of alcohol poisoning before I could return to my original world.’
I had to keep up the act that I wasn’t Charlize, so I’d stick to it as much as possible, but honestly, it’d be way better to reshape her image and live that way.
“Huuuuh, Duchess, you’re driiiinking soooo well again todayyy!”
As time passed, everyone but me got wasted, their words slurring.
The first to speak up was Cleria, the baron’s young lady I’d promised the gift to.
“Oooh, our Ducheeeess! You’re so prettyyy, and rich toooo! Soooo prettyyy……!”
“Jealooous! Kyaaarrr, so jealooous!”
One young lady, eyes glazed with drink, blurted it out.
“The Duchess is too good for Duke Remute!”
“Yeah, yeah. I heard his family’s totally broke now? How bad do you have to be at managing a house……”
“All that’s left is that barren territory.”
Malicious smirks crept into their gazes toward me.
“And monsters show up all the time! If he couldn’t even swing a sword, what then?!”
“Put another way, he’s worthless without that sword! The only saving grace is……his face?”
“He’s handsome, but not good enough for our Duchess!”
“Yeah, yeah, kekekeke!”
Pretending to sip my glass, I didn’t miss a word.
Seeing me just smile quietly, the young ladies got even more excited and kept chatting.
“The Duchess deserves someone way cooler and more capable!”
“But hasn’t the Duchess already gone through all the good ones?”
“No, no, I heard the crown prince of the neighboring Roman Empire is super hot! He’d be more like it!”
“Yeah, yeah. Duke Remute hasn’t been seen in public in ages, right? Maybe the beauty rumors are exaggerated!”
“Maybe he’s ugly?”
“Kekekeke!”
They were gleefully tearing into my fiancé.
Listening quietly, it felt like they couldn’t trash me directly, so they went for my fiancé instead.
No, that wasn’t wishful thinking.
I swirled my glass lightly.
‘As far as I know, my fiancé hasn’t done anything to deserve this trashing…… He’s taking the heat in my place.’
I stood up from my seat.
Hm, but the world tilted a little, startling me.
What? I’d drunk less than half of Charlize’s usual capacity. Why do I feel tipsy?
Checking my body’s state, I flinched.
‘No way, did my tolerance change when I got possessed? No way?’
It wasn’t like my body had changed, so I doubted it, but the symptoms said otherwise.
I was dumbfounded.
What am I supposed to do, getting robbed of the lush delinquent’s tolerance?
How am I supposed to keep up the Charlize act from now on? Or maybe this is a divine signal to fix her image?
Stifling my incredulity, I steadied myself.
“It’s his fault for catching the Duchess’s eye despite being so lacking. What a waste…… She could have someone so much finer.”
“What can you do? Our Duchess’s fiancé is just too, too lame……!”
“He’s gotta be ugly, no doubt—some muscle-bound oaf. Maybe the handsome rumors got twisted around?”
The baron’s young lady, meeting my eyes, grinned broadly.
“Our poor Duchess……!”
Even through the alcohol fogging their bodies, I could tell.
“With a pathetic fiancé like that…… Kyaaaa!”
The baron’s young lady screamed, unable to finish her sentence.
Because I’d upended a bottle of wine right over her head.
Smiling coolly at her face dripping with wine, I said,
“It’s weird. It sounds like you’re trash-talking my fiancé……but it feels like you’re insulting my taste.”
“Du-Du-Du-Duchess? Th-that’s not……”
“Or what? Are you refusing the drink I’m giving you?”
The baron’s young lady choked and sputtered, lapping up the liquor running down her cheeks, unable to answer. Her desperate attempt to drink it all and avoid my wrath was painfully obvious.
My smile turned icy.
I’d planned to end this gathering today anyway.
This group had no place in my next year.
“I love my fiancé……and you just trashed the man I love?”
“N-no, uh,”
Above all, Charlize had way too much bad karma.
And these people? They’d only pile on more karma, never help reduce it.
The glass slipped from my hand and shattered on the floor.
Clang. The sharp sound was enough to end the gathering right there.
“Go home. All of you.”
“…….”
There was no guilt.
