Miss, I’m sorry.
Only after stepping out of the room did a faint sense of guilt rise in Elise’s heart.
As Luo Xiya’s personal maid and the head housekeeper managing the manor, she shouldn’t have gotten so involved with her mistress’s companion.
She should have actively kept her distance from Lord Roman to avoid any suspicion.
Otherwise, if Luo Xiya was away and some bold person started spreading rumors, she would be in an impossible position, even though such a situation was practically unlikely.
In the eyes of the maids in the manor and even Lady Catherine, Elise had always been a cold, elegant beauty — silent, aloof, and decisive, with remarkably high efficiency.
Over the years, she had earned immense prestige in both the manor and the Territory.
Plus, with Luo Xiya’s trust in her, though she was officially a head housekeeper, in terms of strength and influence, she was effectively the second-in-command of the Lily Territory.
Who would dare spread rumors about her? That would be courting death.
Yet, while others didn’t dare slander her, she herself allowed a selfish desire to creep in.
After all, she was no mere plant. Compared to Luo Xiya’s joyful life and happy family, Elise’s own existence was as cold and barren as her icy expression — dull and uneventful.
When Luo Xiya first brought Lord Roman to the manor, Elise maintained her usual attitude.
She didn’t even regard Roman as a man, willingly undressing before him to show her Sacred Seal, allowing him to examine her body thoroughly.
Of course, she used the same excuse to observe Roman closely.
That encounter was the closest they ever got — honest and transparent, with no secrets between them.
Between the snowy peaks of their shoulders and the backs they brushed, there was an intimate contact.
And then, nothing more.
Afterwards, Luo Xiya quickly formed a close bond with Roman.
The naive Lord Roman, under her care, became attached in a completely submissive manner — with Elise even helping push Lord Roman onto Luo Xiya’s bed.
Night after night passed.
Elise, on night watch, remained cloaked in shadows as usual, eyes closed, blending with the darkness.
Her Sacred Seal, Shadow Veil, was incredibly useful.
Night was when she was at her best — using the shadows to rest while simultaneously laying down her Domain throughout the manor, keeping watch for anything unusual.
That night, however, she couldn’t calm her mind at all, for the Domain around Luo Xiya’s room continuously sent her decadent, seductive sounds.
Though pure, Elise was not a complete fool.
She naturally understood that Miss and Lord Roman were exchanging their first night together.
Listening to the increasingly uninhibited sounds, punctuated by occasional high-pitched moans, Elise’s brows furrowed deeper.
Mixed in were faint, labored breaths — Elise knew those were Roman struggling beneath Luo Xiya.
As Miss grew bolder in her passion that night, the sounds of the blanket rubbing against skin, the occasional thumping on the balcony, and Luo Xiya’s intimate teasing whispered in Roman’s ear…
Elise was fully awake by then.
Eavesdropping on their actions at the wall corner became addictive.
Hearing Luo Xiya’s every word made Elise blush deeply.
“Does calling me ‘Sister’ feel good?”
“Lie still, obediently.”
“Suck it quickly.”
And the phrase that made her scalp tingle the most.
“You don’t want the maids outside to hear your moans, do you?”
How twisted this play had become…
Miss, really, if you opened the window, the maids would only hear you making all the ‘wild’ noises on Lord Roman…
A vivid imagination ran rampant in Elise’s mind, conjuring all kinds of scenes of Luo Xiya tormenting Roman.
Without anyone else needing to provoke her, this so-called ice queen began to melt.
In the end, her legs nearly gave way, and she almost couldn’t stand.
Lady Catherine probably didn’t expect that Elise was not the only one eavesdropping that night.
That was why she could shock Milis so much.
Under normal circumstances, Milis’s body, fused with the laws themselves, would not detect any other Domain while she slept.
In short, after that night, the last of Elise’s boundaries — the things she had steadfastly held onto all along — were shattered.
And the colder and more abstinent a person usually is, once the shackles come off just once, the consequences are unimaginable.
During that period, she secretly developed a habit she’d never had before.
That was self-comforting…
Like a drug addict, when night fell silent, her mind would run wild, making her body burn and her thoughts restless.
Only by releasing the floodgates of this overflowing stream could she find temporary peace.
To outsiders, she was still the cold and indifferent head housekeeper.
But in truth, she had long since changed.
Ten years of unchanging life, never having felt passion — it was only after that night that she understood she too could feel desire…
So when she discovered what Annie and Roman were doing behind everyone’s backs, she was genuinely happy.
Yes, happy.
Not shocked, not angry — her first reaction was joy.
Joyfully watching Annie lick Lord Roman’s toes like a little puppy and soothe herself with her hands, Elise couldn’t help but lick her lips, the saliva in her mouth growing hot.
Lord Roman, I want to be yours too.
With that thought, Elise sought out Roman.
She didn’t want to possess her mistress’s companion — she only wanted to become Lord Roman’s most loyal servant at his knees, just as Miss was to her.
The reason she felt happy upon discovering Annie’s affair was that she had found a perfectly natural excuse to establish a closer relationship with Roman.
And indeed, it worked. She kissed Roman’s cheek, and he kissed hers in return… at that moment, she almost couldn’t keep up the act, letting out a satisfied sigh — luckily, Lord Roman noticed nothing.
“Hmph hmph.”
Humming a pleased little tune, Elise left the room.
The moment she stepped out of the shadows, her beautiful face turned cold and indifferent once again.
***
Meanwhile, Roman returned to Luo Xiya’s room as usual.
“Ugh…”
A low, indescribable moan escaped as she burrowed into Luo Xiya’s bed.
From the moment she arrived at the manor, she had been thoughtfully sent to Luo Xiya’s bed by Elise on the first night, and Luo Xiya never arranged a separate room for her after that — naturally, they shared the same bedroom.
After two days, the scent Luo Xiya left on the bed faded little by little.
Roman could only bury her head in the blanket to savor the taste Luo Xiya had left night after night.
Yet now, all she could think about were the words Elise had just spoken to her, every sentence, every word…