Volume 2, Chapter 46 – The Cold Divine-Graced Maiden and the Kitchen Intruder

With the news of the Terran Malevolence’s defeat and Lianna and her daughters’ return spreading throughout the Covenant, the entire nation entered an unprecedented state of excitement.

Cheers of jubilation and the sounds of fireworks rose in an endless succession.

However, on this special day, people immersed in negative emotions like Greemir were not entirely absent…

At this moment, in the central district of the capital Clavino, a heavily guarded and magnificent mansion was enveloped in an extremely deathly silence.

Despite being located in the bustling city center, the atmosphere here was suffocatingly gloomy.

Inside the mansion, neither the guards nor the servants coming and going wore the bright smiles seen on people outside. Instead, they displayed very complex, even strange expressions.

After sensing the festive atmosphere outside, almost everyone unanimously cast suspicious glances toward the small house at the center of the estate. Within their suspicion seemed to be a hint of disgust.

Amid this oppressive atmosphere, doors that had been tightly shut for a long time quietly opened, and two or three maids walked out.

Shortly after exiting, the smiles on the maids’ faces completely faded, replaced by intense disdain.

One maid, whose eyes reflected the strongest antipathy, had only walked a few steps after closing the door before complaining to her colleagues with a gloomy face.

“I say, is that person really a Divine-Graced Maiden? I’ve never seen such a gloomy Divine-Graced Maiden, always hiding under the covers, completely refusing to communicate with anyone… How unlucky, why was I assigned to serve such a person?”

Recalling what she had seen after entering the room, the short-haired maid grumbled irritably.

However, the scene of everyone joining her in complaints that this new maid had expected did not materialize. On the contrary, after hearing this newcomer’s complaints, the two maids walking in front of her immediately trembled all over, hurriedly turned to glare at their junior, and hastily raised fingers to their lips, signaling her not to say more.

Unfortunately, faced with this warning from her seniors, the straightforward short-haired maid had no intention of stopping. Instead, she muttered in confusion:

“What’s the big deal? I’m not wrong, am I?”

“Compared to the former Lady Lianna, this person is very cold, isn’t she? There’s something strange about her, nothing like a Divine-Graced Maiden.”

“But now I hear that Lady Lianna has returned, along with those little Divine-Graced Maidens who inherited Lianna’s power. If the former Divine-Graced Maiden is fine, then is the one we’re serving now really a Divine-Graced Maiden?”

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“Anyway, I don’t think she seems like one.”

“Sister Leila, why are you all so nervous?”

Looking at the two trembling seniors trying to rush over and cover her mouth, the short-haired maid smiled contemptuously.

“Are you worried she’ll hear? Don’t worry, we’ve walked quite far now, she can’t hear us. And even if she did, so what? We are the Divine-Graced Maiden’s attendants assigned by the President himself. Would that imposter who hasn’t even displayed any Augury Force dare to lay hands on us? You’re really… Huh??”

Eh?

However, in the next moment, the short-haired maid’s words abruptly ceased.

Because she was shocked to discover that her right hand had somehow picked up a dinner knife from the tray and was pointing the blade directly at her eyes.

“What, what is this?!”

In an instant, unease spread like a virus, frantically expanding in her heart.

The short-haired maid tried to put down the knife but found her hand completely out of her control. She could only watch helplessly as the blade drew ever closer to her eyes.

“Hey! Stop, stop! Senior Leila, please, help me!”

At this moment, the panicked girl hurriedly called for help from the other two maids nearby.

Unfortunately, before the other two maids could react, the dinner knife mercilessly pierced into the short-haired maid’s eye. Blood splattered everywhere, the short-haired maid’s plea for help abruptly ceased, and she collapsed unconsciously to the ground.

“…”

Witnessing their junior’s tragic death, Leila and the other maid looked around in terror, staring at the deathly silent, empty courtyard.

“Lady Zaoli, it has nothing to do with us! It was her own words! Nothing to do with us!”

“Really nothing to do with us! Those were her thoughts, we didn’t think like that at all!! Please, don’t…”

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However, before their pleas could be finished, their hands, like the short-haired maid’s before them, raised dinner knives beyond their control.

In the next moment, the two maids, in terror and despair, slit each other’s throats.

Thus, three more corpses with eyes open in death were added to the silent courtyard.

Meanwhile, inside the small house at the center of the courtyard.

The dim light barely illuminated a corner of the room, and a strange musty smell permeated the air, making even breathing feel heavy.

In the center of the lavish bed, a frail figure curled up under the heavy blankets, only a slender and emaciated hand visible.

That hand was pale to the point of transparency, the knuckles whitening from pressure.

And clutched between the five fingers were several strands of hair…

“No, not my fault, it’s, it’s all their fault… All because they talked behind my… my back.”

A trembling voice containing intense anxiety slowly emerged from beneath the covers.

“I didn’t want to, they forced me… To prevent them from spreading the news, I had to… had to…”

As if self-comforting, the girl beneath the covers kept muttering to herself.

However, looking at the news headlines displayed on the tablet before her and recalling the content of the maids’ conversation, the anxiety in the girl’s heart wasn’t erased by her self-consolation. Instead, it grew even more intense, causing her body to unconsciously tremble.

Lianna-Anloxi…

The Divine-Graced Maiden from eight years ago.

She had returned, and brought her daughters back with her…

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All of them possessed Augury Force.

In one country, the Lord would bestow only one Divine-Graced Maiden as guardian.

With Lianna and her daughters back, what would happen to her? What did she even amount to?

She had struggled through countless hardships to barely survive in this world. She had sacrificed so much to obtain her current power and place of refuge…

She absolutely could not lose these things.

“No, no, no, absolutely not…”

As these ferocious words continued to emerge from beneath the covers, the girl’s fists clenched tightly, her sharp nails deeply piercing her flesh, and blood slowly dripped onto the bedsheet.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in Wishaven, within the Lingyuan family territory.

Due to the successive returns of the young ladies and mistress these past two days, plus having to deal with harassment from multiple institutions including the Inspectorate, Naro was already in a state of considerable exhaustion.

But even so, now that night had fallen, the old butler had no intention of resting.

After settling the mistress and young ladies, and seeing off Lord Luo Fei, Naro, as the butler, went to his office, put on his monocle, and began to handle the mountain of documents in front of him.

“Hmm, food budget… Now that the mistress and young ladies are back, this definitely needs to be increased. They’ve lived in the Veiled Domain for so many years, which must have been very difficult, and the food they ate probably wasn’t good. We must nourish them properly. Let’s increase it tenfold for now.”

“Regarding guards… better dispatch two more battalions. The safety of the mistress and young ladies must be guaranteed. Oh yes, also allocate some funds to upgrade the defensive installations. Yue Linglong’s latest automated sentinel puppets are quite good.”

“Medicine… purchase more, Lady Lianna’s body is clearly not in good shape.”

“Doctors too. Oh right, we also need to invite some psychologists. After waking up yesterday, Miss Miya and Miss Weiya completely refused to communicate with people around them… Probably developed psychological shadows from living in the high-pressure environment of the Veiled Domain. They must receive treatment.”

“Rest assured, Master, this old servant will take good care of your daughter-in-law and granddaughters.”

“Oh, and also…”

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And so, Naro devoted himself to busy work without a moment’s rest. Time flew by, quickly going from eleven at night to four in the morning…

Just as Naro continued to diligently handle various Lingyuan family affairs, a huge rumbling sound suddenly reached his ears.

“BOOM!”

??!!

Hmm?

An explosion and alarms?

Naro, who had been working at his desk, suddenly looked up and gazed seriously out the window.

“What’s happening?!”

Could it be that after only two days, someone couldn’t resist making a move against the mistress and young ladies!

“What happened?! Where has been invaded?!” Activating the communication device nearby, Naro anxiously inquired.

However, the words transmitted by his subordinate in the next moment made Naro freeze.

—”Lord Naro, it’s the kitchen! The kitchen has been invaded!”—

“Quickly send guards to support!

Hmm? Wait, what did you say? The kitchen?”

Who, who would invade such a place??