THE FAKE LADY AND THE PASTRY SHOP 

“Boss Celine.”

Lucas’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts. It also broke the standoff between me and Maximilian.

He stopped the carriage right behind the Grand Duchess’s manor, glanced at Maximilian, and then at me.

“Is this your friend?”

I shook off Maximilian’s hand: “I don’t have the blessing to be friends with such a noble Duke.”

Taking a step back, I curtsied formally: “Your Grace, please excuse me.”

Maximilian didn’t reply, his face as cold as carved ice, standing still. He watched me place my hand on Lucas’s hand and board the carriage, his eyes bone-chillingly cold.

“What is your relationship?”

Hearing that the other party was a Duke, Lucas naturally acted respectfully: “Your Grace, Boss Celine and I are…”

“We live under the same roof,” I interrupted, taking over the conversation.

His face successfully turned pitch black.

I didn’t know what he was so upset about. It definitely wasn’t jealousy, but given his previous question, maybe he had guessed that the person who slept with him three years ago was me?

So now he was angry that I had “soiled” him and was now “cuckolding” him?

Men’s possessiveness is truly bizarre.

I dropped the carriage curtain. The carriage rolled along, and soon we arrived home.

This house in the capital had only been bought a few days ago; the furniture wasn’t fully arranged yet, so it looked somewhat empty. I didn’t know if it was an illusion, but I kept feeling like someone was watching me. That feeling of being monitored sent chills down my spine.

“What’s wrong?” Lucas asked me.

I shook my head: “The house is so empty, it looks a bit creepy.”

Lucas smiled: “In a few days, I’ll go with you to buy furniture, it’ll feel cozy right away.”

Borrowing the Grand Duchess’s fame, as expected, the pastry shop quickly became a hit in the capital.

The citizens spread the word that this was the pastry even the Grand Duchess loved, and everyone was curious. Of course, a portion of them came because of me.

The incident at the Grand Duchess’s manor that night had leaked out. Hearing that I had returned to the capital and even ran into Maximilian at the banquet, everyone assumed I was trying to latch onto him again to save my life.

For several consecutive days, my pastry shop was bustling with people.

“Tsk tsk, I wonder if she plans to snatch the groom…”

“Definitely! She’s fallen so low as to sell baked goods; her only hope to return to the good days is to cling to the Duke.”

Malicious remarks occasionally drifted into my ears, and some even discussed it loudly on purpose.

I maintained a professional smile, pretending not to hear, and continued packing pastries for the customers who came “by reputation.”

Lucas looked at me in confusion: “Aren’t you angry?”

“Why should I be? Money is being delivered to my doorstep; I’d be a fool not to take it.” If they came a few more times, the profit would be enough to cover the cost of the house.

“Sister!”

A sickly-sweet, affected voice rang out.

My movements paused, and I looked up.

Vivian.

The people around evidently recognized her too. They all immediately fell silent, secretly perking up their ears.

“It really is you! I thought I saw wrong. When did you get back, and why didn’t you return to the Count’s manor to find me and our parents?”

Her face was full of concern, making my lack of etiquette even more glaring in contrast.

But I never cared about aristocratic rules and face anyway, and even less so now.

“If you want to buy pastries, please line up. Can’t you see there are over a dozen people waiting behind you?”

Her face stiffened, and in the next second, her eyes welled up with tears of grievance:

“Sister, how could you say that to me? I came to find you out of goodwill…”

“Who is this lady calling sister! Are you delusional? My parents are both dead and left me no siblings. Where would I get a sister?”

Vivian’s pitiful, crying face instantly froze. Unable to squeeze out another tear, her expression turned incredibly ugly, and her tone carried blame:

“Sister, that’s too much. Although the Vane family can’t compare to the Count’s manor, you can’t despise them and curse them to die just because they are commoners!”

As soon as these words came out, the eyes of the people around looking at me were tinged with criticism.

“A dog doesn’t despise its poor master; this kind of person is truly worse than a beast!”

“She must be used to being a grand lady. Now that her status has drastically changed and her biological parents are poor, she despises them. I didn’t expect her to be so vicious as to curse her biological parents to death…”

The murmurs of the crowd were quite loud.

Under Vivian’s righteous facade, a flash of smugness crossed her eyes when she looked at me.

When she returned that year, she deliberately described the Vane family’s background vaguely, making the capital’s citizens mistakenly believe the Vane family was extremely poor and that she had lived a miserable life.

As for her proficiency in poetry, painting, and music, it was entirely due to her eagerness to learn and her ability to overcome adversity.

However, I wasn’t free enough to clarify things for the Vane family.

Thinking back to what they did to me three years ago, my eyes turned cold.

“Very angry, aren’t you? Now you have nothing, and the Vane family doesn’t want to take you in.”

While no one was paying attention, she leaned close to my ear and provoked me in a whisper.

After three years of manipulating public opinion, obviously, reputation, status, and position were now all on her side.

I tilted my head slightly, pretending not to hear clearly: “What did you say?”

From under the counter, I pulled out a small solid brass amplifier device (a mechanical gadget I picked up during my travels), casually clipped it to my collar, and tapped it.

She smirked: “I said, you are just a failure, you’ll never compare to me in this lifetime! Do you know why the Vane family didn’t take you in? It was because of me. I was the one who told them to chase you away.”

Before her smug smile could fade, in the next second, her words were broadcasted at ten times the volume:

“I SAID, YOU ARE JUST A FAILURE! YOU’LL NEVER COMPARE TO ME IN THIS LIFETIME! DO YOU KNOW WHY THE VANE FAMILY DIDN’T TAKE YOU IN? IT WAS BECAUSE OF ME. I WAS THE ONE WHO TOLD THEM TO CHASE YOU AWAY!”

This was a treasure I had collected during my years of travel. I originally intended to use it to attract customers, but I didn’t expect it to have another use today.

There were already many citizens secretly listening in. The extremely loud megaphone sound echoed through the entire street block.

As the audio repeatedly played Vivian’s words, everyone gasped, looking at her in shock.

“What’s going on? Lady Vivian instigated them to kick out their biological daughter? That’s too malicious…”

From the moment Vivian heard the first broadcasted sentence, her face morphed in terror, and she panicked.

“What the hell is this thing!”

Forgetting to maintain her image, she lunged forward to grab it.

Failing to snatch it, she loudly ordered the guards behind her: “Quickly, help me grab that cursed thing!”

“Lucas!”

As soon as I spoke, Lucas leaped out. With just a few moves, he knocked down all those incompetent guards.

It was totally worth the ten gold coins I spent every month to hire a bodyguard.

Vivian’s face was extremely ugly: “Celine, you dare hit my men?! You are just a lowly commoner now, and I am a noble lady. Aren’t you afraid I’ll have my father convict you?”

As soon as she finished speaking, I tapped the small speaker, and it started broadcasting again:

“YOU ARE JUST A LOWLY COMMONER NOW, AND I AM A NOBLE LADY. AREN’T YOU AFRAID I’LL HAVE MY FATHER CONVICT YOU?”

Played continuously seven or eight times, the massive volume attracted more and more citizens to gather around.

Vivian tried to run, but I reached out and blocked her way:

“What an awe-inspiring noble lady! You were the one who insulted me just now, and you were the one who made the first move. Now you want to use the Count to convict me. Does the King know the Count’s manor has such absolute, heaven-covering power?”

The surroundings buzzed with discussions, but this time, the target of the criticism was no longer me, but Vivian.

Because her previous sentence was a wide-area insult: “lowly commoner.”

That sentence was basically cursing every single spectator present. Who would still defend her?