In the Midst of Revenge on Cinderella (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 12
After leaving the bookstore, I sank down onto the floor, utterly exhausted. Right now, I felt exactly like a naive country girl who’d just arrived in the capital and had her entire bag stolen by some street thugs.
“Damn those bastards. Are they really just common thieves?”
I whipped my head around and glared back at the bookstore.
Karl and his red-headed henchman had created such an atmosphere that they couldn’t possibly retract their offer and pretend the commission had never happened. In the end, I had no choice but to sign the contract—and even hand over the 10-gold deposit without protest.
“Spending 160 gold just to deliver a free catalog…?”
160 gold was a huge sum—enough for an ordinary commoner to save for several years. It was also more than half of the emergency funds I’d secretly squirreled away. No matter how famous the guild was, their commission couldn’t possibly be this outrageous.
“Should I go back in right now and tell them to forget the whole thing?”
But then I recalled Karl’s calm smile and chilling eyes, and shook my head. He definitely seemed like a guild master—the sheer pressure he exuded was anything but ordinary.
I’d already abandoned any thought of reporting him to the guards the moment I heard his parting words as I left the basement.
“Just in case you’re wondering—you’re not thinking of reporting this, are you? Well, go ahead if you want, but it won’t do you any good.”
Judging by his composed expression, he clearly had some kind of connection with the guard. Even if I reported him, he’d probably get released easily. The same would likely happen even if I took it to the palace. Worse, I might end up facing retaliation.
“Damn it… so I’ve just lost half my entire fortune?”
I felt like grabbing my past self by the collar and shaking some sense into her for even thinking of this guild. All I needed was to quietly search through the 7,000 books in the library—even if it took some time!
“Did I seriously have some deep-seated grudge with that man in my past life?”
Otherwise, how could he possibly keep interfering every single time I tried to do something? As the man himself had said, this had to be fate.
Truly, a cursed fate!
[This is the timeline separator]“My money… my hard-earned 160 gold…”
Do you have any idea how I saved that up!
Returning to the Second Prince’s palace with no income and only losses, I kept thinking of those 160 gold coins vanishing into thin air and repeatedly banged my forehead against the corridor pillar.
Even someone as optimistic as me couldn’t stay unfazed after losing half my entire fortune in just half a day. And the thought of having to personally search through 7,000 books in the library already gave me a splitting headache.
Just then, someone at the end of the corridor waved enthusiastically at me.
“Lady Reneola!”
Silvia rushed over and stared wide-eyed at my forehead.
“Why is your forehead so red?”
“It’s nothing.”
As I rubbed my forehead in reply, Silvia tilted her head, studying my expression.
“Did something happen?”
I quietly gazed into Silvia’s innocent eyes, then firmly grasped both her shoulders.
“Silvia.”
“Y-yes?”
Her eyes widened in surprise at my serious expression.
“Stay sharp and live carefully. And above all, absolutely avoid that damn carrot. Understand?”
Don’t end up getting scammed like I did. Though my advice was sincere, Silvia—who knew nothing of what had happened—just looked utterly bewildered. Still, she nodded blankly and held out the books she’d been carefully carrying.
“I brought a few of the books I mentioned earlier.”
I looked down at the books she held. Titles like *The Five Elements of Magic*, *When Did Magic First Appear?*, and *The Proper Attitude for Understanding Magic*—all seemed like basic introductory texts on magic.
Right, solid fundamentals are always important in studying. But I simply didn’t have time for this now. I already had 7,000 books weighing on my shoulders. Didn’t she have something more direct? Like, say, *101 Ways to Break a Fairy’s Curse*?
But I couldn’t bring myself to say that to Silvia, whose eyes sparkled with hopeful anticipation.
“Thank you, Silvia. I’ll read them slowly.”
“Yes!”
Silvia beamed and offered to walk me all the way to my room.
“By the way, what’s that book you’re holding?”
“This one?”
I held up the book I’d been clutching. The red-haired clerk had thrust it into my hands as I left the store, half-dazed. He said he thought I liked it, so he was giving it to me as a gift.
“*My Lord Duke, I Can’t Take It Anymore*? Did you buy it at the bookstore?”
“They gave it to me. Apparently, some duke from an empire searched the entire continent to find this book as a gift for his wife. It became so famous after that, they reprinted it after it had gone out of print.”
“Wow, that’s such a romantic story.”
“Want to read it?”
“Will you lend it to me?”
“You can even keep it.”
Chatting with Silvia as we walked, my agitated mood began to calm down a little.
‘Well, what’s done is done.’
Since dwelling on it would only make me feel worse, I decided to just forget about it and opened the door.
“Hey! Don’t you know how to knock?”
Ginger let out a shrill scream, jerking dramatically as if she’d just been caught doing something extremely incriminating.
“Do people really knock before entering their own room?”
I crossed my arms and stared calmly at Ginger. She sputtered awkwardly, her eyes darting around.
Seeing her flustered gaze, I suspiciously scanned the area around her. She was leaning unnaturally against my desk, which looked highly suspicious.
“What are you doing at my desk?”
“W-what would I be doing? I was just opening the window for a moment. Are you seriously suspicious of me?”
Ginger frowned, clearly annoyed by my overreaction. Then she roughly shoved both Silvia and me aside and stormed out of the room.
“Lady Reneola, please quickly check if anything’s missing.”
Silvia watched Ginger’s retreating back with concern. I rummaged through my desk, which clearly showed signs of having been touched.
“Nothing seems to be missing.”
“That’s a relief. Please be careful. Ginger will definitely try every trick in the book to find something to use against you.”
I nodded, and Silvia looked around the room.
“So this is where Lady Reneola stays.”
Though it was no different from other maids’ rooms, Silvia looked incredibly excited.
“Can I come visit sometimes?”
“Of course. Come by often.”
At my eager nod, Silvia’s face brightened even more.
“I’ll visit on nights when Ginger’s staying out! We could lie together in bed and tell ghost stories all night!”
Already excited, Silvia declared she’d bring candles and cookies. I pulled her down to sit on the bed.
“Silvia, I have a question.”
“Yes, please go ahead.”
“When you have a difficult problem, you usually commission a guild, right?”
“Yes, though it’s not very common.”
Silvia nodded, then asked worriedly,
“Did something happen? Is that why you looked so upset earlier?”
“No, not exactly… It’s just that my younger sibling needs something, but it’s hard to obtain. Do you happen to know any trustworthy guilds in the capital?”
“Hmm…”
Silvia rolled her eyes in thought, then suddenly gasped as if remembering something.
“I did hear something through the grapevine.”
“Where?”
My eyes lit up, and Silvia glanced around the empty room unnecessarily before lowering her voice.
“There’s one called ‘Black Horse.’ They’re infamous for always completing any commission, no matter what. People say it’s a terrifying dark guild that never refuses dangerous jobs. But their commission process is so complicated that nobody’s ever actually seen someone who’s used them.”
Having just been ripped off by the guild master of that very dangerous guild, I grimaced sourly. Complicated? It was downright sloppy! Oblivious that I was the one who’d actually commissioned them, Silvia continued.
“No matter how urgent it is, you’d better avoid getting involved with a dark guild. You never know what those people might do.”
“…I’ll be careful. Are there any other guilds besides that one?”
“Hmm… I’m not sure. There are plenty of guilds, but many are shady. It’s not easy to find a trustworthy one. Just last month, there was even a newspaper article about a guild that took the commission fee and fled overnight.”
“I see…”
I’d hoped to commission another reliable guild if possible, but that hope was dashed. In the end, I’d have no choice but to search through all 7,000 books myself.
“By the way, can maids borrow books from the library too?”
I’d been too stunned by the number 7,000 earlier to even ask. Now, eager to start searching for even a single book right away, I felt impatient.
“Of course! The Royal Library is open to everyone working in the palace.”
I breathed a quiet sigh of relief at Silvia’s words. If maids hadn’t been allowed in, I’d have had no choice but to sneak in secretly at night.
After parting ways with Silvia—who regretfully couldn’t come along due to other duties—I headed straight for the library. Stepping through the heavy mahogany doors, I found the library so vast it couldn’t be taken in at a single glance.
What amazed me most was the sheer volume of books filling the space. Shelves were packed to capacity, and towering stacks of books reached nearly to the ceiling—already overwhelming to look at.
I stood with my mouth agape, taking in the grand interior. Now I understood Silvia’s claim that if a book didn’t exist in the Hillik Kingdom, it didn’t exist anywhere in the world.
“If an earthquake hits, I’ll probably die crushed under all these books first.”
Just as I stepped forward, thinking I’d never finish reading them all even if I spent my whole life trying, someone spoke from behind me.
“How may I assist you?”
Thinking the place was empty due to the lack of sound, I jumped in surprise and turned around.
Male lead fell into her trap — and shattered when she walked away
This is also on my reread list!
This one is a slow burn, but when it burns, it burns hard.
Definitely worth a read, y’all!
The story follows a thousand-year-old seductive spirit who, on a bet, sets out to charm the male lead—a once-promising but unfortunate cultivator.
But just when she succeeds in making him fall for her, she heartlessly leaves, driving him to madness.
Determined to find her at all costs, he captures her, keeping her by his side no matter what, even if she hates him.
I love this kind of trope—I enjoy watching the male lead suffer in agony.
The ending drags a bit with unnecessary filler, but that’s fine.
As long as I enjoy the beginning, I’m good.
Intro
As an enchantress, Su Heng possesses captivating eyes and charming beauty, easily manipulating the joys and sorrows of living beings at her fingertips.
But to enchant a god, making him taste the bitterness of love’s separation, long-lasting resentment, unattainable desires, and inability to let go…
Do you dare?
Su Heng assists a divine lord in his cultivation, aiming to make him experience all the sufferings of love, so that he can attain the Great Dao.
Only after being chased down from the heavens by the divine lord, confined and completely possessed by him, does she realize how successful she has been.
The once gentle and polite youth has transformed into someone she no longer recognizes.
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Shes smart. I love her for this.yeah dont care about the ruin reputation
Girlboss. YEAH LETS GO PLAYING VILLAINESS UNTIL THE END!
Shes really got caught by the demon king. Good luck for the grim future