Half of them were curious about the so-called villainess, and the other half wanted to strengthen their ties with the esteemed daughter of House Everett.

Unlike Roen, Violet refused all of the invitations sent to her. She didn’t have to manage her image like Roen was doing, and she knew that responding to any of them would just tire her out.

Above all, she had no dresses that fit what’s in vogue in the capital.

Politics and high society were not much different. Sometimes, socializing was directly tied to politics, and more often than not, it was the same vice versa as well.

What’s there for Violet to do in high society when she’s not even going to enter the wedding market?

Whether those people wanted to follow her or to mock her, the people who sent invitations and were consequently rejected all began to talk about Violet behind her back.

When the person directly involved was not in the room, all the people of the country would criticize and speak ill of them, even if said person was a daughter of a duke. Furthermore, she was someone who’s notorious for being a villainess, so everyone chimed in with all the rebukes.

There were some people who recalled Violet from three years ago, but they were totally unaware of the new rumors about Violet that were spreading throughout the Everett estate these days.

Their curiosity about her grew more and more each day, and as such, all the rumors about her soon became strangely exaggerated.

But Violet did not care. She knew that her name sometimes appeared in the papers or in some magazines, but she didn’t care to explain herself.

As she refused all invitations citing one excuse or another, Violet also didn’t do any work.

Whenever she was in front of a canvas these days, brush in hand, her head would just go blank.

She could always just doodle without thinking about it much, but that would just be a waste of the canvas and the pain.

It was a dreadful slump.

She’d rather shop around and buy clothes. As she was looking through a catalogue from a famous boutique, she suddenly closed it shut.

It’s only natural that the capital’s trends in fashion were different from that of other territories.

And the biggest shift in fashion since three years ago was the focus on looking slim. Women were expected to be heavily corseted just to make one’s waist look thin.

It’s not only that. With all the focus on making one’s body practically sculpted, a woman’s bust was expected to be shaped and bound as well. Violet had not a single desire to be dressed in such a style, even if it was the trend.

Naturally, the maids tried to dress Violet in those kinds of clothes, but the ducal lady staunchly refused.

She heard that this trend had started about a year ago, when the flower of high society—the young lady of the Tolofia County—had dressed in a style that showed off her body.

The anecdote was of no importance to Violet as she had no intention of entering high society.

However, she couldn’t continue for days and days with just the simple clothes she had brought with her from the Everett Duchy, so she’d have to buy clothes someday. Eventually.

“…I’m bored.”

Although there were some problems here and there, Violet lived well in her own way.

“Violet.”

“Vee? Violet, my lovely younger sister.”

“I’m listening, so stop it with the disgusting nonsense.”

Calling the name of the ducal lady who was doing well enough on her own, the duke’s heir laughed.

As she did nothing but read the papers or some books from time to time, the ducal lady was the very image of an unemployed individual. Well, in the first place, Roen was the one who said that his younger sister could just do as she wished.

“Now that I think about it, I don’t think there are many clothes that would suit you. Why don’t we go out together and have you measured for custom pieces?”

“……”

“Vee?”

“I was thinking about that just now. Sure I’ll have to get fitted, but the capital’s fashion trend right now is just so tacky.”

“Tacky?”

“Yes, it’s just a style that’s been brought back from two hundred years ago. Even if that’s the trend right now, it’s just so unbelievable how women’s bodies are being twisted so ridiculously like that.”

“Ah, I see.”

Violet was quite serious about this.

Whenever she painted, she used the style of deforma often—in art, it was to distort the subjects rather than portray them realistically. However, it was bizarre to see real people transforming their bodies just like that.

“Well, if you say so, then so be it.”

As Roen had no clue about fashion whatsoever, he was convinced that it’s just as she said.

“But still, you can’t wear the same clothes forever. If you don’t mind, why don’t you go out with me today? Get fitted for clothes that you want to wear.”

“Hmm…”

“If you just make the clothes that you wear the new trend, then that’s enough. Rather, there’s a limit to the rumors that I could still keep under control, so it’ll be better if you can get fitted for new clothes if possible.”

“Am I an embarrassment to you, Brother?”

“Huh, yeah?”

“I’m asking if you’re ashamed of me because I’m not following the trends and just wearing old clothes.”

“Huuuh? No, that’s not what I meant!”

Flustered for a while after that, it was only after he composed himself a little that he noticed the expression Violet had on her face, the one that she’d make whenever she was teasing him. She only ever called him ‘Brother’ whenever she was teasing him mischievously.

It was a title that meant she considered him to be family, but should he be happy about that, or should he be sad that she was calling him that in jest?