Read Novel Full Chapter 571: Inquiry of a Thorny Rose?
Chapter 571: Inquiry of a Thorny Rose?
Coughing into the side of her fist, the Thorn of Roses looked towards Marionette, who had her arms wrapped tightly around a white-haired maid.
"What are you doing, niece?"
Marionette blinked at the masked woman, her eyes widening slightly in surprise. She moved her head away from Lillian’s ear, still having her arms wrapped around the girl, then asked:
"Thorn of Roses? What’s your purpose here?"
"Don’t try to change the subject." The Thorn folded her arms, her face cringing behind her mask, "You’re getting awfully close to that maid, aren’t you? What, so having one lover isn’t enough for you? And I see that this one has quite similar features to your first."
Lillian felt Marionette’s embrace tighten a bit.
The Assassin’s face twitched a bit, irritated by her aunt’s words. "You speak as though my maid is an object, which she is not. Even I have more tact in my words compared to you, Thorn of Roses."
"Hmph." Thorn snorted loudly, "Tact? What tact is there to be needed when talking about maids and servants? They’re commoners - commoners that are hired to service our needs."
Thorn of Roses then turned her face away slightly, her mask hiding the subtle repulsed look on her face, "But having one of them, especially one so close to your first lover in appearance, to serve you with affection... We may have our differences, but I never once thought you were that type of person..."
The masked woman then shifted her gaze towards the maid’s bloodstained shoulder, her red eyes shone with an even more disgusted light, "And to think you engaged in violent acts like those..."
Marionette waited until her aunt was done talking before sighing. ’What rubbish...’
Her mood from early morning had got worse the longer her aunt interacted with her. Fortunately, Lillian’s presence made up for it.
She wasn’t sure if it was because of her love for the girl, but she felt more at ease - calmer - than when she was around the Rabbit before.
...
Perhaps it was just a part of her imagination, maybe it really was just her love.
Anyway, if the person before the two of them wasn’t her aunt who spoke such rubbish earlier, she would’ve struck them in the side of the head. Unfortunately, such an action would result in her getting pummeled half to death with her systems completely flooded with poison.
Maybe when she gets stronger in the future, she may attempt such a thing. But for right now...
"Are you done speaking rubbish?"
She could only fight with insults.
Resting her chin on Lillian’s shoulder, Marionette continued to talk:
"Don’t come to such a revolting conclusion, Thorn of Roses, otherwise I might start imagining your dead self to have a rear in place of your mouth. Not like it’ll make much difference in terms of smell, even if you dunked your entire body in the most heavenly perfume."
Thorn of Roses frowned deeply, her eye twitching behind her mask. Then, she smirked, "I see your mouth is still able to speak. So, I take it that you’re enduring that illness of yours rather well?"
Marionette’s aunt then tilted her head, mockingly, "A waste of time and effort, ain’t it? Especially with how unloyal you are. So what? Nobles coming to the Legacy Table don’t fit your fancy, but maids do?"
Her niece let out a sigh as she closed her eyes for a bit. And when she opened them a second later, she lowered her arms to the maid’s waist - wrapping her arms around the Rabbit.
Lillian, who was intending on being completely silent and a spectator, found herself becoming flustered and startled by the unexpected move.
As Marionette rubbed the side of her face against Lillian’s cheek, she spoke in a cold tone towards the Thorn of Roses:
"The person you refer as my ’first lover’ is actually this maid you see here. They had returned early to my side and intend to win the title of my attendant for Legacy Table, which I find to be a waste of time and effort."
Marionette raised the corner of her lips, smirking mockingly at her aunt as she added, "I hope you don’t mind me using that phrase you used earlier, my dear aunt."
The Thorn of Roses went silent, her body still and unmoving - which seemingly caused the air around the three of them to go stale and heavy; thick enough to be cut with a knife.
"Heh." Thorn soon broke her silence with a laugh, which also broke the stillness in the air.
She shifted her gaze away from her niece and stared at Lillian.
"Is this true?" Thorn asked sceptically, slowly pulling out a small crystalline silver pendulum from her spatial storage.
Holding the pendulum by the chain towards Lillian’s direction, she awaited the maid’s response to her question.
Lillian, watching as the pendulum glowed faintly, smiled wryly - recognising it. It was a lie detector that glowed at a lie.
"That’s true. I am Lillian Ker Arius, otherwise known as Marionette’s girlfriend." Lillian pinched the edges of her long skirt and lifted it slightly, just about revealing her legs, which she had crossed elegantly.
Thorn of Roses looked into Lillian’s eyes, checking out the girl’s facial muscles, and everywhere on a person’s body that may reveal signs of falsehood.
She didn’t find any.
"Interesting." Thorn of Roses then took a glance at her crystalline silver pendulum, which hadn’t shone any brighter than it already was - suggesting that Lillian was telling the truth.
She huffed and put away her crystalline pendulum, humming to herself in surprise.
Secretly, after the day she was told that her niece had a lover, she had investigated more into Lillian - more specifically, her current whereabouts. Just so she and her could have a casual one-to-one...
Since Thorn of Roses was always sent on missions around the regions of both the Underworld and the Surface along with other members of their family, it wouldn’t be unbelievable for her to say that she met her niece’s lover by accident.
Maybe hard to believe, but not completely impossible.
However, her search came out fruitless when she discovered that she was unable to trace the girl’s location. She had tracked every trace and every building she went into, and yet she didn’t manage to find someone who had no past of being exceptionally good at hiding her tracks.
This had sparked a curiosity in her.
Of course, she eventually had to stop her curious search.
Marionette rolled her eyes at a lie detector, "Have your skills become as rusty as your age now, Thorn of Roses?"
"You sure do have a lot of mean things to say to someone of blood, my dearest niece."
Thorn of Roses then strolled over to the two and placed a delicate hand on Lillian’s shoulder; her gaze, once cold and indifferent, was now slightly warmer as she now knew Lillian was actually a noble.
This garnered an intense glare from Marionette, which she ignored, as though her niece was literally clinging onto the maid.
"My apologies, young miss." Thorn of Roses said, her voice now cheery, "I had only just suspected that you were just some pathetic commoner trying to get into our family through our beloved and naive niece. Hope you didn’t take offense to my earlier words."
Lillian smiled, hiding the wryness inside her heart, as she nodded. "It’s no problem, really."
The Rabbit then paused for a moment before adding, "But I really don’t think Marionette is that naive at all." Lillian tilted her head slightly.
Both of the women bearing the name Roselle tilted their heads as well, curious about what Lillian had to say.
Thorn of Roses then asked, "Surely, you jest, young miss. I’m sure with all the time you’ve been together, which may be short, you should know that our dear Lady of Roses isn’t so knowledgeable about things outside of our family’s business."
"That may be true..." Lillian muttered before responding with a firm and respectful voice, "But even I’m sure you know that Marionette is definitely an intelligent person. And she is definitely the most intelligent and smartest person I know, thus far."
The Rabbit then slowly twisted her head to the side, whispering with a slight blush, "And... The most beautiful too, if that means anything."
"..." x2
Thorn of Roses was speechless at what she heard. She then turned to her niece and pointed at Lillian, asking:
"All you, hm? No tricks?"
Marionette smirked at her aunt, her heart beating quicker as she pulled Lillian closer to her chest - yanking the girl away from her aunt. "All mine. And no tricks."
Thorn of Roses snorted before cackling, "I’m almost jealous! Unfortunately, I don’t like those far younger than me and are women."
Marionette’s aunt then moved with a blur, swiftly appearing before Lillian and leaning in - whispering, "But I am always looking for a servant, though! If you’re finding tasks given to you by my niece too boring, then I’ll be happy to welcome yo—"
BANG!
With a swift flick of her hand, Marionette summoned a jagged black handgun into her hand, shooting it at her aunt with murderous intent. Unfortunately, or fortunately, Thorn of Roses was able to catch the bullet in between her fingers at point-blank range.
Marionette clicked her tongue and pulled Lillian aside, dragging the girl down the corridor - farther and farther away from her aunt, who she left with threatening words.
"Next time, my bullet will hit its mark. Don’t try to steal what is mine, you wretch."
Thorn of Roses silently stood in the middle of the corridor, processing what her niece had told her. This was a first.
Not the first threat, of course. There had been countless times when her niece would threaten her death; it was almost laughable how childish she was back then.
But this time... This threat felt rather different.
"Hm..." Thorn of Roses pinched a lock of her black hair, in thought, as she slowly forgot about the threat made to her.
She then muttered, "I think I made quite a good impression on that girl... Ah, what was I doing again? Oh, yes. The restroom."