Don’t Ask For Mercy From The Villainess

Chapter 5. Similar But Different From Before

Today, Anna opened the door of the young lady’s room to attend to her. After the Marchioness passed away, Anna had never gone to Jessica’s room to wake her up. She felt a sense of suspicion about Jessica’s behavior that changed as if someone else had possessed her body, but she dismissed that feeling because there were often cases of people who had undergone major accidents and ended up having a different attitude than before.

‘She’s like that again.’

The Jessica that had been changed was a little more elegant and graceful, however sometimes Anna couldn’t help but nag at her when she sat down with such a relaxed expression. The young lady was sitting on a chair that was placed by the sunny window slacking like a cat who likes to stay in a warm place.

“My lady!”

“What is it Anna?”

“How can you sit there like that?”

“Why?”

“No, you can’t do that! The young lady of a noble family must always have an elegant attitude…….“

“But I’m at home.”

“But still, you can’t do that! If anyone sees you……….“

“No one’s looking anyway.”

“Your hair is disheveled!”

“I’m still pretty.”

“Well, that’s………  No, you shouldn’t be like this!”

Anna, who nodded her head unconsciously at Jessica’s words, then shook her head vigorously. She suddenly looked at Jessica’s face again. The radiant blonde shone brightly in the sunlight, it was the pride of the Marquis of Viterne. The light blue eyes sparkled like sapphire, and the gentle smile on her lips was so charming that it could make anyone smile along.

She already used to have a beautiful face, but now she was even more breathtaking. If in the past she was like an innocent girl oozing with attractiveness, the gracefulness and elegance of a high-class noblewoman have now been added to make Jessica even more beautiful.

‘Is that how the Imperial Palace’s people behave?’

Anna, a maid of the noble family, has never seen the people in the Imperial Palace, but she was confident that the young lady she had attended to was second to none if she were to be compared to the Imperial Family. Anna, who was staring at Jessica’s face intently, got affected by what she thought and started with her nagging again.

“Lady, you can’t be so lazy anyway.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean, it’s your debutante soon!”

Preparations for Jessica’s debutante banquet, who would soon become an adult, were in full swing. The Marquis’ servants and maids were going back and forth outside while running around, putting a lot of effort in order to host this banquet successfully. The Marquis’ butler especially rolled up his sleeves and took the lead.

“I know, I’m the one who approved it.”

Without a Marchioness in the Marquis of Vitern, no money went out without going through Jessica’s hands. It already used to be like that before, but now, she has  even more control. Jessica has taken care of everything more meticulously compared to the past. She reduced the luxury costs, increased funds for the knights, and even got a sword for the Marquis, her father. Among all of those, there was nothing for her.

“That’s the problem! The butler is going crazy because you’ve drastically reduced the cost of the banquet.”

‘I wouldn’t be able to pay it back properly after all.’

Jessica thought that way when Anna babbled on about the crying butler. She clearly remembered it. On the day of her debutante, the Emperor’s decree came out which decided her father’s fate to join the war, then everything fizzled out.

‘There’s not much time left.’

She was engrossed in her comfortable life and ended up forgetting about it for a while. As soon as she sensed that the turning point of her life was approaching, the gleam in Jessica’s eyes changed. There was no time to relax anymore. It’s time to find ‘him’.

‘I wonder if he is still there as he was before?’

Of course, because of ‘his’ personality that didn’t like to leave the places familiar to him, he must still be there for sure. He’s probably saying the same thing at the same place as he did in the past.

“Anna.”

“So, my lady, please increase the funding…”

“Anna!”

“Yes, my lady!”

Anna replied after coming back to her senses at Jessica’s voice who called her name a bit louder. There was nothing she could say in this situation even if she were to receive a beating for not properly listening to her lady.

Jessica said to Anna who shrunk down as if she was nervous.

“Get ready to go out.”

“Where… are you going?”

“I have to go somewhere.”

She would go there to check. Whether ‘he’ was still there or not.

‘I just need to check if he is there.’

If he was still there, she could move everything as she pleased. Anna hurriedly smoothed down her dress when Jessica rose from her seat. The moment Jessica straightened up herself after sitting in a disorderly position, she was filled with elegance. Anna called the maids who were standing outside as she prepared her lady’s dress. Several maids came in and began to do her face and hair.

For years, the maids that were skilled in dressing up used to lament that there was no one they could dress when the Marchioness could no longer leave her sickbed. But now, they gathered to show off their skills at the news that Jessica would be going out. When another maid held a bouquet of flowers that were recently picked, Anna adorned her hair densely with flowers…

“Anna……”

She was about to let out a sigh. She couldn’t believe they put so much effort into just a simple outing. It was beyond belief. At the time when she was a Duchess, she didn’t want to go out like this, so she dressed up as little as possible. She didn’t expect this to happen when she returned to the past.

“No matter what happens, you have to look pretty when you go out today.”

“No, I’m planning to go to the general store.”

It wasn’t a jewelry store frequently visited by the nobles, just a general store. Surely, going to such a place while dressing like that would make her so out of place to the commoners. She was going to buy information, not going out to see anyone.

“But you can’t refuse. It’s your first time going out ever since the funeral. The Marquis’ reputation is at stake.”

The thought about whether it was necessary to put the Marquis’ reputation at stake only for a casual outing entered her mind, but Jessica decided to calmly keep her mouth shut. It was because she realized the fact that the more time she spent arguing with Anna, the longer it would take her before she could leave.

‘Seeing them having so much fun makes me want to let them show off their skills……..’

When she saw the maids with smiles all over their faces, it immediately made her smile as well. The hands of the servants who were dressing her up and chatting with each other were filled with happiness, and this made Jessica happy as well. It was a feeling she never experienced back when she was in the Dukedom. At that time, she was careful to put on even just one thing. It was because someone could have poisoned her makeup.

“It was so easy.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“You shouldn’t say anything. Your lips would be ruined.”

The maid who was putting makeup on her face, muttered without hearing her small voice. She wondered how much focus the maid had while putting on her makeup that she didn’t hear what Jessica said. Jessica smiled while looking at her, thinking it was a good thing she didn’t hear.

“Your makeup would be ruined, my lady!”

She only heard Anna’s rebuke telling her not to smile.

After finishing her makeup, the maids let off praises when she finally stood up.

“You’re so pretty, my lady.”

“That’s right.”

“I want to lock you up somewhere.”

“Hey!”

“Why, what?”

There seemed to be a strange remark in the midst, but she ignored it.

“All of you have done a good job.”

“No problem, my lady.”

Jessica was a hostess who didn’t whip the maids, but she didn’t say anything special to them either. However, when she gave a compliment toward the maids, everyone looked at her with surprised eyes. The maids couldn’t move until Jessica, who smiled softly at their gazes, turned her body and went out of the room.

“You’ve come out.”

The butler was waiting for her in front of her door.

“What’s the matter?”

“The budget is too low.”

“That’s the only money I can spend on my debutante at the Marquisate right now. Too much money has been used to take care of my mother.”

Of course she could have used more, but Jessica hid that fact. Ever since she found out that everything she would buy for the debutante would be useless, she didn’t want to spend any money recklessly.

“But my lady, at the Marquisate, there’s no such thing like a debut where the budget is limited. Moreover this is for the Marquis family who is a Margrave as well.”

“Then I’ll be the first one.”

The butler was about to cry at Jessica’s words who laughed it off lightly. She was sorry for him, but she couldn’t explain the situation in detail, so she had no choice but to do it this way. She opened her mouth then became weak by the depressed look of the butler.

“Butler.”

“Yes!”

“What if we get rid of the flower decorations?”

“What?”

“Get rid of all the real flowers that would be used in the debutante.”

“But that way, my lady, the banquet hall will look awkward.”

“Pick the petals of the wild flowers and scatter them instead.”

“Excuse me?”

“I said scatter the petals on the floor.”

It was a season when there were many flowers in the field. It would have been more practical to pick the flowers and scatter them on the floor because there would have been a lot of flowers in the mountains owned by the Marquis. In fact, two years after she debuted, this method was used by a Count’s daughter and was envied by young noble girls. Some said it was just a waste of manpower, but anyway, it wouldn’t make sense if the daughter of a Marquis couldn’t do this.

‘It won’t change anything if I do it first.’

It would come true, but it wouldn’t make any difference to move the trend forward by two years. Jessica thought that at this time, she didn’t know how huge it was going to be.

When the butler said it was a good idea and that he would lead people to the mountain in the back, she waved her hand while wishing them a safe trip. Anna whispered from behind as Jessica walked forward.

“Lady, are you going to leave without an escort?”

“No.”

She had no intention of doing that. Jessica already knew what the noble ladies would say if she only brought her maid to go outside. When she returned home from behaving that way in her past life, she somehow faced difficulty from the ‘new’ Marchioness, who had heard the news.

‘I couldn’t enter the house.’

She couldn’t erase the memory when she stood in front of the mansion all night, saying that she tarnished the Marquis’ reputation. It was also unforgivable that she almost died due to her frail body. She wouldn’t let the Marquis’ possession be taken away again, but if she were to do the same thing again this time, Jessica wouldn’t let ‘that’ Baron’s daughter have her way.

“Then who…….”

“Let’s go to the knights’ quarters first.”

“Yes.”

***