“Help Mina onto the sofa.”
I withdrew my gaze from Camilla and commanded the maids.
The maids exchanged surprised glances with each other.
“On the sofa…?”
They seemed confused about whether they should actually let a ‘mere half-blood maid’ sit on the Duchess’s sofa.
Camilla seemed to share this sentiment as she trembled, her face pale.
“Duchess, this is going too far! This sofa is where you and I often share conversations. How can you let such a vulgar half-blood…!”
I looked straight at Camilla, then again commanded the maids with emphasis.
“Right now, help Mina onto the sofa.”
This time, the maids didn’t hesitate.
As they helped Mina onto the sofa, she groaned in pain.
‘How much did she suffer…’
Mina’s hair was completely disheveled, her eyes swollen, and her hands were severely inflamed.
The still-steaming teapot, the tea-soaked floor, and even the whip…
Piecing together the situation, I gritted my teeth in anger.
‘Such a cruel human. No, she doesn’t even deserve to be called human.’
My fists clenched tightly.
“Check how much tea is left in the teapot.”
A maid checked the teapot at my request.
“About half is left, Duchess.”
I took the teapot from the maid and held it in front of Mina.
“Mina, I know it’s hard, but can you do one thing for me?”
Mina nodded weakly.
I whispered in her ear what I needed her to do.
“What? But Duchess, why would we need to…”
Mina blinked in confusion.
I winked at her and continued.
“Don’t worry about what happens next, just do as I ask.”
Mina hesitated for a moment before finally taking the teapot.
She closed her eyes, muttered something, and then handed it back to me with a resolute expression.
“Here, Duchess.”
I smiled wickedly, taking the teapot.
“Thank you, Mina. Now, I’ll show you a real spectacle as a reward.”
I began to approach Camilla slowly.
Sensing the threat, Camilla’s face drained of color.
“What… What are you going to do, Duchess?”
Looking at her, I slightly curled the corners of my eyes.
“Camilla, it’s too bad you were the only one having fun.”
“What? What do you mean…?”
“You recklessly damaged something precious to me.”
“…”
“So, it’s only fair I damage something of yours, isn’t it?”
I looked down at Camilla with a leisurely smile.
Then she screamed out in a final act of desperation.
“Duchess! Why are you doing this to me? I don’t understand why!”
“Really? You don’t understand why?”
I tried to calm my boiling heart with a deep breath, but looking at her face again, it was futile.
“Do you really not understand why, Camilla?”
“I don’t know! I really don’t!”
Camilla, still defiant in her eyes, was held down on her knees by the maids.
“I’m Camilla. The Countess of Dmitri! Not someone you can treat so casually, even if you are the Duchess!”
“I don’t need to be told who you are. I know better than anyone.”
I know your terrible secret, that you’re having an affair with your friend’s husband.
The kind-hearted protagonist, Robellia, might have needed Prince Cedric’s help to avenge you…
‘But I am not so easy to handle.’
A scoff escaped my lips.
A wicked woman versus a mad dog.
Who would win this battle?
“One thing is certain, at least today’s loser isn’t me.”
But the foolish Camilla continued to raise her voice in defiance.
“If you stop now, I will pretend this never happened. But…”
“But?”
“If you continue, I will take it as a declaration of eternal enmity from you, Camilla Dmitri!”
“Oh, really?”
“And from that moment on, I will relinquish my position as the Duchess’s maid, and also my cherished friendship!”
Camilla’s lips curled up smugly.
“Do you realize what it means to be at odds with Camilla Dmitri in the northern social circle?”
Camilla seemed to think she had the upper hand with that statement.
I sneered and slowly leaned in towards her.
“One’s true character is revealed when they feel they have been of help to someone.”
I then placed my hands on Camilla’s shoulders, looking into her eyes closely.
“Based on the choices made, people diverge into two paths.”
As my grip tightened, Camilla’s face turned increasingly pale.
“Some find joy in merely being helpful to others, and then there are…”
“…”
“…those who exploit it.”
My chilly voice made Camilla’s golden eyes flicker with alarm.
‘Such a socialite is too transparent.’
I straightened up, looking down at Camilla indifferently.
“People like you always overlook the fact that their position can be replaced at any time.”
“…”
“…How foolish.”
Camilla started to look around nervously.
I chuckled leisurely at her.
“In that sense, let me ask you this. Who would regret it more if we became enemies? Me, the Duchess, or you, the socialite Countess Dmitri, whose star could fall as swiftly as it rose?”
Camilla’s eyes widened in shock, as if she had received an immense blow.
She probably never imagined ending up in such a situation.
Her vacant eyes spoke volumes about her inner turmoil.
“The higher you climb, the more devastating the fall.”
I whistled and motioned with my finger from high to low, then glanced at the teapot.
Male lead is a Divorced Husband
She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”
Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.
After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.
She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.
But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…
Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!
――
This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!
The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.
That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”
Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”
The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”
That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”
Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”
The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.
Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.
“She was originally a ‘she’!”
At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.
The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”
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