Chapter 2012
Lacey frowned when she heard what her servant had said, but she remained calm.
She had suffered numerous slanders over the years. This wouldn’t be the first time that someone had tried to sully her name.
When they weren’t accusing her of enjoying undeserved privilege because of her status as Third Miss, they were accusing her of something else.
No one cared about how hard she worked. They were convinced that she had gotten to where she was now because of whom she was related to. She couldn’t compare with her two elder brothers.
“They’re saying…” Her servant’s eyes reddened. “They’re saying that Third Miss…has been duped by a scoundrel!”
Lacey’s eyes widened.
Duped by a scoundrel?
This was the first time she had been slandered in such a manner. What scoundrel were they talking about? Where would she find such a man?
She froze momentarily, then whipped around and stared at Ethan, who was just sitting there.
“That’s utter nonsense!”
Who was going around spreading this rumor? Wasn’t he worried that he might be caught and dismembered?
Lacey flushed. “Who started it?”
“I don’t know. It’s spreading across the entire Inner Court. Mr Terrik is looking into the matter,” said the servant. “I don’t know which horrible person is doing this, but Third Miss, you have to get the sect leader to look into this. The idiots who started this should be killed!”
In Clearheart Sect, Lacey appeared to be both an important and unimportant figure at the same time.
She was an important figure because she was the sect leader’s daughter, and was also the youngest and the most favored child of the sect leader, even though…everyone knew that Lacey and Liam did not share blood relations, Lacey was still named as his daughter.
Regardless of her status, rumors continued to turn up from time to time.
“Let them say whatever they want to,” Lacey snorted as a sudden calm descended upon her.
After so many years, she had gotten used to this.
What could she do to the perpetrators if she caught them?
Should she kill them like how she had done so in the past?
How would that help? There would always be rumors. They were baseless and puzzling, and seemed to target her deliberately. No matter what she did or did not do, these rumors followed her everywhere.
“Third Miss…”
“It’s alright. Let them talk. I need to train. Let’s stay out of this.”
Lacey took a deep breath. She was undeniably resentful and angry. But she would be walking right into someone’s trap if she were to waste her time and energy on those rumors.
They wanted to see her fail the test, be sent away to the Outer Court by her father and become the laughing stock of the sect.
They wanted to see her fall into the abyss. She wasn’t going to let them get what they wanted.
Lacey didn’t say anything. She turned away and returned to the training grounds. Then, she began her training anew.
She seemed a little crazed and a little furious. Her aura had changed.
A couple of dummies shook violently after suffering a punch from her and nearly fell apart.
“Hah!” Lacey shouted as her fist smashed into a wooden training post. She didn’t seem to feel the slightest pain as she vented her anger through her punches.
A flurry of punches reverberated throughout the training ground. Ethan looked up. He could sense the anger in Lacey’s punches. They felt different.
He gestured at Lacey’s servant. The young girl saw his beckoning and approached him immediately.
“Brother Ethan.”
“Why is Third Miss upset?” asked Ethan.
The girl hesitated momentarily before spilling what she had heard to Ethan.
“Third Miss may be the Sect leader’s daughter, but they don’t share any blood relations. That’s why there are always people who try to hurt her maliciously. She never speaks about it though.”
The servant’s eyes were red. She felt terrible for Lacey. “They’ve gone too far! They’re trying to distract Third Miss from her training. They just want to see her embarrass herself during the test. They’re really awful!”
Ethan nodded.
“Don’t worry. She’s not going to embarrass herself. She’s going to make sure that they never speak of her that way again.”
He waved his hand and sent the servant away.
He wouldn’t have been able to tell that Third Miss, with her devil-may-care attitude, had been secretly carrying such immense stress. That explained why she was constantly looking for a fight. She needed an outlet for her anger.