Chapter 265 "If I'm going to look for someone, I'll look for them during the New Year..."
She was incredibly fast, catching up to me in an instant, and then swung her broom at me hard. I screamed and fell to the ground. In that instant, the scene shifted again.
A woman's scream drowned out my scream.
I was stunned for a moment.
A burly, tall, blue-haired man is chasing and beating a thin, disheveled woman.
Nearby, several young beauties in gorgeous long dresses either covered their faces with feather fans, covered their mouths with handkerchiefs, or made no attempt to hide their sneers.
The blue-haired man caught up with the woman, pinned her to the shiny floor, and beat her mercilessly, slapping her repeatedly and punching her in the eyes, nose, and lips.
He yelled and punched her, "You barren woman, how dare you elope with your lover! I'll beat you to death!"
The woman first wailed and cried, then her cries grew softer and softer until she fell silent.
Blood gushed from her face. The older, more beautiful woman, seeing that something was wrong, was the first to step forward. "My lord, let it go. If you keep hitting her, she'll die."
Seeing this, another beautiful woman also pretended to offer a few words of advice:
"Oh dear, sir, if you were really beaten to death, wouldn't Prime Minister Mamboa come after you?"
"Although we are far away, it would be bad if this got back to the Prime Minister's ears."
Upon hearing this, the blue-haired man beat her even more fiercely, landing several more punches on the woman's face. The woman, who had been unconscious, actually groaned a few times in pain.
Another beautiful woman laughed loudly, "What a joke! The Prime Minister wouldn't care about coming here. He's completely forgotten about this daughter."
Another beautiful woman sneered, "That's right. News came from the capital's ball a while ago that someone mentioned the lady to the Prime Minister, but the Prime Minister was completely uninterested and didn't even want to listen."
The third beauty laughed and said, "The superpowered woman is dead, she has no value anymore. If she hadn't been forced upon the lord, he wouldn't have wanted her."
The older, beautiful woman who had initially tried to persuade him then walked up to the blue-haired man and said, “Lord, although eloping is a scandal, your wife is, after all, the daughter of Prime Minister Manberia. If she dies here, the Prime Minister will surely hold you accountable for saving face. Why make an enemy of the Prime Minister?”
The blue-haired man reluctantly released her. "Lock this wretched woman up, give her only one meal a day, and if she dies, report it to the capital as an illness."
"Yes." The older woman gave a wink, and the guards outside the door quickly came in and dragged the unconscious woman out.
Yes, it was dragging, dragging mercilessly, leaving bloodstains all over the gray-white floor tiles of the corridor, a shocking sight.
I followed closely behind the guards, constantly telling myself, "No, she's not my daughter."
But the moment this woman was thrown into the cell, the pale sunlight shone on her bloodstained face, and I recognized her features. There was still a trace of her childhood self—some resemblance to me, and some resemblance to Manberia. It was Yasmin.
I could never fail to recognize my own daughter.
I knelt down in front of her and wept bitterly.
Rough, dry skin, deep crow's feet at the corners of her eyes, messy wrinkles at the corners of her lips, and deep furrows on her neck all indicate that Asmin is quite old and not doing well.
Tears streamed down my face.
I cried for a very long time.
I stopped crying when the dungeon door creaked open and I saw a woman in a black cloak carrying a food box quickly slip in.
She gently nudged the unconscious Asmin, "Madam, wake up!"
Asmin remained unconscious, so she picked up a bottle of peppermint oil and placed it under Asmin's nose. After a short while, Asmin slowly woke up.
"Madam, here's some porridge. Please make do with it. I've also brought some medicine to treat your wounds. I'll apply it for you now." The woman removed the hood from her cloak, revealing herself to be the same older, beautiful woman from before.
"Why...why did you help me?" Asmin asked weakly.
The older woman quickly applied medicine to her while saying, "Your mother was kind to my mother, and I am now repaying that kindness on behalf of my mother."
"What kindness?" Asmin asked in utter surprise.
"Years ago in the Western Kingdom, my mother was forcibly divorced by her ex-husband and driven out of the kingdom. Under the threat of his new wife, none of her relatives or friends dared to help her, and she almost starved to death. Later, your mother sent people to rescue her, providing her with food and shelter, and arranging for her to marry a wealthy man, which allowed my mother to live a peaceful life for a while. Later, your mother disappeared, and the Western Kingdom underwent a major upheaval. My mother was divorced again, but the man she married for the second time gave her a settlement out of respect for your mother. Afterward, she wandered to a small border town in the North, using the settlement as her dowry, and married a widower who ran a small business—my father."
The older, beautiful woman had skillful hands; she quickly applied ointment to each of her wounds while they were talking.
I remember now. Years ago, I reformed the royal city, encouraging wealthy merchants to enter and trade, bringing them riches. One wealthy merchant's wife was forced to divorce because a noblewoman interfered in her marriage. I felt guilty upon learning this, so I asked Paria to find her a good match. She must be the mother of this older beauty.
I never imagined that a kind act I did unintentionally many years ago would now help my daughter.
After applying medicine to Asumi's wound, the older woman fed her porridge. Asumi couldn't eat much, so the older woman advised, "Eat a little bit, and hold on as long as you can. Maybe you can wait until your mother comes back."
Asmin sneered, "She won't come back. She's long forgotten she even has a daughter."
“How could that be?” the older woman continued to persuade, “No mother doesn’t worry about her daughter. She may have her own reasons.”
Suddenly, Asmin burst into tears, like a child, “I’ve been hoping for her to come back for years, but she never did. I’ve long since given up hope.”
The older woman patted her back, still urging her, "You should take care of your health first. As long as you're alive, there's hope."
After feeding the older woman the porridge, she was about to leave when Yasmin suddenly grabbed her sleeve. "How is he?"
The "he" in this context likely refers to the person she eloped with.
The older woman looked distressed, but still told her, "Don't you understand yet? This is a trap. It's a trap set by your husband's mistress. She bribed the captain of the guard to seduce you and lure you to elope. The lord caught you red-handed and wants to kill you. The captain of the guard has already fled with a large sum of money."
Asmin burst into tears, and the guards outside the cell heard her and poked their heads out, urging, "Hurry up, hurry up, you're making too much noise."
The older woman immediately picked up the food box and left, also slipping a bag of coins to the guard.
Asmin lay on the pile of rotten grass, sobbing for a long time. Suddenly, she looked up and met my gaze.
She paused for a moment—though she couldn't see me, I was sure she sensed something because her eyes were different.
She stared at me blankly, without moving.
I reached out to touch her scarred face, even though she was completely oblivious.
I sighed deeply, "Although I haven't fulfilled my responsibilities as a mother, you're already so grown up, why can't you be independent and self-reliant?"
She couldn't hear what I was saying, and her eyes remained blank.
The alarm clock suddenly blared, waking me up from my bed again.
As dawn broke, I sat by the window for a very long time.
Two days later, I called Worston: "Could I take another look at your grandmother's diary?"
“Why did I suddenly want to read this diary? It’s a family heirloom now,” Worston said.
“I also have a diary here, which we can exchange.” I was referring to the diary where I write down my dreams.
"About another world?"
"Yes."
A week later, I received Worston's diary. Of course, I also sent him my diary.
Opening Worston's grandmother's diary, the familiar handwriting and content came into view once again.
I flipped through chapter after chapter, filled with感慨 (gan3 kai3, deep feelings). How come men are so lucky? They thrive in the modern world, marrying rich women, making a fortune in business, and even with multiple wives, their wives don't dare utter a sound; then they return to another world and become kings, wielding immense power, surrounded by beautiful women, with their descendants inheriting their power and wealth. Compared to me, a woman with superpowers, I seem to be a failure.
She couldn't marry a rich man when she returned to the modern world, and she couldn't become the main wife when she returned to another world. Her daughter was also bullied.
Nothing is going right.
I sighed deeply. Driven from the capital, hunted down, forced to bear a child, forced to sign a marriage contract with the Elf King—and to make matters worse, my former lover never considered marrying me, instead planning to bribe me to be his mistress again. If I desperately needed money, I might agree, get the money, and run away. But the problem is, I only met him in a dream; I don't need his money. Spitting on him would be enough revenge.
"Fuck your mother!" I muttered. "Be the mistress of an old geezer like you? If I'm going to find someone, I'll find someone young."
They're all old. Bernot and the Elf King are showing their age, and Manboa and Daio must be old too. Dating an old man? What a joke, unless it's for money or power.
"If I could really return to that other world, what would I do?" I asked myself. As an ordinary woman, there wasn't much room left for political maneuvering; the barriers of noble lineage were already in place, and painful lessons told me that this path was a dead end. It wasn't about whether you did well or not, but whether you were qualified enough.
I looked through my diary for several nights.
Two weeks later, I tried attending some training courses and looking for paid internships, genuinely trying to learn.
Study professional knowledge in the journalism department of university, and then go to newspapers, magazines, publishing companies, media networks and other institutions for practical learning.
I studied fashion design at a renowned technical college and paid for an internship.
They also flew abroad to study veterinary medicine, dentistry, and other professional fields.
The reason I try different kinds of subjects is to find out which one suits me best.
I also contacted Worston to see if I could intern at his family's clothing company. I also reached out to the castle's maids to learn about the study methods of Ivy League elites and some library management techniques from Yale University.
The castle maid exclaimed in surprise, "Have you suddenly become a genius at studying?"
The castle maid has now graduated with a doctorate and works a high-paying job as a laborer at a consulting firm.
I said, "I just want to find an industry and skills that suit me."
The castle maid whispered to me, "Do you feel like you're going to another world again?"
“I didn’t feel anything,” I said, “it’s just in case.”
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Author's Note: Please read my other novels, everyone! Mwah!
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