The sudden commotion drew Xiliya’s attention. She looked closely and saw a carriage stopped there, with a porter who had fallen to the ground in front of it. The sack of cloth he had been carrying on his shoulder had been knocked flying several meters away.
It looked like a carriage accident… Xiliya frowned. Carriages were speed-limited within Camberlan City, but she vaguely remembered this one speeding past earlier, and now it had hit someone.
Soon, a black-haired, black-eyed youth jumped down from the carriage. Though his appearance was average, the clothes he wore were extremely luxurious. Xiliya raised an eyebrow—this was Charles, the eldest young master of the Textile Merchant Guild.
Charles approached aggressively, showing no sign of apology. He even kicked the porter.
“The road is so wide, yet you had to block this young master’s path? If you damaged my carriage, could you afford to compensate?”
Charles twisted the facts right from the start. By now, a few onlookers had gathered, but no one dared step forward to stop him. This eldest young master of the Textile Merchant Guild was well-known in the city, and nobody wanted to offend him.
“Damn it, what bad luck!”
Charles kicked him again. The porter, knocked to the ground, trembled with his lips quivering, unable to utter a single retort.
Seeing the scrapes on the porter’s arms and legs, and the growing crowd of spectators around them, Xiliya’s expression darkened. She pushed through the crowd and scolded Charles, who was about to continue.
Xiliya wasn’t some bleeding-heart saint, but she couldn’t stand by and watch Charles’s behavior. Moreover, she remembered clearly that this ill-tempered guild young master had targeted her plenty in her previous life.
Masha had her own network among the major guilds in Camberlan. After Dos Camberlan passed away, the guilds close to her had banded together to squeeze and attack Xiliya, the eldest young lady who originally held the family inheritance rights.
The Textile Merchant Guild was one of them. Their eldest young master had spewed venom at her countless times in social settings in her previous life. Xiliya had no intention of letting Charles off in this life.
“Xiliya?”
Charles looked incredulous, not expecting her to show up here. But he quickly switched to a mocking expression.
“I thought a sickly weakling like you would stay cooped up in your room growing moldy. What, out to air out your musty smell?”
“I warn you, don’t meddle in others’ business!”
Xiliya ignored the warning and went straight ahead to help the porter up.
“Others’ business?” Xiliya snorted coldly. “The Camberlan Family manages this city, and I am the Camberlan Family’s eldest young lady. You’re causing trouble in the city—can’t I intervene?”
“You hit someone and act so righteous. You’re still as shameless as ever, Charles.”
“What did you say?”
Charles hadn’t expected this usually timid eldest young lady to publicly embarrass him. He grabbed Xiliya’s arm on the spot and raised his fist.
Xiliya’s expression didn’t change; she just stared coldly at Charles. If he dared to strike, she guaranteed he’d regret it.
Though her strength had declined significantly after rebirth, dealing with a good-for-nothing like Charles was still more than enough.
“Don’t bully the young lady!”
An outburst came from the side, interrupting the standoff. Ximo squeezed through the crowd of onlookers with effort, ran over, and spread her arms to block in front of Xiliya.
Xiliya frowned slightly and snapped in a low voice, “What are you doing?”
Ximo didn’t reply. She just glared fiercely at Charles with a gaze full of determination… and anticipation.
So bad, time to glare with my eyes!
“You clearly hit the person first, yet you’re so arrogant and domineering, bullying the young lady. That’s so unreasonable!”
The little maid declared righteously. Weak murmurs of agreement rose from the surroundings. It was what the onlookers were all thinking, but no one else dared confront Charles so directly.
Hearing the growing murmurs around him, Charles’s face flushed white then green. Finally, he couldn’t hold back and barked, “All of you shut up! He was the one who blindly blocked my path. Otherwise, call the City Guard to handle it. What are you all yammering about!”
The murmurs stopped instantly. Charles’s brazenness had its reasons—right now, Masha effectively controlled the Camberlan Family. Even if it went to the City Guard, Masha wouldn’t let the guards trouble him.
That was why Xiliya had been waiting for Charles to make the first move. Once he did, she could rightfully smash his dog head in. Who knew Ximo would suddenly disrupt her plan.
Hearing Charles’s words, Ximo widened her eyes in disbelief and deliberately whispered just loud enough for him to hear.
“Wow, how shameless can this guy be.”
“What did you say? A mere servant dares speak to me like that?”
Charles predictably flew into a rage. He could tolerate Xiliya’s barbs since she was nominally the Camberlan Family’s eldest young lady. But Ximo was just a lowly maid—how dare she speak to him like this on the street?
In his fury, Charles stepped forward and shoved Ximo’s shoulder. But unexpectedly, she let out a small cry of surprise and fell to the ground.
The little maid looked even more pitiable sprawled on the ground. And after falling, Ximo couldn’t help coughing, so a glaring streak of crimson appeared before everyone’s eyes.
Xiliya reacted first, her face darkening as she spoke. “Can the guild’s young master be this arrogant? Hitting someone on the street is one thing, but now you’re openly bullying a Camberlan Family maid?”
The crowd hadn’t heard Ximo’s earlier whisper. Now they reacted too, and various murmurs erupted uncontrollably again.
“Isn’t this guy going too far?”
“Yeah, bullying people like this. He really treats Camberlan City like his own home.”
“I only pushed her lightly! I didn’t…”
No one paid attention to Charles’s excuses. Seeing the murmurs growing louder, he finally lost face. He hastily tossed some compensation to the porter and tried to flee, but Xiliya blocked him.
“You bully my personal maid and think you can just leave? Where’s your apology?”
“Xiliya, don’t push people too far! You know full well whether her spitting blood has anything to do with me!”
“Right, not just me,” Xiliya said leisurely, pointing around. “Everyone saw it, didn’t they?”
Charles gnashed his teeth in frustration. If this turned into an assault case with the City Guard, he wouldn’t be in the right—even Masha couldn’t blatantly twist the facts to protect him.
Thus, amid the surrounding murmurs, he unwillingly bowed to Ximo.
“Sor… ry!”
With that, Charles jumped onto his carriage like he was fleeing and left the scene.
“Are you okay, Ximo? I’ll help you rest over there.”
“Cough cough… Thank you, young lady…”
Though the coughing persisted, a flash of smugness crossed Ximo’s eyes. The System’s voice rang in her mind.
【Daily task: “Be bullied by any target (Completed)”. Congratulations, dear!】
Hehe, plan successful!
While watching the commotion earlier, she’d realized Charles wasn’t a good person. Inspiration struck, and she came up with this way to complete her daily task.
She just hadn’t expected her body to be so frail now. Though she’d only walked half the morning, getting shoved once and coughing blood was a bit too dramatic.
Even after Xiliya helped her to the side to rest, Ximo’s chest was still heaving dramatically.
“Not bad, Ximo. Good acting skills.”
Xiliya commented flatly.
