Upon Her Lips - Chapter 40

Chapter 40

As the girl disappeared beyond the door, Beatrice Campbell’s grey-gold eyes swirled with a hidden sense of playfulness and chill. She narrowed her gaze at the woman beneath her. “She’s gone. Now we can continue.”

“You’re asking for death.”

With a low, furious growl, Mu Fei’s eyes instantly flushed crimson. She unleashed her pureblood power, causing a split-second, agonizing pressure to strike Beatrice’s mind. Forcing her way out of the grip on her left hand, Mu Fei reached for the other’s throat. But in the next heartbeat, Beatrice’s own eyes flashed scarlet, shielding herself from the mental assault.

“I told you, your pain-induction doesn’t work on me.”

Beatrice took the brunt of Mu Fei’s strike, which only tore the collar of her dress, her neck narrowly avoiding a lethal blow. She pinned Mu Fei back down, looking down with casual arrogance at the woman who usually remained so stoic. “Tell me, were you worried about that girl’s safety just now? Is that why you sent her out?”

“I was telling you to get out.”

Beatrice paused, her gaze raking over Mu Fei’s form with unmasked desire. It had been a long time since she had been this close to her—not since Mu Fei became the Head of the House. Looking at the high-collared black lace dress, Beatrice felt a dark urge to tear this perfect piece of art apart.

Just as her hand reached out to touch that bewitching face, the crystal chandelier on the ceiling suddenly shattered.

In an instant, the glass shards fell like conscious daggers, aiming for Beatrice’s exposed neck. Sensing the anomaly, Beatrice released her hold and leaped to safety.

A sudden, freezing gust of wind blew in through the half-open balcony doors, sweeping the glass away from Mu Fei so that not a single shard touched her. Metal and glass crashed to the floor. In the blink of an eye, Mu Fei had vanished from her spot.

“Get out.”

The cold voice came from behind. Before Beatrice could turn, a sharp piece of metal sliced a long, deep wound across her left arm. The study was instantly saturated with the thick scent of pureblood.

Before Beatrice could recover, Mu Fei slammed her against the wall—right against a massive set of hooked deer antlers!

Beatrice finally turned serious. She exerted her strength to resist Mu Fei’s pressure. She knew Mu Fei wasn’t as physically strong or as old as she was; she remembered her as a soft, frail girl. Now, she was full of commanding power. Was it because of her father’s eternal sleep? This “sweetheart” had turned into a pillar of lonely ice, but that only made Beatrice want to see her submit more.

The ancient antlers were mere centimeters from piercing Beatrice’s chest.

“You’re truly cruel to me, Mu Fei.” Beatrice grunted, smiling despite the blood on her arm. Her wound began to knit back together instantly. “This is your attitude toward me, Beatrice Campbell?”

“Are you referring to me accidentally pinning you down? I apologize, but it hurts me when you reject me. We have an engagement tradition; you know I adore you.”

“Your ‘affections’ only make me sick,” Mu Fei spat, dismissing the lie. “And there is no engagement. My father declined your family’s ‘kindness’ long ago.”

Beatrice’s expression shifted. She looked at the door, then back at the woman who kept her at such a distance. “Perhaps the engagement doesn’t matter anymore. Your father won’t be waking up anytime soon,” she said, her tone softening into a manipulative whisper. “No one has walked into your heart all these years. Have you considered that it’s not that you don’t like others, but that no one likes you? Except for me. No one loves you.”

You aren’t liked by anyone, except me. No one will cherish you.

“Don’t you understand yet? Why do the people you treasure keep leaving you? Your mother, that kind noblewoman… she abandoned you to save those ‘short-lived’ ants. Your father, because of her death, entered eternal sleep. Did he think of you? To leave you so lonely with such a burden… you must be so sad. No one is thinking of you…”

Beatrice’s voice was a gentle, poisonous lullaby, whispering exactly how pathetic Mu Fei was.

Stop it.

A scream built up in Mu Fei’s heart, but it wouldn’t reach her lips. A sharp pain gripped her throat. Memories she hadn’t seen in years flashed before her eyes: the last sight of her mother’s back, promising to return but never coming home.

Am I truly unloved? Everyone leaves in the end.

“You still have me, Mu Fei.” Beatrice stepped closer, seeing the glazed look in Mu Fei’s eyes. She knew she was winning. The most isolated people are often the most fragile.

Stop it.

Mu Fei’s face turned transparently pale. Beatrice reached out to place her hand over Mu Fei’s heart.

Suddenly, a small, furious body collided with her from the side with a surge of swamp-like hostility.

In the silence of the study, the girl stood boldly in front of Mu Fei, arms spread wide in a protective stance, her eyes burning with cold determination.

“The Lady said stop… stop it! You’re not allowed to say it… not allowed!”

Her voice trembled with effort, but she roared the command at Beatrice with everything she had. Her black eyes shimmered in the shadows. For a moment, even Beatrice felt a chill, as if looking into those eyes would pull her into an abyss.

Beatrice scoffed. She was genuinely irritated that a “small animal” had ruined her moment. “Your little servant truly has no manners,” she said, her eyes turning murderous.

“You have no right to speak a single word about my people.”

The voice came from behind Yuran—the real voice of the Mistress of the house.

Seeing that small figure standing there, brave and fierce like a cornered cub, Mu Fei felt the dark fog in her heart shatter.

How pathetic of me, she thought, to let a child protect me.

Mu Fei stepped forward, moving Yuran behind her. The deathly pallor had left her face; she was once again the unbreakable Head of the Mu Family.

“It seems we have nothing more to discuss,” Mu Fei said.

“Clearly.” Beatrice saw it was a lost cause for today. She looked one last time at the girl clutching Mu Fei’s side. Those black eyes stared back without a hint of fear. I’ve seen that look somewhere before, Beatrice thought with a flicker of instinctual loathing.

“Purebloods cannot survive without fresh human blood,” Beatrice gave a final, mocking piece of advice. “When we fought today, you felt the gap between us. I hope next time,” she glanced at the girl, “there are no ‘nuisances’ in the way.”

“There won’t be a next time,” Mu Fei replied coldly.

Beatrice laughed and walked out. Yuran stared at her retreating back, her mind filled with a dark, screeching voice: (Make her fall into the abyss).

The black veins began to creep into Yuran’s eyes until Mu Fei gently patted her head. Her body relaxed, and her pupils returned to normal. She looked up at Mu Fei, and hot, heavy tears began to pour down her face.

She had stayed by the door. She had heard the lies.

“Why are you crying?” Mu Fei asked, surprised by the sudden outburst.

“She’s lying, My Lady! She… she’s lying! Everything she said… was WRONG!”

Yuran’s voice was hoarse and loud, breaking through her usual stutter. “Everyone likes the Lady! Yuran… Yuran loves the Lady more than anyone!! She was lying, she was lying…”

Between sobs and stammers, Yuran threw her arms around the cold woman, hugging her tightly. She wasn’t strong yet, but she would protect the Lady even if it meant her own destruction.

Mu Fei, held tightly by the small girl, felt a tear of her own fall for the first time in front of another. She wiped it away and knelt down, ruffling Yuran’s hair with a half-smile.

“The Lady was protected by you today.”

“My Lady… in the future, Yuran will always protect you.”

Even if it costs my life.