Chapter 463: Task Progress 1/3
Chapter 463 -461: Task Progress 1/3
Her fury made the young girl look at her in surprise, her own eyes shining with a peculiar light. ‘What a truly good person,’ she thought. ‘The first one to ever call me beautiful.’
“HAHAHAHA…” echoed from all around.
But the blatant laughter from the others snapped the young girl out of her surprise.
The attendant who came with Miss Shepherd looked expressionlessly at the people mocking her. “Since you’re all blind,” she said coldly, “and you even offered to gouge out your own eyes, then you can just leave them here.”
As soon as she spoke, the mockery paused for an instant before erupting into a roar of laughter even louder than before. Many of them clutched their stomachs, howling as they laughed so hard they cried.
But very quickly, their laughter turned into terrified screams.
The eyes of the five Otherkin across the way had, for some unknown reason, simply burst.
“AGH, my eyes! My eyes!”
“What did you do to my eyes?! I can’t see! Give me back my eyes!”
The horrifying screams drew the gazes of the neighboring tables, but not a single person came over to get involved.
Faye Yardley glanced over. ‘Am I really this unlucky?’ she thought. ‘I try to find a quiet corner and end up at a table of morons?’
Miss Shepherd was clearly pleased. She huffed at the wailing men, then clapped her hands. A steward quickly arrived with a few servants, who each grabbed one of the men and hauled them away.
The hall quickly returned to its previous lively and festive state.
Miss Shepherd’s gaze was fixed on Faye Yardley. “What’s your name? I’m Melisande Shepherd, of the Shepherd Family.”
“It’s a pleasure, Miss Shepherd. My name is Faye Yardley.”
“Did you really mean it when you said I was beautiful?”
“Of course. If I were lying, you would have seen right through me in an instant.”
Miss Shepherd grunted in agreement and nodded. “You’re not bad-looking yourself.”
“Thank you for the compliment, Miss Shepherd.” Faye Yardley touched her own face and said, “I’m not like you. The only reason I look alright is because I took a Beauty and Skin Care Pill.”
As she spoke, she took an exquisite little wooden box from her bag, placed it before Miss Shepherd, and opened it.
A pleasant, medicinal fragrance wafted out.
“This one is for you. You’ll definitely be even more beautiful after taking it. When you become the greatest beauty in this place, I can boast that I played a tiny part in it.”
Miss Shepherd’s eyes grew even brighter. She didn’t hesitate, but her attendant intercepted the Beauty and Skin Care Pill first, examining it carefully. Only after confirming there was no issue did she hand it over to Miss Shepherd.
How could someone so concerned with her appearance possibly refuse such a gift? Melisande Shepherd was so eager she swallowed it in a single gulp.
Whether it was because all System-certified products were just that effective or not, the black patch on Miss Shepherd’s left cheek began to fade at a rate visible to the naked eye. What had been a deep black was now a light brown.
Seeing the effect, all Faye Yardley could think was, ‘Master Veridian, you’re a genius!’
The attendant was ecstatic. She immediately pulled out a mirror. “Miss Shepherd, quick, look in the mirror!”
‘Look in the mirror?’
Mirrors were a taboo subject for Miss Shepherd. She never thought her nursemaid would be the one to offer her one. Still, a flicker of hope ignited within her; after all, she had felt something change in her body when she swallowed the pill.
She snatched the mirror and stared at her own face, turning it from side to side as if she could never get her fill. Then she snapped her head up to look at Faye Yardley, her gaze so bright it was almost scary.
“Do you have any more?”
Faye Yardley shook her head. “My family went through untold hardships to find these for me. There were only two. I took one, and then I met you. I felt we had a connection, so I gave you the last one without a second thought.”
Miss Shepherd grabbed her hand. “You’re the best! From now on, we’re sisters, even if we have different parents. Come on, eating in this main hall is beneath us. Let’s go to my personal courtyard.”
[Praise received from one of the three masters of Shepherd Manor. Mission Progress: 1/3.]
Whether Miss Shepherd believed she had no more pills didn’t matter; Faye Yardley was sticking to her story.
‘Good things shouldn’t come in large quantities, anyway.’
Besides, in this Dungeon, the pill’s effect was a little too good—suspiciously so.
So, Faye Yardley had no intention of revealing any more of them.
Just as she said, Miss Shepherd pulled Faye Yardley to her feet and began dragging her away without giving her a chance to refuse.
Though she was being pulled along, Faye Yardley didn’t resist. She had to enter the inner residence of this Dungeon to complete her mission, after all.
And just as she’d hoped, after a series of twists and turns, they arrived in the inner courtyard.
Upon entering the inner residence, Faye and her two companions came face to face with a young man. He had a plain face but a gentle, refined air, and he held a folding fan in his hand.
“Melisande, you…”
“Brother, I’m bringing a friend back to my courtyard to eat. Would you like to join us? Oh, and this is my friend, Faye Yardley.”
Mr. Shepherd’s eyes lit up at the sight of Faye Yardley, and he snapped his fan open with a flick of his wrist. But his gaze quickly returned to his sister’s face. “Melisande, your face… it looks so much better than before.”
“It is, isn’t it? And it’s all thanks to my friend here. Brother, come eat with us. And you’d better prepare a nice gift for my friend, you hear?”
Mr. Shepherd paused for a moment, then smiled. “Alright. I’ll go prepare. You two head on without me.”
As for the celebratory banquet that evening, neither of them mentioned it.
It was a contradiction. If she didn’t care, why had Miss Shepherd gone to the main hall with her nursemaid earlier? If she did care, why wasn’t she saying a word about it now?
‘One of the ways to clear this is to get praise from three masters of the Shepherd Family,’ Faye thought. ‘I’m already a third of the way there. I wonder if I can get Mr. Shepherd’s praise next.’
‘In any case, my progress isn’t slow.’
Faye Yardley smiled politely at Mr. Shepherd, but her mind was racing. ‘So this is the guy who’s in love with his own father’s beautiful concubine. The System said I should give him some help, without anyone finding out… Does that mean I’m supposed to help him get rid of his father?’
Remembering the part about “three masters,” Faye waited until Mr. Shepherd had left before saying, “Melisande, shouldn’t I go and pay my respects to Mrs. Shepherd first?”
Melisande Shepherd stopped in her tracks, then smiled. “You’re right. I should take you to see my mother first. Come on.”
She was eager for her mother to see her new appearance, too.
She took two more steps, then stopped again. “On second thought, let’s go back to my courtyard first. I want to get properly dressed up before I see my mother.”
Faye Yardley immediately agreed. Then, as if she’d just remembered something, she said, “Oh, my memory is so bad! I actually have some face powder with me. I’ve only used it once, but if you don’t mind, I can do your makeup for you in a bit.”
“Oh, would you? That would be wonderful! Let’s go, hurry!”
This time, Faye Yardley found herself being pulled into a run.
They passed several people along the way, but Melisande paid them no mind.
The Shepherd Manor was impressively large, she had to admit. She was pulled along at a run for a good six or seven minutes before they finally arrived at an exquisite little courtyard.