Ultimate Goddess System 158 2.1.9: Delusions of a Drunken Mother

When Xiao Yunhua was escorted to her room, she immediately noticed that it was a bit plain and lacked decorations, as though someone had purposely made it look boring for someone of her status. They had failed to realize, however, that Xiao Yunhua had been living on a straw mattress and this was a much better improvement. Who cares if it wasn't super decorated? The bed was much more comfortable than straw and that's all that was important. 

Yes the actual Evelyn might've thrown a fit, but she didn't care. She just want to finally be able to close her eyes on a comfy bed and have a peaceful sleep. The servants had helped change her to a soft nightgown that came to her knees, so she wasn't lacking comfort there either. 

Unfortunately, Xiao Yunhua couldn't sleep no matter how much she tossed and turned on the new bed. It wasn't her that was uncomfortable, but the actual body of Juliet had been living seven years on something else, hence why it had trouble adjusting. She finally stood up and opened the door to quietly tiptoe to the kitchen for some warm milk. 

Steadily, she went through the dark hallways and tried to find a servant or the kitchen. She hadn't been given a guide for the kitchen, so she just wandered around until she saw a room with light. It seemed like someone hadn't blown out the candles and was still awake. But which servant dared to be up at such a time? Curiosity got the best of her and she peeled through the door, only to be stunned at the sight. 

The cold Duchess was kneeling, sobbing her eyes out. Xiao Yunhua noticed that she was looking at the picture of a young girl who didn't look to be older than seven or eight years old with blonde hair and blue eyes. She resembled Juliet and the Duke, so they could've passed for fraternal twins. Xiao Yunhua automatically assumed that this was the infamous legitimate daughter that she had been hearing about, Vivienne Rosalind Warrington. She looked pretty, unlike the average features that Juliet and Evelyn both had. 

The Duchess was crying as she reminisced about her dead daughter, the one who she had treated as the apple of her eye. She couldn't forgiven those creatures for taking her daughter away from her and for attacking them. The Duchess had even wanted to ask the Duke to get the king to employ the BD Hunters, but her husband had said that they couldn't spread the issue to the public. Hence, she was forced bite down the injustice against her daughter and not even give her a proper funeral. Her Vivienne demised thanks to those disgusting things and she wanted revenge. But as she was powerless, she couldn't do anything about her revenge yet. 

Instead, she had chosen to drink wine and get a bit drunk. It wasn't proper for a noble lady such as herself to do such a degrading thing, but she had no other solutions to drown away her sorrows. 

The Duchess was heartbroken and drunk, but her senses hadn't dulled too much. So when she heard a small movement by the door, she immediately turned her attention to whoever was and commanded for the person to come in. The Duchess' green eyes were shocked to find her daughter stumble inside, hesitantly and cautiously. 

"Vivi? Vivi my dear, you're alive!" The Duchess stood up and rushed over to Juliet's side, hugging her tightly. "Mother missed you so much. How dare you wander off and make me worry. You wouldn't want to sully your reputation, would you?" The Duchess sensed the person that she was hugging had stiffened, so she eased her tone and patted her head gently. "Don't worry Vivi. No matter what trouble you get in, mother will save you." 

Xiao Yunhua wanted to cry. How did she manage to get herself in this mess? The Duchess reeked of alcohol, so it was no wonder that she had mistaken her daughter for Juliet, especially with their similar physical features. The Duchess that had treated her like air and had wanted to murder the original Evelyn was not holding onto her like she was a precious treasure. 

"D-Duchess, I'm not—"

"Vivi, nobody is here. Don't keep any formalities and call me mother like always." The Duchess gently scolded. "You made us all worry when you disappeared. Your father," her eyes shifted into anger, "he didn't want to use his authority to get the king to avenge you. How dare those filthy creatures attack you!" The Duchess' warm tears fell on Xiao Yunhua's face, "It's a good thing you're home. You came at a great time... your father's infidelity was also exposed and he actually had a hidden bastard. Vivi, he wanted to use that little girl to replace you!" The grip on Xiao Yunhua clenched harder, hurting the small body of Juliet. "As long as I'm here, I won't let anyone threaten your position. You'll marry the crown prince and become the future queen of GKY. Mother will make sure of it."

"Duchess, please let me go. You have the wrong person." This woman was so drunk and arrogant! She was promising the seat of the queen so easily? Didn't all the noble families strive for the highest honor for their daughters? What made the Duchess so sure that it could belong to her...or more specifically, Vivienne? 

"Wrong person...?" The Duchess softly mumbled, her hazy eyes looking at Xiao Yunhua again. The look in her eyes turned hard and she pushed Juliet away in disgust. "How dare you pretend to be Vivienne? Guards—" Before she had the chance to utter for the guards, the Duchess had finally reached her limit from the dizziness of the alcohol and fainted. Xiao Yunhua huffed a sigh and pulled her to the bed. All this commotion and none of the servants had bothered to check up on their Duchess? It seemed like she had to do everything herself! 

Despite her small frame, the Duchess was actually much more heavy than she led on. Or maybe Xiao Yunhua had trouble because she was in the body of a malnourished seven year old, but in the end, she finally got her on the bed. She breathed hard and blew out the light of the candle, leaving silently. She had long forgotten about her mission of finding warm milk to fall asleep and used her photographic memory to find her way back to her room. 

Once she found it, her body hit the bed and she fell dead asleep. Any thoughts of comfort had flown out the window as the day's exhaustion had finally hit her.

Chapter end