The Duke of Lancester household was a prestigious family with a long history tracing its lineage back to a branch of the royal family.

Dylan Lancester, the head of the family, was well-known within the country to have chosen for his wife two and a half years ago a woman who turned out to be an outrageous villainess. However, the fact that this “villainess” was actually a substitute, that this was a case of mistaken identity, was not.

This was because the “villainess” herself not only paid no heed to her reputation, but also accepted her bad name in high spirits as she continued her activities with delight.

Various circumstances existed behind the scenes such as: a “contract marriage entered under the premise of marrying a villainess,” “an unreasonable request from the Crown Prince who wished to take advantage of the villainess’ unexpected competence, making it impossible to correct the misunderstanding,” and “the villainess herself having a strange way of thinking,” among others.

However, the greatest reason of all was likely that the rumor, “the young head, Dylan Lancester, has a taste for villainesses,” had spread far too widely throughout high society

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“Duchess Avril Lancester, I hope you are in most excellent spirits.”

Avril blinked once at the young lady who greeted her with a tense expression, then smiled warmly.

“You must be Lady Jennifer, daughter to the Count of Fitzroy, renown for your talent in singing.”

“…I believe this is the first time we’ve spoken, but…”  She barely managed to continue with, “You remembered me,’ her expression strained and was completely at odds with her words.

Discovering that Avril, someone infamous as a terrible villainess, remembered her name, face, and distinguishing traits, must had been terrifying.

On that day, Avril had been invited to a garden party hosted by Alexandra, the soon to be crown princess. As this was to be the last large-scale tea party before her marriage to the Crown Prince, many ladies from prominent noble families were in attendance.

However, although the invitation had undoubtably stated, “This will be a garden party, please feel free to attend casually,” most of the guests arrived at Count Lindbergh’s family garden accompanied by their husbands, and were both impeccably attired and perfectly mannered.

Of course, beside Avril stood Dylan. His presence that day, however, had nothing to do with any sort of political aristocratic maneuvering. It stemmed solely from his own desire to attend the garden party together with her.

As always, he was handsome in appearance and carried himself with a cool composure. Despite merely standing beside her, an extraordinary amount of attention gathered upon him from all around.  At his side, Avril wore a composed and serene smile.

“I have long heard of the esteemed Fitzroy family’s reputation. Your capable management and generous investment into public projects have always seemed most admirable to me.”

“!? Ah, uhm… Excuse me!”

Despite only engaging in small talk, Jennifer suddenly became flustered and hurried away elsewhere.

“W-why?”

“She likely still believes the rumors claiming you a villainess. Yet, while intending to offer at least the most minimal of a proper greeting so as to not appear rude, she found herself unexpectedly recognized by you and fled.”

“I see. So, that’s what happened.”

Dylan frowned with displeasure, appearing ready to erupt from anger at any moment. However, losing his temper now would only ruin the garden party. More importantly, it’d shock those currently entranced by his beauty.

Due to the terrible reputation of the previous Duke of Lancester, some families continued to avoid associating with the Duke of Lancester family. Their reputation had gradually been recovering with Dylan becoming the head of the house, but it was still far from being able to declare their honor completely restored. Therefore, not stirring up any trouble whatsoever was the best option.

Avril addressed the very source of her predicament. “Lord Dylan, if we were to look at the cause, it would be I, a woman known as a villainess, who is at fault.”

“Even so, you are hardly the sort of villainess who would make others tremble in fear.”

“Hmm… you really think so?”

Aware that she had indeed harassed others during her time as a villainess, Avril averted her eyes.

Chris, their attendant who had been watching from a step behind, spoke softly with a gentle smile.

“There also exists a certain problem with Lord Dylan himself for liking this type of villainess.

Isn’t that quite a remarkably misleading statement?

However, that remark allowed Avril to recall how, at a past tea party somewhere, she had once rather forcefully told Alexandra, “Lord Dylan really likes villainesses. I became a villainess myself in order to become the kind of woman he prefers.”

In other words, the root cause of everything seemed, after all, to be herself.

Well, it can’t be helped in that case. I feel rather sorry for having caused everyone such confusion.

As a rule, Avril made an effort to attend social gatherings as much as possible so as to blend into high society as a duchess. Alexandra would usually be by her side during them to support her. More than that, however, events the size of the one she currently attended didn’t allow her the opportunity to converse with every single attendee. Merely being able to exchange a superficial greeting could be considered fortunate.  At worst, there were occasions where even that couldn’t happen. Thus, her reputation as Avril the Villainess having yet to fade away was only to be expected.

She gazed calmly at the glittering venue, and at the people keeping their distance from her. Whenever she attended events with Dylan, the dresses of not only unmarried young ladies, but even those of married ladies, tended to be more revealing.  They also applied more extravagant makeup.

By contrast, Avril’s appearance was relatively plain. If she were to stand beside them, she would surely blend into the background. That, however, was to be expected, since the present Avril no longer had to play the part of a wicked woman.

The information that Lord Dylan likes villainess has taken firm root within the royal capital, and this “trend” seems to have even spread to the tea parties in the regional cities as well. At this point, it might well be called a major shift, and perhaps even a business opportunity.

For Avril, as the one who had taken on the duties of the Duke’s family, thoughts of the family’s prosperity were always present in her mind. As she was entertaining such idle thoughts, a smooth and elegant voice spoke.

“I humbly offer my greetings to the Duke and Duchess of Lancester.”

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