As the class had ended in the morning and Mr. Watson had not even left yet, Luna ordered Jewel loudly, “Hurry back and send my cutleries to Spring Court. Tell the kitchen that Amy sis, Mary sis and I are going to have our meal at Spring Court this afternoon, and ask them to send our usual meal there.”
Grace knew best on how to benefit herself and avoid harm, she knew that Luna and Mary was in the limelight now, and it was time to roll with the punches, therefore she smiled lazily at Luna and said, “Allow me to pull myself out, Luna sis and Mary sis could go there by yourselves.”
“Oh Grace sis, what are you talking about? We sisters are going to visit Amy sis together, so how could Grace sis being the only one not going there? Could there be any enmity between Grace sis and Amy sis which makes Grace sis not willing to visit her?”
Mary had almost developed admiration towards Luna, she did not expect her to have such a sharp tongue. Seeing that Grace wanted to refuse, Mary quickly lent a hand, “Of course, Luna sis. Could it be that Grace sis has abandoned Amy sis therefore not willing to visit her?”
Pretending to be affectionate, she then held one of Grace’s arm and grinned, “There’s no real hatred among sisters. Grace sis should come with us and talk things out in front of Amy sis. I’m sure even if Amy sis did misunderstand Grace sis, her anger would disappear when she sees Grace sis. Plus, Amy sis is a straightforward person, how would she care about this kind of tiny matter? And Grace sis is not only a modest person, but also our elder sister, I’m sure Grace sis would not keep it in heart too, right?”
Bombarded by her statements, Grace could not speak a word. Even if she agreed to go, she did not want to displease Luna and Mary anymore. Amy, with her current situation, could not bear to kill both of them when she saw them, therefore it was impossible to not emerge a conflict among them. Until then, she would be scolded by father again.
However if she refused to go, she would appear as narrow-minded.
Grace sighed secretly in her heart, she never knew Mary who had awaked was really something, just a few sentences by her and she was forced into a dilemma.
As Grace was still in a daze, Mary seized the opportunity and winked at Luna. Getting what she meant, Luna responded by grabbing Grace’s other arm and both of them almost dragged her all the way to Spring Court.
Spring Court was in a deep silence. Amy had a bad temper and used to be arrogant, either scolding or hitting her maidens. The maidens were all afraid of her. Amy had a bad mood because she was beaten up few days ago, and the maidens were all in hard times. None of them dared to talk loudly and was scared to displease Amy.
Luna knew Amy best. Amy called herself talented and had always liked to imitate those aristocrat’s daughters, pretending to feel melancholy, crying against the wind. Now that she had suffered, she must be melodramatic at the moment, but Luna would not give her that chance.
Before even stepping inside Spring Court’s yard, Luna had begun to yell, “Where’s Amy sis? The yard was so quiet, there’s not even a single sound, has anyone dead?”
Luna’s words were unpleasant and Grace’s face went dull, but on second thought, she knew it was time for endurance. There was no need to start a conflict with Luna and Mary since she was only showing off verbally therefore she could say whatever she wanted.
Although Grace could endure, that was not the case for Amy. Amy’s body was painful as if burning, yet she still struggled to point at her maidens and said, “Are you both dead? Just standing there and listen to what bullshit she had said to me?”
Brit and Gwen were trembling with fear, they flinched while opened the curtain quickly, preparing to scold Luna following Amy’s order, yet upon seeing Mary’s glare, they could not speak a word. It looked like the fifth mistress was way more powerful than their own mistress.
With a false smile, Mary asked, “What, now you know you should welcome us?”
Brit and Gwen did not know what to say, yet Mary suddenly shouted, “Bow down!”
Brit and Gwen stared at each other and saw the confusion in each other’s eyes. They did not understand the purpose of the fifth mistress asking them to bow down.
“Could I, as a master, not able to handle you two servants?” Mary sneered, “or should I go to father’s and ask him whether I could handle both of you or not?”
Hearing that she wanted to go to Ralph’s, Brit and Gwen were scared and immediately bowed down. They did not want to cause themselves trouble. Even Amy had been beaten up by Ralph, to him, they were nothing.
“Do you know what you all had done wrong?”
Brit and Gwen were dazed, if they had known what they did wrong, they would not have bowed but apologized.
“Hmph,” Mary sneered, pointed to the gate of Spring Court and said, “You are the head maidens of Spring Court, yet both of you did not fulfill your responsibility well! This whole Spring Court seems like empty, and there’s not even a single servant! No maiden came to welcome us when we came in and Luna sis even needed to push the door open herself! Let me ask you, as the head maidens of Spring Court, how could both of you take care of Spring Court like this?”
Brit tried to defend for herself and said, “Your Highness, our mistress is still ill and needs to rest, therefore, we have asked the maidens not to behave mischievously and stay in the house doing needlework if they have nothing to do, and that is why we accidentally neglected your Highnesses.
Mary knew it was reasonable, yet she still did not want to let them get away that easily. These two were naïve, but because they only listened to Amy, therefore her previous self was no less being bullied. Now she finally had the chance to take revenge.
“Are you thinking that I’m still dumb as before?”
Brit quickly shook her head. How would she dare to displease her? It would be great if Mary was still dumb as before. Although she would not take the initiative to bully her, she was at least not so afraid of her. The Mary now resembled a tiny rat which was baring its fangs and brandishing its claws, and would bite off anyone who come closer to it.
“I would not dare to think of that!”
Mary sneered, “I see you had some nerve. You dare to use Amy sis’ illness to fool me? Amy sis enjoyed excitement, even when she’s ill. It must be because of you people being lazy when Amy sis falls sick and start to bully her! You two, keep bowing here, after I ask from Amy sis, I’ll then decide whether to forgive you two or not.”
After finishing, she held Luna’s hand and went inside, leaving Grace alone outside the door. Grace sighed, without a good face, she said to Brit and Gwen, “She’s having an advantage now, how could both of you displease her at this very moment? Even if Amy sis does need to rest, how could there be no one guarding the entrance?”
Brit and Gwen beseeched Grace and Grace continued after letting out a sigh, “You both bow here first. I’ll plead for you once I have the chance to speak.”
Amy had already heard the commotions outside in her bed, she trembled out of anger under her blanket. Mary had bullied her maidens and that meant bullying her too! Amy could not relieve her anger no matter how.
Luna admired Mary’s actions a while ago, and both of them entered Amy’s room while holding hands. Seeing Amy, Luna grinned and exclaimed, “Ah, seems like Amy sis looks great today.”
“What do you mean? Are you disappointed seeing me looking fine?” Amy spoke unpleasantly.
Luna had learnt from Mary, therefore no matter what Amy said, she would not be provoked, “Amy sis must be joking, how would I? Mary sis and I are here to visit Amy sis, after all, we’re sisters. No matter how hard we fought, we’ll still forgive each other. Not to mention Amy sis being the most tolerant and also our elder sister. Amy sis would not keep it in heart no matter what I’ve said wrongly.”
Luna covered her mouth with a handkerchief and chuckled for a while, as if saying that Amy being tolerant was a funny joke, “Amy sis, please do not misunderstand us, we’re here just to have a look at you. And one more thing, last night, father had sent people to give us some jades, each of us four sisters has one of them. But we do not have the string bags. Coincidentally, a maiden called Bella from Planifolia Garden was best at making string bags, therefore Mary sis gave each of us a string bag with images of blessing on top but of different colors. Your string bag was picked by Grace sis and was amber.”
As she was saying, Jennifer and Stacey were opening the case keeping the jades. Luna used her sharp eyes and agile hand to quickly take her jade and wore it on her neck, and helped Mary to wear her jade which was tied with turquoise strings.
And it was during this time, Amy suddenly said, “Who asks you to make me an amber string bag?”
Luna replied surprisingly, “Haven’t I told you just now? It was Grace sis.”
Amy turned her head away in disgust, “How could she know color-matching? I don’t like this color! And I don’t want it!”
Grace was entering the room just in time, having heard what Amy had said, she felt humiliated. She took her jade angrily and wore it randomly on her neck, “You are always hot-tempered, no wonder father sees you as an eyesore!”
Amy sneered, “No matter how much he dislikes me, at least he sees me! But what about you? When did father ever see you face-to-face?”
Her words were close to home, Grace was speechless and she left without returning back.
Mary and Luna secretly looked at each other, it seemed like these two sisters had turned against each other.
“Mary, do you hear me? I don’t like this color! Get it back, I don’t want this, I want the one you’re wearing on your neck!”
“How dare you?” Luna took up the cudgels for Mary.