“I’m sorry, but you must leave.”

“What the hell is this all of a sudden?”

“Please, leave.”

“Do you even know who I am? I’m Catherine Sillion.”

Even after she slightly shifted her mask to reveal her identity, the casino’s high-ranking manager remained unmoved.

“My apologies. You will not be allowed entry in the future either.”

“What the—! Do you think Sillion will just sit back and let this happen?”

Of course, whether or not they would was uncertain.

In fact, there was a higher chance that her family would punish her instead for frequenting a casino in the first place.

But that was an internal matter. As a direct descendant of Sillion, she believed a little pressure should have been enough to make the casino yield.

However, life never went as planned.

“My apologies.”

“By whose authority?”

“By order of His Highness the Crown Prince.”

In the end, Catherine was thrown out of the casino.

Having come to the capital’s largest casino with the intent of multiplying her remaining money in one bold stroke, she was instead left with no choice but to seek out another location.

“My apologies.”

“Please turn back.”

But no casino would take her in.

The reason? Every single one of them gave the same response, as if they had planned it in advance…

“By order of His Highness the Crown Prince.”

Bang!

“Why the hell is the crown prince involved in this? Does that bastard have some kind of grudge against me? Does he?!”

As Catherine slammed her fist on the table and fumed, a sudden realization struck her.

“Could it be that he’s just doing it for fun? That lunatic is definitely capable of that. Is he trying to provoke me by messing with Sillion’s infamous delinquent?”

Recalling the twisted actions of the crown prince from Julia, Where Are You?, Catherine rubbed her arms.

“That lunatic needs to die soon. But the original story hasn’t even started yet… Ugh.”

In truth, Catherine’s speculation was half correct.

While Raylin was quietly working behind the scenes to block Catherine’s path and dismantle Re.Vil.Bre, Aiger was deliberately making sure Catherine Sillion knew of his existence.

For some unknown reason, Aiger knew that Raylin was interfering with Catherine Sillion.

And so, if Catherine ever caught wind of Raylin, Aiger needed to divert her attention toward himself instead.

No matter how much Catherine rampaged, she wouldn’t be able to lay a finger on him.

But Raylin was different.

“Ban Catherine Sillion from every casino in the empire. This is an order from the Crown Prince.”

That was why Aiger had chosen not to use any elaborate justifications or roundabout methods. Instead, he had blatantly invoked his authority.

Neither Raylin nor Catherine knew the reasoning behind his actions.

“With the casinos blocked, I need to find another way. The gladiator arena… No, without Kertan, there’s no one to bet on. The mine… If only I still had my mine! First Greuga, now the Crown Prince—why the hell are they both targeting me?! Weren’t they supposed to be engaged? Are they just taking turns screwing me over?!”

Seized by frustration, Catherine raised her hand to slam the table again—only to let it fall as she slumped back down.

“No, even if I had the mine, I wouldn’t have been able to sell it, so it wouldn’t have brought me immediate money anyway.”

Catherine, who had been trying to rid herself of lingering attachment to the mine—like a fox drooling over unreachable grapes while convincing itself otherwise—half-opened her eyes.

“The egg that had been rolling around in the night market… someone else took it first, right?”

A rare artifact that Julia and Theron had stumbled upon while enjoying a sweet date in the original story.

At first, when she was trying to gather money, she hadn’t even thought of it. After all, no matter how rare it was, its value paled in comparison to the amount of money she needed.

But now that she was desperate for even a single penny, she had no choice but to wander the night market, which opened every five days, searching for it.

“Hm? A box that won’t open? Oh, yeah, that… no, actually, it’s gone. Sold it.”

“What? To whom?”

“I don’t remember. Do you know how many customers I get? I can’t remember them all. Now, if you’re not buying anything, step aside.”

In the end, Catherine lost that opportunity as well. She was just about to lose her temper again, thinking of the few coins left in her possession, when—

Knock, knock.

After the sound of knocking, the door opened without her permission.

The room, now bathed in a deep red hue as the sun set, felt empty. The one who entered was the butler.

With the bare minimum of courtesy, he informed Catherine,

“I shall escort you to the dining room.”

“What?”

Hearing such a sudden and commanding statement, Catherine asked back in disbelief, but the response she received wasn’t an answer at all.

“I shall escort you.”

As two sturdy servants appeared behind the butler, Catherine’s hands trembled with fury.

It wasn’t the first time her family had treated her this way, but they only humiliated her so severely when it involved the marquis.

With no time or assistance to tidy her appearance, Catherine had no choice but to leave the room with her disheveled hair and wrinkled indoor dress.

***

Upon arriving at the dining room after a long time, Catherine had to face two people she least wanted to see.

Marquis Sillion openly scanned Catherine from head to toe, clicking his tongue in disapproval.

“Tsk, look at the state of you.”

Receiving the marquis’s contemptuous gaze, Catherine sat down in the chair prepared for her and responded,

“Didn’t you summon me just to see this state?”

“What?”

The marquis, displaying the same bewildered and displeased expression Catherine had when confronting the butler’s arrogance earlier, glared at her. Without sparing him a glance, Catherine repeated,

“You called me here without giving me time to freshen up or someone to help me.”

Before her possession, the original Catherine would have shrunk back, murmuring apologies in a small voice while bowing her head repeatedly.

But that Catherine was gone.

‘Damn it, Catherine, why did you suddenly disappear and leave me trapped in this body?’

Right after possessing her, she had been thrilled to escape the miserable life of a dirt-poor commoner in Korea.

A marquis’s daughter! She could spend money freely and never worry about survival!

She might be a villainess, but as long as she avoided the original story’s bad ending, all the suffering from her past life would finally be compensated.

Yet, actually living in this world… was just as frustrating as her previous life.

Truly, she was cursed with an unfortunate fate.

Why did all the world’s misfortunes seem to land on her?

While Catherine was lost in self-pity, Marquis Sillion scrutinized her carefully once more.

She used to be a child who would shrink back at even a mildly harsh word, as if she had been struck by a whip, and beg for forgiveness.

But now?

She was not just bold—she was outright insolent.

Considering how to deal with her, the marquis soon dismissed it as a waste of time.

It didn’t matter.

All he had to do was keep an eye on her until she became the Duchess of Lucart.

Erasing the sight of his unusually defiant daughter from his mind, he gestured to the butler standing behind him.

Even if his daughter meant nothing to him, a servant who failed to properly carry out his orders still deserved punishment.

Smack!

The butler’s face twisted sharply to the side, swelling red within moments.

Although the butler was suddenly slapped without a word, he silently bowed his head deeply. The marquis, after striking him, waved his hand dismissively, sending him back.

Watching this, Catherine’s already furrowed brow creased even more. 

‘What is he doing? Since he can’t hit me, is he taking it out on the butler instead? Crazy bastard.’

Catherine, gritting her teeth inwardly, soon had her question answered by her ever-bloodline-obsessed older brother.

“Butler, you should follow Father’s orders properly. Even when dressed up, she’s hard to look at, yet you brought her here in that state? Never mind tarnishing Sillion’s dignity—just seeing her ruins my appetite.”

The dry tone, as if he were merely stating facts rather than mocking her, made Catherine clutch her skirt so tightly it almost tore.

The Marquis of Sillion silently agreed with his son’s words, while the butler deeply bowed in apology.

In that moment, Catherine made up her mind.

‘I’ll kill them all.’

At first, she had only wanted to leave this damn house. She had told herself she would never set foot in this direction again. That she wasn’t avoiding them out of fear, but out of disgust.

But no. This is wrong.

Treating a person like this for no valid reason—no, even if there were a reason, this was inhumane.

Even peasants below them shouldn’t be treated this way. And yet, they dare treat her like this? Me?

‘No matter what it takes, even if I have to make a deal with the devil, I will kill these two and every single person in this wretched mansion. Even their damn dogs!’

A sticky, simmering hatred mingled with burning rage and lodged itself deep beneath her heart.

Even before she possessed this body, Catherine never let those who looked down on her get away with it.

She carefully accumulated her grudges, storing them like deposits in a savings account, never forgetting a single one.

From so-called friends who sneered at her with pity, to a senior who claimed to help her but then secretly reported to their boss that she was taking credit for others’ work—she had made them all pay.

If she shed tears, her enemies would shed blood.

Unaware of the eerie, smoldering fire of resentment flickering within her, the Marquis of Sillion and his heir continued their conversation without pause.

It was as if summoning her here and then ignoring her entirely was second nature to them.

“Have you completed the task His Majesty commanded?”