Chapter 31

Chapter 31

“What do you want?” I asked. I hadn’t encountered Veleque in a while, but the way her stomach instinctively roiled with revulsion upon seeing him was clearly deeply ingrained in Deborah’s body.

He’s been pretty quiet lately, but I guess he’s here to pick another fight with me, huh? Pursing my lips, I glared at him even more fiercely.

“Deborah. I heard you caused trouble again.”

“Huh? What are you, a stalker?”

“Why would I stalk the likes of you? Given your atrocious behavior, it takes no effort at all to hear of your escapades.”

“I’m not the house’s heir, just the daughter. Why do you care so much about what I’m up to, anyway?” I asked, throwing his words back at him.

“That’s right, that’s all you are. And yet you seem to think you’re my equal.”

“It’s almost as if you’ve been waiting around for the perfect moment to come out here and scold me. I heard that your artifact research hasn’t been going well. Are you sure you want to waste your time on me?”

His face twisted into a bitter frown at the mention of his work. “My research is none of your business.”

“I know, and I don’t wish for it to be. So please let me continue on my way or tell me what it is you want from me already.”

“Fine, if that’s how it is. I noticed you’ve been spending a lot of time with Father lately.”

“Yes. As it happens, he often searches me out.”

“I wonder why that is?” he asked, wiping his monocle with a handkerchief. His silver eyes gleamed like those of a snake in the gloom.

“Do I need a special reason to meet with my own father? He enjoys my company, I suppose. Both of my brothers are too busy to even say hello. I hardly see you around the mansion. One would think I didn’t have brothers at all.”

It had been quite a while since I’d entered Deborah’s body, but there had not been a single-family meal in all that time. It showed just how little love was lost between the Seymours.

It’s partly because Rozard is stationed on the outskirts of a territory located in the east, flushing out the barbarians, of course, but even so… The rare family meals had become even more scarce now that the duke’s eldest son was out fighting a war.

“Ha!” Veleque scoffed at my words. “Your tongue has gotten more slippery, I see. I’ve noticed you talk back to me far more than you used to. Recall, you dared to suggest that you would never marry? You’re becoming more creative in finding ways to piss me off.”

“Such a sweet compliment.”

In my previous life, I’d never been able to fight back against all the people who had exploited me. But now I was apparently capable of provoking even sadists like Veleque. Now that’s what I call progress.

“That’s all well and good. Let’s say you’re right and Father has just been feeling lonely and that’s why he keeps calling on you.” He took a step closer, a wicked smirk spreading across his lips. “But that will remain the extent of it. Don’t go poking your nose around where it doesn’t belong.”

I clenched my fists so hard I was sure my fingernails would draw blood, forcing myself to hold my ground. “What do you mean? I left that Patrick fellow alone because you seem to care for him so much. Tell me, have I ever been this well-behaved before?”

“You had House Stephan’s son fired!” he suddenly hollered, glowering at me.

Oh. Jamie Stephan. That was the name of the librarian who’d been nothing but disrespectful and petty.

“Father, a librarian by the name of Jamie Stephan was very rude to me. I’d like to see him punished.”

“Rude?”

“Yes. I went to the library, and he told me to leave—said that there weren’t any romance novels there. He was small-minded enough to just dismiss an entire literary genre.”

“How ludicrous, that arrogant bastard!”

I hadn’t wanted to just let it go, so while we were having a meal, I’d suggested to the duke that he be disciplined. I hadn’t known that the duke had fired him immediately.

Wow, that feels pretty good! This was why one had to choose sides carefully. If Veleque was angry over his dismissal, that had to mean that Jamie Stephan had been his vassal. So that’s how it was. No wonder that librarian was so cheeky, telling me to go read a bodice ripper!

I recalled the way Veleque’s retainers had barely even acknowledged me when I’d passed them near the duke’s office. Of course, the underlings took me for a joke, when their master treated me like sh*t.

“The House of Stephan has served our house for three generations,” he said. “Do you know what that means?”

“I don’t know, actually. All I know is that he isn’t qualified to manage the library.”

Veleque tutted softly. “How long are you going to continue to act the fool? I’m shocked that you have the audacity to strut around proudly bearing the Seymour name. You need to get it into your vacuous head that your impulsive and emotional actions are causing harm to the family’s reputation.”

He was ruthless. How could he be so cruel to his only sister? I began to understand why Deborah had hated being around him so much and why her inferiority complex had reared its ugly head whenever she saw him. Not only does he have a nasty tongue, but he’s also petty.

Veleque was unleashing his vile temper on me simply because I’d gotten a man fired using my sway over Father. No doubt he was pissed that his sister, who was an utter disgrace to the family name in his mind, had presumed to suck up to his father and interfere in the running of the household.

I mean, come on! I’m the only duke’s daughter who is this powerless. The daughter of Duke Serigue, the man who’d sponsored Mia in the novel, had been assigned retainers with a variety of titles and even commanded her own soldiers. I didn’t have so much as a maid in my service. I suppose I deserve it, but technically it wasn’t me in Deborah’s body before.

“I simply had someone fired who was undeserving and incapable of serving as the Seymour librarian. I did not act impulsively or let my emotions sway me,” I explained slowly, forcing back my irritation and schooling my expression so I didn’t look overly emotional.

“Incapable?”

“That’s right.”

“That man once served as an imperial librarian and is especially well-versed in magic. You’re the one who is undeserving of the Seymour name.”

“But if he was an imperial librarian, why couldn’t he answer even a simple question?” I asked.

“What ridiculous question did you ask him, anyway?”

“I wanted to know if Imperial Politics and Economy should be filed under the politics category or the economy one.”

Veleque hesitated. The library systems in this empire organized books only by topic, meaning the system was flawed when it came to overlapping genres.

Since he had fallen silent, looking stumped, I continued, “I don’t even go inside libraries all that often, but even I could immediately see the flaws in the system. He, on the other hand, spends all day in the library. And yet he didn’t bother to remedy such an obvious issue. Tell me, doesn’t that make him unqualified?”

Veleque frowned, refusing to stand down in the face of my mocking words. “To think you would ask him a trick question just to humiliate him...”

“A trick question? I simply pointed out a flaw in his system. Are you sure you aren’t the one being too emotional about this? But wait—come to think of it, you are a rather emotional man. You’ve been projecting your own flaws onto me, haven’t you?”

He gritted his teeth. My observation seemed to irritate him. “Deborah. The imperial family uses the same system to organize their own books. It’s the most effective one.”

“How is it effective? How would you find a book if you only know the author’s name and not the title?”

“Isn’t it a librarian’s job to find the book their employer wants, in the quickest time possible? That’s why I hired Jamie Stephan, who is deeply knowledgeable in the field of magic. But you made the spiteful mistake of having him fired without first finding an alternative.”

Hmm. So that’s how you regard librarians in this world. No wonder the book classification system is so lackluster.

“I’ll present an alternate solution that will no doubt surprise you soon enough,” I said.

“A solution?” Veleque crossed his arms over his chest and scoffed. “You’ve even learned to bluff now? Stop muddying the water and watch yourself. And give up on Pilav already.”

“Pilav isn’t my type. I don’t like macho guys that can’t hold a proper conversation,” I muttered, feeling suddenly tired.

“Yeah, sure. Whatever. I’m leaving.” Veleque slammed his shoulder against mine as he stormed past, obviously not taking me seriously. He slowly disappeared down the hallway, swallowed by the darkness.

“What if I can prove to you that I’m not bluffing?” I shouted after him.

“Hah! You know what? If that ever happens, I’ll call you Big Sister, how about that?”

Got you, you bastard! I’ll hold you to that! Fidgeting with the magical recording device clutched in my hand, I watched Veleque walk away. I’d bought one just in case someone tried to mess with me again. If I was wrongly accused even one more time because of that bastard Pilav, I probably couldn’t live with myself.

I rushed over to Maison to buy one just yesterday. Since the guild that operated the shop traded in information, I’d guessed that they might have a sound recording device. And I’d been right.

It was so expensive, though. It was only capable of recording about ten minutes worth of audio and it had cost the equivalent of three million Korean won. That price tag is absurd. I guess the consolation is that it’s reusable.

Frankly, saving up ten billion gold was proving to be such a difficult task, that I often wanted to cry. I had more coins and gems than I knew what to do with, but here I was regardless, pinching pennies.

This was probably why I was having so much trouble adopting the mindset of a high-ranking noble, despite the fact I was one.

Heaving a deep sigh for what felt like the hundredth time, I flopped onto my bed. I wasn’t able to fall asleep for quite a long time.