Countless noblewomen went from handing invitations to Daisy and inviting her to their own salons to proactively indicating that they wanted to attend the gatherings hosted by Daisy. The whole process took less than ten days.
Every time Daisy appeared at a gathering, she wore a different long dress. She had the grace of a Greek goddess and the majesty of a Roman one. Each time, she was the center of attention at the gathering, without exception.
The noblewomen envied the dresses on Daisy and eagerly anticipated the opening of the clothing store that she had opened together with Ye Tang.
Daisy acted as if she were flattered and surprised. Under the pressure and overtures from the noblewomen, she kept advancing the store’s opening date—Heaven knew that she and Ye Tang had originally planned to open the clothing shop in early February or even late January anyway. The so-called “March opening” was just Ye Tang’s ploy for hunger marketing.
The noblewomen, who had originally quite excluded Daisy, did not see through her show of weakness as mere acting. They truly believed their pressure on her had worked, forcing her to scramble and prepare the luxurious garments they wanted. For a time, their wariness toward her lessened considerably, and their attitudes improved as well.
Daisy went out every day to socialize, using herself as a living advertisement to promote the new fashion trends designed by Ye Tang. Whenever she got the chance, she ran to Hedelin House to take refuge—as soon as she returned home now, invitations to gatherings arrived, or she couldn’t even finish a cup of tea before the butler reported that someone had come to visit.
It was fine for a day or two, but as time dragged on, even a social butterfly like Daisy showed signs of wilting.
“Your little male servant is still so cute!”
Daisy reached out her demonic claws, wanting to torment Fian and Hope.
She had never seen children with such pale pigmentation. Fian and Hope’s white hair and red eyes were too striking, not to mention their strange… cough, she meant unique hairstyles. She really wanted to ask Anna how she had cut the two children’s hair into wing-like shapes.
Fian and Hope immediately hid behind Ye Tang.
There was no helping it—with Daisy’s status, no one except Ye Tang could stop her. Everyone else, including Cinderella, could not interfere with Daisy’s actions.
“If people saw you like this, you’d be described as a wicked witch who wants to grab little boys to eat.”
Ye Tang smiled and handed something to Daisy, successfully diverting her attention.
Daisy looked at the rectangular piece of wide cloth in her hand, which had two straps attached. For a moment, she could not figure out what it was for.
“This is…?”
“A mask.”
As Ye Tang spoke, she picked up another mask and demonstrated how to wear it for Daisy.
Daisy was stunned.
Half-face veils as decorative items had a long history. The emergence of masked balls had indeed added a touch of romance and mystery to them.
But a mask?
Was something that covered most of a person’s face, leaving only a pair of eyes exposed, really suitable as a decorative item? …If it was for decoration, it should at least be made semi-transparent, right? Like the semi-transparent veils brought by exotic dancers.
“Is this thing worth recycling corsets and old dresses to make?”
Winter travel was inconvenient, and many trade routes were completely halted. People also wore more layers in winter, consuming more fabric, so fabric was somewhat scarce. But with Ye Tang’s newly established express delivery business, fabric was not so scarce that it was unobtainable.
Corsets were one thing—knowing how much Ye Tang wanted to eradicate that infernal contraption, Daisy had no objection to her proposal: allowing customers to bring their corsets to the store when buying new dresses and offset part of the price with them.
But Ye Tang not only allowed corsets to be traded in; even old clothes and old dresses could be traded in based on their condition and quality. Ye Tang guaranteed that Daisy’s income would not decrease due to the trade-ins, which meant she was bearing the entire loss in profits from them herself.
“To collect enough fabric in a short time, this is the fastest way.”
Ye Tang, with her mask pulled down, looked calm and composed.
Daisy suspected she had no idea how much money she was losing every day. She believed that if Anna knew how much she lost daily, she certainly could not maintain such an unflinching expression about money.
“…Anna, are you really in such a hurry to make masks? It’s mid-February now. In three months—no, as long as you wait another two and a half months, the trade caravans could buy back twice as much fabric for this one-third of the cost.”
“I can’t wait two months, Daisy. In my view, I’m already moving too slowly. …Spring is almost here.”
Even a skilled cook needs ingredients—masks were easy to make, but they still required time.
The traded-in corsets, old clothes, and old dresses needed to go through sorting, disassembly, high-temperature disinfection, drying, cutting, sewing, and other processes to become masks. The women Ye Tang hired to make them had to learn the process from scratch. And handmade masks were not all qualified products.
Only two days ago had Ye Tang finally received the first batch of qualified masks and had Ted distribute them—Ted, who had initially not believed Ye Tang’s wild idea could succeed, soon heard from his former underlings that being an express delivery worker earned far more than being a thug. Moreover, express delivery was a legitimate business with low chances of conflict. Compared to his past days of living on the edge of a knife, a delivery worker’s life was stable.
Ted had six mouths to feed at home. What he feared most was one day being stabbed dead on the street, leaving the old and young in his family without support, his son and daughter spending their childhoods stealing like he had, and his mother jumping into the river one day to save food for the children in the family, just like his grandmother.
Ted left the “employment agency.” He was now the most capable and hardworking employee under Ye Tang. With his joining, the morale of the delivery team soared, and efficiency improved greatly.
Ye Tang told Ted that the masks could protect their cheeks from frostbite and, after spring arrived, block pollen and animal fur to reduce sneezing. She instructed him and the others to wear them properly when going out. Ted not only wore his mask diligently but also supervised everyone in the delivery team to do the same.
Ye Tang, who had them wear masks to ensure Ted and the others’ health, did not yet know that in some places, masks were already becoming a symbol of express delivery workers.
Unable to understand Ye Tang’s thinking, Daisy could only shake her head. She did not comprehend why Ye Tang was so worried about the coming spring, as if the world would enter doomsday the moment it arrived.
Daisy wanted to persuade Ye Tang further when the gates of Hedelin House suddenly swung open.
Gloria supported the crying, trembling nonstop Cinderella as they entered the house, but Claudia, who had gone out with them, was nowhere behind them.
“Lia, Rela!?”
Ye Tang, usually unflappable, rarely changed her expression.
This made Daisy unable to help but smile.
It was precisely because Anna had such qualities that she dared to trust Anna and open her heart to her.
Ye Tang did not notice Daisy’s expression. She moved faster than the short-legged Hope and Fian, reaching Gloria and Cinderella in an instant.
“What happened?”
“Mother…”
Gloria did not know where to begin, while Cinderella sobbed until her face was flushed.
“Ian, go brew some tea. Hope, Fian, go call May in and close the gates.”
May was Hedelin House’s female coachman. In winter, the girls of Hedelin House always rode in the carriage she drove when going out. May should know something.
Ye Tang hugged Gloria with her left arm and Cinderella with her right, first giving the two girls a deep embrace, then gently stroking their cold cheeks to calm them down.
Gloria had been dazed until just now. In front of Cinderella, she had maintained the demeanor of an older sister protecting her younger one. Only in Ye Tang’s arms did Gloria begin to tremble gradually.
Her eyelashes fluttered, and her pink-purple eyes were instantly wetted by tears. Gloria, who had been holding back from crying, choked up, shedding silent tears for a moment.
“It was Father…”
……
Everyone knew that the three sisters of Hedelin House were always together, with a close relationship. But similarly, everyone could tell that the two older sisters of Hedelin House and the youngest sister were not born to the same mother.
Given that Ye Tang was close to Daisy, Claudia and Gloria—who resembled their birth mother—clearly treated Cinderella differently.
At first, it was just the crowd intentionally or unintentionally excluding Cinderella. Later, when Claudia and Gloria were not by Cinderella’s side, someone took the opportunity to beat around the bush and hurl veiled insults at Cinderella.
Habits were terrifying things. After getting used to such gossip, ordinary passive-aggressive remarks could no longer harm Cinderella.
Today, the three sisters had gone to the library together. Like her sisters, Cinderella prepared to find a book she wanted to read.
“You’re Cinderella, right? You really look like your mother—not at all like your two sisters.”
The man snatched the book Cinderella wanted from the shelf just as she reached for it.
“…”
Cinderella did not recognize the man and had no impression of him. Not hung up on that book, she tried to go around him but was blocked.
“Someone asked me to pass this message to you: ‘What kind of bewitching potion did Anna Rochel feed you? Living with her, have you forgotten who your real birth mother is? Your father was kicked out of the house by Anna Rochel, yet you don’t say a good word for him—are you even worthy of being his daughter?’ …Oh, right, that person said something else too.”
“‘Anna Rochel has now seized all of Hedelin House’s property—property that belonged to your father. As his daughter, you could have gotten a share of it!'”
Cinderella’s pupils shrank. Before she could react, Kim Hora took over her body and curled her lips.
“Stop beating around the bush. It was my father who sent you, right? Where is he now? Take me to him.”
The man also laughed.
“Not unworthy of being Hans’s good daughter.”
Did Cinderella want to see Hans? When Ye Tang had just kicked Hans out, Cinderella had wanted to see her father.
Because he was already her last remaining family in the world.
Facing an unfamiliar stepmother and sisters alone had truly frightened Cinderella.
But, but that was in the past!
The current Cinderella did not want to see her own father! She did not want to see Hans’s face! So in the world of consciousness, she desperately pounced on Kim Hora, stopping her from following the man.
“What are you doing!?”
Kim Hora was furious and kicked toward Cinderella’s chest.
Even after being kicked, Cinderella did not give up. For the first time, she fought back—
Slap!
Kim Hora seemed to hear a crisp, loud slap on her own cheek.
“! ? You dare lay hands on me…!? Are you crazy!?”
Ignoring Kim Hora’s angry roar, Cinderella took back control of her body. Her body swayed on the stairs in front of the library entrance, nearly tumbling down those hundreds of steps.
“Cinderella!?”
Gloria saw Cinderella following an unfamiliar stranger out of the library and quickly informed her eldest sister. She and Claudia chased after her together.
The two swiftly caught the Cinderella who was about to roll down the stairs. Claudia, upon looking up, spotted Hans standing at the bottom of the steps.
Without any hesitation, Claudia ran down a few steps and spread her arms to block in front of her sisters.
“Dia—”
Claudia and Gloria’s appearance was beyond Hans’s expectations. But for him, this was far from a bad opportunity.
He changed his expression faster than flipping the pages of a book. Hans put on a pitiful look. He removed his hat and said miserably with that face that had deceived many women: “Aren’t you welcoming your father home?”