Blackening the Affectionate Male Lead (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 9
Whitney was flustered after Chester’s visit. Melissa’s spite had reached its peak. Day after day, the attic was left in disarray, and her meals grew increasingly meager.
“Please come downstairs. Her Ladyship is asking for you. Oh, and knock.”
Rael, having already entered as usual, rapped on the door pointedly for show. Whitney lightly ignored her and stepped out of the attic.
‘Why would my stepmother be looking for me?’
Perhaps Chester had sent her a letter? If not, she couldn’t fathom any other reason for being summoned.
Whitney tightly clutched her dress with trembling hands. Thanks to Prince Chester, she had finally obtained one of Melissa’s dresses. Though it was absurd that her first proper dress in the Ducal Mansion came about this way, at least she now owned one.
She didn’t mind being called a “one-dress lady.” After all, Whitney still had the dress holding her mother’s keepsakes.
Descending to the lower floor, Whitney followed a servant to the study where her mother was. Barely had the door opened when her stepmother yanked her hand.
“Ugh.”
A sharp pain shot up her arm and spread through her body. The familiar ache, long ingrained in her flesh, once again clouded her thoughts. Whitney stared at the arm being held, then reached out with her free hand and pried her stepmother’s fingers away.
“That hurts. Let go and we can talk.”
“What on earth have you been doing while I was bedridden? You’ve utterly thrown the Ducal Mansion into chaos!”
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
“You don’t? They say a royal knight visited! What connections could you possibly have?!”
“It seems the steward failed to report properly.”
Whitney sighed. Or perhaps he deliberately relayed only the version that made her look bad.
“What do you mean, ‘failed to report properly’?”
“I merely received different books than the ones I’d ordered. While you were ill and confined to bed, I’ve been worried the steward might have been up to other mischief. Surely he hasn’t been harboring ulterior motives?”
“What are you implying?”
“A steward’s duty is to accurately report everything to you. The fact that he neglected even this much troubles me. If he arbitrarily summarized something as significant as a royal knight’s visit, that means he unilaterally decided what was important and what wasn’t.”
Cecilia’s expression shifted subtly as she listened to Whitney’s words. It was clear she’d never considered this before. Though she tried to conceal it, the slight trembling at the corners of her eyes betrayed her disturbed composure.
“I actually thought it fortunate that this incident connected me with the royal family. The social season is approaching soon, after all. I even hoped it might give me a chance to help my elder sister during my debutante events… Did I misunderstand something?”
“No, no. You’ve shown such admirable foresight.”
Cecilia’s tense expression softened slightly at Whitney’s words, and she took a step back. Yet distrust flickered in her eyes—she clearly didn’t fully believe Whitney’s offer of help—and she gave her a scrutinizing up-and-down glance.
“If there’s nothing else, may I go? Oh, Mother—I’d also like the dress payment we discussed last time.”
“Yes, I did promise to give it to you.”
Cecilia returned to her desk, pulled out the ledger, and wrote out a check drawn on the House of Duke Orleans account.
Whitney hadn’t expected her to so readily write the full amount. She’d assumed Cecilia would toss her a few coins at best—what had prompted this sudden generosity? Even as she accepted the check, Whitney couldn’t stop watching her.
“Thank you. With your kindness, I doubt I’ll bring any dishonor upon the House of Orleans.”
“Yes, I believe the same. I hope that as Princess Orleans, you’ll support Melissa. Now that you’ve connected with the royal knight, your debutante season seems promising indeed.”
“I’ll do my best to be of help.”
Whitney nodded and gave a bright smile at Cecilia’s words. Now she understood why her stepmother had parted with even the modest sum for a single dress.
“By the way, Mother—I’ve been unable to eat well lately; the food seems spoiled. If I collapse from this, I won’t be able to attend my debutante events… and then I’d fail to help my sister. I’m quite worried.”
“I’ll ensure your meals are prepared properly so you won’t collapse. Don’t fret.”
But Whitney turned and left with an innocent expression. Cecilia’s greed would pave yet another path for her.
[This is the timeline separator]Simply because a royal knight had visited the Ducal Mansion, Whitney finally received human treatment. How long had it been since she’d last gotten proper food delivered to the attic?
“What magic did you work, exactly?”
Rael asked, setting down the tray of food. Her side-glance was sharp. Whitney tilted her head and asked,
“Curious? I don’t mind telling you, but it’s unwise for a servant to take too much interest in her master’s affairs.”
Rael’s eyebrows twitched slightly. Though clearly bursting with questions, she pressed her lips together and fell silent. Seeing Rael hesitate, Whitney smiled and beckoned her over.
She opened the window, and a cool breeze flowed into the room.
“At least you’re not completely foolish. Since you know when to stay quiet, come look. Something interesting is happening in the Ducal Mansion.”
Whitney settled herself by the window and stared pointedly at Rael, who shuffled forward reluctantly.
“Watch closely. See what consequences my words have brought.”
Frowning, Rael peered out the window.
Whitney set the plate of food on a small table and perched on the windowsill.
“It looks like rain. How unfortunate—to be cast out on a rainy day.”
The earthy scent of wet soil and damp air filled the air. Though the attic usually grew uncomfortably humid when it rained, Whitney wasn’t in a bad mood today. As she sipped warm soup and gazed outside, her eyes drifted downward.
“Mistress! Please, don’t cast me out! I have nowhere else to go! I came here trusting you—how can you abandon me like this!”
“Shut your mouth! Either silence that racket or I’ll have it sewn shut. Dismissal is my prerogative. You should’ve done your job properly instead of making decisions on your own!”
The steward’s voice echoed loudly through the mansion grounds as servants dragged him out.
Cecilia had dismissed the steward after hearing Whitney’s words. Hallao, who had always treated Whitney with contempt and acted above his station, kept insisting he’d been wronged—but to no avail.
Rael covered her mouth, her face stricken with shock at the steward’s pitiful state.
“You’ll regret this! You’ll regret it once I’m gone!”
In truth, Whitney hadn’t expected her stepmother to act so swiftly.
She tore off a soft piece of bread, dipped it into the soup, and watched the steward’s humiliation with quiet satisfaction. However harsh it seemed, this was the man who’d served alongside her since her father’s death—when Cecilia replaced everyone in the Ducal Mansion, he’d been the one constant for eleven whole years.
It had taken Cecilia less than a week to seize control of the Ducal Mansion after her father’s passing and fill it with her own people, yet those she appointed had, surprisingly, obeyed her every command.
They never contradicted her and followed her orders meekly.
“It’s said people don’t do things they’ll regret. Yet everyone in this Ducal Mansion seems to regret so much. Don’t you agree?”
“…Surely it wasn’t you—no, Princess—who asked for the steward’s dismissal?”
Rael immediately corrected the way she addressed Whitney. Whitney looked down at the steward groveling on the floor, her expression carefree.
“I merely said a word to Mother. Failing to deliver proper reports is a steward’s dereliction of duty. We can’t let the Ducal Mansion fall into ruin.”
Rael straightened her posture, her face tense. Noticing the servant’s gaze instinctively drop lower, a faint smirk curled Whitney’s lips.
“In future, please pay more attention to the food—especially desserts. And I’d appreciate it if you refrained from tampering with my meals. Is that too much to ask?”
“No, not at all! Please don’t worry about your meals from now on, Princess.”
Rael forced a smile. Whitney knew well it wouldn’t be so easily changed by a single incident—but she was satisfied knowing she’d already set change in motion.
‘This is how I’ll change things—one by one.’
Yet if she remained passive, her stepmother’s people would quickly fill those positions again.
‘I need to find my informant.’
She intended to locate her father’s scattered loyalists within the mansion and gather them once more. She’d also secretly sent a letter to her aunt, though no reply had come yet.
Perhaps her aunt was weighing the pros and cons—calculating whether aligning with Whitney would bring profit or loss. Whitney desperately needed her aunt’s support.
‘If she’d only become my guardian, everything would be so much easier.’
Her relationship with Chester might also progress. Now that he understood her standing in the Ducal Mansion, she was more likely to be a liability than an asset to him. Whitney hoped the herbs she’d given him would prove effective.
‘I still can’t figure out why His Highness smelled of Revenia—but if he’s been taking them, there should be noticeable improvement.’
Whitney stepped away from the window as the rain pattered steadily down. After staring blankly at the steward sobbing on the ground, she closed the window.
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
_____
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Chapter Comments (1)
Inline Comments (9)
Cecilia hosted parties every two weeks, inviting guests to the Ducal Mansion—lik
What if it was Prince Carl? Or the man who brought them from the countryside and helped them?
“Meeting someone privately?”
I think she dyes her hair, or that she’s an illegitimate daughter of another man.
Mother would surely be furious, so it remained to be seen how she’d react. Judgi
I hope Cecile gets a very gentle punishment that cuts her down 🙂🔪
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This is the first time I’ve seen a good aunt help the heroine; I think this novel is different.