The food that had been piled up on the plate scattered in all directions.
The overturned pudding, crushed tart, and sticky jam threatened to send me sprawling too, but I regained my composure at the last moment.
I’m a potato worth a palace maid’s lifetime salary right now.
With all the quickwittedness I could muster, I barely managed to avoid falling into the food.
When I finally lifted my head, I found myself surrounded by several young ladies.
“Did you just push me, commoner? No, Lady Reina?”
I calmly put the plate down first and took a step back from the food scattered on the floor.
I was still getting used to my young body and often failed to control it completely.
But looking at the way things were going, even a minor mistake would surely work against me.
“Where is it ever right to push people like that, not being a commoner?”
The young lady with brown hair who had pushed me approached threateningly, a couple of other noble ladies standing behind her with their arms folded.
It was no surprise.
Seeing the repertoire that invariably appeared in the romance fantasy novel I read in my previous life, I really felt that I had fallen into a novel.
The young lady pointed to a speck on her skirt.
“My dress is stained because of you. This dress is very expensive, how will you take responsibility?”
The two behind her began to chime in energetically.
“Yes! You pushed someone, you should take responsibility!”
“Don’t even think about denying it! We all saw it.”
Their voices rang so loudly that even the adults nearby stopped chatting and glanced over.
I paused to think.
I had two options. Relying on the Duchess’s power or handling it myself.
I smiled broadly.
“Thank you for taking responsibility. Clearly, you’ve learned some basic decency.”
When the reaction they wanted didn’t come, the three young ladies looked at each other in confusion.
I stretched my leg to point at the food splashed on my shoe.
“Luckily, these shoes were made from dragon leather tanned for 100 years. I was worried that after you pushed me so thoughtlessly, you’d simply deny it. I’m glad we’re communicating so well.”
I had definitely stated my case without causing a huge fuss to catch the attention of the nobles.
Certainly, relying on the Duke’s power, I could have resolved this matter quickly without any noise.
However, these nobles, who already looked down on me as a commoner, would have branded me as a kid who grew arrogant while riding on the Duke’s coattails if I relied on his power.
The main instigator, the brownhaired young lady, frowned as if she didn’t quite understand. She didn’t seem very quickwitted.
“No, I mean, you pushed.”
“Yes, I know. You pushed me. Everyone here saw it very clearly.”
I exchanged glances not only with the young lady but also with everyone watching nearby, smiling brightly.
The adults might have come and intervened, but they just watched, seemingly interested, without taking any particular action.
I’m a commoner, after all, right?
But I didn’t particularly care. How old am I now, with the age of a child who had just entered elementary school? I could easily handle these little kids.
“No! That is, not me, but you!”
“Thank you for admitting your mistake and even apologizing.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’ll make amends by any means necessary? You are so kind.”
The brownhaired young lady’s face gradually reddened, and she began to stamp her feet, clenching her plump fists in anger.
“No! That’s not it! It’s not me! It’s you! You! You pushed me!”
As the young lady began to scream, the disapproving glances of the surrounding nobles started to focus on her.
“Is that the Countess Lamira’s young lady?”
A lady with a fan whispered to another lady. Her words were audible.
“The young lady causing such a fuss at the banquet, in our time, it would have been an unimaginable scene.”
As unkind words began to surface, the two young ladies standing behind the protagonist discreetly slipped away, leaving only Countess Lamira confidently remaining.
I broke into a broad smile again.
“Then, please return once the compensation for the damages is prepared.”
I carefully stepped back, avoiding the scattered remains of food on the floor.
It was time to make a graceful exit.
It was the Countess Lamira who had thrown a tantrum, but I could have easily been seen as the instigator of the commotion.
“Where do you think you’re running off to?”
The young countess approached, swaggering.
Sure enough, the heel of the young countess’s shoe landed on a broken apple tart, causing the crushed apple jam to spread, and the young countess fell backward.
As the young countess swept the floor with her body, small laughter erupted here and there. No one came to lift her up or check if she was alright.
Even the young ladies who had threatened me with the young countess didn’t help, just looking at her.
“Ah, I’m so tired of living as a noble.”
I muttered quietly. A quick escape was indeed the answer.
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.”
