"Do you really need me to spell it out for you?"

Si Yuheng faced Vivi, his tone filled with displeasure, his barely restrained irritation seeping through.

Vivi knew he was aware of everything, and she understood deeply: if she weren’t Ryan’s daughter, if she hadn’t served him for years, she would have been punished by now.

Because she had dared to touch his woman without permission.

Her heart twinged as she clenched the hem of her clothes in secret.

She had once, out of jealousy, intentionally played tricks on the mistresses around him. But afterward, he hadn’t said much, even laughed heartily on one occasion, praising her pranks as amusing.

But this time, that woman from Asia faced no consequences, and he turned his blame on her, rebuked her with this tone...

Vivi quickly suppressed her jealousy. Taking a deep breath, she said, "Hall Master... I’m sorry, I... I really didn’t mean to that day..."

Si Yuheng wasn’t interested in debating further. His voice remained cold: "It doesn’t matter whether it was intentional or not. As long as you remember what I said today."

Jealousy in women was inevitable. In that case, he would simply keep her away from that woman.

"Yes... Hall Master." Never before reprimanded in such a tone by him, Vivi clenched her fists until they creaked, swallowing her humiliation.

**************************

Meanwhile, Liang Anya stood not far from the Fencing Room, staring at its tightly shut doors.

Vivi had been inside for a long, long time and still hadn’t come out.

Perhaps Vivi was delivering water to him, wiping his sweat, and the two of them were chatting and laughing.

Or perhaps... doing something even more intimate?

After all, to that man, every woman in this castle was his possession, available for his enjoyment anytime, anywhere!

Just the thought of what she and Si Yuheng had done in the Fencing Room earlier made her feel nauseous.

What was she even doing, standing here?

How ridiculous.

Was she waiting for Vivi to walk out with a radiant smile, her face flushed with shyness, arm in arm with him?

She must be out of her mind.

Turning on her heels, she started walking away.

Outside the Fencing Room lay a vast expanse of lawn before the Si Family castle.

The sky was still that same blue, the grass still that vibrant green, and the clouds above still huge and fluffy, like cotton candy.

Yet in her heart, it felt as if a layer of gray had settled, dim and dreary.

She didn’t know why, but the first few days after arriving in A Country didn’t feel so foreign. On the contrary, she adjusted quickly.

But at this moment, a sense of estrangement and bewilderment surged through her.

This country, this castle, would never be her home, nor was it a place where she belonged.

She missed her father so much. She missed her brother. She missed Xiaoyi.

She missed everything about China.

"Miss Liang, did you finish delivering things to the Hall Master?" Beth’s crisp voice carried over alongside approaching footsteps.

She snapped out of her brooding and took a deep breath of fresh outdoor air, letting it fill her lungs as she tried to muster her spirits. "Yes."

"Then let me accompany you back to your room."

"What about the King and Queen? Weren’t they going out to walk the dogs?" She didn’t want to return to that four-walled room that felt like a gilded cage.

A cage? Yes, she should’ve long realized it was a cage.

No matter how luxurious or resplendent, it was still just a cage for keeping pets.

"Oh, they’re over there on the lawn." Beth pointed in a direction with her finger.

Liang Anya followed Beth toward the lawn.

On the expansive grass that stretched out like a green blanket, the King and Queen had released the leashes from the dogs, letting them romp and play. As soon as they saw someone familiar approaching, they rushed over to Liang Anya with joyous barks: "Woof woof—"

The subordinates tasked with tending to the Hall Master’s beloved canines were used to this, standing to the side alongside Beth.

Liang Anya’s spirits lifted slightly as she reached out to pat the dogs’ heads and snapped her fingers!

After several days of walking them, she grew increasingly close to the King and Queen and even learned how to train them.

It had to be said—relationships between people and dogs weren’t all that different from relationships between people. Sometimes, it all depended on compatibility.

Take her, for instance. She used to be terrified of big dogs, especially these wolf-like ones. She’d cross the street to avoid them, never imagining she’d become so close to the King and Queen.

Big dogs, it turned out, were like babies. Once you figured out their temperament, they were even easier to manage than infants.

At Liang Anya’s command, the King and Queen immediately lay obediently at her feet, tilting their heads up to her with a look of pure longing, letting out soft whimpers.

She sat cross-legged on the grass, stroking the King’s head, "Good boy, you’re becoming so well-behaved. Well done~"

Beth took a bag of dog treats from a subordinate’s hands and handed it to her. "Miss Liang, you can use this to feed the King and Queen."

It was a bag of foie gras.

In a French restaurant, foie gras of this caliber was worth a small fortune.

Si Yuheng, that ridiculous man, was using it as dog treats—for simple snacks! Such extravagance!

Clicking her tongue twice, Liang Anya accepted the foie gras, feeding the two dogs while playfully patting the massive King that weighed over a hundred pounds. "King, you’d better eat less, or you’ll have too much nutrition... Hey, hey, don’t steal your wife’s treats!"

Beth couldn’t help but laugh, "The Hall Master pampers the King and Queen so much. Everything they eat and use is the best."

Liang Anya scoffed. "And what does it matter? At the end of the day, they’re still just dogs. He spoils them when it suits him but will never treat them as equals."

The words seemed directed at the King and Queen, yet they also seemed meant for herself. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Of course, the King and Queen couldn’t understand her critique, munching delightedly on the top-quality foie gras.

As the bag of foie gras emptied, Liang Anya grabbed their leashes to take them for a stroll.

"Miss Liang, I’ll join you..." A subordinate of Beiming Hall called out softly.

"No need, I can manage on my own."

"But—"

She didn’t wait for him to finish, knowing full well what he intended to say. A rebellious streak flared within her as she yanked the leashes forcefully and sneered, "Afraid I’ll run away? This place is so far from the city that even driving takes a long time. Add to that the fact you’ve got people stationed everywhere—where could I possibly escape to? I came here to live, not to be a prisoner. Do I really need to be supervised even to walk a dog?"

Beth quickly came to smooth things over. "Miss Liang, don’t be upset," she said, casting a meaningful glance at the subordinate. "Let Miss Liang go alone; at this point, the King and Queen are closer to her than they are to you."

The subordinate extended an arm helplessly in a gesture that said, "As you wish."

Gripping the leashes, Liang Anya set off in a frosty silence, heading off in another direction.

Walking the King and Queen, she eventually looked up to find herself near the edge of the lawn, at the entrance to a woodland garden.

Beyond it stretched the dense woods enveloping the castle.

Sunlight filtered down, weakened as it passed through layers of vines and leaves.

She instinctively tightened her grip on the leashes. "Alright, King, Queen, time to go back now."

"Woof woof woof—" the King barked a few times, his plush paws digging stubbornly into the ground. Clearly, he wanted to keep playing.

Seeing her husband refuse to move, the Queen also dug her hind legs into the ground.

She crouched down, "Alright, that’s enough for today. Time to head back, okay?"