Her Gilded Revenge For Stolen Fate novel Chapter 76

Chapter 76

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Celia, known everywhere as the Belle of Aurestus, had been playing the fame game for years. She was so used to working the social scene that it barely fazed her anymore.

But she’d never crossed paths with Harriet before, so she wasn’t sure if this move would satisfy her enough to reveal the whereabouts of the Veronia Grand Map.

Sylvia understood Celia’s worries and comforted her, “Now that we’ve got a clue, that’s already a win. Let’s try this approach first. If Harriet plays along, all the better. If she doesn’t, we’ve got plenty of other ways to handle it.”

Though Sylvia came from a minor official’s family and was just a concubine, after years of running Aurea Manor where her word was law, she’d long forgotten her place.

She seemed to have become another Flora. It was as if the Archer family was backing her up, and she spoke and acted with unshakable confidence.

Celia blew away the mist curling from her coffee cup, her mind drifting off, completely spaced out. Truth was, she was hiding something from Sylvia.

She was chasing after the Veronia Grand Map to impress her teacher and score herself a powerful ally, but her best shot at a bright future had nothing to do with Stephan. She wanted to copy the map and give it to Xavier.

Enoch was a battlefield legend, always out there defending Veronia’s borders. But to the king and the whole royal family, he was basically cursed. He didn’t stand a chance at the throne.

But then Vivian crashed the scene, pulling some under–the–table moves. On the Festival of Fortune, she made the Silvermoon Twinbloom bloom, scoring Enoch a miracle–level fortune that only comes once in a century.

That flipped his reputation overnight, turning him into the crown prince blessed by fate and backed by the heavens. So now, as long as Enoch didn’t royally screw up, the king had zero reason to kick him off the throne.

‘But what about Xavier? He was a true visionary, with the world in his hands. So what was he supposed to do now?‘ Celia thought.

Celia’s heart tightened. She resolved that, come hell or high water, she was going to get the map’s whereabouts out of Harriet. If Harriet wanted to do this the hard way, Celia would drop the nice act and show her no mercy.

** **

Vivian had barely set foot in Maple Yard before she went straight to deal with Cathy.

Cathy had served her before, greedy, sly, and vicious. Even after being demoted to the scullery as a kitchen maid, she still couldn’t keep her head down. The gossip swirling through the manor was proof enough.

Still, as much as Vivian despised Cathy, she wasn’t about to go as far as murder. She just banished her to some estate a thousand miles away from Aurestus.

That way, for the rest of her life, Cathy wouldn’t get anywhere near Aurestus again, so there was no way she could cause any more drama.

Once Cathy was dealt with, Vivian beckoned Judith over. “Swing by Ironvale Manor later and drop off the thriving Crystal Orchid,” she said. Judith nodded respectfully.

Earlier, she’d gotten two Crystal Orchids from Enoch, one with damaged roots, the other blooming like crazy. She’d used the damaged one to mess with Celia, and that whole drama was already over.

Now it was time to put the thriving Crystal Orchid to good use, so Mark and her grandmother could finally make up for

12:02 Wed, Jan 14 M.

Chapter 76

their regrets.

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Once Judith left, Vivian was alone in the room. She toyed with the pouch at her reticule, fingers tracing the embroidery. Inside, she could feel the shape of a key.

The key that could unlock the chest holding the Veronia Grand Map. The System hesitated for a moment, then couldn’t help but speak up. “Host, there’s actually another place you could store the map. You don’t have to be so cautious.”

“Aurea Manor’s crawling with people, and even Maple Yard isn’t exactly foolproof. If I keep changing where I hide the map. someone’s bound to catch on,” Vivian replied.

Vivian had died once before, so she was naturally much more cautious now.

“Host, there’s one place that will never get exposed,” the System added.

Vivian raised an eyebrow. “Where?”

“The System Vault,” the System replied.

Vivian had never heard of the System Vault before, but just from the name, she guessed it was some kind of hidden stash run by the System. Nobody else could ever touch it.

“Any limits on opening it?” Vivian asked.

“Once you recover twenty points of Fortune, you’ll be able to unlock the System Vault. But you’re limited to one item in or out per day,” the System explained.

Vivian’s eyes lit up. This was just what she needed to save her skin.

Vivian pulled the map out of the chest, and the System’s emotionless, robotic tone rang in her head. “Host, close your eyes and picture yourself stashing the map safely.”

She followed the instructions. The map disappeared from her hands in a flash, and she could sense a new presence in her mind, as if the map had just been stored there.

“You’ve hit your daily limit. You’ll have to wait until tomorrow to retrieve the map,” the System said.

Vivian wasn’t in a hurry to use the map, but it was absolutely priceless. She had to handle it with extreme caution. If anything went wrong, it wouldn’t just put her own fate at risk. It could even threaten the entire kingdom.

The consequences were unthinkable. With the Veronia Grand Map safely tucked away, Vivian couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

That evening, Judith brought in a bowl of simmered pear soup and whispered, “Miss, the Crystal Orchid has been delivered to Ironvale Manor. On my way back, I heard something.” Judith hesitated.

“What is it?” Vivian asked.

“Over at Wisteria Attic, they’ve had the steward prepare a bunch of silver ingots, even smaller than your fingernail,” Judith

said.

Normally, the masters of Aurea Manor would hand out gold and silver melon seeds as tips for the servants during the holidays, but this wasn’t any festival, and Celia’s birthday had just passed.

‘What is she up to?‘ Vivian thought. She was genuinely stumped.

But knowing Celia, her good sister never wasted her efforts. With that many silver melon seeds in her hands, she was definitely up to something.

12:02 Wed, Jan 14 M

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