The Vicious Supporting Actress Survival Manual

Chapter 5 Vicious Supporting Actress Survival Strategy(05)

After returning to Lord Jin's residence, Felix Austin went to his study as usual to attend to "official business," and I went back to my bedroom to rest. After all, spending a day in the palace with a pounding heart was truly exhausting.

But someone didn't want me to be comfortable.

"Your Highness, it's getting late and the Lord hasn't come. The old servant has prepared some nourishing soup. Why don't you take it to visit the Lord?" said Momma Williams, who had come with me as part of my dowry and was very loyal to Ralph Rose, my mother.

Although she said it was to deliver soup, it was obvious that she wanted me to invite the Lord's favor. I became impatient and said, "The Lord is busy with official business. It's better not to disturb him."

After hearing my words, Momma Williams immediately looked disappointed and said, "How can the Princess not understand? The Lord didn't even return to the room on the wedding night. If he's still staying somewhere else now, others will definitely laugh at the Princess. When you were still at Rose residence, you knew how to win a man's heart. Why did you lose your vigilance after getting married? You should know..."

"I'll go, I'll go!" Seeing that Momma Williams's long-windedness was endless, I quickly showed weakness.

Momma Williams nodded in satisfaction and encouraged me to leave.

With Nina, I dragged my tired body to the study.

As soon as I entered, I saw Felix Austin holding a brush and writing something. When he saw me, he put down the brush and asked, "Estella, why are you here?"

I gestured for Nina to bring the soup and said, "I heard that the Lord is busy with official business, so I had someone make some nourishing soup. The Lord shouldn't tire himself out."

"Thank you for your kind intentions," Felix Austin said after a pause. "The emperor gave me another task today, so I'm afraid I'll be busy for a few days..."

This was his way of politely telling me that he couldn't accompany me. I immediately understood and said, "It's alright. The Lord is busy, so I won't disturb him."

Nina immediately showed the same impatient expression as Momma Williams earlier. Felix Austin was also surprised by my sudden and swift departure and said, "I... I wasn't trying to drive you away."

"I was going to leave after delivering the soup. Take care of yourself, Lord. I'll go back to my room first." Without waiting for his response, I hurriedly left the study.

Now that I had completed my task, I could finally go back and rest.

"Miss..." Nina began to speak, but I interrupted her. "Don't say anything." I didn't want to hear any more lectures.

When I returned, Momma Williams saw that I was alone and looked hesitant to speak. I pretended not to notice.

After bathing, Nina came over with a red gift list and said, "Your Highness, please take a look. This is the gift list for the return home ceremony."

I stopped combing my hair. Right, there was still the custom of "returning home after three palace visits" in ancient times. Speaking of which, I was about to meet the biggest villain in the novel, Ralph Rose, who was also the father of Estella Rose.

As a villain, he was destined to have a bad ending, and it was unlikely that he could be brought back to the right path. So, I could only try to design a plan to reduce his sins, so that when he fell from power in the future, his crimes would not implicate his entire family. After all, I was now a member of the Rose family, and we would all suffer if he suffered.

The third day after the wedding was the return home ceremony. Early in the morning, Nina pulled me out of bed again. Were ancient people really this diligent? It wasn't even daylight yet.

After half an hour of preparation, Felix Austin appeared, and we had breakfast together before taking a carriage out.

However, halfway through the journey, a guard suddenly knocked on the carriage and whispered something in Felix Austin's ear.

Seeing Felix Austin's obvious distraction, I immediately understood what had happened. As the novel described, Lisa Stein had escaped from Lord Jin's mansion while Felix Austin was accompanying Estella Rose's return home. She had almost been caught by the soldiers, but Felix Austin had arrived just in time to save her.

Thinking of this, I spoke up, "If the Lord has something to attend to, then go ahead. I'll go back to the mansion and wait for the Lord there."

"How can that be?" He said with a wavering expression.

I sighed inwardly but maintained a nonchalant expression on my face. "I've already said it, so the Lord should just do as I say."

After weighing his options, Felix Austin apologized to me and left. Nina, who was outside the carriage, was so angry with my actions that her face turned blue.

As Estella Rose's chief maid in the novel, Nina was naturally cruel and ruthless, but she was still loyal to me, so she wasn't completely hopeless.

Suddenly, the carriage came to a stop, causing me to stumble and almost fall out. Just as I steadied myself, I heard Nina cursing angrily, "Where did this beggar come from? How dare he block Lord Jin's carriage? Does he want to die?"

...She really had the style of a villain.

I then heard a middle-aged man's voice trying to appease her outside the carriage. "This beggar stole my silver and was running away when he collided with your carriage. I'll take him away now."

This was followed by the sound of fists and kicks, as well as a muffled groan.

Nina's voice rang out again, probably still upset about Felix Austin leaving. She spoke even more rudely, "If you're going to fight, do it farther away. Don't let our carriage be tainted with bad luck."

I heard the appeasing voice outside, but not the beggar's voice begging for mercy.

I sighed. Nina was still young, and she had picked up bad habits from Estella Rose before. She was like those small-minded bullies on TV. However, because of her loyalty, I was willing to help her change her mindset.

"Nina, who allowed you to call others 'beggar' like that?" I opened the carriage curtain, got off the carriage, and if I left now, wouldn't I be exposing myself as a bully?

Nina was startled and hurried over, saying, "Why did the princess get off? Let me handle this. Don't let these commoners taint the young miss's eyes."

"If I hear you call someone that again, I'll fine you one month's worth of silver." I spoke expressionlessly.

Nina looked aggrieved but didn't say anything more. I walked past her and approached the group of people.

I saw a child curled up on the ground, probably around ten years old, covered in dirt and wearing ragged clothes. He was so thin that he looked like the African refugees I had seen in pictures. There were also two thugs standing next to him, as well as a middle-aged man who had smiled at me earlier, probably the person who had spoken earlier.

"You said he stole your silver?" I asked.

The man quickly replied, "To answer the princess's question, I came here to do business. I was walking on the street when this beggar suddenly bumped into me, and my money bag was gone. I searched him all over, but I didn't find it. I don't know what he did with it."

"You didn't find your money bag on him?" I raised my eyebrows slightly and asked.

The man quickly explained, "These beggars are all shameless and won't say where they hid the money bag unless you beat them up."

I ignored the man and squatted down next to the child and asked, "Did you steal his money bag?"

The man wanted to speak, but I shot him a glance, and he fell silent.

After waiting for a while, I heard a faint voice say, "I...didn't."

"He's lying, he's a little animal..."

"Shut up." I interrupted the man's explanation. "You didn't find the money bag on him, and you didn't catch him in the act. You just used violence against him and relied solely on your words. Is that how you do things?"

The man was in the wrong and opened his mouth but didn't know how to refute me. Indeed, in ancient times, human life was cheap, so no one cared about beating up a beggar. If that child hadn't bumped into my carriage, he might have been beaten to death today.

However, with the outdated ideas of the ancient people, what could I do alone to change them?

"If you insist that this child stole your money bag, then why don't you report it to the officials and let the officials handle it? But if there is no evidence to point fingers, when it comes to your assault, it won't be as simple as just compensating for medical expenses." I spoke up.

The Jingzhao Yin naturally leaned towards Lord Jin's mansion, and the merchant wasn't stupid. He immediately took some silver from his thugs and stuffed it into the beggar's hand with a smile, claiming he had identified the wrong person.

I didn't bother to argue with him anymore and let him leave.

Looking at the child who had been curled up on the ground, I squatted down again. His wrist was so thin that it looked like a layer of skin had been hung on a skeleton.

Feeling a twinge of pity, I asked softly, "What's your name?"

I vaguely heard the word "Hernandez" from his mouth. I said, "Is your surname Hernandez? The silver you got from that merchant should be enough for you to wash up and have a good meal. It's crowded and noisy here, and even if I give you silver, you might not be able to keep it. I see that you have a strong will despite your young age. If you want to find a job to support yourself in the future, you can come to Lord Jin's mansion and look for me. I keep my promises."

He kept his head down the whole time, seeming to be in great pain. I didn't say anything else and called a guard over to take him to the clinic...just in case that merchant came back for revenge.

Now I had to establish a positive image and pave the way for the future of the Rose mansion.

When I got on the carriage, I felt a gaze on my back. I had always had a keen intuition, so I followed my gut feeling and looked in a direction where I saw a half-closed window in a tavern with no one in sight.