Chapter 5 : The Killer Maid!

The maid’s icy eyes were brimming with murderous intent!

In that moment, she was no longer the elegant maid who tended to others’ daily needs—She was clearly a bloodthirsty assassin who wouldn’t bat an eye at killing!

Faced with the raging, violent magic energy pouring out of her.

Crasis trembled instinctively, driven by pure survival instinct.

“Don’t—don’t…”

“I—I was wrong! I don’t want to die…”

Just as she was about to completely break down in tears.

A commanding female voice rang out.

“That’s enough, Perica!”

The moment the voice scolded her,

Perica’s murderous aura, which had been fueled by fury, vanished instantly.

She immediately let go of Crasis’s hands and stepped back with deep remorse.

“My apologies, Madam, I…”

Before Perica could defend her actions.

The richly dressed woman shouted sharply:

“Take this maid away and lock her up!”

Upon hearing this.

Ron’s eyes widened.

“Mom, it wasn’t her fault—if anyone should be punished, then—”

Before Ron could finish.

His mother, Elenda, matriarch of House Castrellero, shouted sternly:

“Ron!!”

Under his mother’s pressure.

Ron could only shut his mouth and watch helplessly as Perica, who had stood up for him, was taken away.

After disciplining Perica.

Elenda turned to Crasis, who was still pinned to the floor by the shadow guards.

“Release her.”

At Elenda’s command.

The guards let go of Crasis.

After kneeling to Elenda on one knee, they disappeared like phantoms into the shadows.

“D-damn it!”

Crasis scrambled up in utter disarray.

Because of her stiff petticoat and the ornate decorations on her dress.

She struggled for quite a while to fix her gown.

Her previously flawless makeup was now a total mess.

Combined with her swollen cheek from being slapped by Ron and her hair that looked like a bird’s nest.

Crasis now looked just like a village shrew in a nine-yuan cheap evening dress from some knockoff online store!

Seeing her in such a ridiculous state.

The surrounding guests couldn’t help but chuckle awkwardly.

Ron, too, allowed a mischievous smirk to slip onto his face.

But under Elenda’s deathly glare, he quickly tensed his facial muscles, doing his best not to laugh out loud!

“Damn it… damn it!”

Hearing the mocking laughter around her, Crasis, still struggling with her dress, was nearly driven to tears.

After a long, frustrating effort to straighten the layered skirts, her pearl hair clip—of all things—chose that moment to fall off, sending her hair completely tumbling down into a mess.

That was the last straw.

Crasis finally broke down and burst into tears.

Seeing her like this, Elenda let out a helpless sigh.

She walked over to Crasis and picked up the fallen hair clip.

“Crasis, I’m sorry,”

“It was our fault for not realizing you were just joking around with Ron. We overreacted.”

“Someone, take Miss Crasis to tidy up her appearance…”

But as Elenda reached out with the hair clip.

Crasis suddenly slapped her hand away in a frenzy!

“Get lost! Don’t give me that fake-ass apology!”

“You think a simple ‘sorry’ can make up for what I’ve suffered?!”

“That maid must pay the price!”

“I want to see her severed head on my doorstep tomorrow!”

“And Ron!”

“I’ll never forgive you either!”

Hearing the shocking venom spill from Crasis’s mouth, Elenda was speechless for a moment.

This woman… Does she not even know how to take a way out gracefully?

Fortunately, at that moment, Jon—who had been hiding quietly nearby—stepped forward.

“Crasis!”

“Stop talking nonsense!”

Jon grabbed Crasis by the shoulder, signaling her to shut up and stop spouting garbage.

After forcibly holding her back, he turned toward Ron and Elenda with an apologetic smile.

“My apologies!”

“My niece has been under immense stress from her entrance exams lately—she’s not quite herself.”

“If she’s caused any offense, please be understanding, truly! Hahaha…”

As he chuckled nervously, Jon dragged Crasis away with him.

With the two of them finally gone, the farcical scene drew to a temporary close.

After seeing Crasis off, Elenda quickly diffused the lingering tension in the room and announced the formal start of the banquet.

Then she approached Ron, quietly saying:

“Go on, birthday boy.”

“Make a toast to our guests, greet them properly.”

“Once you’ve done that, come find me in the lounge next door.”

At her instruction, Ron simply gave a calm nod.

After making the rounds and finishing his toasts, the strange, awkward atmosphere of the banquet finally and completely lifted.

Seeing that no further trouble was likely, Ron set down his wine glass and turned to the lounge located off to the side of the reception hall.

Inside the lounge, smoke swirled through the air.

Elenda sat staring blankly at the bookshelf, a troubled look on her face as she held a slender pipe between her fingers.

When she saw Ron enter without knocking, Elenda hurriedly set down the pipe and rushed to open the window for ventilation.

“Mom, didn’t you say you quit?”

Ron frowned and waved his hand through the smoky air around him.

Elenda simply sighed.

“I’m getting old. Too much going on. My head’s not clear.”

“This is the only thing that helps me stay alert.”

“Come, sit.”

After opening the window, Elenda returned to the couch and motioned for Ron to sit beside her.

Ron hesitated briefly before sitting on the same couch, though keeping a good half-meter of distance between them.

Seeing Ron act so distant, a flicker of barely visible sadness crossed Elenda’s face.

“Be honest with me.”

“Back there, when I didn’t back you up—”

“Are you mad at me?”

Faced with Elenda’s direct question, Ron was briefly stunned, then quickly shook his head.

“No, no!”

“Of course not.”

“I know you wouldn’t actually punish Perica.”

“The reason you had her taken away… was to protect her.”

“And apologizing to Crasis—”

“That was a compromise you had to make… for my sake.”

“If we’d really let things blow up between our families, the one who’d suffer in the end would still be your son—me.”

Hearing Ron’s accurate and insightful analysis, Elenda widened her eyes in surprise.

She hadn’t expected her once-depressed son to suddenly see things so clearly!

Before she could fully recover from her astonishment, Ron sighed helplessly.

“But you…”

“Are you angry at me?”

“For making such a scene at the banquet…”

Ron turned his head away, guilt written all over his face.

He couldn’t even bring himself to meet Elenda’s eyes.

All the bravado he’d displayed today— was only possible because he had Elenda and the strength of the entire family backing him.

Acting bold felt great in the moment, but there were always consequences.

And the storms he stirred up today…in the end, it would fall to Elenda, as the head of the family, to clean them up.

With Ron’s father long deceased, his mother had shouldered the burden of this vast household alone.

She was already so exhausted— and he had gone and made things even harder for her, all to make Crasis pay a price.

Seeing Ron’s face filled with remorse, Elenda’s initial look of shock slowly faded, replaced with the gentle warmth of a mother’s love.

“How could I be, my silly child…”