The Villainess's Great Revenge

146

The hated voice belonging to Lilith finally brought the dreaded words. With a big smile and spring of laughter, Lilith announced,

"Congratulations, lady Evelina! I heard news of the failed engagement between you and the young master of the Casspan family. I was shocked to hear, you must've been utterly devastated. Thus I came up with this, the perfect present to cheer you up. Remember sir Rulias? You and him get along quite well, right? That's why I'm happy to announce here, at this moment that we have graciously bestowed you two an engagement with each other!"  

…

What?

Evelina was lost for words. She knew what would be said would definitely not be favorable towards her, but she was still shocked. Her pupils shrunk into a small dog. The white and soft palm gripped itself tightly. The cleanly cut nails dug into the skin. Though painful, it still couldn't pull Evelina out of her clouded mind. A rush of thoughts and outcomes came into her mind. What to say, what to do, and how to adapt to this situation. But no matter whatever route she would take, it will only lead her into a darker and deeper abyss. All she could do was stare at the woman above her with a lost expression. 

The richly dressed woman analyzed the lady kneeling below her that was clearly too stunned to think clearly. That expression, the trembling lips, and eyes that were starting to red, it all made her so... A strange thrill entered her heart that caused it to beat rapidly. For a moment, she didn't know what to name this feeling. Oh yes, it's satisfaction and excitement. It seems so strange yet familiar. She could only ever feel this type of thrill when facing Evelina's pretty face that is filled with disguised hatred, anger, frustrations, and fear.

'Hm… making someone you deeply despise afraid of you really is enjoyable. Now I'm growing closer to understanding you, Eve.' Lilith thought quietly.

"Gift? Is this supposed to be your gift!?" For a moment, Evelina appeared to have broken out of the timid and innocent role she loves to play and revealed her true emotions. 

The entire hall seemed to have paused. The quiet yet loud whispers of those excited onlookers stopped, but their gaze pointed towards Evelina didn't go away. They stared at her with shock and… disgust.

As if nothing happened, Evelina returned to her role frighteningly quickly. She composed herself and the frown on her face quickly transformed into a sweet smile. Her voice that was fiercely raised just a while ago softened into a gentle and pleasing tone. As if with no difficulty at all, Evelina locked eyes with Lilith and said, "Well then… Thank you, your highness. I'm so glad to see how benevolent and generous our new princess is. This humble one is very grateful. I'm so happy. So happy that I can't bear to stay here much longer. I believe it's best if I return home to deal with my excitement. Please excuse me."

"Oho… Of course. You must be exhausted from kneeling for so long. Go, rest. From tonight onwards, your days will be very eventful as I predict." Lilith grinned with delight. 

Eveline didn't wait for anything else and left as soon as Lilith stopped speaking. The air around her was strange, eerie yet calming. She didn't look back. She didn't dare look back to see what expression was on her father's face. The crowd still wasn't able to break out of their trance. It took Harper's gentle and reassuring words to return the hall to it's lively and seemingly peaceful state. But many still can't get what had just occurred out of their minds.

"I wonder what will happen after this day…"

"If it were before, the Aurabella family will definitely feel honored and be extremely delighted by this gift. But now the Skyler family is simply just not as prosperous as before…"

"Sir Rulias and Lady Evelina did have quite an ambiguous relationship even when Lady Evelina was engaged to sir Chase. Perhaps they had it coming."

"Hm. Princess Lilith's words are confusing to me. Did she really want to mend her and lady Evelina's relationship, or did she do this with an ulterior motive?"