Evelina’s heart was calm. She felt like these people were overthinking too much. They probably thought that just because she had brought the grains, she would dread the pleasant weather.

While things averted from her initial expectations and calculations and affected her at first, Evelina was clearly not the person who would wish for a disaster just to prove her win.

With no drought happening, things would just look better for the entire kingdom that had suffered in her past life.

As for her... she would always find a way out of all mishaps this time.

Thinking of that, she ate her fill.

And the sight of her enjoying the dishes and even looking actively for desserts startled the other guests, and even Ace...

Later that night, back in the silence of the manor, Evelina stood before the window of her study. The rain had finally stopped, replaced by a thick fog that rolled off the damp fields.

10,000 bushels of wheat that were rapidly losing their value. The System had been silent for hours.

System, she thought. What changed in this life? All this lush and green but I still can’t forget the destruction I had seen in my past where even the crops burnt down.

Suddenly, the air in the room seemed to vibrate.

A high-pitched ping echoed in her mind.

The blue screen flickered into existence, but the light was the shade of a warning red.

[CAUTIONARY ALERT: MARKET ANOMALY]

[Target Asset: Wheat (Grade A-C)]

[Current Status: Market Oversupply]

[Price Drop: -18% in the last 6 hours]

Evelina’s heart hammered against her ribs. She watched as the numbers scrolled down, the value of her massive hoard evaporating in real-time.

[Cumulative Loss: 60% of Total Liquid Wealth]

[Notification: Market Value of Wheat has dropped to a five-year low.]

Evelina gripped the edge of her desk and looked up at the sky.

[Host, you can use all your Gold to manage the grains by...]

"No..." Evelina cut the system off.

The System was silent for a moment before it displayed: [Any later and the loss would not be redeemable even in the slightest]

Evelina didn’t say another word as she looked at the sky where the birds flew away from their nests in flocks.

The unsettled feeling that had lingered in chest only heightened further, "I won’t use the Gold..."

Before she could process her own thoughts and finish speaking, a heavy and hot wind slammed against the window of her study. The wind smelled like scorched dust.

The [Merchant’s Eye] flickered over the windowpane, and for a split second, the value of the glass dropped to zero as it cracked under the sudden change in pressure.

[Warning: Critical Atmospheric Shift Detected]

The sudden, hot wind that had rattled the windowpane subsided as quickly as it had arrived, leaving behind a heavier silence.

Evelina stood in the center of her study, her chest heaving as she stared at the hairline fracture in the glass. The scent of scorched dust still lingered.

"System," she whispered, her voice trembling with a rare thread of raw nerves, "I need an immediate update. Ignore the market data. I want the [Regional Weather Forecast]. Now."

She didn’t care about the gold at this point. She didn’t care about the mocking letters from her father or the mockery.

Because, what she observed made her feel like the current situation was way ahead of something that can be controlled by human intervention.

The blue interface flickered, but it lacked its usual clarity. The light casted jagged shadows across her maps of the subterranean aquifers.

[Processing Request...]

[Analyzing Atmospheric Data...]

[Warning: Data Inconsistency Detected.]

"Force the update," Evelina commanded, slamming her hand onto the desk, "I paid for the 100% accuracy report. Use the Heart-Wrecker points if you have to, but I need an answer."

The screen turned a deep shade before going black.

Evelina closers her eyes, slumping into her chair.

A ’chime’ rang.

Evelina’s eyes snapped open as text began to crawl across the screen, not in frantic, overlapping fragments.

[ERROR: CRITICAL TIMELINE DIVERGENCE]

[Source: Host’s Interference (The ’Midsummer Massacre’ Event)]

[Analysis: Butterfly Effect; The total social and economic destabilization of the Snow family and the early introduction of foreign trade routes have altered the events.]

Evelina felt the blood drain from her face as her eyes tracked the flickering red text that followed.

[Current Forecast: The 100-Year Drought (Probability: 14% and falling)]

[Projected Outcome: Continued temperate weather for the next 24 months.]

[Conclusion: The tragedy of the past life has been successfully averted through Host’s action.]

Evelina fell silent. All the dots seemed to be joining well but she felt like something was so terribly off.

[System Suggestion: Immediate Liquidation Required.]

[Advice: Sell the 10,000 bushels of wheat at the current market low. Current projections indicate a total loss of estate solvency within 14 days if grain is retained. To minimize the ’Heart-Wreck’ to the Host’s own life, abandon the grain monopoly strategy.]

The Villainess Vengeance System, whom she had considered her closest advisor in this life, was telling her to surrender. By being a ’villainess’ who took control too early, she had smoothed out the ripples of chaos that had led to the drought in her previous life.

She looked at her hands. They were shaking.

In her past life, the drought had been a slow and agonizing. It had started with the drying of the wells in late spring, leading to the Great Famine by autumn. It was the event that had broken the back of the Empire and allowed her father to sell her off like livestock to satisfy his debts.

Although it was delayed, she had bought the grain to be the one holding the leash.

But in her current state, she was unable to push herself to sell the grain. At the same time, keeping it only meant eventual ruin.

[System Note: Host’s emotional state is reaching critical despair. Would you like to activate the emotional dampener for 500 points?]

"Shut up," Evelina hissed.

She stood up and walked back to the window.