No Evil Lady in the World (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 8
Meiana, who had been hesitating, clapped her hands and spoke.
“Well, it’s… dust, dust! I was trying to brush off some dust.”
Ariante’s eyes spun as if they were twirling. Bathed in sunlight, her mysterious blue pupils glimmered with an even stranger hue.
No matter how you looked at it, they didn’t seem like real human eyes. They appeared as if finely polished glass or gemstones, lacking warmth or emotion…
‘No, what am I thinking! She’s just a child. It’s fine to have unique eyes. They probably take after the duchess.’
Meiana tried hard to steady her mind.
At that moment, Ariante leaped off the bed with a hop.
At first, she hadn’t noticed, but the bed’s height was still too tall for Ariante’s small stature. The plush carpet on the floor was fortunate, but jumping down like this often could easily sprain a delicate ankle, which worried her.
Meiana, who had been staring blankly at the scene, hurriedly picked up a pair of slippers nearby and handed them over. But Ariante didn’t even glance her way, crossing the bedroom barefoot with steady steps.
Flustered, Meiana followed Ariante and called out.
“Young Lady! You need to wear your slippers!”
“No way, it’s too hot.”
Meiana looked again at the slippers in her hand. The soles and tops were entirely made of soft feathers. Wearing these in the summer would indeed be warm. Children tend to have hot feet, so even more so…
“Then let me brush your hair. Come this way.”
“No.”
“Then your clothes…”
“What’s wrong with these clothes?”
At Ariante’s question, Meiana was at a loss for words once again. What was wrong? Well, it wasn’t exactly wrong. But the problem was…
“Young Lady, those are… pajamas. You can’t go outside in pajamas.”
“Why? Will I freeze to death if I go out in pajamas?”
Meiana’s lips parted a couple of times like a fish out of water. She could already feel cold sweat trickling down her spine.
“No, it’s… you won’t die, of course not. But it’s broad daylight, and in the daytime, you should naturally wear proper clothes, right?”
“Why? Why do I have to wear proper clothes during the day?”
“Well, that’s…”
Ariante let out a scoff. The child, who had been heading toward the living room, suddenly spun her small body around and deliberately bent her knees exaggeratedly as she approached Meiana.
It seemed she wanted to make loud stomping noises, but the carpet prevented it, which appeared to frustrate her.
Coming right up to Meiana, Ariante tilted her head back and said.
“I don’t like you.”
“…Pardon?”
“I don’t like you, I said I don’t like you! I hate you to death. I’ll make sure you’re kicked out within a week. Just you wait.”
After issuing her threat, Ariante, without slippers and still in her pajamas, scampered off somewhere.
“Wait a moment, Young Lady! Lady Ariante!”
Snapping out of it a beat too late, Meiana tossed the slippers aside and began chasing after Ariante. At that moment, only one thought filled her mind.
‘This is driving me insane.’
* * *
Ten days into her new job, Meiana keenly realized that none of the maids in the ducal household wanted to be tasked with attending to Ariante.
Describing Ariante in one word was an incredibly difficult task. No, it might be more accurate to say that no adjective in the world could fully capture Ariante.
Mischievous? That was too mild.
Troublemaker, then? Ariante’s ‘trouble’ far exceeded what could be described as mere ‘troublemaking.’
The wild colt of Valterminster. That was the phrase that accurately described Ariante. It was an outrageous term considering her noble status, but no one in the ducal household ever said the nickname was ‘too much.’
“I told you I don’t want this tacky-colored ribbon! Bring another one!”
That was the fifth rejection already. Seeing the frightened expression of the maid hurriedly clearing away the ribbon box, Meiana let out a sympathetic sigh.
From the moment Ariante opened her eyes in the morning, the maids entering her room had to wage a war-like battle with a seven-year-old.
Though still just a child, dressing and grooming the only daughter of the Duke of Valterminster was no easy task.
Thus, there were two or three additional maids to assist with her grooming, but Ariante found fault with everything—from ribbons to stockings, lace shawls, and dresses—throwing tantrums and being endlessly fickle. She never once quietly wore what was given to her.
Today, for some reason, she had put on her stockings without complaint, but things went awry with the ribbon.
“Young Lady, it’s almost time for breakfast. Didn’t you say you loved this purple silk ribbon last time?”
“That was last time. I don’t like it today.”
“Then how about the yellow one…”
“No! I’m not wearing any ribbon today.”
The maid frantically waved her hands in panic.
“You can’t do that! You must dress like a proper lady. Look, this yellow one is so pretty. See the butterfly embroidery on the ends?”
“No! I said no! Get out right now!”
Looks like breakfast won’t be on time today either, Meiana thought.
Only after exhausting all the maids did Ariante finally get dressed and head to the dining room. However, the breakfast table was far from peaceful.
“I told you I don’t want anything with mushrooms. Take it away!”
Four out of five dishes prepared by the chef were routinely pushed away. On days when her mood was particularly sour from arguing with the maids while getting dressed, she’d even stab food with her fork and fling it around.
“I’m not eating!”
Her small hand shoved the soup bowl, and with a crash! it shattered. Jumping down from her chair, Ariante grabbed a single piece of bread from the basket and started running off somewhere.
“Young Lady!”
Meiana hurriedly chased after Ariante, glancing back. The head maid, Kosha, and the chef were grumbling and glaring at Ariante’s retreating figure.
And that wasn’t all, was it? After breakfast, a tutor would come to teach Ariante, but that was never an easy task either.
Days when Ariante sat quietly in her seat waiting were practically nonexistent. The servants, wary of the tutor’s angry glares, had to scour the vast ducal estate to find her.
But the estate was far too large, and to borrow the words of the head maid Kosha, Ariante was a ‘devilishly cunning’ child.
Ariante never hid in the same place twice after being found once. You couldn’t find a single strand of her hair in the usual hiding spots where most children might conceal themselves.
One might wonder if it was necessary to use a term like ‘cunning’ for such a thing, but every time Meiana shouted herself hoarse and ran around panting while searching for Ariante, she was struck with a sense of self-loathing, wondering what she was even doing in this place.
Then there was this incident as well.
“Oh my, Young Lady. Today, you’re finally showing the posture befitting your noble name. If you can sit so elegantly like this, why haven’t you done so before?”
Seeing Ariante already seated and waiting before the lesson began, the tutor was so moved that she made a fuss and immediately launched into a lengthy lecture and sermon. For a full hour, she spoke without pause!
“…Thus, you must always take care and pay attention so as not to bring shame to the illustrious name of the Valterminster family. Understood?”
“Yes, Teacher. I’ll do so from now on. But may I ask you something?”
“What is it?”
“Could you open your bag for a moment?”
The tutor looked down at her bag on the chair with a puzzled expression. It contained books for teaching Ariante and various trinkets she cherished.
“Why this bag all of a sudden… Ahh!”
The moment the cherry-shaped clasp was opened, a spotted frog the size of an adult’s palm leaped out.
The tutor stumbled back in fright, falling flat on the carpet, and seeing this, Ariante laughed so hard she could barely breathe before casually running off.
That very day, the tutor quit teaching Ariante. Then, in the absence of the Duke of Valterminster, she unleashed her frustrations on the head butler, Joslyn.
“That devilish girl will never make it in high society! With nothing but air in her head, she’ll only drag the ducal family’s reputation into the mud! If I were the duke, I’d dress her in plain clothes and send her to a convent right now!”
Meiana had only overheard the maids’ gossip, so she couldn’t verify the truth of those words, but one thing was clear.
No one—not a single person among the ducal household’s many employees—liked Ariante.
In this manner, Ariante caused chaos nearly all day long. Tearing three or four dresses a day was commonplace, and she’d toss aside lace socks or stockings. Flipping over snack trays or kicking a maid’s shin was also not unusual.
And that wasn’t all, was it? Throwing mud into the head maid Kosha’s room or spilling cake on the carpet was hardly surprising. Running around the estate draped in newly ordered curtains, turning them into rags, was also par for the course.
By the time noon had barely passed, Meiana, who was mending a lace sleeve Ariante had ruined for the second time, let out an involuntary sigh.
“What kind of kid is this?”
Since the Viscount and Viscountess Pobek had no children, this was Meiana’s first time closely caring for a noble’s child.
She didn’t know how ordinary children from other households lived, but looking at Ariante’s surroundings, there was nothing she lacked.
Except for one thing: the absence of her mother.
Meiana thought to herself.
‘Is she always so sullen because her mother isn’t here? She’s only seven, but sometimes it feels like she doesn’t even know what joy is.’
The Duke of Valterminster didn’t pay much attention to Ariante’s education. Or rather, it wasn’t that he didn’t care—he often seemed at a loss for what to do.
It wasn’t that the duke was indifferent to Ariante or disliked her.
On the contrary, whenever he returned from the capital, he often brought back carriages full of gifts for his daughter, and even when she caused trouble and made a mess, he never once scolded her harshly.
But from Meiana’s perspective, Ariante didn’t seem to follow her father very closely.
If she had childishly called out for her mother, some might have found it pitiable, but Ariante never once mentioned her missing mother, which left Meiana even more puzzled.
‘If I could at least know why she’s like this, it would put my mind at ease.’
Meiana bit off a thin thread and carefully inspected the mended spot. It was so perfect that you couldn’t tell where it had been torn.
“Now then…”
The moment she stood up from her chair.
Heavy, stomping footsteps echoed, and Beinti, a maid with a flushed, angry face, appeared.
Male lead Asks for a Divorce Every Day
It’s not often you come across a plot like this in the female-dominant genre — make sure to check it out!
This is a novel I’m planning to reread as well.
The male lead is strong, skilled in martial arts, and not the usual fragile type you often see in matriarchal novels.
Meanwhile, the female lead is a scientist—rational and logical. Even when she falls for the male lead, she doesn’t let her emotions cloud her decisions.
If you push through the first few chapters, you’ll gradually find the story really intriguing.
It has a mix of mystery, detective elements, and romance.
The author’s writing style is like crafting a puzzle—except they deliberately leave out a few pieces, making it hard to predict what happens next, yet keeping you hooked.
In the end, everything will come together and be explained.
One-sentence summary: Wife, stop playing with beakers and look at me!
In a laboratory accident, research scientist Zhu Wansheng accidentally travels to a matriarchal world. The original owner of the body is an eighteen-year-old only daughter of a wealthy rouge merchant, already married with a handsome young man.
Zhu Wansheng grins: Nice! She always said she was heaven’s favorite granddaughter. After a life of toil in her previous life, she can enjoy blessings in this one.
However, her joy lasts no more than three seconds as bad news arrives: the original owner’s family is about to go bankrupt, and her husband wants a divorce.
Even worse, she’s stuck with a research system full of restrictions.
Zhu Wansheng: ? Is this the destiny of a research dog?
——
Faced with this mess, Zhu Wansheng pours herself a bowl of wine to drown her sorrows. In her drunken haze, her husband arrives.
His figure is imposing, holding a long sword, with a dignified air that captivates Zhu Wansheng.
Gu Yingqing, however, looks at the alcohol-reeking Zhu Wansheng with undisguised disgust and coldly asks, “Divorce or not?” The intoxicated Zhu Wansheng mumbles vaguely, “I think… it’s not… it’s not… impossible!”
——
The next day, after sobering up, Zhu Wansheng is full of energy, rolling up her sleeves ready to make a big move. As for yesterday? She has no memory of it.
Zhu Wansheng is ambitious; a research dog fears nothing!
Upgrading rouge, extracting fragrances, producing perfumes, researching lipsticks… all shall bow to the power of modern technology!
The original owner’s dying rouge shop is revitalized. Her mother is pleased and with a wave of her hand, passes on the family business to her. As she takes control and her experimental results gain popularity, it’s the pinnacle of her life…
——
But there are always those who can’t stand to see her doing well. Jealousy, scheming, assassination attempts – they want nothing less than her life.
The person who has always kept his distance from her suddenly holds her tightly in his arms, eyes full of concern.
She is unharmed, but he falls into a pool of blood…
Zhu Wansheng feels guilty, “I can grant you one wish.”
Gu Yingqing tentatively circles his arms around her, carefully resting his head in the crook of her neck, pleading softly, “I regret it. Can we not divorce?”
Zhu Wansheng: ? When did I agree to a divorce?
[Small Theater]
The newly developed rouge is beautifully packaged, and Zhu Wansheng is eager to try it.
Gu Yingqing suddenly appears: “My lady, may I apply it for you?”
Cool fingertips lightly brush her lips. His Adam’s apple bobs as he leans in for a light bite.
Zhu Wansheng: ?
Gu Yingqing: It smells so good, I wanted to taste it…
On a warm spring day, Zhu Wansheng tries a new perfume: “Spring Night.” Gu Yingqing corners her against a wall.
Warm breath lingers on her neck.
“My lady, from now on, may I test the fragrances for you?”
[Humorous female scientist vs scheming live-in son-in-law male lead]
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
It was her who made that old lady blind?? What an awful person……or maybe not, but still she is really disgusting.
BOY DONT PLAY WITH ME. OMG NO WONDER THE CHILD IS BEHAVING LIKE LOOSE GOOSE
Very matured. Just blaming anyone but yourself on your inadequacy.