I Reincarnated As A Villainess, But Why Did I Become A Cat Butler Instead? - Chapter 141

Chapter 71.1

There was so much madness in my eyes that Dimitri paused for a moment. Oh, my. It seemed that I got too excited.

Thinking that, I softened my gaze a little but still asked firmly.

“As the Duchess, I suppose that kind of punishment would be possible, right?”

He shrugged his shoulders.

“You have that much authority. Slave traders are commoners, and deceiving the Emperor is a serious crime.”

Long live the power…!

“If you leave it in the hands of the Emperor, they will be hanged outside the gates anyway. I can lend them the gates of Blois if you wish.”

…Unng?

“No, I’m too timid and weak to do that. Wouldn’t it be better if we quietly killed them?”

“….”

Dimitri’s brow narrowed slightly. He seemed to be pondering my standards of timidity and weakness.
[ T/N: LOL SAME THOUGH (´ ∀｀；) ]

“Anyway, it seems like we can punish them as much as I want. I’ll get Coco’s opinion on that when he gets back, and as for the shapeshifters the slave traders have, can I take ownership of them?”

“That should be possible, too.”

Dimitri frowned before he added.

“Dogs are not allowed in my house. Never.”

I smiled and reassured him.

“I know someone who can take care of the dogs.”

̊ · : * ✧ * : · ̊

Avila Teruel, once the youngest titled imperial mage and now the owner of a small shapeshifter supply store, fingered the letter bearing the seal of House Blois.

‘…What the hell are they up to?’

When the Duchess of Blois had visited her the other day, Avila thought she was simply fortunate to have attracted a wealthy patron.

The coy Duchess, who had promised to sponsor her research—particularly intrigued by the perfume that disrupted a dog’s sense of smell, a result of Avila’s experiments—had seemed cautious and reserved.

At first, she assumed she was just another pampered woman looking for gossip, as so many did when they came to see her. After all, Avila had once achieved her dream of becoming an imperial mage at a young age, only to give up that title, earning a reputation as a rather eccentric wizard.

But soon, she realized that the woman who had chosen to sponsor her, Rowaine Larscel, was even more infamous for her eccentricity than she was.”

‘She’s notorious for abusing a number of shapeshifters with that face.’

She wasn’t talking about a beautiful appearance.

The Duchess, as beautiful as the rumors suggested, wasn’t what drew Avila to her. It was the determined look in her eyes that didn’t look fierce but rather kind captivated her.

The woman whom she met for the first time was strangely aggressive while showing a peculiar defensive attitude. Far from being rude, she could feel consideration in her words, so Avila just thought that she was a good person.

However, it turned out that she was the infamous Rowaine Larscel.

‘As expected, people shouldn’t be judged by their appearance.’

Avila’s eyes narrowed.

It was a creepy discovery she made when she bragged to a friend about being sponsored by the Duchess of Blois.

‘…She would gather the nobles, drug the shapeshifter slaves before playing with him, and torture them for fun.’

It was horrifying to hear and made her body tremble.

Why on earth would someone whose hobby was abusing shapeshifters sponsor someone whose main focus was researching shapeshifters’ abilities?

‘I don’t know why, but this has a bad taste. Is she looking for a new way to play? What did she think of my research?’

That wasn’t the only thing she didn’t understand.

‘I heard that the Duke of Blois is a cat shapeshifter.’

If she was the Duchess and agreed to marry the Duke because she coveted his wealth and power, wouldn’t that mean he didn’t care if his wife was a woman who took pleasure in abusing his own people?

‘Aristocrats…’

…A suspicious duchess and an unknown duke.

Avila felt uncomfortable.

‘I don’t want to associate with her.’

With no income, Avila had been desperate for sponsors. So when the Duchess offered her support, she regretted accepting it without knowing more. Because of this, she had planned to visit the Duchess to discuss the matter.

But yesterday, out of the blue, a letter arrived from the Duchess, requesting her to come to Blois as soon as possible.

‘I don’t know why she’s summoned me, but it’s just as well. I need to tell her I won’t accept the sponsorship.’

Standing in front of the Blois mansion, Avila’s posture was resolute and stiff. The mansion, said to belong to a historic family, was as old as the family’s history itself, ornate and magnificent.

‘This place looks more like a castle than a mansion…’

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