Rachel felt the atmosphere chilling with Ariana’s few words. She needed to send Ariana away, but didn’t know what to say.
If Ariana answered everything like this, no matter how much she denied it to the ladies later, it was clear it would not work.
“Sister, why are you talking like that again? Is it fun to trouble Mother with such lies?”
Unable to bear it, Victoria intervened.
The ladies’ eyes softened at Victoria’s calm and tender voice, but only for a moment. Ariana seemed terrified, shrinking her shoulders.
“I’m, I’m sorry, Miss Victoria. I really shouldn’t be here, I’m sorry.”
“Sister!”
For once, even Victoria raised her voice in surprise.
Ariana bowed her head even more.
“I’m truly sorry. Please calm down, Miss.”
Ariana, assuming a defensive position with her arms above her head as if accustomed to being hit, looked so fragile and small. Moreover, her bruised arms were exposed again.
The ladies nearby could also see the bruise on Ariana’s neck.
“My goodness…”
Someone clicked their tongue.
Helena’s peers sent ugly glances and whispered among themselves.
It was a first for Victoria, who had always led situations as she intended.
Helena liked being called ‘Miss’ by Ariana, but Victoria had never ordered it.
But it was wrong to air such things at this gathering.
For Ariana, who had lived as a maidservant, there was no reputation to lose, but for Rachel, Helena, and Victoria, it was different.
Having much to lose, they had more at risk.
“Sister, I’m not angry. Just… something is on your face…”
Victoria pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to Ariana.
Ariana took the handkerchief with trembling hands.
“Thank you, Miss.”
“Sister, stop calling me ‘Miss.’ Why are you doing that? You don’t usually.”
“Yes, I’m sorry.”
Ariana used polite language to the end.
Victoria suppressed the urge to scream and sat back down, her small hand clutching her skirt tightly beneath the table.
‘What to do?’
Victoria had never imagined Ariana would act like this, making it hard to think of a way to deal with the situation.
Moreover, Ariana’s body bore too many traces of abuse.
While Victoria blinked, Rachel awkwardly smiled.
“Our Ariana got a bit hurt tumbling down the stairs yesterday… So, she seems to be feeling a bit down today. Normally she’s not like this, but she’s playing a spiteful prank for some reason.”
The ladies didn’t seem to believe Rachel’s words.
The nobles at the other tables glanced, curious as to what was going on, and some nobles whispered as if for Rachel to hear.
“She’s treated so poorly because she doesn’t carry the blood of Duke Bronthe.”
“Poor thing. To beat a young child to that extent…”
“Wouldn’t it have been better to just give her to the Emperor?”
Duke Bronthe’s face turned red.
For him, who cared about reputation, the rumor that his wife was abusing her daughter from a previous husband was an unpleasant matter.
But the moment Ariana appeared in tattered maid clothes, bruised all over, it was clear that any words would sound like an excuse.
Even the dull Helena realized that the atmosphere was not normal, chewing her lips.
“Um…”
As Ariana opened her mouth, Rachel glared at her.
Ariana shrugged her shoulders and said,
“I’m just really hungry… Can I eat some cookies?”
If another young girl had acted this way, it would have been justifiable to mock her, but the looks directed at Ariana were full of sympathy.
Juliana, who had been quietly observing the situation, spoke.
“Help yourself, second princess.”
“Thank you.”
Ariana reached out, took a cookie, and stuffed it into her mouth.
The cookie tasted unusually sweet as it was her first meal in a while.
Rachel and Victoria’s discomfort was a very precious spice.
If they were to call the maids and discuss right and wrong, the maids would lie for Rachel, only creating more gossip for the ladies.
To the ladies, the open conflict between the Bronthe family’s mother and daughters was more interesting than the truth of the situation.
‘I don’t care if my reputation falls. I don’t even think about marriage. Even if the Emperor finds out about this side of me, my affection will decrease, but it doesn’t matter. All I want is the position of the princess of the east. If I have what I have, the Emperor won’t be able to dismiss me.’
Contrary to her pitiful appearance, Ariana’s inside was burning hot.
While eating her third palmsized cookie, Juliana, who was watching Ariana pitifully, spoke.
“Your throat will be dry, so drink some beverages while eating.”
“Yes, thank you.”
It was time to apply what she had learned.
Ariana poured hot tea into her cup herself, and Victoria realized too late how Ariana would drink the tea.
If Ariana had acted as usual, only Ariana would have been ridiculed, but now the situation was different.
‘I have to stop her!’
But Ariana was quicker.
Ariana lifted the teacup and poured the tea into the teacup saucer before picking up the saucer and blowing gently, gulping it down.
At that action, not only the ladies but even the male nobles watching from a distance were surprised.
The Male lead Always Seduces Her with His Beauty (Matriarchy)
Xin Jiao Zhou is the leader of the world’s premier sect. She has just experienced betrayal from all sides, was poisoned in an assassination attempt, and faced death squad attacks while the poison was taking effect. After finally clearing out the scum from her sect, she was drugged again while trying to detoxify.
After waking up from a night of unconsciousness, she gained a “beautiful and kind-hearted” husband.
Xin Jiao Zhou: “???”
He fell ill.
She came to see him, bringing breakfast.
As she put down the breakfast and was about to leave, his hand slipped while holding the spoon. “Clank!”
She turned around upon hearing the noise.
He looked up at her, his eyebrows drooping: “My hand… has no strength.”
“Shall I… feed you?” she asked tentatively.
He opened his mouth cheerfully: “Ah—”
Thinking she was drowning, he jumped in without hesitation to save her, but nearly drowned himself. In the end, it was she who swam over to rescue him, giving him air underwater.
After emerging from the water, his ear tips turned red. He lightly brushed his cheek, tucking his sideburns behind his ear, revealing delicate, pink-tinged ear tips. He lowered his gaze, too embarrassed to look at her.
Xin Jiao Zhou: He’s truly beautiful, kind-hearted, and adorable.
A certain someone when disciplining subordinates behind the scenes: “If they don’t obey, just kill them.”
What’s that? She might already have someone she cares about in her heart? A certain someone: Find out who it is, kill them, and then there won’t be anyone.
What? She met a man by the riverside? What? That man even hurt her? A certain someone: Whichever hand hurt her, chop off his entire arm.
Love at first sight without realizing it, gradually falling in love, slowly getting closer…
Family and national grudges, schemes and desires, good and evil, crime and punishment, she and he face the future together, seeking justice with passion!
A naturally dark female lead who could accidentally destroy the world but is actually an honest person VS a weak, pitiful, and helpless but skilled fighter, beautiful white-cut black male lead
My heart is not of stone, how steadfast is your love? — Tao Yuanming “Imitating the Ancients (No. 3)”
— Reading Guide —
Cold female lead & dramatic black lotus with hidden yandere traits male lead
