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#2.
I Don’t Avoid a Fight That Comes My Way
The Camellia Party was originally hosted by the Imperial Family.
As soon as the tyrant Nikolai ascended the throne, he delegated the party to Countess Kensing.
The Countess only sent invitations to high-ranking officials and beautiful men and women from noble families.
Elizabeth, heiress of a massive merchant group but still a commoner by birth, had never once received an invitation.
“Isn’t that Lady Elizabeth?”
“There’s no way the Countess would’ve allowed her. How strange!”
As soon as I entered wearing a butterfly mask, curious gazes poured in.
But no mask could hide the blazing sun-like red hair.
With my tall, slender yet voluptuous figure, and jewelry as expensive as those of the highest nobles, I stood out even more.
I had chosen the plainest dress from Elizabeth’s wardrobe—a simple black silk gown.
I thought it would draw less attention, but instead, among the overly decorated noble ladies, the black dress stood out like an elegant black swan.
“She hasn’t shown her face at a party for ages. What’s gotten into her?”
“Must mean Lady Elizabeth’s found some handsome man to fancy, eh? Hahaha!”
Sneering voices pricked my ears.
Cold sweat trickled down my back.
Would I really be able to handle this party?
Wouldn’t I just ruin the mood?
But the moment I stepped inside, my body reacted first.
This air, this lighting—it’s all so familiar. It feels comfortable, like coming home. Maybe Elizabeth really was a natural-born socialite!
Once I relaxed, the feast on the tables caught my eye: goatling pies, candied goose liver, steamed snails in cream.
But strange dishes and a suffocating corset killing my ribs killed any appetite.
Now, if only it were spicy tteokbokki, yukgaejang, or chicken feet.
God, I miss gochujang, cheongyang peppers, capsaicin… fire flavor, crazy spice, ER-level spice, hellfire spice…
Sadly, this world had no chili peppers.
There was pepper, but it could never satisfy a Korean palate.
Unlike the original Elizabeth, I couldn’t truly enjoy these parties.
Loud music, suffocating perfume, groups whispering behind fans.
And worse—
The dress code here is way too revealing! That lady over there really skimped on fabric around the chest… And men in leggings? Seriously? Too indecent.
The Confucian girl inside me clicked her tongue.
Still, I couldn’t just leave empty-handed.
So I’d asked Susan, Douglas’s younger sister, to give up her invitation for me.
Though it was her first Camellia Party, Susan agreed without hesitation. She didn’t even ask why.
She had always been that way since the first time I met her.
Susan… today, she’ll fall head over heels for Nikolai. She’ll fall for the Casanova Emperor, only to take her own life. Her death becomes the trigger for Claudia’s awakening.
I had to stop their meeting, and seduce Nikolai instead.
But no matter how hard I searched, I couldn’t spot the handsome black-haired, green-eyed Emperor.
Instead, Elizabeth’s fanboys swarmed me.
“To think we’d see Lady Elizabeth at the Camellia Party! You look even more radiant tonight.”
“Mystical, like a fairy of the night! I’d gladly become the hem of your skirt even for a moment!”
They were tall and handsome, but none were my type.
Their greasy voices were the worst—like margarine fried in oil.
What would you even do as my skirt hem? If you’re sick, go see a doctor, you pathetic fools.
My parents had divorced when I was five, after cheating on each other.
They both treated their only child like baggage.
I grew up shuttled between relatives’ homes.
I lived on edge, terrified of giving anyone reason to compare me to my parents.
So how could I ever look kindly on men who judged only by appearances?
I bowed my head to hide my disgust, and the idiots mistook it for shyness.
“You’re even more beautiful when bashful, Lady Elizabeth!”
“The moon and stars themselves lose their brilliance before you!”
But one noblewoman in a yellow canary mask was glaring at me with irritation.
Uh oh. If the Countess notices me, things will get messy. Should I just seduce her?
I considered it but quickly dismissed the idea.
People who already hated or thought poorly of me were harder to charm.
And even if it worked, the exhaustion afterward was crushing.
Some people, like Claudia, couldn’t be swayed by seduction at all.
Elizabeth in the original didn’t know that. She tried to seduce Claudia and got dragged to the guillotine for it. Let’s just be satisfied with saving Susan today.
***
Thinking of burying myself in a soft bed made my steps light as I turned to leave.
Then a mocking voice rang behind me.
“The lusty she-cat runs away at last. Finally realized her place?”
That tone. Ugh.
Countess Kensing and her little entourage snickered.
Annoying, but courtesy first.
“My apologies for the late greeting, Countess Kensing.”
“Oh? You speak to me at last! I thought you were ignoring me till the end.”
“How could I? If I seemed rude, I ask for your forgiveness, madam.”
I curtsied gracefully.
The Amsters had spared no expense on their only daughter’s education.
Elizabeth’s tutor had once been the royal etiquette master, and she had been a bright student.
Rebellious as she was, she could act refined when she wanted.
“How could I forgive an uninvited guest? Especially a low-born girl selling her body just to cling to high society.”
“I’ll take that as wise counsel, madam.”
“Can you, though? A black dress, at a party—not a funeral? Such desperate cries for attention.”
“……”
“Your engagement was too good for you, and now it’s broken. Surely you’ve realized by now—no amount of money can hide inferior blood. Hohoho!”
This woman had crossed the line.
And I was someone who never backed down from a fight.
I’d learned young that showing courtesy to the rude only hurt me.
Besides, wasn’t Countess Kensing the one who egged Elizabeth into breaking off her engagement?
“Madam, did your elders teach you to sneer at people to their faces?”
I smiled brightly as I asked.
The Countess’s face turned crimson.
“You dare talk back to the mistress of a count’s house?!”
“No. I’m admonishing you.”
“W-what?!”
“There’s a saying—medicine that’s good for you tastes bitter. Perhaps you should stop now. Then I’ll also leave quietly.”
“You insolent wench…!”
“Not even familiar with that proverb? Do you never read?”
Laughter rippled through the crowd.
It was no secret the Countess had flunked out of the academy, despite hefty donations.
Furious, she raised her hand to strike me.
“Lowborn trash only learns when beaten!”
“And who do you think you are, to hit me?”
I smacked her thin hand aside.
The unexpected resistance left her gaping.
Back in Korea, my nickname was the Customer-From-Hell Assassin in disguise. Never underestimate a part-timer!
Sure, crossing a noble could end badly.
But I wasn’t going to back down here.
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
“Struck a nerve, and you resort to violence? Impressive level you’ve sunk to. Did you know your husband owes 60 million gold to the Amster trading company?”
“What? That’s nonsense!”
“Ah, you didn’t know. Too busy gambling, perhaps? Even now the interest piles up like a snowball.”
“You filthy liar!”
“Lowly I may be, but a promissory note doesn’t lie. You really should stop disgracing His Majesty.”
“You wench! Are you slandering me by invoking His Majesty?!”
You think I came here unprepared? I know everything you did to Elizabeth!
“Pretending ignorance? After selling invitations on the black market?”
I glared at her. With nothing but her noble blood to boast of, she faltered under my gaze.
“Th-that…”
“Those without townhouses in the capital crave social connections. And you—using a party delegated by His Majesty to make money? How pitiful. Should I call it beggar’s greed?”
The room murmured in disgust.
Those who had bought black-market invitations couldn’t lift their heads.
I leaned to whisper in the frozen Countess’s ear.
“Step down quietly. Before I spill that you’re having a torrid affair with your stable hand.”
That truth was only revealed much later by Claudia, but so what?
The Countess staggered out of the hall.
I raised my voice after her retreating back.
“Let’s all give a round of applause for the Countess’s hard work! This might be the last Camellia Party hosted at the Kensing estate!”
***
As people buzzed, a maid carrying a silver tray passed before me.
On it sat chocolate cake topped with cherries.
That’s Nikolai’s only indulgence! Could it be—I’ve found him?
I followed the maid toward the terrace.
My heart pounded at the thought of finally meeting the villain himself.
“Elizabeth!”
A gentle-voiced noble girl with pink hair approached.
It was Susan—Douglas’s sister.
The very person who should not be here.
“I had something important to tell you, so I borrowed an invitation from a relative.”
I’d always liked Susan’s character: frail yet strong-willed.
I’d even left angry comments on the chapter where she took her life.
But this kind of resolve was troublesome.
“I know it’s rude, but… couldn’t you cancel the engagement annulment with my brother?”
“Susan…”
“Please, just think again. You always listened when I spoke, always supported me wholeheartedly.”
“I’m sorry, Susan. Douglas and I are over.”
“Then what about us?”
Susan asked, tears brimming in her clear eyes.
“I like you just as much as my brother does. I’ve waited for the day you’d truly be my family.”
She must have mustered every ounce of courage to say that.
Looking at her trembling like a rain-drenched fawn, I wanted to hug her.
And I might have—if Douglas hadn’t shown up.
“Susan. What are you doing here?”
“Brother!”
“She begged me to escort her. I didn’t expect she’d trouble you, Elizabeth. Please accept my apologies.”
Douglas bowed deeply.
He looked thoroughly troubled—tormented, knowing even his sister’s pleas couldn’t sway me.
“I just don’t want to lose you, Elizabeth.”
“Even so, this is wrong. Can’t you see how uncomfortable you’re making her?”
“I’ve been terribly rude. Please forgive me.”
The deer-like siblings clutched each other’s hands, eyes glistening with tears.
Inside, I cried out.
Stop, please. You’re making me feel too guilty! I’m not cut out for being a villain!
The brother deer asked carefully:
“Elizabeth, you don’t look well. Perhaps some fresh air would help?”
“Let’s go together, sister! That terrace looks nice!”
Of all places, the terrace—where the villain Emperor surely lurked.
“May I escort you, Elizabeth?”
The brother looked at me with faint hope.
But my voice came out cold and sharp.
“I’m sick of this.”
The innocent faces of the Nettleton siblings froze pale.
But I couldn’t let Susan meet Nikolai.
“Using your sickly little sister to sway me? Truly disappointing.”
“You misunderstand, Elizabeth!”
“Just leave me alone. Disappear from my sight.”
I spat out cruel words I didn’t mean.
A tear slid down Susan’s cheek.
“It’s all my fault. Don’t hate my brother for it.”
“I’m sorry for troubling you. But believe me—I’d never exploit my only sibling.”
Douglas looked genuinely wounded.
Even knowing it was unavoidable, guilt gnawed at me.
If I’m going to be a villainess, I need to commit fully. Sympathy will only kill me.
So I turned away, cold and unyielding.
Even the original Elizabeth would have approved—this was the perfect villainess act.
***
Without hesitation, I pulled open the terrace curtains.
It was rude, yes, but I had no choice.
On a plush sofa, three figures were entwined.
A masked man at the center, two women draped on either side, creating a decadent tableau.
Two at once? Should I just bag him up as trash? Incineration category!
I didn’t want to look, but my eyes kept straying.
The man was beautiful—painfully so.
Through his open shirt, taut chest muscles gleamed.
His shoulders were as broad as an ocean, his thighs thicker than most women’s waists.
His body radiated sensuality, supple yet powerful, without losing nobility.
Black hair spilled over his mask.
From beneath it, lazy green eyes glowed like a satiated beast.
And with that, forgotten fear crashed over me.
What if one wrong word gets me executed? Tyrants kill people for nothing!
Nikolai’s sharp gaze lingered on me as he asked in a deep, resonant voice:
“Do you wish to join us as well?”
