Can an Enemy Become Salvation? - Chapter 18

At first, Lia didn’t know what was happening, but when she discovered that Ibnel was completely soaked, she was greatly surprised.

“My lady!”

She tried to wipe the moisture off her face, which was in a terrible state, but it was a meaningless action for her who was already completely wet.

“What should we do……”

Lia’s eyes reddened as if she was about to burst into tears.

Servants passing by gathered one by one at the sudden commotion. Even Jena, who had splashed the dirty water, was taken aback by the unexpected situation.

She never thought Ibnel would take the hit instead.

What broke through the silence was a voice full of mockery. That small sound began to spread gradually.

“Look at her state.”

“She looks completely pathetic.”

Ibnel, who roughly pushed her wet hair back, first checked Lia’s condition. Though not completely soaked, she was in much better shape than herself.

“Are you alright?”

“It’s not me, but you, my lady……”

She gently comforted Lia, who couldn’t continue speaking, then turned her gaze to the people mocking her.

And without saying a word, she just looked at them as if daring them to do more. She didn’t hide the killing intent in her two eyes, revealing it as it was.

Even though Ibnel showed a miserable appearance in front of everyone, she neither cowered nor ran away.

Perhaps sensing the unusual atmosphere, the murmuring gradually subsided. Eventually, complete silence returned to that space.

At that moment, she slowly opened her mouth.

“What? Seems like you’re having fun, keep laughing. I’m covered in dirty water just as you planned, Jena.”

Receiving Ibnel’s full gaze, Jena froze on the spot. No, for an unknown reason, fear consumed her entire body.

“I’m asking if you’ve been having fun all this time!”

Soon, a roaring voice burst from Ibnel’s mouth.

Thinking about how difficult and frightening it must have been for Lia alone until now, she couldn’t control her emotions.

Then her gaze turned to the people who were watching her.

“Ah, is that the same for everyone here? Did you think I was quietly enduring because I was afraid of your pathetic acts? Shall I show you what’s truly frightening, using Jena as an example?”

As she spoke, Ibnel’s hand naturally moved towards the gun at her waist.

She wanted to pull the trigger right now, but even without doing so, it would serve as a clear warning.

If she had realized even a little later, it would have been Lia being laughed at in front of all these people.

“Why is everyone silent? You were talking so well earlier.”

As the composure she had maintained so far crumbled in an instant, thoughts she would never have under normal circumstances dominated her mind.

Those present didn’t know how to react to the situation that was unfolding so ominously. It was completely different from when they had openly disregarded her and she had remained still.

At that moment, Lia, standing behind, hurriedly grabbed Ibnel’s arm. And as if she had seen through her thoughts, she desperately shook her head.

As if to say that whatever she was thinking of doing now, she absolutely must not do it.

“My lady, please calm down.”

She didn’t want the negative views towards her to increase because of this incident.

At that voice, Ibnel, struggling to regain her composure, withdrew her hand from her waist.

“Lady Ibnel, what on earth……”

Emil, who seemed to have heard the commotion belatedly, approached the scene of the incident. She looked quite surprised to see the wet Ibnel.

“Ask Jena. She’s the one who made me look like this. And the other maids know about this too.”

“Is that true?”

Emil’s expression hardened in an instant. This was the Imperial Palace, and moreover, where the Emperor stayed. How could such an absurd act be committed here?

“Well, that……”

Seeing Jena unable to answer easily, she sighed. For now, resolving this situation was the priority.

“First, you need to go to your room and wash……”

“I’m disappointed in the head maid as well.”

Ibnel’s cold gaze turned to Emil. Even she flinched at the coldness contained in those two differently colored eyes.

“You knew too, didn’t you? Even if not in detail, that Lia was being treated unfairly.”

Emil’s silence spoke of her affirmation.

It was clear that Jena and the other maids had become so emboldened to commit such acts because Emil, their superior, had not restrained them.

“If the head maid had said just one word, would things have gone this far?”

Emil had nothing to say even if she had ten mouths.

It was as Ibnel said.

She had turned a blind eye, knowing that Lia was doing work she shouldn’t have to do, and even overexerting herself by doing the work of other maids alone.

There was hostility towards Aodin in a corner of her heart too. So she rationalized to herself that that much was okay.

But when Ibnel pointed it out precisely, she couldn’t look her in the eye.

“I clearly asked you. To treat Lia the same as everyone else. Was that such a difficult thing to do?”

Even at her sarcastic words, Emil just kept her head bowed.

Glancing around, she saw that no one was regretting their wrongdoings. What made her even angrier was that there was nothing she could do for Lia except confront them like this.

Ibnel didn’t have the power to make them kneel and bow their heads. At this moment, that realization hit her painfully.

“You won’t listen to my words anyway, so head maid, make sure to tell them clearly. If something like this happens again, their heads will fly off immediately. My reputation is already ruined anyway, so what difference would it make if I killed someone here?”

People felt more terrified as they sensed that she was not joking, but speaking in complete seriousness.

“If you have something to say, say it to my face, don’t do such cowardly things behind my back. It’s very ugly. Ah, perhaps my request will be meaningless this time too, since the head maid is the same as these people.”

If they had targeted her from the beginning, she wouldn’t have been this angry.

“Let’s go, Lia.”

After saying everything she wanted to say, she turned around and stopped when she saw Shuher and Demil standing not far away.

Of all people, she had to show this state to the one she least wanted to see.

‘You’re probably the same.’

They must be laughing at her. No, this might have been the situation they had been hoping for.

The person they despised so much had been humiliated in front of everyone.

As Shuher and Demil approached, everyone present bowed their heads at once. Ibnel felt miserable at the stark difference from when they were in front of her.

She had known from the beginning. That Shuher would do nothing except preserve her life.

‘Even knowing that, I chose to be here. But when such a situation actually occurs, it’s really terrible.’

Even at this moment, there’s probably only one thing Shuher is concerned about.

So she spoke calmly to the two people approaching her.

“Don’t worry. The subjugation will proceed as planned.”

With those final words, she walked past them with Lia. Everyone just avoided her messy state, with no one stopping her or speaking to her.

Even Shuher just watched her retreating figure. But what was contained in his eyes was neither the joy, satisfaction, nor mockery that Ibnel had expected.

Meanwhile, back in the room, Lia was busy worrying about the wet Ibnel.

“First, go to the bathroom and wash, my lady. You might catch a cold like this.”

Ibnel firmly grasped the hands of the flustered Lia.

“I’m sorry, Lia. I should have realized sooner. I was so focused on my own affairs that I didn’t pay attention to you. I shouldn’t have done that.”

Thinking about how scared Lia must have been, yet pretending to be okay for her sake, her heart felt like it was being torn apart.

At Ibnel’s sincere apology, tears filled Lia’s eyes. Remembering the events of the past few days, and seeing her in this state after trying to save her, sadness welled up.

“No, I’m really fine.”

“How can you be fine when your hands have become like this in just a few days. How long were you planning to hide it?”

Her hands were cold and swollen, probably from doing laundry until just now.

“This happened because I lack power.”

“Please don’t say such things. I know how hard you’re working, my lady.”

Others might not have paid attention, but Lia knew. That she woke up earlier than anyone to train, and stayed up late reading books, going to sleep last.

Even amidst all that, she was always busy worrying about her whenever they met. So that level of bullying wasn’t difficult at all.

“You stood up for me just now too. That’s enough. So please wash up now. You have a very important task starting tomorrow.”

“You’re right.”

Ibnel went into the bathroom to wash her dirty body and change clothes. But the resentment still remained intact in a corner of her heart.

[This is the timeline separator]

“I apologize, Your Majesty. For causing such a disturbance.”

Shuher just looked at Emil, who had her head bowed. He had unintentionally witnessed the entire situation.

From Ibnel unhesitatingly saving Lia, to receiving everyone’s mockery and showing her anger.

It was the second time she had shown such anger. And both times were for the sake of the maid named Lia.

“Why are you apologizing when you did as I ordered?”

Strictly speaking, Emil had done nothing wrong to him, as she had followed Shuher’s order to just observe.

“Is it because of that request the woman made?”

“Yes… After all, I did break a promise.”

As Emil recalled Ibnel’s face sincerely thanking her, she couldn’t raise her head in front of her.

“Moreover, strictly speaking, Your Majesty ordered me to watch Lady Ibnel.”

She was supposed to just monitor Lia, but her personal feelings got in the way.

“As the head maid, I was not rational. Causing such a disturbance in the palace is tantamount to smearing Your Majesty’s face.”

Shuher listened to Emil’s words and slowly opened his mouth.

“Dismiss all the servants involved in this incident. And… from now on, have that maid Lia exclusively attend to that woman.”

While the punishment for the servants was understandable, the last order seemed like a consideration for Ibnel. But Emil put aside her doubts and bowed her waist.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I will take care of it quickly.”

Left alone, Shuher recalled the image of Ibnel walking away in a mess.

It was the situation he had so desperately wanted. For her to be laughed at in front of everyone and feel powerless.

But strangely, he didn’t feel happy. It wasn’t as satisfying as he had thought.

‘Even in that situation, she brought up the subjugation first.’

In fact, he had expected Ibnel to strongly protest on the spot. To demand punishment for the maids who caused the problem.

But she left without saying a word about that.

It was a completely opposite behavior from when she approached him without hesitation to ask about things she didn’t know.

Just as he was wondering why she didn’t do so when she cared about that maid enough to risk her life, Shuher suddenly remembered what she had said in the library.

[“I think it’s Your Majesty who is mistaken.”]

“Mistaken……”

An Indifferent Woman is the One Men Desire the Most

One-line summary: The female lead is actually cold-hearted and extremely rational. She has stage-by-stage relationships and won’t two-time, but there will always be someone who secretly likes her.

This novel has the following triggers, so if you’re sensitive to these, please don’t read:

1. The female lead has had many relationships, but she treated each one seriously and broke up properly.

It’s just that the men unilaterally pestered her incessantly. For the female lead, when she doesn’t like someone anymore, she simply doesn’t like them.

(This applies to her relationships with Male Lead 1, 2, 3, and 4 as well, but she’s loyal in each 1-on-1 relationship!)

2. In this novel, Male Lead 2 and the female lead kiss in a car, and Male Lead 1 sees it and beats up Male Lead 2.

The female lead calls the police and sends both Male Lead 1 and 2 to the police station! Male Lead 1 begs the female lead not to break up with him.

3. Male Lead 1 has a gentle appearance but an obsessive personality.

Male Lead 2 has a delicate and soft appearance, slightly green tea-like (two-faced).

Male Lead 3 is a youthful college student and a smart person who has secretly liked the female lead for a long time.

Male Lead 4 is the female lead’s father’s special assistant, a business elite with deep, hidden thoughts.

4. At the beginning of this novel, the female lead has already broken up with Male Lead 1 (Chapter 4) and gotten back together with Male Lead 2 (ex-boyfriend).

5. Enter with caution if you have triggers!!!