They are all characters I control.

While Lia is somewhat too introverted and clumsy, Elena is equally too extroverted and willful.

"Okay, okay, let's go inside and talk about it!" Elena said, clinging to her mother's arm in a coquettish manner.

After entering the mansion and hearing the whole story, the Marquise Marie did not become as emotional as her daughter.

She slowly walked to the sofa in the living room, sat down, and elegantly picked up the black tea served by the maid, taking a small sip.

Seeing her mother so relaxed, Elena became anxious: "Mother, say something! Aren't you angry? There's definitely something wrong with Lia. Her honest and docile demeanor is just an act. She's actually a nasty person!"

Mrs. Mara put down her teacup, looked at her impatient daughter, and said slowly, "My dear daughter, isn't this exactly what we wanted?"

"Is this what we want?" Elena was stunned.

“That’s right.” A calculating glint flashed in Marquise Mara’s eyes: “The crazier, more indecent, and more disrespectful to Prince Alvin, the less likely she is to become his wife.”

"Isn't this the same as fulfilling the 'promise' she made to us this morning? Giving up her engagement to Prince Alvin."

“She is doing the right thing. Instead of blaming her, we should encourage her.”

Regardless of whether Leah was acting a little strange, Marquis Mara didn't care at all.

As long as Lia's behavior develops in the direction she expects, she's happy; she couldn't be more eager for Lia to continue her madness.

"Is that so?" Elena thought about it carefully and it seemed to make sense.

But she remembered the look in Lia's eyes when she humiliated Prince Alvin, the look of 'mutual destruction' she had in her eyes.

Feeling uneasy, Elena still had some concerns: "But Mother, I'm worried that if Lia continues to act recklessly, she might implicate us."

Although Elena herself started this trouble, it was also Elena who tried to smooth things over.

If she hadn't worked so hard to cultivate her future brother-in-law Prince Alvin's favorability, Elena felt that her entire family would have been wiped out by today.

Mrs. Mara nodded, her smile fading slightly: "Your concerns are not unfounded. Her statement this morning that she wanted to leave the family was probably not just empty talk."

"She probably wants to deliberately cause a big incident when she leaves the Rost family to drag them down with her and get revenge on us."

"What should we do then?" Elena asked anxiously.

"Let's see how things go in the next few days," said Marquise Mara, sitting comfortably in her chair.

She picked up her teacup and looked towards Lia's room, her eyes gradually turning vicious.

"If she's playing us, if she's stalling for time."

"Then our plan will remain unchanged."

"Elena, continue to cultivate a closer relationship with Prince Alvin. When the time is right, choose a banquet attended by nobles and have Prince Alvin annul the engagement to Leah in person."

Chapter 11 Stop Pretending to Be a Rich Young Lady

Lia's room.

When Anna helped Lia change her clothes, she kept her head down and avoided any eye contact with Lia.

This made Leah very upset.

In this family, her father was indifferent to her, her stepmother was harsh to her, and her stepsister always took her things away.

Anna, the maid, came to the Rost family when Leah was seven years old and became Leah's first friend.

It could be said that in the Rost family, the only person Leah could truly speak to was her maid Anna.

Although Anna had been too casual with her in the past, in private they could even be said to have no boundaries between master and servant.

But being so obviously avoided now makes Lia feel even more lonely and upset.

"Anna..." Not wanting to lose her only friend, Lia couldn't help but call out to her softly.

Seeing that the other person was still avoiding her, she grabbed the hand of the maid who was tidying her clothes.

“Anna, did I do something to upset you? This morning too, why did you run away? I’m worried about your injuries.”

"If I do anything wrong, Anna, can you tell me and I'll correct it?"

Anna's expression twisted as she looked at her hand, which was being held tightly by Leah.

She abruptly pulled her hand back.

Blood seeped from the bandaged wound on her palm. Anna looked at her hand silently, then looked up at Lia.

It's hard not to suspect that Leah is deliberately scratching her wound, making herself suffer while pretending to be innocent.

"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry, Anna!" Lia realized what had happened and quickly apologized.

Still pretending? Still acting like it was an accident?

Anna took a half step back as she looked at Lia in front of her.

Her face showed some fear, and she pleaded in a low voice, "I'm the one who should apologize, Miss."

"Please let me go, Lia. Stop pretending to be innocent and kind. I know I was wrong. Please stop torturing me and making fun of me."

At this moment, she was like a stray dog.

He had always obeyed the Marquis de Mara's orders and treated Leah with a terrible attitude.

Who knew that Leah would suddenly change her personality this morning, almost killing her and even making a deal with Marquis Mara.

Now that Marquise Mara is having Anna continue to serve Leah, it's clear she intends to use Anna's life to curry favor with Leah.

No matter what Lia does to Anna now, no one will stop her like they did in the morning.

"Anna, why are you saying this? What's tormenting you? Did I do something to make you hate me?" Claire was unaware of Anna's thoughts at that moment.

She felt wronged and confused as she watched her friend, with whom she usually had no distance, suddenly become so afraid of her.

"Something you hate? Are you serious, Lia!?"

The maid Anna looked at Lia in disbelief; she had almost been killed by her.

How could you describe this as something as light and casual as a prank?

"What an act! This woman is such a good actress." Anna felt like she was meeting Leah for the first time, never realizing before how cunning and ruthless this young lady was.

"Yes, yes, did I say something wrong?" Lia blinked innocently, looking at the maid Anna with a puzzled expression.

"If there's anything I did wrong, you can tell me, and I can change it. You're my most important friend."

“Friend?” Anna finally looked up, a complex, self-deprecating expression on her face, but it quickly disappeared.

Looking at Liya with her clear eyes, she recalled the scene when she first came to the Marquis's mansion.

At that time, Lia was very happy to see her, and she held her hand and said that they would be friends for life. Anna was also very happy at that time, because a noble lady treated her as a friend.

However, it wasn't long before Anna realized that the Rost family was under the control of the Marquis Marla.

She didn't think there was anything wrong with ingratiating herself with Mrs. Mara and helping to bully Leah.

Even within aristocratic circles, the law of the jungle applies.

Thinking about it this way, the strong, fierce, and ruthless 'Lia' from this morning is Anna's ideal version.

Even though the other party would whip her, that 'Lia' changed Marquis Mara's attitude with just a few words, and she was ruthless and showed no mercy.

Such a person may be terrifying, but he would undoubtedly be a reliable master.

But the Lia in front of me seems to be the same Lia I first met when she was a child.

Lia, whose eyes shone with pure kindness, seemed as innocent as a mirror, completely unaware of any conspiracies or schemes.

Seeing that innocent look in her eyes, Anna gradually became suspicious.

Did Murphyia really not know what happened that morning?

"Lia, don't you really hold any resentment towards me at all? Are you really not bothered by the things I did that went too far?! Or are you just not done having fun yet?"

Anna stared intently at Lia's face, trying to find a crack in her facade.

Claire's reaction was only one of astonishment and even deeper bewilderment.

She blinked, seemingly trying to recall the outrageous things Anna had said.

A moment later, Lia gently shook her head: "Anna, weren't all those things you said just playful banter between friends? How could I hate you?"

The maid Anna did not see any flaws in Lia.

These are indeed the words that the kind-hearted Lia I know would say.

"Oh, really?" With that, the maid Anna casually tossed aside Lia's clothes and sat down on Lia's bed.

Looking at Anna, the maid who was now sitting on her bed, Lia felt rather happy.

She didn't care that her clothes were carelessly thrown around by the maid, and even spoke to her gently with concern: "Anna, your hand is injured. You can sleep in my bed tonight."

"It's alright with me, I can sleep on the floor. Leah, you don't need to worry about me. I can also take the opportunity to meditate properly."

As she spoke, Lia walked to the wardrobe on her own.

She took out a few clothes and put them on; it was quite cold last night, so she wanted to wear more clothes now.

After giving Anna, who was looking at her, a silly smile, Lia leaned against the wall and sat in a corner to meditate.

"..."

Anna, who had secretly clutched the scissors hidden under her skirt, was somewhat taken aback by what she saw.

If Leah is really acting and pretending to be stupid, then Anna admires someone who can act so realistically.

Was that evil 'Lia' this morning just morning grumpiness?

With these questions in mind, and seeing that Lia had entered a meditative state, the maid Anna gradually relaxed and lay down on the soft young lady's bed.

She decided not to sleep all night and just stare at Lia.

If Leah had wanted to kill her again, she wouldn't have been killed so easily.

However, I experienced too much today, and even almost died once.

Anna gradually felt drowsy.

Chapter 12 The Decline of the Rost Family

"Awooo—!!!"

At dawn, a scream, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, came from Lia's room.

The maid Anna suddenly sat up from the soft, comfortable bed, the burning pain in her back instantly waking her up completely.

She clutched her shoulder, her eyes filled with a mixture of fear and a hint of "I knew it" as she looked toward the bedside.

Claire (Lia) was standing by the bed, holding the familiar short riding whip inlaid with silver, a cold and mocking smile on her face.

"Tsk, looks like you slept very well last night. Don't you ever learn from your mistakes?" Claire looked at the maid in front of her who had suffered yesterday but hadn't learned her lesson, and couldn't help but laugh in exasperation.

Anna clutched her aching back, but inexplicably felt a sense of relief.

It's here, it's finally here.

She didn't sleep well at night, always half-asleep, subconsciously on edge, worried that the innocent Lia was just pretending and could turn back into the shrew she was in the morning at any moment.

Now that the whip has actually come down, she feels a sense of relief, as if a suspended stone has been dropped to the ground.

“Yesterday, Miss, you said we were friends and let me sleep in your bed.” Anna fumbled under her skirt but couldn’t find the scissors she was using for self-defense.

"I told you to sleep, and you actually dared to sleep?" Claire scoffed, took out the scissors Anna had disappeared from, and casually tossed them on the ground.

Looking at the bewildered maid in front of him, he said sarcastically, "I told you to eat the fresh horse manure in the stable, why didn't you go?"

Anna stood there silently, letting the criticism take its course, without trying to resist or argue as she had the previous morning.

She clearly understood that in the face of this evil 'Lia', any backtalk or petty actions would be futile and dangerous.

"What are you standing there for? Change my clothes." Claire was quite satisfied with Anna's attitude at this moment.

This maid is finally acting like a maid; she knows a little about hierarchy now.

It's clear that Anna isn't as stupid as she seems.

“Yes, Miss.” Anna carefully helped Claire (Lia) take off her nightgown and change into the Royal Academy uniform.

Claire looked at her body through the full-length mirror in the room.

It must be admitted that the character of Lia is well-made, and can be considered a very appealing anime character to otaku.