Chapter 444
Tangled By Fate
âLadies, is there something I can help you with?â Veronica asked.
Lady Rebecca started, âMistress Veronica, itâs about Lady De la Pole...â
âYou are not going to ask for an apology on her behalf, are you?â Veronica crossed her arm.
When the ladies looked guilty, she slowly shook her head.
âI have no idea what has got into you. Is Lady De la Pole that incapable of asking for an apology? If so, then why does she create trouble? She shouldnât cause a problem if she cannot handle the consequences.â
After that, she walked away with Ovior.
âMistress Veronica, please...â Lady Rebecca pleaded. Her face was pale. âIf you donât do it, we will be the ones who will face the consequences.â
.....
Veronica paused and then turned around. âWhat do you mean?â
Lady Arisa explained, âOur fathers have businesses and Duke De la Pole loaned us money to support the businesses. If something happens today, he will withdraw all the money and even sue us.
âItâs a large amount of money and our families cannot give him back that amount.â
Veronica had no idea that there was a reason like that; but, she wasnât surprised.
âThatâs quite a problem. No wonder you three stay with her even though she is a rude lady. But let me ask you, why did Lady Laila give away Lady De la Poleâs identity if her family was her benefactor?â
At her interrogation, Lady Arisa and Lady Rebecca exchanged glances and became silent.
Veronica smirked. âYou need to come up with something solid if you want to mess up with me. Which families are you from?â
Lady Arisa and Lady Rebecca started trembling.
âMi... Mistress Veronica, please donât punish us. We havenât done anything wrong!â Lady Arisa pleaded.
Her voice was rather loud. The nobles around them heard her and looked at them. They became curious when two ladies were trembling in fright.
âThey are doing this on purpose,â Ovior muttered from behind only for Veronica to hear.
âYou donât have to tell me that. I can clearly see it,â she whispered back without looking at him.
She just attended the ball to check up on the Queen. She didnât think some unknown people would come to ruin her reputation.
âI havenât even done anything to them. Then why...?â she wondered.
âLook at her. Just because she is the Mistress of the magic Tower, she thinks she can do whatever she wants.â
âThe audacity! Itâs her first time attending an event and she dares to act so haughtily!â
âNo manners at all. Just like her husband. What they say is true. Birds of a feather flock together. They are a match made in heaven.â
âMaster Arthur surely has eyes for a partner who is as cruel and ruthless as him.â
âShe could easily forgive these poor ladies. They are from good families. Iâve heard nothing but good stories about them. How can she pick a fight with them?â
âThe Mistress of the Magic Tower is so dangerous. They just went to talk to her and she is ready to punish them. She has no manners at all.â
People around Veronica kept talking about her. People never badmouthed her so openly before.
When she roamed around the world, she met different kinds of people and faced many kinds of problems and issues.
Each time she faced something new, she screwed up. It was Urulas and his group that helped her get away with it.
This time, this kind of issue was completely different. She never faced anything like that before.
Ovior already warned her about being targeted and she was prepared for it.
However, all these people were criticizing her without knowing anything about her. They didnât know right from wrong and kept badmouthing her.
Veronica felt wronged. Her heart twisted in pain.
She bit her lower lip to control her emotions. She didnât want to cry in front of these people.
Ovior wanted to pat her back but after looking around he decided not to.
It wasnât an appropriate time to do that.
He cleared his throat and politely told Veronica, âMistress, please let me handle this.â
He gently pulled her behind his back and then he confronted the ladies.
âYou keep saying not to be punished. But what did you do to be punished, ladies? Have you done anything?â
His voice was cold and his eyes were void of any emotions.
Chills ran down Lady Arisa and Lady Rebeccaâs spines. They looked at him and forgot to tremble.
Lady Rebecca stuttered, âN-no... but Mistress Veronica is angry...â
Ovior asked, âAngry? Who is angry? Why would Mistress Veronica be angry with you, lady? Did you do something to her?â
Lady Arisa and Lady Rebecca were dumbfounded.
Lady Arisa answered, âIsnât it because we did something wrong? Iâm not sure what we did wrong. Mistress Veronica suddenly got angry and asked our family names. Isnât it because she wanted to punish us?â
âMy, my, have you fed your brain to the pigs?â Ovior shook his head in disbelief.
He added, âYou came to talk to her but you have yet to tell your identity. Is it wrong for a person to ask for a personâs identity when they talk to each other?
âMoreover, it was clearly you who approached her first. She would be genuinely curious to know more about you. Itâs a normal human reaction. Why do you think she is angry and wants to murder your family?
âFrom what I know, the people who come to talk first, they introduce themselves properly. But have you done that? How dare you come forward and make such a childish mistake and then create a scene to bring attention?â
Oviorâs cold voice traveled the surrounding area. Everyone heard him and became quiet.
They realized that they wrongly accused Veronica and became terrified.
They didnât want to imagine what would happen if Arthur heard about the injustice that happened to his wife.
If they had nothing to defend themselves, Arthur would kill them and get away with it. They could do nothing to get revenge.
There was no way they could take that.
They were very offended by Lady Arisa and Lady Rebeccaâs actions and glared at them.
Lady Arisa and Lady Rebecca were dumbstruck. They didnât think the angry eyes would turn on them.
Their family businesses were mostly related to the aristocrats. Thatâs why they always had to maintain a certain image and had to have a good relationship with all the nobles.
If the nobles get angry at them, their business could be damaged.
Lady Arisa and Lady Rebecca bowed and said, âIâm sorry! We are sorry! Please forgive us! We were wrong! We were wrong!â
They apologized pitifully and shed tears.
Veronica wasnât moved by their actions. It was clear that they wanted to frame her when she did nothing to them.
However, her softheartedness surfaced when she thought about their family businesses.
âOh, well, maybe Lady De la Pole made them do this. What can they do about that? Itâs not like they are going to trust a person who they met for the first time,â she thought.
She told the ladies, âLadies, the reason I asked for your family names is simple. I wanted to know more about your family business.
Why did you have to twist it like that? I understand that the title is too powerful and you are afraid of that.
âIf you donât have the courage to share your identity while having a conversation with someone, you shouldnât talk to them in the first place.
âIâve lost interest. Leave my sight. Iâll forget todayâs event as long as you donât appear before me.â
The nobles heard her speaking to the ladies and understood her intention.
âThese ladies are quite something.â
âDid they just realize that they turned down a good sponsor for their family businesses?â
âThe Mistress of the Magic Tower was interested in their business. Maybe she would become their customer. If that happened, their customers would grow even more.â
âThey will be reprimanded by their families when they go home.â
âWill the business still stand after this incident?â
âI thought they were smart but I was wrong.â
âIâve seen stupid people but I didnât see people this dumb.â
Lady Arisa and Lady Rebecca were stunned. They did have some plans in mind and thatâs why they approached her.
Veronica seemed like an amicable lady but they didnât think for a second that the Mistress of the Magic Tower would be so generous.
They just shared their problems and never even imagined that Veronica might help them.
.....
If the Magic Tower were to become their sponsor, they would never have to worry about Duke De la Pole.
They wouldnât have to become Lady De la Poleâs lackey and clean up her dirty mistakes.
Having the second most powerful woman in the kingdom backing them, their reputation would grow higher.
But they shot themselves in the foot with their stupidity. And there was no way to turn back.
An apology wouldnât work since Veronica didnât want to see their faces again.
They pushed their anger toward Lady De la Pole.
âWhat is going on?â