Chapter 3

After that, everything proceeded smoothly.

Denvers hurriedly appraised the jewelry Rodi had laid out, then quickly handed her a bundle of gold coins.

Wow.

Rodi counted the sparkling gold coins before her in amazement.

I went from zero gold to this much money in an instant.

Normally, when a noble lady who had been banished tried to sell her jewelry, the classic trope was for the buyer to ruthlessly lowball her.

That didn’t happen to Rodi.

This ability is amazing.

Even the reputation of being an evil villainess was incredibly useful. Perhaps because they were afraid of being cursed, none of the villagers dared to mess with her.

After pocketing the bundle of gold coins, she examined her reflection in the shop window.

A dark crimson dress that perfectly reflected the “original Rodi’s” taste, matching high heels, and long nails painted black.

Even her heavy makeup had smudged while she slept, making her already cold-looking eyes appear even darker.

Flamboyant and frightening.

That was the impression Rodi’s current appearance gave.

It’s not really my taste, but maybe maintaining this appearance isn’t such a bad idea.

Looking scary was much better than looking like an easy target.

Above all, it was incredibly convenient.

With money now in hand, Rodi first purchased basic cleaning supplies and necessities.

To maintain the image of an “evil witch,” she also remembered to buy a flashy black dress and dark red lipstick.

After buying this and that, she struggled all the way home and began cleaning.

The mansion was dirty and enormous.

It took several days just to remove the cobwebs covering every corner and sweep and mop the floors.

Once she had finished cleaning it to a level where a person could reasonably live there, Rodi headed back to the village.

She was looking for a carpenter to renovate the house.

I wonder if I’ll have to use my ability again.

With that thought in mind, Rodi had settled on a firm concept for her appearance.

A black dress that reached her knees, paired with matching black gloves. She drew thick eyeliner along her cold-looking eyes and painted her lips red.

I can’t afford to look easy to deal with.

Her reputation was already terrible. If she also looked weak, someone might try to take advantage of her.

“Look at that woman…”

“She looks exactly like the rumors said.”

The villagers stirred at the sight of her, like a poisonous rose in full bloom.

Rodi paid them no attention and entered the shop run by a carpenter.

“Welcome—Gasp!”

The carpenter, who had been greeting a customer with a cheerful expression, was startled when he saw her.

“What brings you here…?”

Rodi lifted her chin and gave a brief reply.

“I want to renovate the interior of my house.”

In truth, she had spent quite some time thinking about what kind of speech she should use.

Since she had technically been demoted to commoner status, she had initially intended to speak politely.

Eek, please, just… speak comfortably…

The owner of the jewelry shop she had visited earlier had looked even more uncomfortable when she spoke politely, so for the time being, she had decided to stick with informal speech.

“P-Please, come over here and have a seat.”

Once the carpenter realized she was a customer, he cautiously offered her a seat.

“How would you like the house to be renovated?”

“First of all…”

Rodi rattled off everything she had envisioned in her head.

The carpenter listened and nodded.

“You’ve certainly given me very specific instructions, but what you’ve described isn’t really a style suited to an ordinary home…”

“I know.”

“Uh… Are you sure that’s okay? I’ve done plenty of modern interior designs as well. If you’d like, I can renovate it in a style preferred by nobles—”

“No. Do it exactly as I said.”

The carpenter scratched his head.

“It’s already such an old house. If you make the interior that unusual as well, you won’t be able to sell the place at all later.”

“That’s fine.”

Rodi curled the corners of her lips upward.

“I’m planning to resell the house immediately.”

The carpenter looked confused.

“Excuse me…? Aren’t you decorating it so you can live there?”

“No. As soon as the interior renovations are finished, I’m putting this house on the market.”

She added confidently,

“And I’m going to sell it for a very high price.”

“…”

Jeo, the carpenter from the village, was skeptical of Rodi’s words.

That’s absolutely impossible.

The place where he lived, Lagro Village, was a resort town that was moderately popular among lower-ranking nobles.

And the mansions preferred by nobles who visited the village were newly built villas with pristine white exteriors right by the sea.

By contrast, the house owned by the woman in front of him was an outdated red-brick villa that had been built several decades ago.

To make matters worse, it was located quite far from the seaside.

In other words, it had absolutely none of the qualities that would appeal to lower-ranking nobles.

And on top of that…

The bizarre interior design she had just described was completely unsuitable for an ordinary home.

Is she an idiot?

He thought the woman before him was foolish and completely ignorant of how the world worked.

Good grief. There is such a thing as supply and demand.

Still, it wasn’t Jeo’s concern.

“…First, let’s discuss the down payment.”

It didn’t matter if his client was an idiot.

As long as he got paid on time, that was all that mattered.

I just hope she doesn’t come whining to me later when the house doesn’t sell.

With that thought, Jeo explained the cost of the interior renovations to Rodi.

“Yes, so the initial payment would be…”

As he continued speaking, a brilliant idea suddenly crossed Jeo’s mind.

Isn’t this a chance to make some serious money?

The woman in front of him clearly knew nothing about the ways of the world.

She was confident enough to declare that she would sell an old brick house for a fortune.

If I quote her a higher price, she probably won’t even notice.

The rumor that she used curse magic made him uneasy, but there was no doubt that this woman knew little about the going rate for interior renovations.

If she doesn’t realize she’s being scammed, there’s no risk of retaliation.

Having made up his mind, Jeo named his price.

“Ahem. Just 450 gold coins will do.”

“…”

One of Rodi’s eyebrows shot upward.

Seriously?

Normally, the down payment was about half of the total cost.

He’s trying to scam me?

In other words, the total amount the carpenter was asking for was 900 gold coins.

For reference, the usual cost of interior renovations was around 200 to 300 gold coins.

He’s tripling the price.

Even though this was the kind of situation where people often blamed the victim for being foolish enough to get scammed, she was still annoyed by how blatantly he had inflated the price.

The carpenter continued lying without even blinking.

“Heh heh, actually, I should be asking for about 500 gold coins as the down payment, but I’m giving you a special discount.”

“…”

Rodi stared straight at him.

How should I handle this?

If she handled it gently and simply pointed out the problem, he might take her for an easy mark and try the same thing again.

She rested her elbow on the table and asked in a low voice,

“Are you sure?”

“Excuse me?”

“I mean, are you really saying the down payment is 450 gold coins?”

Caught off guard by the unexpected response, the carpenter stammered.

“Yes… It’s 450 gold coins.”

Rodi smiled sweetly.

I even gave him one chance to correct himself. What a waste.

“Your name is Jeo, correct?”

“Yes, but…?”

As he answered, Jeo suddenly realized that he had never told this woman his name.

“Your name is Jeo, and you’re thirty-eight years old.”

Rodi stared at his system window.

[Name: Jeo]

[Age: 38]

[Weakness: Having an affair with his next-door neighbor Mrs. Austin, ??, ??]

She asked sarcastically,

“How is Mrs. Austin doing?”

Jeo was startled.

“W-What are you talking about…?”

“Don’t play dumb. You two are in a rather special relationship, aren’t you?”

His eyes widened in shock.

“H-How did you… No, w-what are you talking about, ma’am? Haha…”

Jeo denied it while sweating profusely, but Rodi paid no attention.

“You’ve already heard the rumors about me, haven’t you?”

She tilted her head to the side.

“Magic tells me a great many things.”

Strictly speaking, this wasn’t magic at all, but she decided to lie boldly.

“Does your wife know? That you and Mrs. Austin have that kind of relationship?”

The more she spoke, the paler Jeo’s face became.

“H-How could you possibly know…?”

“Cheating on your wife. What a despicable man.”

The corners of her red lips curved upward.

“You’re so despicable that I might just tell her everything.”

Jeo’s expression completely collapsed.

“P-Please! Anything but that!”

Rodi let out a small chuckle.

“If you made a plan to deceive an evil witch, shouldn’t you at least be prepared to face the consequences?”

He stared at her in stunned disbelief.

I thought she was just a foolish woman who knew nothing about the world…

When their eyes met, the woman gave him a radiant smile like a freshly bloomed rose.

Only then did Jeo recall the rumors circulating throughout the village.

The wicked villainess who had been banished from the capital.

The evil witch who used curse magic.

This woman is an incredibly powerful witch!

Otherwise, there was no way she could know about his relationship with Mrs. Austin.

It was a huge secret known only to the two of them.

“Well then, you’re prepared to pay the price for trying to deceive me, aren’t you?”

Her long black fingernails tapped against the table.

Tap. Tap…

“Oh, come to think of it, isn’t it about time your wife came home?”

“…!”

Inside the quiet shop, her leisurely voice seemed almost like a curse itself, tightening around his throat.

After approximately two seconds of silence—

“I-I’m sorry!”

He immediately bowed deeply.

“I-I was blinded by greed for a moment and tried to deceive you, Witch!”

Jeo trembled violently.

“Please, just this once, keep my secret…!”

“Do you really think I’ll let you off with nothing more than a verbal apology?”

He hurriedly racked his brain for something that might satisfy her.

“I-I’ll do the interior renovations for 200 gold coins! No, 150 gold coins!”

“Hmm…”

Watching her expression carefully, Jeo responded at lightning speed.

“130 gold coins! Please forgive me with that! I have a wife and children to support, so I can’t go any lower than that…”

Rodi was dumbfounded by his words.

You have a wife and children, yet you’re cheating on her?

How ridiculous.

Even though he was committing adultery, apparently his wife and children were still precious to him.

He continued pleading with a miserable expression.

“Well, all right.”

Rodi nodded with a merciful expression.

“I’ll let it go this time. But if you try something like this again, you’d better be prepared for the consequences.”

“Yes, yes!”

Afterward, the two of them drew up a contract.

As Rodi left the shop, Jeo bowed deeply toward her.

“I’ll do my absolute best to repair your house, Witch!”

“Good.”

Rodi stepped outside with a satisfied smile.