Chapter 18 Cressida Cuts Flesh, Leaving No Flaws!
Donny has a daughter and a son. The Ethan that Jessica mentioned is Ethan Hamilton from the Hamilton family.
Ethan is sixteen this year. A year ago, he ranked second in the nation in the martial arts exam.
According to Novaria's laws, top-ranking candidates should be assigned appropriate official positions.
It's been a year, and Ethan is still at home waiting for his appointment. It's really strange.
Donny shook his head: "The Patrick family just went through all that trouble, things are still chaotic there. Let's not add to their problems."
Jessica got anxious: "Father, you're always thinking about others. What about Ethan? When Patrick needed help, was he afraid of troubling you?"
"I'll ask around some more. We don't need Patrick to step in."
"With Patrick's current position, one word from him is worth more than us begging ten other people."
Donny was about to continue when he turned and saw Cressida standing not far behind them.
"Cressida," his face flashed with awkwardness, "why did you come out?"
Cressida nodded: "I wanted to thank you for speaking up for me earlier. I came to see you off."
Donny showed a relieved smile: "No need, it's freezing cold. Go back inside quickly."
"If you really want to thank my father, you should do something real instead of just talking," Jessica muttered unhappily.
"Jessica!"
Scolded by Donny, Jessica got even more upset and climbed straight into the carriage.
"Cressida, your sister is young. Don't take it personally."
"I won't. My sister speaks her mind, and she's not wrong," Cressida said with a faint smile.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Donny was sent off to the carriage by Cressida.
When Cressida returned to the room, Emma was already waiting.
"Ms. Hamilton, no one suspected you, right?" Emma was a bit nervous.
Cressida sat down in front of the bronze mirror: "No, you did very well with this."
Emma came over to remove her hair ornaments and smiled.
"Ms. Hamilton was right. There was no one guarding that maid's room, which made it easy for me to release the red-tailed hawk."
Earlier, Cressida had instructed Emma to steal the whistle, because on the day Rose was added to the family registry, Clio had focused all her attention on Cressida.
Especially after confirming that Cressida got into the carriage, Clio felt even more at ease.
With the guard relaxed, Emma successfully released the red-tailed hawk and took the whistle.
Following the commands Cressida had taught her, she directed the red-tailed hawk to attack Rose.
Back when Cressida was at the border, she had watched her subordinates raise hawks and knew some simple commands.
These creatures are very intelligent. When well-trained, they can both attack enemies and gather intelligence, making them extremely useful on the battlefield.
Rose wanted to use the red-tailed hawk to scratch out Cressida's eyes, so Cressida let Rose taste her own medicine.
It was all what Rose deserved.
The only thing that surprised Cressida was Jade's appearance.
Originally, according to Cressida and Emma's plan, Emma was supposed to hide outside and blow two more long whistles to make the red-tailed hawk fly along their planned trajectory.
Unexpectedly, Jade, holding a broom, drove the red-tailed hawk in that direction, naturally causing it to knock over the jar.
"Jade is smart. She knows how to help me," Cressida said.
Emma nodded: "The other day I ran into her in the kitchen. Jade said Miss Hamilton had been kind to her."
Cressida was stunned.
Had she? She couldn't even remember.
"Jade said her parents sold her here, and she was bullied by the house-born servants. That year, you gave her a new name and told her to call herself Jade."
After that, the servants didn't dare bully her anymore, all thinking she had Cressida's backing.
Cressida thought about it silently. There did seem to be such an incident, but it had been over ten years ago. She didn't expect Jade still remembered.
"I've always said Ms. Cressida Hamilton is the best person," Emma was happy to be serving such a wise master.
"Emma, get me a small knife," Cressida said, lighting a candle.
There was a small knife on the table, used for cutting fruit. Emma handed over the knife, confused.
"Ms. Cressida Hamilton, what are you going to do? Be careful!"
Emma watched as Cressida passed the knife over the flame, then pointed the blade at her own palm.
This scared Emma terribly.
"Prince Russell's visit today was outside my plan. Prince Russell is very smart and sharp. I can't leave any flaws."
Cressida cut away the thin calluses on her hand, and blood began to flow.
Fortunately, these past few days, Cressida had been using the beauty cream Emma gave her to soak her hands and bathe. The scars on the back of her hands had faded considerably, and her skin had become much more delicate than before.
By the time Cressida finished cleaning up, both hands were covered in blood, but she hadn't frowned once.
Emma felt terrible for her and quickly wiped the blood clean with a clean cloth, then applied healing ointment.
"Miss Hamilton, does it hurt?"
"No." Compared to the pain and torture Cressida had endured in her previous life, this was nothing.
The pain kept Cressida alert, and she carefully reviewed today's plan.
Except for Miguel's appearance, everything had gone as she expected.
Moreover, Michael had caused such big trouble that when Patrick and Clio had time to deal with it, they would definitely question him about what really happened.
What Cressida wanted was for Michael to reveal that he owed gambling debts.
Although Clio loved Rose, her most precious one was still Michael.
Once Clio knew that Rose had actually encouraged Michael to throw away thousands at the gambling house, Cressida wouldn't need to do anything—the fake mother-daughter relationship between Rose and Clio would fall apart.
Only by making them collapse from within, attacking their will, could Cressida take back what belonged to her.
The guests had left, and Michael had been called into the main courtyard for an hour.
Rose knelt anxiously in the corridor of the main courtyard.
Her ear was still covered with gauze, but she could still hear the sound of the rod striking again and again from inside the room.
Michael's cries of pain kept coming.
"Father, I was wrong! I'll never do it again!"
"You rebellious son! I wish I could beat you to death! Of all things, you dared to gamble!"
Michael screamed.
Inside, Clio couldn't bear to watch anymore and grabbed Patrick's wrist.
With red eyes, Clio said: "Patrick, you've beaten him enough. He's taken more than ten strikes. He's scared now. If you hurt him badly, how can he work at the Guard Office?"
Patrick threw down the punishment rod, his eyes bloodshot with extreme anger.
"Go kneel in the ancestral hall. Don't get up without my permission. No one is allowed to plead for you! If I don't teach him a lesson this time, it will ruin our entire family's honor!"
This title had just been bestowed upon them, not even settled yet. If family scandals got out, how could he face people in the court?
Those ministers would definitely seize on this matter.
Afraid that Clio would protect Michael, Patrick personally took Michael there.
"Father, Father..." Rose saw them come out and quickly crawled forward on her knees.
She was about to plead when Clio's stern voice came from inside.
"Tell her to come in."
Rose's face turned ugly. She knew that giving Michael money to go to the gambling house couldn't be hidden anymore. Michael had been punished, and now it was her turn.
Rose entered hesitantly and knelt before Clio.
"Mother, it's all my fault. I shouldn't have agreed to all of Michael's requests. Please punish me." Rose's eyes brimmed with tears.
Clio looked at her with red eyes: "Rose, you've really disappointed me! He's your brother. How could you give him money to go gambling!"