The villainess will survive!

Part 73: Dress

I opened the box to reveal crimson red fabric inside, and gently unfolded it. 

The fabric, in contrast to the fancy appearance, was actually very soft. 

Despite being adorned with a few jewels and designs, this was made for appearances and comfort. 

There were flecks of blue on the edges which made the dress more alluring.

This indeed was a high quality noble lady product, which my father and mother chose for me. 

I had no complaints because it surpassed any other of my casual dresses I had brought to the academy. 

I admired this top-quality dress from top to bottom, because even if I was born in wealth and had been fitted with the best-out-of-the-best clothes, they could not match with this one. 

By the looks of it, this dress did not come cheap according to normal standards.

But with the foundation of the Dukedom, even something like this could be bought without a bat of an eye..... 

I quickly and mentally pronounced my gratitude to my parents and their wealth. 

So this was the true power of wealth and power!

                                                                        ***

Everybody knew that the original Roselyn loved crimson because of how extravagant it looked on her body, but that was simply an excuse for the creators to make her seem like a rich antagonist for her role. 

But in reality, I did look amazing in this dark shade of red. 

I never did really fawn over this face even with the knowledge that it was out worldly beautiful, but no wonder the original Roselyn dressed in crimson at balls. 

The first reason was to obviously flaunt her wealth, but also show the world her alluring beauty. 

If Ivy's beauty could be compared to the small flower that blooms in spring, then Roselyn's would be the rose under the moonlight. 

Ivy's cute face naturally went well with lighter colours to express her innocence and purity, while Roselyn's sharp features matched well with the provocative red that attracted many men. 

It was only until I truly dressed in crimson and put on a straight face that I could finally see why Ivy and Roselyn were the exact opposite. 

I did really look like a villainess when looking at the mirror with this dress on, if you thought deeply about me and Ivy's positions. 

This fact did not bother me much, because it almost didn't matter what the world thought of my appearance as long as I knew myself. 

But if a crowd firmly believes that I'm a rotten person inside, living would be a much harder goal. 

Seeing that I was getting conflicted, I quickly reassured myself by reminding that I had not done anything out of morality standards yet so they didn't have anything against me. 

I pushed the door open to the ball, and many people stopped what they were doing just to put their eyes on me. 

The main stars of the party always arrived late, so I was in no rush. 

I did not have any wish to take everybody's attentions, but I only needed to make an impression on the majority of the people. 

There were many high ranking nobles or officials that participated in today's ball for their children, some just came here for fun. 

As the sole daughter of the Duke, I couldn't walk in here normally as if I were any noble lady. 

One of the side goals I had self-implemented on myself was to not disappoint the honour and reputation of the Dukedom, to repay them back for everything they've done for me. 

The original Roselyn couldn't care less about the troubles she created for her family, and only had her own interests at heart. 

But if I treated the people who had raised me up with much effort and sacrifices like the original, wouldn't that be the exact definition of 'ungrateful'?

If I were to make a normal arrival like a polite young lady, people would be less impressed by me and the family behind me. 

I stepped in the ballroom with grace and small but confident smile, signalling that I was no normal person in this society. 

Not everybody knew what the sole young lady of the Villinie Dukedom looked like, but with this gallant arrival, costly dress, and assertive manner, they should all be making correct guesses about my identity. 

Soon, some people started to come near me to have a chat with me to familiarise themselves with me. 

It was inevitable to not have nobles try to curry favor with me, since in their eyes, I was the only future Queen. 

Although this conviction of theirs had been slightly wavering due to the rumours about Albert and Ivy. 

But with my background and looks, they probably thought it was impossible for me to get replaced by a woman who had a lower status. 

I was also much more intelligent and composed for the position of Queen, Ivy being a far cry from my level.

But even if Ivy's grades and magic were mediocre at best at the beginning of the year, her progress started growing at a very fast pace somewhere in the middle of the year. 

The sudden improvement was definitely very suspicious, but I decided to not think too much about it.

If only they knew what happened in the otome game, they wouldn't be thinking a way where Ivy would never beat me in qualities such as intelligence, strength, beauty, and background. 

In the original otome game, Ivy was better than Roselyn in so much different ways, although family background was the only grueling feature Ivy could not match. 

Talking realistically, it truly wasn't impossible to replace me with Ivy unless you have a perfect schemer such as Albert, who even defies the laws of society. 

"You must be Lady Roselyn of House Villinie, right?", a middle-aged nobleman came up to me with a smile. "You must know my son, he's in the same class as you." 

'Which one is your son again?' , I wanted to ask, but put a perfunctory smile and nodded. 

Using your own children as a conversation topic was something very common, because managing to chat with someone of higher status was considered a talent in this ladder of a society. 

But before the man could continue further, he was interrupted by a voice I was familiar with but hadn't heard in a long time. 

"Roselyn, it's been a long time since me and your Mother saw you. Why don't you join us for a chat?" 

".......Father!"