Chapter Five: A Solid...ish Plan.

The fact that I am receiving an official summoning must mean that the White Winter ball is near.

Fuck! Why do I have to go through this?

I didn't even know that I was fucking a Knight and it was more like he fucked me, I didn't even get him anywhere!

-That's hardly a proper defence but still. - I sighed. -And I'm not Vivanna! I'm just a sex-starved, I mean was, I was a sex-starved lawyer who just went to sleep!-

Maybe if I had gotten laid when Milo had suggested I wouldn't have easily been convinced that it was a sex dream!

"Are you not going to open it? My lady?" The maid asked jolting me from my thoughts.

"Oh!..uh" I gazed at the letter again.

In Envia, it was customary for someone to open a letter, especially an official one, before a witness for it to be considered read.

"What is your name?" I asked the brown-haired maid, and she frowned.

-Did she frown because I am supposed to know her name, or because Vivanna had never asked the names of her maids?-

"I asked your name," I said once more.

-When in doubt, confidence!-

"Ophelia, my lady. My name is Ophelia." She introduced herself and curtsied.

The letter fell from my hands.

-Of course, the first person to be kind to me is a spy. -

Ophelia Criss was a noble, a fallen noble. To be more specific, she is a fallen noble that Vivanna's father had ruined. Ophelia pleaded with the crown prince to assign her to me, in short. Ophelia is the largest contributor to Vivanna's execution, second only to the male leads of course.

And on bad days…she actually attempted to poison Vivanna's meals.

I think that the author had saved Vivanna on those days, because whenever her meal had been poisoned, Vivanna herself simply had no appetite or someone had dropped by to see her, causing her to skip the poisoned meal.

What about me?

What the hell was I supposed to do, author who? Who the hell would save me?

…I'm alone.

I realized.

I am completely and utterly alone.

Growing up in the orphanage meant no privacy and plenty of families, and then after I met Milo, we stuck together. I had never been alone before.

A knot of anxiety formed at the pit of my stomach, had Vivanna always felt this way? I cannot fully claim that the author protected her when the author had just been saving her for the grand finale.

Was this how she had continuously felt?

"No, I'm much too distraught to read it, perhaps later." I smiled at Ophelia with a professional 'Meet-a-client' smile.

"Yes, my lady," Ophelia said then bowed her head.

"You may leave, I wish to be alone," I said, and she hesitated.

I guess she really did want me to open the letter. I bet she thought that I would hear the word 'royal' and foolishly open the summoning. Then, stupid and blindly infatuated Vivanna would rush to the prince's side.

And then afterwards, you would announce to the maids that their master had been humiliated. Right, Ophelia?

"Now, Ophelia." I rushed her, and she bowed again this time looking startled.

Did Vivanna ever address her by her name? Did she even know the names of her staff?

The look on her face gave me my answer, but she masked it, almost immediately.

"S-sorry." She said, then left.

The door clicked shut, and I rested my head on my headboard.

"What the hell, Annabelle!" I sighed heavily then stared at the envelope.

"They all thought you were a foolish girl, Vivanna. From the prince to your staff to even your Knight." I chuckled, but I couldn't prevent the sting in my eyes from forming tears. " They said that they loved you, but they hated you so deeply that it is amazing you never realized. Or maybe you did…you just didn't believe it."

I sighed then wiped my tears and ended my depressing monologue.

I am not going to die that way. I am not going to let them look into my eyes and whisper sweet nothings.

"First thing is first, I need to get rid of the first prince." I muttered "or rather stay away from him."

"Can I break the engagement?" I wondered as I stood from the bed. "No, he'll use the debts I have to tie me down, and worse, If I just request a cancellation, he might suspect me of something and either tighten his security on me or just plain assassinate me."

"I also need to stay away from the male leads." I froze. "Shit! I've already had sex with Isaak! Wait, wait, he didn't come! So did that still count as sex?"

I paced the room.

"It doesn't matter, it won't happen again. Getting rid of Isaak can only become acceptable if the engagement is broken, but what about Ophelia, the butler as well. I can create enough distance by sending them to another estate. Does Vivanna own another estate?" I sighed. I need to get to Vivanna's study, that's where she did most of her planning so there will probably be blueprints of sorts there. Plus that blasted journal that she was always writing on."

It's fall now, but its nearing winter. Winter is when the heroine first meets the prince. That should keep his attention off me for a while as I try to clear Vivanna's debts. I can use my knowledge and skills to try and better this duchy as well as, ensure that when I find my way out of here, and I will, that it has enough wealth that seven Vivanna's could not bankrupt the dutchy.

Now, what about the other male leads?

When does Daisy first meet Isaak or my concubines? Oh my god, I have concubines! Courtesy of the first prince to Vivanna.

Vivanna had been so obsessed with the first prince that there was a time she sneaked into his bedroom and waited for him naked. When the prince arrived, he gifted her two exotic concubines, with a curt. "Whenever you think of me, use them."

Vivanna naturally thought that the prince was thoughtful, but the prince couldn't stand her presence. He had never even laid a finger on her. He had just wanted her gone and surely that was the easiest way he could think of.

Naturally, Vivanna abused the concubines so harshly that they hated her.

"My God Vivanna!" I sighed then raked my hair. "It's like you wanted to be hated."

I couldn't get over how smooth and silky my hair was. As Annabelle, my hair had always been frizzy and dry on moderate days and on bad days, It was straight up a crime scene.

God, I miss Milo. I sighed again.

"No!" I shook my head. "Right now I need to focus, I can't die, not until I find a way to get back home!"

The prince already has access to half of my staff, so the first order of business is for me to find someone, anyone that I can trust. Next, I need to find the stupid engagement contract so that I can identify possible loopholes, and third, I need to clear my debt, that has to be the surest way to get the prince away from me. All of the male leads are tied to him, so I just need to simply, cut off the roots.

I looked around my room then walked to the closet. It was made of white marble floors, just like the main room. Most of the gowns Vivanna had, that had been mentioned in the story, were vitrine on the walls. The rest of the dresses were displayed in a device that spun them around, as though to purposefully display them.

The entire room was filled to the brim with beautiful clothes and luxury jewels that sparkled to life. Some of the gems even changed colour when I got near them.

"Oh shit!" I ran my hand over a sizeable heart-shaped stone that changed colour wherever I grazed it.

It was the heart of Ecclesia. A jewel that Isaak gifts to the main character when he proclaims his love for her.

Ecclesia, the goddess of love, rather, she had been a mortal first. Still, all she ever did was love. She loved freely and easily, her friends, her enemies, plants, animals, whatever, she had been a lover, and according to the book, that was why she transcended humandom and rose to godhood. 

There are many versions of Eclessia's story. One version claimed that Eclessia had never been human but instead a god to be worshipped. This version, in turn, has led to the emergence of strict followers, who erected temples in her name.  For now, though, I will just stick with the version that was written in the book.

"Now, If I sell half of these," I waved my hand over the dresses. "I should have enough money to start a business and trademark it, tying it exclusively to this dutchy."

"But where will I get a merchant willing to trade with the actual value of the gowns?"I frowned.

A knock startled me, and I turned to the door.

"What?" I called out in an irritated tone, and a shakey voice responded.

"M-my M-m-my Lady." Some voices were heard whispering from the door telling her not to stutter, and then another voice completed the sentence for her.

"It is Bath time."