Eventually, our steps reached the banks of the river that crossed the city.
The river, not very wide, had not only a sturdy and broad bridge that carriages could pass over, but also a narrow stone bridge that could only be crossed on foot.
Lord Joseph and I paused briefly on the arched stone bridge.
The scenery was incredibly beautiful, with the streetlight’s glow spreading across the surface of the dark river water flowing beneath the stone bridge.
However, my excited resolve had to, regrettably, be postponed for next time.
“Huh?”
“Oh my.”
A droplet spread with a plop into the black water of the river whose depth was unfathomable. At the same time, a cold liquid fell on my crown.
“It’s raining.”
“So suddenly……”
It wasn’t raining heavily just yet, but the size of the raindrops wetting the ground was unusual. It seemed like it would pour down soon.
No wonder there hadn’t been a single star visible in the sky earlier.
“Please cover yourself with this at least, my lady.”
Lord Joseph hurriedly placed the coat he had been carrying on his shoulder over my head.
“Thank you, Lord Jose……”
……Ah.
But at that moment, I realized something.
Then my lips, about to call for Loretta, froze cold.
[This is the timeline separator]A flash of light from outside momentarily penetrated deep into the dark underground passage.
Thanks to this, the girl quietly descending underground turned her head towards the distant window.
Amber eyes gazed indifferently at the rain pouring outside the window.
A moment later, with a rumbling sound, the sky began to howl and pour down rain.
“Now it’s raining instead of snowing.”
It was spring, with March almost over.
While rain is common in other regions, in the northern Daiern, it snowed until the end of March.
Still, it had been warm for the past few days, and today it seemed to be raining instead of snowing. Real spring was beginning in Daiern.
Well, in any case, it wasn’t a topic Euphemina was interested in.
Whether it became spring or not, lush plants still grew in her greenhouse and flowers fluttered their beautiful dress hems.
The albo plant Joseph had gifted her was still healthy even after the fierce snow storm.
She soon lost interest and descended the dark stairs.
Though she didn’t carry even a common candlestick in her hand, she had no trouble going down the stairs without any light source.
Especially on days like today when flashing lightning occasionally illuminated the stairs.
At last, her steps reached their intended destination.
The entrance to the underground prison.
There were no guards.
Knowing well that they briefly left their posts for a shift change at this hour, Euphemina unlocked the door with a key borrowed from Lieselotte’s study and entered inside the stone door.
“Have you come, little flower?”
At that moment, lightning flashed, brightly illuminating the inside of the underground prison.
A woman in tattered clothes and disheveled hair sat inside the iron bars with shackles on her legs.
The beautiful woman once called Mistress Dorothea.
However, her appearance, ravaged by months of imprisonment in Daiern’s underground dungeon, showed no trace of her former beauty.
Especially the gleam in her eyes, visible amidst her rapidly aged wrinkled skin and dry hair, was as eerie as a witch (Hag) from a fairy tale.
It hadn’t been long since Euphemina started visiting Dorothea.
It was on the night of the snow storm, when she saw the mark Joseph had left on Lieselotte’s neck.
The mottled bruise marks on her neck.
Lieselotte brushed it off, saying it was from scratching her necklace, but Euphemina wasn’t fooled by such a playful excuse.
‘Lord Joseph is trying to take Mother away.’
Lieselotte might not have known, but Euphemina had received explicit sex education from her father since she was very young. That’s what the ‘inspections’ were about.
He wanted to prevent her from getting close to any man until he married her off.
The periodic checks of her body weren’t just for the purpose of managing his daughter’s figure.
It was to look for any sexual traces on her body.
As a result, as soon as Euphemina saw the marks on Lieselotte’s nape, she couldn’t help but realize what they meant.
‘Surely Mother isn’t really planning to marry Lord Joseph?’
That absolutely could not happen. Lieselotte belonged to the siblings. She was my mother.
‘How could I have taken Mother away from Father only for this…!’
A new father was out of the question.
She wanted to punish Lord Joseph. The first thing that came to her mind was Mistress Dorothea.
She was quite strong. She had many subordinates too.
Remembering this, Euphemina went to find Dorothea.
The adventure of getting there was quite long, but not important. Because in the end, she was able to meet Dorothea.
Euphemina asked like that. The woman with the witch’s face answered from the darkness.
Why don’t we help each other?
“The smell……”
Euphemina frowned. Truly, an increasingly indescribable stench was emanating from Dorothea.
It was the smell of rotting filth.
Dorothea cackled at Euphemina’s reaction, laughing in an unpleasant tone.
“I see our little flower has grown up too delicately to be used to such smells. If you set me free, you wouldn’t have to smell this anymore.”
“I told you that’s not possible. It’s Mother’s orders.”
Euphemina spoke in a nasally voice while holding her nose, and Dorothea burst into laughter again. It meant she had expected such a reaction.
“Anyway, I did what you said.”
“Really, without missing anything?”
“Yes, folding the blue paper strangely and making it arrive at the place you mentioned. I did it all.”
It was a signal sent to the underworld. Dorothea nodded with satisfaction.
“Well done. Now we just need to wait a few days, my pretty flower. When that blue paper arrives in your room again, bring it to me. What you wanted will be fulfilled then.”
Rumble, the sound of thunder echoed outside again.
Amidst that, Euphemina detected the sound of metal boots approaching the underground prison.
It seemed the changing guard was coming down. The brief secret meeting with Dorothea was over.
“I’m going. Next time, ask the guard for some water to wash with. It’s so dirty, I might catch a disease.”
“Wait a moment, little flower. You haven’t forgotten the payment you promised me, have you?”
“Elder brother Kar has that ointment. Don’t worry, I’ll bring it when things are finished well.”
Euphemina answered like that and left through the stone door without looking back.
Left in the darkness, Dorothea watched with interest as Euphemina once again slipped out of the underground without being caught by the guards.
Her lips smacked.
‘I really should make that child my successor.’
The more she saw her, the more she liked the girl. A pretty face, but with a refreshing personality and a vicious temperament.
No matter if it’s family or siblings, she can be ruthless and cruel about certain things.
She was truly the ideal child she had wanted. If only I could have that girl in the palm of my hand…….
‘It wouldn’t be difficult to get my hands on the underworld either!’
Dorothea was filled with hope. There was a time when she thought she would never escape this underground prison, but indeed, there’s always a way out even if the sky falls.
‘If I use that flower girl well, that is.’
Soon her subordinates who received the smoke signal will infiltrate Daiern Castle.
When that time comes, she would be able to take revenge on the bastards who inflicted such humiliation on her.
Her faded blue-green eyes gleamed fiercely.
‘Just teach them a lesson? What nonsense!’
Dorothea intended to completely cut off the Daiern bloodline. Whether by killing them or selling them off as goods.
Of course, little flower was an exception. She needed her to protect herself as the next Duchess of Daiern.
The Landgritz woman that little flower was obsessed with was also excluded.
However, that didn’t mean she intended to leave that woman unscathed.
‘It would be good to paralyze her limbs and turn her into a pretty doll.’
Little flower probably wouldn’t care much whether that woman was intact or not anyway.
The important thing would be the desire to have that woman all to herself.
‘And as for that detestable Joseph……’
It would be fine to turn him into an idiot and put him up for sale in the black market. There should be demand since his face is top-notch.
‘The same goes for the other bastards!’
Her heart raced. It felt like everything would work out well.
My Step-brother Is Obsessed With Me (Female-dominant)
A gentle female protagonist vs pitiful in the early stage, and a sick male protagonist in the later stage
Cheng Songer transmigrated into the body of a vicious cannon fodder female supporting character with the same name as her in a female-dominant novel.
In the original story, the cannon fodder female supporting character was inhumane, committing domestic violence, gambling excessively, being lustful, and even wanting to sell her stepbrother to a brothel for money.
As luck would have it, she just happened to transmigrate at this time.
Seeing Cheng Qingzhi biting his lip, enduring the tears in his eyes, looking pitiful, her heart softened.
She stuffed the money back into the Madam’s hand and reached out to him.
“Brother, come home with me.”
