[Notification: Psychological Counter-Strike Confirmed!]

[Target: Marchioness de la Croix is 40% Incensed]

[Reward: +150 Heart-Wrecker Points!]

[Current Balance: 2150 Heart-Wrecker Points]

The insult to the Marchioness’s wardrobe which was indeed a flamboyant, over-ruffled relic of the previous decade caused a collective gasp in the place.

Evelina. Couldn’t. Care. Less.

She continued her walk toward the Empress’s dais, intending to pay her respects, but the path took her alongside a massive fountain carved from translucent white marble. The water cascaded in shimmering sheets, feeding into a freezing pool at the base.

One of the Marchioness’s younger proteges, Lady Irene moved.

Evelina caught that subtle movement through the corner of her eyes. She realized that this girl had once purposefully spilled red wine on Evelina’s only decent gown in her past life and right now, she probably saw an opportunity.

As Evelina passed the damp edge of the fountain’s rim, Irene stepped forward, her heavy silk skirts concealing the sharp kick intended to hook Evelina’s ankle and send her spiraling into the water.

In her past life, Evelina would have fallen for surely. She would have been the laughingstock of the decade, a Duchess whose dignity drowned in a palace pond.

But as amusingly enough, the moment Irene’s foot moved, the [System] flared a neon red in the corner of Evelina’s eye.

[THREAT DETECTED: PHYSICAL SABOTAGE]

[Recommended Action: Purchase Skill ’Agility +10’ (Temporary Override)]

[Cost: 300 Heart-Wrecker Points]

[Confirm?]

Confirm, Evelina thought, the command falling like a strike of lightning.

[DING! Agility +10 Activated. Time-dilation effect: 0.5s]

To the observers, everything happened in a blur.

One moment, the Duchess was walking with regal strides and in the next, her body seemed to sway with fluid grace.

As Irene’s foot lashed out, Evelina didn’t stumble.

Evelina shifted all her weight, her hip pivoting just an inch to the left. She didn’t just avoid the trip but rather, she used Irene’s own momentum against her.

Evelina’s obsidian skirt brushed against Irene’s silk so subtly that it was barely noticeable.

With a delicate nudge of her elbow, she redirected the force of the girl’s clumsy attack.

The laws of physics, unlike the laws of the court, could not be bribed after all.

Irene, having committed her entire weight to a kick that met only empty air, found herself propelled forward uncontrollably.

There was a high-pitched shriek; a sound that cut through the quartet’s renewed music like a serrated blade.

And following that....

SPLASH.

The impact was thunderous.

Lady Irene disappeared beneath the surface of the freezing fountain water.

She emerged a second later, her elaborate powdered wig sliding sideways like a dying animal, her expensive pink chiffon clinging to her like a drowned rat’s fur.

She gasped for air, shivering violently as the icy water ruined her jewelry and her reputation in a single humiliating dunk. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Evelina felt like it was rather difficult for women. Missing a step or losing balance was a completely humane mistake that anybody could make.

But, such a ridiculous thing could actually ruin somebody’s reputation so easily. The laws of the society seemed to irk her now.

While she despised such things, Evelina had no regrets over what happened to Irene. Had she not acted quickly, she would have been the one in Irene’s place.

And Evelina had long stopped being a saint. She believed in a tooth for a tooth, and an eye for an eye.

The ballroom plunged into a horrified silence.

Evelina simply turned her head, looking down into the fountain with an expression of detachment.

"Lady Irene," Evelina spoke up, her voice echoing in the silence of the hall, "I had long heard that you always did have a flair for the dramatic, but I fear the Midsummer Tea is not the appropriate venue for a swimming lesson."

She paused, watching a stray rose petal drift onto Irene’s damp shoulder.

"Tell me," Evelina continued, her lips curving into a small smile that didn’t reach her cold eyes, "Is the water to your liking, or should I get a towel for you after all? If you want to continue staying there, I wouldn’t complain as well."

Across the room, near the back, the heavy doors opened.

Ace stood there, his eyes widening as he took in the scene: his wife, standing like a dark goddess of judgment over a sobbing and shivering wreck of a noblewoman.

Initially, he had felt reluctant to come here. The past few days with Evelina had messed with his blood pressure to such an extent that he felt like he should go to some distant mountains to meditate instead of coming to a shallow gathering of socialites.

But at the last moment, he was bugged by the thoughts of Evelina being alone in this place.

Thoughts like, ’would she be fine’ and ’would somebody dare to trouble her?’ occupied his mind more than he would have liked it.

And before he realized, he was already heading here.

But the current scene... defied all his expectations.

[Notification: Mass Humiliation Sequence Successful!]

[Target: The Peerage is 80% Terrified.]

[Reward: +650 Heart-Wrecker Points!]

[Bonus: The Empress is 100% Amused.]

[Current Balance: 2500 Heart-Wrecker Points]

Evelina looked straight at the Empress, her head held high, waiting for the first move in a game she had already won by then.

Lady Irene was still sputtering in the fountain, her maids finally rushing forward with silk towels that looked like pathetic white flags of surrender.

The ’peacock flock’ that had stepped forward to flex their wings had long scattered, their fans fluttering frantically as they tried to distance themselves from the social destruction zone that was now Lady Irene.

The Empress, seated upon her elevated golden dais, did not look at the shivering girl in the water. Her eyes, sharp as a hawk’s and just as predatory, were fixed entirely on Evelina.

Slowly, the Empress closed her fan with a decisive snap. The sound echoed through the ballroom like a pistol shot, silencing even the distant rustle of the garden trees along with the rest of the nobility.