“Zain!”
Pansy tried to enter the barn but was blocked by Nora’s cold eyes. Elisha looked at Pansy.
“Impressive, Pansy. Jacob and Carola must have given Zain a ‘special order’ last night. Disobeying that order and stealing the man. Even the quiet Pansy disregards orders.”
“Do you know me?”
“How can I not know? You. Carola’s ladies-in-waiting would break into the laundry room and torment collaterals.”
“… … .”
Pansy shoulders flinched. She looked like a scared deer and gave the impression of being timid. When she bullied others, she used to glare with her enormous eyes filled with white.
“That— so…. What do you mean? Zain is not guilty of any crime!”
“I know it hurts but you have to speak the truth.”
Elisha bent over Pansy and spoke affectionately.
“You committed the crime.”
Pansy took in a breath.
“… … .”
“But don’t worry. An underling who disobeys Carola’s orders usually goes undetected, but this time will be an exception.”
“… … What do you mean?”
Elisha didn’t want to tell her. Apparently, Pansy didn’t have the mentality to handle the hardships that awaited her.
“The world will change when you step out of this barn.”
Lucerne raised the corner of his mouth. He rarely gave kind advice.
“What she says is generally wise. You’d better listen.”
“Don’t scare her, Lucerne. She’s pitiful. Just prepare your heart. There will be a lot going on in the future,”
Elisha said.
She recalled memories from her past life.
The lowest of the weak were exposed to unfiltered human nature. Ugly looking Elisha was also poor with nothing, not even a place or person to rely on.
None of Carola’s people felt guilty about stepping on her.
Elisha hated Pansy more than Mimosa in some ways. At least, Mimosa was constantly simple and violent. However, Pansy had a quiet personality with a reputation for being nice to everyone.
She usually pretended to pity Elisha, then picked on her for tiny things and harassed her. It turned out that was Pansy’s way of venting her anger.
In her past life, Elisha’s actual title was Jacob’s secretary. But Carola didn’t like having her by Jacob’s side for long.
She often used some pretext to bring Elisha in and make her do tasks. When busy, she told her maids to give her job instructions instead. They were, in effect, ordered to harass Elisha.
‘Wipe it again. Again.’
‘Rearrange it.’
One day, at Pansy’s command, she polished all of Carola’s shoes. Even then, there were days when she kept nitpicking and having her polish the boots all night because there was still dust on them.
Her shoe polish got on her hands and didn’t come off for a while. Her wrist has been sore for a month. It was winter then, so her hands were swollen. The memory was still vivid.
Around the time Elisha took on Jacob’s sins. Their hatred and harassment reached their peak. On the day Pansy bullied Elisha like that, Carola praised her for doing her job well.
“She resembles her owner so much it’s surprising. Get on your knees,”
Lucerne ordered languidly. His tone, along with the memory she had just recalled, gave Elisha some pleasure. Pansy trembled and fell to her knees.
“What are you doing? Take that bastard away.”
Lucerne beckoned to his knights. Ian and Nora went inside the cabin.
“What— what is this? Who are you… … .”
“How did you live in this family without recognizing my face?”
Lucerne clicked his tongue.
Zain was still half unconscious from the sleeping pills. Then, when he saw Lucerne, he suddenly came to his senses.
Lucerne put a blade to his neck.
“Stay still.”
Lucerne lifted Zain’s face with the blade.
“It’s you?”
“What… … uh, what… … .”
“I heard you claimed to have married my wife.”
Lucerne stared at him, then punched his face. His jaw had turned so severely that Elisha thought he might have broken his neck. She took a step back.
Ian asked cheerfully.
“Oh, are you starting already?”
“I wanted to hit him.”
“… … .”
“Even before I got here. So when I saw his face, I couldn’t stand it.”
Bam!
“Intolerable.”
“Ugh!”
Zain was kicked by Lucerne and instantly collapsed to the ground.
“I heard you went into the bridal room with my wife.”
Lucerne leaned over and whispered so only Zain could hear.
