After her body recovered, Annie threw herself back into the Estate work with even more vigor than before.
Today, she seemed especially hardworking, even going so far as to take tasks away from her companions.
This surprised the other Maids, but they were also happy for her.
For a long time, Annie had been tormented by certain troubles, and none of them could help her—they could only fret secretly behind her back.
Now, seeing her regain her energy and even appear excited, someone couldn’t help but tease, “Annie, what have you been taking today? You’re even snatching up everyone else’s work.”
“Of course!” she replied matter-of-factly, never pausing in her mop work.
“Lord Roman personally cured my Illness. Now that I have strength again, I naturally have to repay Lord Roman properly!”
Some of the Maids knew that Roman had gone alone to her room this morning to treat her Illness and joked with a smile, “You could say you’ve gotten something good out of misfortune—Lord Roman treating you in the same room~”
Hearing this, Annie couldn’t help but show a simple, somewhat silly smile, which only encouraged the others to tease her more.
“You didn’t get to touch Lord Roman’s hand, did you? I heard there’s always some physical contact during treatment.”
“Tsk tsk, look at her blushing like that; it’s probably more than just that.”
“Could it be that Lord Roman held you in his arms to comfort you?”
“That can’t be! If the Lord found out, Annie would be skinned alive!”
Listening to their speculations, Annie kept her mouth shut.
After all, their guesses were correct, though they hadn’t imagined the more exaggerated reality.
She reached out and pinched her tongue, recalling how she had licked Lord Roman’s instep and even held his toes in her mouth, watching as he closed his eyes in pleasure…
Swallowing her saliva with great effort, Annie dared not think any further, fearing that her expression might betray her to her companions.
As she kept her head down, mopping the floor, her mop was suddenly blocked by someone in front of her.
“Please let me pass,” she said politely.
Receiving no response, Annie looked up in confusion.
What met her eyes was like falling into an ice cellar—her entire body chilled as she was rendered speechless.
A beautiful cold beauty stood before her, her wine-red eyes under gray bangs staring at her as if looking at a corpse.
“Lady Elise, you… hello!”
Annie’s face immediately buried itself, refusing to meet Elise’s gaze.
“You are very good,” Elise said flatly.
Those around assumed Elise was simply praising Annie’s diligence and paid little mind.
But to Annie, the words sounded deeply loaded, as if Elise’s eyes could pierce through her body and gaze directly into her soul—terrifyingly so.
“Come with me,” said Head Maid Elise elegantly, propping her hands on her hips.
As she passed Annie, she whispered in her ear, then left without looking back.
Annie’s face turned pale and weak, as if she had been caught red-handed by the discipline head while playing on her phone.
Her hands trembled weakly on the mop handle, and her legs nearly gave way as if she wanted to collapse on the spot.
Then, she recalled Lord Roman’s serious and caring gaze when he saved her, his worried motion as if to push her away to protect her from injury, and finally, the scene of her prostrating herself before him, offering everything with utmost reverence.
An indescribable courage stilled her fear.
She set the mop aside and calmly followed Elise, watching her open a door before stepping inside as well.
The door closed behind them, but Elise did not turn on the light.
Annie noticed the Curtains were drawn tight, making it almost impossible to see anything inside.
In the shadows, Elise silently approached from behind and suddenly kicked Annie’s back, forcefully pressing her to the ground.
The elegant High Heels crushed her back as Elise coldly spoke.
“How could I have never noticed before? You have such audacity.”
“I don’t understand what you’re talking about…”
Annie said.
Elise grabbed the Carpet nearby and threw it directly onto Annie’s face.
“Smell it. Does it seem familiar?”
“You play the game boldly, don’t you, Miss Annie.”
The once cold beauty’s image shattered in this moment.
She mocked Annie with harsh words, stepping on her back with the heels of her shoes, her voice icy.
“…”
Annie said nothing, falling silent.
“I will truthfully report everything to Lady Luo Xiya.”
Elise left the words hanging before turning to leave without a backward glance.
“Wait!”
Annie suddenly called out.
“Anything else to say?”
Elise asked without turning.
Panting, Annie said, “Don’t implicate Lord Roman. If you must tell the Lord, then just kill me. You can say I died because my Illness relapsed and treatment failed.”
Elise nodded faintly and laughed softly, “So you want to be the hero and let me be the villain?”
Annie repeated her words with a cold expression, “Or I’ll kill myself now, so Lord Roman won’t be dragged down because of me.”
The two stared silently in the darkness.
Annie couldn’t see Elise’s eyes, but Elise could see Annie’s—a gaze filled with fearless disregard for life and death.
Elise sighed quietly, thinking to herself: Lord Roman, is your charisma really that powerful?
Enough to make someone who met you once willing to die for you without hesitation.
“I’ll remember what you said today.”
With those words, Elise vanished from the room as if into thin air.
Annie still stared anxiously into every corner of the darkness, as if Elise were still there.
Just as she was about to prove her resolve with death, she heard the sound of the door opening.
“I hate ignorant fools like you the most,” Elise’s voice echoed through the room.
“Keep your life and do something meaningful for Lord Roman.”
Finally, just as Annie thought Elise had left, the Head Maid added, “I’ll pretend I don’t know what happened today.”
“Not because of you, but because I don’t want Lord Roman’s hard work and ‘Sacrifice’ to be wasted, nor do I want him to harbor resentment and make me the villain for no reason.”
“As for you—take care of yourself from now on.”
Only after making sure Elise was gone did Annie’s tense heart slowly relax.
Elise returned to her own room and faced the Magic Mirror, hesitating with a furrowed brow.
The mirror in her room was no ordinary item—it was a transcendent artifact that allowed direct communication with Lady Luo Xiya.
As long as Elise infused her Magic Power into it, she could speak to Luo Xiya and report everything that had just happened.
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