I’ll Become the Female Lead in this Trashy Webnovel

35. Who is the evil woman now? (2)

The sound of Mrs. Eurecia’s words in reply also shook.

“Oh, Erica. Why didn’t you tell me if you wanted it so much?” The Duchess’ asked shakily.

“Mother, this is….”

His wife glared at Erica’s pale face as if pressuring her to stay silent.

Erica, who was moving her orange pupils around while observing the embarrassing situation, made eye contact with Kelly at that moment.

However, Kelly did not shy away from her gaze.

Her flat, straight lips opened up to speak.

“May I go now?”

Her voice rang through the Great Hall.

Upon receiving the Duke’s permission, she curtsied in front of him before passing the Duchess and her two daughters by.

From behind her, Kelly heard a sigh as she climbed the steep stairs toward her bedroom on the top floor.

She had lived a quiet life all this time, thinking she had to do it.

In the end, she had taken herself for granted, assuming that she deserved to be beaten up for being weak.

The sudden realization of tonight’s events made Kelly’s heart beat fast.

If she attacked first, then she wouldn’t be attacked.

Kelly was thrilled as she repeated these words in her mind.

She realized this was a dirty fact among the nobles.

Then, what should she do about Ariad?

As her blue eyes swept through the dark mansion’s corridors, Kelly looked straight at the path she had to take.

* * *

The lock’s disappearance made a significant difference in So-hee’s life as Ariad.

The fact that she could now freely meet her visiting guests in a place other than her bedroom was amaxing.

Of course, she was still in the palm of his hand but this was a big change.

Sohee stepped into the drawing room.

Golden hair,  similar to the flames rising from the fireplace, caught her eye in an instant.

Kelly raised her head  to  look at her.

As soon as their eyes met, So-hee began. “I never imagined that you would ask me to meet you first.”

“I’m going to apologize since I’m also involved in your near-death experience,” Kelly said before drinking the rose tea in her cup.

As So-hee sat across her, she found her audacity unbelievable.

“That doesn’t make sense at all. You almost killed me, Miss Kelly.”

“I didn’t mean it.”

Her reply had no hint of remorse when she gave her another box as she always did.

“I’m sorry.”

“What? Do you have a perverted hobby of apologizing with gifts attached to it?  I don’t think this issue can be solved with just a simple gift.”

Bewildered, Kelly withdrew the present that the box fell unto her lap.

Kelly stared at it for a few seconds before lifting her chin to look straight into So-hee’s eyes.

“I told you, didn’t I? I apologized in advance because  I’m going to be rude to you in the future. You told me you think it was fine.”

“No! Hey! What you did to me wasn’t just being rude.  It’s murder! Attempted murder, to be specific. You——”

“I told you I didn’t mean it. I didn’t make that cake.”

“Then what did you tell me in the end? You——You knew it would cause me harm! You cried while telling me the truth.”

No matter how many times she convinced herself to remain calm, So-hee was so flabbergasted that her voice kept rising.

There was nothing she could do about Kelly’s infinite impudence.

Kelly should have been embarrassed to appear in front of her so it was really strange why she was talking to her in the first place.

After returning from the real world, she came back to her web novel with a resolution in mind but it was becoming harder to execute it perfectly.

“I don’t think you’ll believe me if I continued insisting but anyway, I decided to be honest.”

Her blue eyes that should have felt refreshing in the past reminded her of the cool winter sea at this moment.

“In my entire life, people would tell me how strong I am as a woman. People who don’t know me well think I’m just nice but that isn’t true.  I’m not just strong because I’m also greedy. This is the exact reason why  I was able to survive in the Eurecia family until now.”

Contrary to So-hee’s wandering pupils, Kelly’s eyes looked calm as if she already made a firm commitment to something.

“My mother told me that if there’s anything I want, I’ll just have to stick with it until the end. That way, people like us can escape our miserable lives. Considering that she came from a village of prostitutes and turned into a concubine of a prominent nobleman, I think she was correct. If my mother had given up without clinging to him because of her pride, I would have turned into  a woman who would sell herself just the same.”

“So, what I want to tell you is——-”

Even if she could neither stutter nor talk, Sohee was about to open her mouth but Kelly cut her off.

“By the way, Lady Ariad. I just want to tell you that I’m greedier than my mother.”  The way she informed her while clutching her teacup sounded confident and relaxed.  “I will not settle for a concubine.”

A moment of silence.

So-hee was so speechless that she couldn’t formulate nasty retorts to fill in the gap.

As she continued to ponder, Kelly added. “I will never apologize to you without meaning to ever again. Consider all of them as lies.”

Kelly rose from her seat, picked up the box she brought and threw it to the trash can next to the fireplace.

The box fell into the stainless steel bin with a clang.

“I want you to disappear. Please.” She uttered with determination and left the drawing room just like that.

Left alone, Sohee was still unable to close her hanging jaw.

She clutched her throbbing head for a long time before staring at the floor.

“Ridiculous.”

As the wood in the fireplace burned and the flames grew stronger, So-hee’s anxiety intensified.