Chapter 6 (Major Changes to the Setting)
Opesa's first night of sleep after her time travel wasn't a restful one. She tossed and turned in the torment of a light sleep, her mind fuzzy yet clear at the same time. A multitude of things jumbled into one mind, and she worried about whether Sinderel would assassinate her in the middle of the night. When she woke the next morning, she felt heavy and exhausted.
How could she dare to fall asleep? Sinderel was an extraordinary woman who could control animals. Even if she didn't intend to kill her, she couldn't bear it if a bunch of mice crawled into her bed in the middle of the night.
That scene was unimaginable. Opesa sat on the bed, her hands covering her forehead, feeling extremely tired.
Knock knock.
"Ma'am, are you awake?" It was Holly's voice.
"Yes, I'm awake."
"I have prepared toiletries for you to use."
"OK, thanks."
"That guy didn't slack off today. Madam, do you need me to cause some trouble?"
Opesa had a headache, and it took her a long time to realize who that guy was: "Oh... no need."
"Okay ma'am, I'll go to the kitchen first."
After a while, Opesa got out of bed and started to wash up.
The bathroom was right next door. As soon as she entered, she saw the basin and toothbrush that Holly had prepared for her, but she didn't see anything like toothpaste, and she couldn't help but frown.
Is it dry brushing? Thinking about it, she saw a box of something that looked like plaster next to the basin. She picked it up and sniffed it, wondering if this was "toothpaste"?
She wasn't that knowledgeable, but since Holly would put it here, it couldn't be anything other than a toilet paper. Although she didn't know if it would kill someone, she still tried to dip some in it and started brushing her teeth.
After washing up and feeling no discomfort, Opesha walked out of the bathroom, while Holly stood by the door waiting.
Holly opened the door for her and began to choose her clothes and jewelry for the day.
The original owner's casual clothes also had a very young mother's temperament, with a uniform and mature color scheme. After a long time of choosing from Holly, Opesa finally chose a slightly more low-key dark blue long dress.
This dress is a Dutch Baroque style. Compared with the French Baroque style, the Dutch Baroque style is simpler, removing the petticoat and corset to highlight the natural feeling. The overall high waist design of the dress is more elegant with the lotus-shaped sleeves.
The bust was rather bold, and Opesa, sitting in front of the mirror, adjusted it several times until she was satisfied. Holly, who was tying her hair, noticed her actions, her short eyebrows knitted together, and she asked slowly, "Madam, do you think the size of the dress is not right? Do you need to have it shortened?"
It's even shorter, and if it's shortened again, the whole thing is about to come out! Does the original owner have some violent fetish?
Opesha could only pull it down to reveal her curves: "No."
Holly said, "Please forgive me, Madam. After all, I have been the one who has altered your clothes since you were a child. Sometimes I even think you are a growing child."
Opesa responded casually twice and began to ponder what she had just said. This sentence was very casual, but also very crucial. It sounded like Holly was the maid who had served her since she was a child.
Not only was she a personal maid, but she had also served her husbands for two marriages until now... Opesha panicked. Holly's words had definitely revealed something was wrong with her. The real challenge was hiding it from Holly, compared to Sinderel and those two idiot daughters.
Holly looks like a smart person who is not easy to fool, so she has to be extremely careful.
Opesha pretended to be displeased and glanced at Holly: "Holly, watch your words."
Holly immediately bowed her head and apologized: "I'm sorry, ma'am! It's my fault." Holly remembered something and said with some difficulty, "Also, ma'am, I have to pay back the credit I bought at the cloth shop last time. Look..."
It is obvious that the original owner is unwilling to accept reality and would rather go into more debt to ensure that he and his daughters look good.
And with the huge debt of the trading house, Opesa had to get the money quickly.
Opesa tutted impatiently. "I know. I know my limits. Go out and prepare breakfast. I'll handle the rest myself."
The longer she stayed with Holly, the more clues she would reveal. She couldn't take any risks and could only send her away. Fortunately, Holly was an obedient maid who could be summoned and dismissed at will. It only took a word to get her to leave.
As soon as Holly left, Opesha began to pace back and forth in the room alone.
It was the next day, and it was time for her to go out and collect some clues about this world.
And how would she get home?
She remembered browsing a novel website before her time travel. Out of books to read, she'd randomly opened a spin-off novel with a beautiful, tragic, and powerful theme, skipping straight to the main text without even reading the synopsis. After the author's three-page tormenting of the protagonist, she lost her patience and clicked close.
As soon as she turned off her phone, she saw a burst of white light and then came to this damn place.
How can she get home? According to the routine of conventional time-travel novels, she must either find an object that serves as a medium or complete the main quest and be sent home.
The first one is obviously unrealistic. Where would online literature websites exist in the 17th century? And she can't possibly live to the 21st century. The second one is more plausible, but she has no idea about the subsequent plot, and is tied to the villain system. She faces a beautiful, tragic, and powerful protagonist, and even has to deepen the protagonist's blackening value to complete the game.
Unfortunately, apart from the latter method, she really couldn't think of any other way to go home.
Forget it, Opesa waved away these thoughts. Going home was a later matter. How she could advance the main plot and make the hero and heroine meet was the key now. Going home was important, but everything else depended on her being able to advance the main plot normally.
If she wants to exploit a system loophole to drive the protagonist away, she must act as the matchmaker, making the heroine fall in love with the hero and believe that the hero will lead her out of the devil's cave.
Fortunately, during breakfast, she heard the two adopted daughters talking about some things about the male protagonist. They said that the king was now considering whether to hold a grand banquet to choose a wife for the male protagonist, and that this banquet was not divided by class, and girls from all over the city had the opportunity to participate.
Although Opesa's family was deeply in debt, the food was still quite plentiful, not as shabby as the house looked. Breakfast was a typical French breakfast, with baguette as the staple food, blueberry jam as the dipping sauce, cheese and muffins as the side dishes, and then a vegetable soup for each person.
Sinderel was not in the restaurant, probably eating alone in the kitchen, and he must have made these.
Opesa sipped her vegetable soup while recalling the scant plot she had. In the novel, the king wanted to have a grandchild and so held the banquet, but the prince yearned for poetry and distant lands and had no desire to get married.
The novel is completely different from the original work, and the way the hero and heroine meet in various versions of the story is also different. She can't bet on them one by one. After all, she can't guess when the king will hold a banquet, so she can only take the initiative to create opportunities.
The most urgent thing is to find out information about the prince first. It is easier to find out information outside than at home. You have to be cautious before saying anything at home, but you don’t need to be cautious outside.
But... this vegetable soup is delicious. Opesa couldn't help but ask Holly to serve another bowl.
The two daughters were talking about something. Anastasia was stirring the vegetable soup with a silver spoon and said with a dreamy look on her face, "Ah... I really want to spend the night with him... Do you know how charming Prince Henry is? I'll never forget that look from your eyes last time. Oh my God, how can there be such a perfect person!"
"Dream on! The prince was looking at me last time. He must have been attracted by my impressive figure. You are not even worthy of serving the prince's feet. I must be the one sitting on top, and you are only worthy of looking at me."
"What are you talking about! I'm the one sitting there!"
"I am!"
They started arguing for no apparent reason, and Opesa was stunned listening to their conversation.
Why couldn't she understand a word they were saying?
Also, why are some words automatically muted? What kind of indescribable words are these?
After finishing breakfast with a puzzled mind, Opesha took a small hat and shawl and prepared to go out.
Before leaving, her two daughters came around, vying for her help to carry things. Opesha agreed and went to the study to get her purse and money.
She walked around the study yesterday and didn't find any clues about her dead husband. Obviously, someone destroyed everything in advance, and the person who did that could only be Sinderel.
All the family's property was in the safe in the study. Opesa took the key to open it and fell silent when she saw the empty safe with only two light banknotes floating in the air.
She held the two bills in her hand and pondered - how could those two guys buy so many things yesterday?
She is worried about the huge debt at home, while her daughter is indulging herself in freedom outside. It is such a realistic portrayal.
Opesha rejected all their requests, and the two daughters complained behind her. Opesha ignored them, put on her hat, and went to the stable to get the horse.
The stables were surprisingly clean, free of dirt, clutter, or odor. Grass piled high in the troughs, and upon closer inspection, it was all the freshest grass. A black horse was resting in the stable, its coat shiny and spotless, its muscles strong, its eyes sparkling, a sign of being well cared for.
Opesa had rarely seen horses, so she walked into the stable curiously.
Just as he took a step, a deep voice suddenly rang out: "Don't go near it."
Opesa paused and looked at the owner of the voice - Sinderel was leaning against a pile of hay, his eyebrows lowered, and his blue eyes were full of vigilance.
"What are you doing?" Sinderel's tone was cold and hard, more like a question than an inquiry. He held a sickle in his hand, stained with hay crumbs. It was obvious that he had just been preparing feed for the animals on the farm, and he had interrupted when he saw her approaching.
Opesa knew what he was thinking. Yesterday, she'd threatened him with Sinderel's geese, and today, she was probably worried he might do something inappropriate to the pony. After a day of wandering around the house, she realized there were no carriages or rickshaws on the estate. The estate was five or six kilometers outside of town, surrounded by a desolate desert. This was the only means of transportation for the family. Even if she were the original owner, she wouldn't be so foolish as to kill the horse.
So she said honestly, "I want to ride to the city."
"No," Sinderel refused. "You almost strangled it last time."
Opesha: ...
...Would the original owner really be so stupid as to kill the only livestock that could pass through? How could they get into the city then? On foot?
But she can't really walk five kilometers on her own two feet.
Thinking of the long journey, Opesa immediately smiled kindly, put her palms together, and prepared to plead in a gentle voice.
【Warning, this is against character behavior! 】
Opesa immediately made a prayer gesture and let go, her eyebrows raised slightly. "God, please forgive my foolish daughter. That was clearly caused by its disobedience. I need to go to the city to transfer the manor, and you don't seem to have any reason to refuse."
Sinderel looked away.
He really had no reason to refuse.
So he turned and walked into the stable, untied the rope, and stroked the horse's head. He lowered his voice and said, "Ace, it's time for you to work for me."
——What bad luck! I still remember the last experience!
"If she does anything that displeases you, leave her immediately."
——Okay, okay, it’s my fault that you take care of me every day... Do you have anything else to say?
Sinderel paused. "Keep an eye on her and tell me exactly what she did."
If she deceived him or did anything else to trick him, he would send the god of death to take her life late tonight.
As long as that strange fragrance didn't appear again, but he wouldn't let it appear again, he would hold his breath until Opesha was completely dead.
His eyes darkened a little, and then he led Ace out of the stable.
Opesha took the reins from Sinderel and turned around to mount the horse.
But the moment she turned around, she realized something huge - she didn't know how to ride a horse.
The few times she had contact with horses were when she was a child, when she saw the ornamental horses in scenic spots. For ten yuan, she could ride on them and take photos. She was still young at the time and could not even get on the horse even with a small stool. In the end, her father had to lift her up before she could sit on it.
What's more... this horse is almost as tall as me, and it's a bit difficult to ride even with foot pads.
How could she mount the horse gracefully and elegantly?
I can't let Sinderel carry me onto the horse...
There were two ways. The first one was to let Sinderel negotiate with the horse and bend down to let her get on the horse, and then let the horse carry her to the city. However, this would easily expose himself, so it was rejected.
The second was to have Sinderel go to the city with her.
She felt that Sinderel would not refuse such conditions.
Opesa didn't have much time to hesitate. She raised her head and said, "I've changed my mind. I allow you, a lowly person, to go to the city with me. But I have to make a promise beforehand: you must obey me. If you don't, I will immediately sell you at the trading house to pay off my debts."
When he said the last sentence, Opesa saw a flash of gloom in Sinderel's eyes.
Cold sweat immediately seeped out of his palms. It seemed that the word "trading house" had touched his nerves. Opesa immediately changed the subject, looking at him seriously and said, "So, can you lower yourself so that I can step onto the horse?"
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