Within The Inner Court Of The Dyson Family.
An opulent mansion had received a rare visitor. This rare visitor is a beautiful woman with even rarer red hair.
She was dropped in front of the mansion by a carriage. The carriage had to bring her across the large distance from the gate of this mansion.
So there was a large expanse of empty ground around the mansion that one has to cover before they can reach the mansion itself.
The mansion itself is another opulent matter. It is three stories tall with ten rooms on each floor.
These ten rooms are different from the store, kitchen, and sitting rooms. The ten rooms are only bedrooms and guest rooms.
The mansion is divided into three sections on each floor. These sections are the east wing, core area, and west wing.
Each wing has five rooms. The kitchen, sitting rooms, stores, game rooms, and other rooms are in the middle of the building, called the core area.
Lady Vena was ushered into the sitting room in the core area of the first floor while her presence was announced to the masters of the house.
She didn't sit down. She wanted to assume an imposing figure for what she came for, so she remained standing.
Lady Devia appeared a few minutes after waiting. The blond woman gave one of her trademark fake smiles to Lady Vena.
"Look who it is. A very august visitor. Shatel Manor shines brighter because of your presence."
Lady Vena hummed and nodded in response. She didn't speak to return the greeting.
She was only willing to be cordial in public. Currently, she is not in the mood to pretend to be on good terms with her.
Lady Devia didn't like being disrespected like that. But she appeared not to take offense.
She took her seat gracefully and took a sip from the cup of tea that a maid served her.
Then she smiled and said, "I guess you can take someone out of the boons, but you can't take the boons out of them."
Lady Vena focused on her sharply. Her eyes sharpened and narrowed into slits as she focused on her prey.
Lady Devia felt the threat of death immediately. Her skin prickled with warning, and she stood up immediately.
She was so afraid that she wanted to call for the guards. But then she saw the teasing smile on Lady Vena's face.
Lady Vena pressed her advantage with a mocking tone, "All looks and no substance. That's what you get when you give pearls to a pig."
Lady Delia felt ashamed. She retorted sharply, "Aren't you the pig? After all, you're the lowborn pretending to be someone who doesn't belong. You don't belong here, and you never will."
Lady Vena continued to smile. She truly didn't take offense from what Delia had said because part of it was true.
She truly didn't belong in a fancy family drinking tea like some trophy wife. She belonged on the battlefield, cutting down enemies. That's how she reached where she is today.
She knows that she is low born, but she is proud of herself for achieving what she has achieved despite her background. It is why she doesn't pretend to be what she is not and will not take offense when someone is clearly lying about it to insult her.
It is also why she can't respect Delia and some people in the family. She respects a lot of people in the Dyson family, such as Augustus. But she can't respect those who were granted such a great opportunity and didn't achieve much with it.
She made that clear by saying, "I see that you've finally transcended the first mortal coil. It is about time. With all the resources you have access to, I was beginning to wonder if you were a dud."
Lady Devia shot back, "I took my time. There was no rush for me. After all, I am still young and have my future ahead of me. Unlike some old hags who would seduce a young man in order to make progress."
Lady Vena checked her nails as she retorted calmly, "I only had to sleep with him once to make the progress I did. I am that good. Tell me, how many times have you slept with him just to transcend the first mortal coil?"
Lady Devia's face turned crimson because of anger. She said, "What we did is different. I am a respectable wife, while you were a harlot selling your body."
Lady Vena laughed. "Oh my. How ignorant and naive. Everything is a transaction, my dear. You being a wife is because your family sold you to the Dyson family."
She moved closer to Delia as she said, "I sold my body once while your entire life and existence were sold completely. I can move on and become anything I want, but you're stuck being a wife in a loveless marriage. Even the less privileged have love."
By the time she finished, she was standing face to face with Delia. "Tell me again. Whose situation is worse?"
Delia couldn't take it anymore. It is true that she is younger than Vena. She is about ten years younger, so she is less experienced and has a thinner skin.
She is also privileged, so she became angry and reached the limit of her anger quickly.
She became furious and swung her hand to slap Vena. The slap connected with a loud smack.
The hit caused Vena's face to tilt sharply to the side. There was also a bright palm mark on her cheek.
But these things didn't stop her from being happy and from chuckling. She said, "My turn."
By the time she was done speaking, Delia was already flying.
The slap she had received had struck her with so much force that she was lifted off of her feet and thrown against the far end of the room.
Fortunately, a guard was nearby. He reached out to grab Delia in the air. This prevented her from slamming against the wall.
Delia jerked away from the guard and stood up by herself. Then she dashed toward Vena for a rematch.