“Please wait here.”

The servant led me to a reception room different from the one I’d been in earlier—smaller in size.

Another reception room?

The place where the Grand Duke had watched me being examined was larger and more magnificent, but even this smaller reception room was spacious enough for just three people to converse. The luxurious decorations throughout the room looked expensive too.

I’d barely managed to drink a glass of water when news of Countess Azanie’s visit arrived.

With my strength completely drained, I took each step with difficulty and spotted the backs of two women looking around the place distractedly.

They seemed to be visiting this place for the first time as well.

“The lady has arrived.”

At the servant’s voice, both women turned around.

One was a middle-aged woman with reddish-orange hair and a plump figure, while the other was a young beauty with vibrant blonde hair.

So these are Countess Azanie and Lily Azanie.

“Lea!”

Upon seeing me, the middle-aged woman shook her head in disbelief with tears in her eyes.

“I never imagined your face would be so injured. Are you alright, Lea?”

They rushed over and grabbed my hands, asking with concern.

Their display of overflowing affection made me suspicious, considering they were supposed to have severely abused Lea. I found it difficult to speak.

Just then, Countess Azanie narrowed her eyes and looked sharply at the servant.

“Have you been neglecting our Lea all this time? How else could she have ended up in this state?”

“The lady is temporarily suffering from memory loss due to shock.”

“Memory… loss?”

When Countess Azanie questioned this, the servant nodded.

“Please pay special attention to her. We’ve been advised to avoid any words or actions that might startle her.”

“I understand. Would you leave us so we can talk comfortably among ourselves?”

As the servant politely agreed and left, maids entered pulling trolleys.

I felt relieved that servants were taking turns entering rather than leaving me alone.

“Come sit over here. Goodness! An attack, they say. Tell me, do you remember that I’m your mother?”

Three maids began placing pretty desserts and tea on the table.

My throat was still so dry that I wanted to reach out and gulp down the tea in one go.

Instead, I shook my head and looked at Countess Azanie first.

“No, I don’t remember anything.”

“So you’ve lost all your memories? Everything?”

When Lily, sitting beside Countess Azanie, interjected with her question, the Countess gently restrained her.

“Lily, calm down. You’re startling your sister. Lea, we rushed here as soon as we heard you were badly hurt. Is the Grand Duke alright too?”

“He seems fine.”

“That’s fortunate. Yes, very fortunate indeed.”

The Countess smiled softly, then glanced down at the table before looking up at the maids.

“I believe I mentioned earlier that we need to speak privately.”

“Oh! Yes, of course.”

The maids, who had been discreetly observing us, quickly composed their expressions.

“We hope you enjoy your time together.”

What? They can’t leave!

Just as I was finally moistening my lips with warm tea, the maids smiled politely and began to leave with quick steps.

“No, ack! Ack ack!“

I choked just as I was about to tell them they didn’t need to leave.

It happened because I tried to speak too hastily.

As I attempted to stand up, Countess Azanie rose from the sofa faster, her eyes fixed on the closed door.

“You stupid b*tch!”

The Countess moved her large frame toward me and grabbed my hair.

“You’ve ruined everything that was almost done! Everything’s gone wrong because of you!”

Her grip was so brutal that it felt like my scalp would be ripped out.

Too shocked to even scream, I could only stammer in confusion while Lily Azanie picked up a macaron and spoke casually from the opposite sofa, as if this were routine.

“Mom, be careful not to leave marks. It would be troublesome if anyone noticed.”

“How would they notice? The Grand Duke has no reason to see this b*tch’s body! Didn’t she already confess that the Grand Duke doesn’t have the slightest interest in her? Didn’t she say that even after seeing her body, the Grand Duke showed no interest at all?”

“Mom, just make sure it’s not visible. You know?”

At Lily’s urging, Countess Azanie gripped my shoulder with practiced ease and kicked my body with her pointed heel as she pleased.

I wanted to scream, but my body—already drained of strength—could only stagger and collapse.

“Memory loss? Ha! That’s the best excuse you could come up with to hide your failure!”

Thud! Thud! After kicking me several times, she grabbed my hair even tighter and yanked my head up.

“Ugh…”

I tried desperately to grab her arm and remove her vicious grip, but my hands kept falling away weakly, unable to match her strength.

“This b*tch still hasn’t come to her senses!”

The Countess’s shrill voice battered my ears as she hurled insults.

Gritting my teeth, I managed to grab her plump arm and moved down to her wrist, finding bare skin under her sleeve.

“Aaah!”

Squeezing out every bit of remaining strength, I clawed at the back of her hand with my nails.

The Countess screamed and released me.

Without a moment to collect myself, I ran forward with all my might.

The places where I’d been hit throbbed, making my limbs disobedient.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Lily jumped up and chased after me as I staggered toward the door.

She caught my dress, and I fell to the floor.

Lily gripped my arm fiercely and sneered:

“Do you think there’s anyone out there to help you? If there were, they would have rushed in by now after hearing this commotion.”

“Get away from me.”

“How dare you speak to me like that!”

SLAP! My vision flashed, and my struck cheek burned as if scalded.

“You can’t even do your job properly and make excuses about memory loss. You’ve always been a useless worm!”

When Lily slapped my cheek again, my face crashed to the floor in the direction of the blow.

“Well done, Lily. She needs a good beating to come to her senses!”

I heard the sound of the Countess’s heels approaching from a distance.

“Huff, huff.”

Bracing myself against the ground, I gasped for breath and looked at the shoe that had come off when I fell.

I didn’t know what the real Lea would do, but I couldn’t just take this ab*se.

THWACK!

“Lily!”

I grabbed the shoe and struck the back of Lily’s head with it before collapsing again.

The Countess’s anguished voice filled the reception room as she witnessed her precious daughter being hit.

I crawled toward the door on all fours, unable to use my painful legs properly.

“Catch that b*tch!”

It was the same cry I’d heard in my previous life.

Perhaps it was the shock. My body reacted instinctively.

“AAAAAAHHHHH!”

The scream that wouldn’t come out no matter how hard I tried finally erupted.

“Help me!”

When I shouted with all my might, Countess Azanie, who had been stomping quickly toward me from across the room, stopped in shock.

Lily, who had torn my dress while trying to grab me, was equally stunned.

“Do you think anyone will come? You half-wit!”

Of course, I knew better. The fact that no one opened the door despite all this noise might mean there was no one outside.

“Help me! I’m so scared! Where are you, Grand Duke?”

Nevertheless, I had to scream to attract someone’s attention.

“Your Highness! Husband! You—!”

Just as I was about to call him a b*stard, the door flew open.

The Grand Duke’s blue eyes looked down at us coldly.

He caught the two women in the act of forcefully lifting me up.

“There was a misunderstanding, Your Highness.”

Grand Duke Hedegen smiled faintly with interest after hearing Countess Azanie’s words.

“Ah… a misunderstanding.”

He calmly repeated her words while keeping his gaze fixed on me.

The Countess’s narrowed eyes glanced at me briefly before she quickly spoke, as if afraid of what I might say.

“It seems Lea didn’t remember us and felt uncomfortable, so she suddenly started screaming.”

While I was taken aback by this blatant lie, Countess Azanie continued without batting an eye.

“How severe must the shock have been for my daughter to end up like this? I heard Your Highness was attacked, but I never imagined Lea would harm herself.”

“Mother is right! As soon as she saw us, she screamed like a monkey, slapped her own cheeks wildly, then collapsed on the floor. My sister has never been like this before.”

What? Self-harm?

My mouth fell open as Lily clutched her chest, playing along with her mother’s story like someone overwhelmed with grief.

Then she glared at me intensely. That look immediately reminded me of Lily’s sneering whisper in my ear moments ago, when she pretended to help me up gently:

“Just try saying anything to the Grand Duke. Mom will take you home and kill you immediately. So keep your mouth shut and behave. Unless you want a terrible beating. Understand?”

The pretense as soon as the Grand Duke appeared was ridiculous enough, but Lily’s attitude itself was even more appalling.

How many times had she made such threats before? There wasn’t the slightest hesitation in Lily’s manner.

Just then, the Countess took Lily’s hand as if to calm her and took a deep breath, pretending to suppress her emotions.

“I’m not sure if it’s alright to leave her like this. Perhaps we should take her home for a while to recuperate.”

“Please allow me to care for my sister, even if just for a short time, sob sob.”

“As her mother, how can I irresponsibly stand by and watch? Having seen her condition with my own eyes, I can’t help but worry, Your Highness. May I request your permission? Even for a brief period would be fine. Please let me take her for just a few days.”

This is absurd!

As I tried to speak, the Countess shouted even faster:

“If we take her home to spend time with family, her mind will find peace and her condition will improve quickly!”

“Sister Lea would want that too!”

The Grand Duke silently observed the perfectly synchronized mother and daughter before turning his head toward me.

Hmm. He stared at me intently before gently lifting one corner of his mouth. Then his lips parted.

“What shall we do?”