After the brief morning incident, the two of them finally returned to normal, though they still couldn’t stand each other.
‘It’s not going to be like this every morning, is it? Hopefully not.’
Lauren certainly hoped so.
‘But you’ve got the whole day ahead of you. I can’t just spend all day in bed playing around with two girls—that would be way too decadent.’
So he hurried them off to get changed.
Li An was smaller and faster at getting dressed in her white stockings and maid outfit.
She brushed her hair aside, came out first, and asked Lauren, “So, what are we doing today, Lauren dear?”
“If we have nothing to do, how about we go on a date?”
Lauren rolled his eyes at her.
‘Do we really have that much free time?’
“Are you here to work as a maid in the Boss’s house, meow, or just to enjoy yourself, meow? You paid leave thief, meow!”
Before Li An could respond, Anne’s voice came from the side, drowning out Li An’s offensive.
Lauren glanced sideways.
She hadn’t even finished dressing; one black stocking was only halfway on, and she had rushed out barefoot.
‘It seems she’s really on guard around Li An.’
‘Sigh, why is she putting her energy into this kind of thing?’
‘Can’t Anne give me a little more support?’
Lauren shook his head and replied to Li An, “Next, we’re going to welcome an important guest.”
“An important guest?”
‘You must be joking. Who is more important than me? How dare they refuse me!’
To be honest, Li An was genuinely annoyed by this remark.
Luckily, she was best at adjusting her mindset.
Li An immediately asked, “Who is this guest you’re meeting?”
‘Good, the Boss refused, meow,’ Anne sighed in relief.
‘Look at how spoiled this golden-haired shorty is—she’s gotten way too cocky.’
Still, Anne also wanted to know the answer to that question.
“What are you two in such a hurry for? You’ll know when she gets here!”
Lauren didn’t want to say more.
It involved his knowledge of the boss-level plot.
Besides, what was there to say to them? What did it have to do with them?
As long as they all listened to him, everything was under Lauren’s control.
No need to rush.
“‘She’?”
Their hearts both skipped a beat simultaneously.
A bad premonition.
Li An and Anne exchanged a glance upon hearing Lauren’s words.
They both became alert immediately.
For a moment, countless thoughts raced through their minds, a thousand words left unspoken.
Li An’s mouth twitched slightly, but she quickly regained her composure.
Anne wasn’t so calm.
Her cat ears drooped directly, turning into a round-headed old cat form, and her tail hung down.
They both had complaints about Lauren’s words.
‘No way, a new woman is arriving? Are you kidding me? You already went and provoked a Yuli before, and now just the two of us is more than enough.’
‘Can you handle three women?’
Li An let out a helpless laugh and deliberately exaggerated, “Heavens, Lauren dear, why are you surrounded by girls!”
“Lauren dear, I have to say, you’re way too greedy!”
“Boss, I think so too, meow. Overindulgence isn’t good, meow.”
Anne raised her hand to chime in, trembling slightly.
Lauren said nothing to defend himself. He simply…
‘Nonsense. Don’t even look at what kind of game “Floral Fantasy Poem” is. In most of the game’s character art, nine out of ten named characters are female.’
‘Other nameless characters, to save costs and improve efficiency, mostly appear as black silhouettes.’
‘I, as this villain, only benefited from an early appearance, getting this surviving blonde character design, and then started my endless journey as the villain clown.’
‘Speaking of which, it’s really annoying. I don’t want to talk to you about it.’
Lauren simply turned away, avoiding the gazes of the two girls to express his stance.
Fortunately, Li An and Anne had been reincarnated.
Even if Lauren didn’t want to say, they had clues to follow.
Li An: ‘Hmm, let me think, who would appear at this point in time? Is it that crazy woman who once exploited Lauren dear to the bone!’
Anne: ‘That’s exactly it, meow! She’s the little sister, meow! She’s a good friend, meow!’
Lauren: ‘Win her over, seduce her, for the sake of my One-Heart society!’
The three of them concealed things from each other, three secret thoughts intertwining in this mansion.
—
The very person being discussed right now was the boss-level existence from the first chapter of the original game plot, named Isabella Kefen, the second daughter of the Kefen family.
That’s right, the Kefen family.
That was the surname of the local ruling lord, the family that almost formed a marriage alliance with the Skomet family back then.
But even as duke families, the Kefens and the Skomets were as different as heaven and earth.
One was a large family with many members and abundant resources, with fertile lands and military power in their hands.
The other was the Skomet, left with only an orphan and a few servants, guarding a deserted mansion and a plot of land with withered plants.
It was a stark contrast when compared.
Still, it wasn’t strange that such a difference existed.
One was a martial family granted the title of duke for their ancestor’s personal feat of slaying a dragon.
The other was an investment family granted the title of duke for their skill in employing people and navigating social connections.
They were strong, of course, just not top-tier.
For a family, the latter undoubtedly had the long-term prosperity advantage.
After all, a single person’s bravery would wither as life faded, but the binding of interests among a group of people could last for generations.
However, for Isabella herself, although she came from such a prominent family, such a large family had its own problems.
The family was indeed large and flourishing, but there were also many people, and resources were insufficient for everyone.
Furthermore, the Kefen family strictly distinguished between the legitimate and the illegitimate, and between seniors and juniors.
Her father had three sons and two daughters.
Isabella was in the middle, neither high nor low.
What was more fatal was that she was a concubine-born child.
She had heard that her mother was just a commoner’s daughter, with no prominent background.
Well, in fact, Isabella had never seen her, because she had died giving birth to Isabella, leaving not even a single portrait.
Without the backing of her maternal family, from the moment she was born, Isabella was destined to be just another person in the vast Kefen mansion.
And the truly radiant jewel of the Kefen family was her sister—Yisiliya Kefen.
A pure legitimate eldest daughter, a child of destiny.
Her maternal family was from the imperial descendant Augustus, her bloodline so noble it was impeccable.
She was the emperor’s own niece, and had entered the land of the “Sword Lord” at a young age.
Yisiliya had hair redder and more flamboyant than hers, the power of her maternal family behind her, the status of a legitimate daughter beneath her feet, and a bright future laid out before her.
As for her, she looked like just a common roadside weed.
She wanted to fight for a chance, but she couldn’t compete with her sister, and she didn’t have the capital to contend.
sigh Depressed in her heart, powerless, she had to let it be for now.
But that didn’t mean she had given up on her goal.
Under the morning light, a dragon-steed trotted with crisp hoofbeats.
Eighteen-year-old Isabella sat upright in the saddle, her back straight as a sword, her figure tall.
Her form-fitting riding jacket outlined the clean silhouette of a slender waist and long legs, with black boots hugging her calves tightly.
What was most striking was her hair, blazing like fire.
It was pulled high into a ponytail, cascading down from the top of her head, dancing in the wind.
A few stray strands broke free, hanging by her ears, lifted and dropped by the morning breeze, casting faint shadows on her pale cheeks.
Her crimson eyes reflected the sunlight in the distance as she gazed at the Skomet Mansion surrounded by deep forests.
Why not avoid it? Because there was no fear.
Because I am as fiery as a flame, blooming like a lotus.
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