The Reincarnated Villainess

Chapter Two: Who Is She Really?

After a week of starvation and being locked inside her room, Soleri can finally go out. Meredith immediately ran towards her lady’s side as soon as Soleri walked out from her bedroom door and frantically asked, “How are you feeling, My Lady? Should I prepare a meal for you? What do you want for breakfast, My Lady?”

Soleri stopped walking in the middle of the hallway making Meredith stop too, she stared at her master in anticipation.

“Did Marquis Evren accept my invite?” Soleri asked, completely ignoring the maid’s concerns earlier. Meredith was caught off guard for a second before she answered, “Oh, yes absolutely My Lady, the marquess stated that he was thrilled when you sent him a letter and is looking forward in meeting you.”

Marquis Yohan Amory Evren, Duke Evren’s oldest son, is a cheery young man who can entice ladies with just a single grin, as what it said in rumors. Every week, he holds a different lady in his arms, however, Soleri knew better.

Marquis Yohan of Evren finds gems and jewelries interesting since he was a kid, but this doesn’t define his sexuality. As a son of a prominent duke in a stereotyping world of nobles, Duke Evren ignored his only son’s passion and went on teaching him how to become a great swordsman, forcing him to train every day. As the son gets older, he learnt how to use his power as the only heir of their duchy to satisfy his interests in gems and jewelries. Marquis Evren now collects gems and makes jewelries out of it in secret, hiding this hobby to his father.

Soleri nodded in her maid’s reply, “Then we should get ready,” she declared. Meredith looked at her lady and frantically started trying to stop Soleri walking back inside her room, “But My Lady! You haven’t eaten properly for days!” Soleri ignored her remarks and went inside her room. Meredith sighed in defeat and went to call for maids to help the lady.

“Welcome to the House of Ceshire, Marquis Evren. Lady Soleri is currently at the garden. If you may, I shall assist you there,” A butler greeted Yohan as soon as the door of the mansion opened. Yohan nodded and replied, “That would be great, thank you,”

And so, they travelled to the garden. Yohan observed the place as they walked around the mansion since this is where the infamous villainess of the empire lives after all, that fact is quite interesting for Yohan. The butler stopped in front of a big tree, standing tall in the middle of the garden. There he saw Lady Soleri standing to greet him, behind her is a tea table complete with two teacups and a three-tier dessert table stand filled with sweets and breads.

“I’m glad you came, Marquis Evren. Since this is our first meeting, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Soleri Ceshire, daughter of Marquis Ceshire,” Soleri curtsied in front of the marquess before leading him to his seat. Yohan gladly sat down and waited for Soleri to also do the same.

“I assume you know me already, My Lady,” Yohan started the conversation.

“Ah, yes. Father told me about you and our supposed-to-be engagement,” Soleri calmly answered as she sipped on her tea. The marquess mimicked her actions, “Quite outspoken, I see,” as he commented.

Soleri smiled, she already knew that he knew why she invited him all of a sudden. Their planned engagement is not hidden in the noble society and is actually one of the hottest topics among the ladies. The Duke of Evren haven’t accepted Marquis Ceshire’s proposal but has already been spread throughout the empire. Furthermore, Soleri was well aware of who created the rumors.

It was Lady Eloise, obviously. She wanted to put more water on the fire. After harming Countess Fernsby at the banquet last week, rumors about her marrying the heir of the Evren Duchy will make Soleri appear more desperate for power than everybody else in the empire.

After a minute of silence, Yohan placed his teacup on the table and leaned in. He clasped both of his hands and rested his chin on top of them. “So, why did you invite me here, My Lady?” Yohan asked. Soleri also put her teacup down and met with the marquess’s stare.

“To be frank... I want to offer you a deal,” Soleri stated.

“Her aura is something else, as expected to the most horrible lady of the empire,” The marquess's thought made him slightly smirk. Even Soleri's plain appearance can cause people to tremble in terror, and her emotionless expression does not help to make her less terrifying.

“May I ask what kind of deal this is?”

“We both know that your father does not want me anywhere near your family. May it be my reputation in the empire or someone’s threat, I simply do not care. However,” Soleri paused for a while and continued, “The marquess, as embarrassing as it may sound, is having a hard time in maintaining the march’s budget. Therefore, I aguishly ask you to help me convince your father, the duke, to give my father a chance to regain himself, not as Soleri Ceshire’s father but as the Marquess of the Ceshire House,”.

This made Yohan speechless. Soleri Ceshire, a woman who harmed people who blocks her way to the top, may it be a commoner or a prestigious noble, nothing escapes from her evil grasps. Just last week she almost made the Countess of Fersnby have an allergy attack in the middle of the banquet. Or maybe it was just a made-up rumor? The marquess is now having a hard time understanding the lady.

“... And what will I gain?”

Soleri, who was sipping tea from her teacup, peeked at the marquis through her eyelashes. She calmly placed the teacup down and clasped her hands, “I heard you were looking for color changing tourmalines for your new collection,” Yohan sharply inhaled. No one knows his hobby other than his trusted right-hand man. Did he betray him? The marquess gulped in fear as the thought of his father finding this out crossed his mind.

“I know a mine that produces several of color-changing tourmaline,” Yohan quickly faced Soleri, “Pardon?” he asked the lady smiled; it was not genuine, it was as if she was threatening him. Her eyes had no hidden emotion, and this made the marquess more anxious.

“All you have to do is accept my deal, and I shall give you the map where the mine is. So, what do you say?”

Yohan leaned back to his chair, in the middle of a complicated dilemma. If he is to accept Lady Soleri’s proposal, he wouldn’t guarantee that he can convince his father to give Marquis Ceshire a chance. However, color-changing tourmalines are very rare to find. As rare to the point where there is no other information he could gather other than those gems can color change depending on the light such as daylight and incandescent light. It is unexpected for a lady like Soleri to know important knowledge like this.

For a while, both went silent. Soleri was finishing her tea when Marquis Yohan placed his hands on the table. “I will accept the proposal, My Lady,” the lad declared with determination in his eyes. Soleri smiled to herself and motioned her maid. Meredith came with a paper clasped in her hand, she gave it to the marquis who accepted it with a genuine smile pasted on his lips. Yohan opened the map but was shocked to see what was inside.

“... It is located at the north?” he asked, and the lady nodded in reply. Fear was written all over his face when he started rambling, “But how could I go there, everybody knows how dangerous it will be if I even set my right foot on his territory!”

“The Duke of Vancloise?” Yohan nodded to Soleri’s question, “Exactly! The Duke of Vancloise, Duke Nolan Matthias Vancloise! The devil himself, a man whose compassion and humanity are not in his vocabulary,” he remarked.

The lady frowned. Duke Vancloise is indeed a scary man from her perspective, all rumors about him were confirmed when she saw him herself last summer in the festival, letting his men beat up two commoners in a dark alleyway. Even though she hasn’t seen his face, she knew that the duke is used to the view of people being beaten up to death by his stance. He was standing over the two people as he watched them beg him for their lives that night.

Soleri eventually shook those thoughts away from her head, it was traumatizing for her and promised not to think of it ever again.

“... Well, there is a route that I know wherein you won't need to trespass the duke’s territory,” Yohan’s face perked up as soon as he heard Soleri, “Really? Then-”

The marquess was cut off by the lady, “I shall give it to you once you successfully convinced your father. After all, this is a deal with both to gain,” Soleri smiled at the now dumbfounded marquis.

The lady then stood up and bid goodbye to Yohan as she is to be somewhere else however, she was stopped by the lad who asked a question, “If I may ask My Lady, how did you find this kind of information?”

Soleri stopped, it was a few moments of silence for them. She then turned back, facing the marquess with a mysterious smile pasted on her lips. The wind blew right on her side, making a few strands of her hair flow through her face, the lady replied, “From one of my reliable sources,” Soleri turned her back and added, “After all, I am a lady who desires powers.”

“Soleri Ceshire, who is she really?” the marquess thought while watching her walk out of the garden.