NOVPUBIn his view, he didn’t really care much about what Carlen did and didn’t even have a strong impression of her.
"!"
Carlen looked at Lanci as if he were her savior, her hazy eyes mixed with a bit of enchanting charm as if telling Lanci that as long as he helped persuade Tata more, she was willing to do anything for him.
This man, whom she had once looked down upon for his honesty, now seemed like her last lifeline!
Even though she had mocked and humiliated him, and had him publicly tortured during the Platinum Level Card Maker exam, and reported him, he had still given her a fair score, holding no grudges; he and Loren were both gentlemen and surely wouldn’t make things difficult for her!
However, that look,
was captured by Talia in an instant.
The mask in her hand was crushed in her grip.
Frightened, Carlen gasped and dared not look at Lanci any longer.
The disdain in Talia’s eyes deepened, frightening Carlen into trembling, but Talia quickly hid it.
She took Lanci’s hand, stepped towards Carlen, and nonchalantly stepped further on the mask, shattering it further into pieces with a sharp, clear sound.
In Carlen’s wide-open eyes, the pure white mask utterly shattered into fragments.
"By wearing this mask, no one will be able to tell who you are. This punishment is quite mild already, yet you are not sincerely grateful to me but even dare to bargain with me. Do you not feel any remorse at all?"
Talia asked Carlen, watching her intently.
Her eyes filled with pity as if she was considering how to truly punish Carlen.
"I know I was wrong. I really do! Lord Tata!"
Carlen shook her head desperately, not daring to hesitate this time, feeling nearly suffocated, now only regretting having looked at Lanci earlier and daring not provoke the gray-haired witch again.
"Don’t cry anymore. Pick it up, I will help you put it together."
Talia bent down gently, lifted Carlen’s chin with her index finger, and spoke in a softer tone.
"!"
Carlen instantly blew her nose, her eyes widened, not letting the tears fall any longer.
She crawled on the floor, scrambling to gather the fragments, then handed them to Talia with devout sincerity, as if she had found her true support.
"Be obedient, and there will be rewards; disobey, and there will be punishments, understand?"
Talia quickly repaired the mask with tools from the Cardmaking Workshop, single-handedly, and turned to hand it back to Carlen.
The once immaculate mask now bore cracks like a patched porcelain.
"I understand, Lord Tata."
Carlen nodded frequently, containing her sobs as she responded.
"Good, you have one minute to change, then come out."
Talia finished speaking and then led Lanci out of the VIP card making room.
She looked relieved, raising an eyebrow at Lanci.
"..."
Lanci stood outside, not knowing what to say.
He was now somewhat convinced, without a need for blending, that the Great Love Poet is just a pretender to sadism, a female goblin, while Talia is the true Queen. 𝓷ℴ𝓋𝓅𝓊𝒷.𝒸𝓸𝓶
Powerful.
Less than a minute.
The door lock clicked several times, seemingly as Carlen, holding a signboard with one hand and trembling with the other, fumbled a few times before finally unlocking the door.
Yielding to Talia’s demands, Carlen walked out of the card-making room with a profound sense of discomfort, every step like walking on the blade of a knife.
She wore swim trunks, tightly clutching the signboard against her chest, using it to press down her chest, yet her sides and back remained completely unshielded.
"Stand at the entrance of the Cardmaker’s Association until five in the afternoon."
Talia looked at the time and told Carlen.
"..."
Carlen nodded, avoiding letting her tears be seen by Talia, and ran off carrying the cardboard.
Not long after.
Talia, unhurriedly, went downstairs with Lanci and came to the floor-to-ceiling window on the third floor of the association.
Looking down, she saw a slowly gathering crowd in the spacious square below the Parriet Cardmaker’s Association.
Carlen stood there holding a cardboard sign that read "I’m sorry, Master Tata", with a mask covering her facial expressions but not her body’s trembling and stiff movements.
Some people were confused, some curious, others whispered in low voices, not understanding why this young woman had to put on such a strange display.
Carlen felt an immense torment, feeling the coolness as every gaze that fell on her felt like a sharp knife piercing her heart, standing there like an exhibit, scrutinized by countless pairs of eyes, her heart filled with chaos and fear, and also anger—at Talia and at herself for submitting to such unreasonable demands...
Her tears secretly streamed behind the mask, her sense of dignity and self-worth nearly shattered at that moment.
"What kind of freak is this..."
"Don’t let the children look..."
"Is this some kind of performance art?"
"Maybe this excites her?"
The murmurings continued.
Carlen’s ears turned red, her legs kept trembling, but feeling as if she were being watched from the skies behind her, she could only endure this humiliation, continuing to weep.
Meanwhile, Talia stood in front of the upstairs floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at the square.
From this angle, she could clearly see Carlen’s figure.
"Good, the greater the gap between heaven and hell, the more she will do anything to preserve her current vain prestige," Talia said with satisfaction.
Next, she only needed to tell Carlen "You wouldn’t want me to reveal the identity of the mask-loving woman below the Cardmaker’s Association, turning your hard-earned Platinum Level Card Maker status into a laughing stock, would you?" Talia believed Carlen would then obey her completely.
She walked down the stairs of the Cardmaker’s Association with Lanci.
When they finally arrived at the entrance, passing through a door several meters high, the view of the square lay fully before them.
"How is it, Lanci?" Talia, having left the Cardmaker’s Association building, glanced sideways at Lanci and asked.
She believed Lanci had seen with his own eyes how Carlen had step by step fallen into the abyss.
From the first time Carlen compromised, it was destined that as long as Talia wished, no matter what she had Carlen do, it could be gradually achieved.
"It’s just like Master Tata."
Lanci sincerely echoed from beside her.
...
Listening to Lanci mimicking Carlen’s tone just now, Talia found him to be really cheeky.
Filled with sarcasm and ridicule.
It seemed he was not only unafraid of her but was also eager to engage with her in a full-fledged mind game, the kind where losing meant no recovery.
"You are truly too beautiful and powerful."
Lanci added.
"Shall we continue our date?" Talia hugged his left arm and leaned on his shoulder, asking softly.
She wanted to see who would break first today, Lanci or herself.
Let’s hurt each other then.
"Yes, let’s go."
Lanci paused for half a second, his face shadowed yet finally showing a composed smile as he nodded to her.
The two walked past from afar from Carlen’s sight.
Seeing the affectionate silhouette of the couple, and thinking of her own dignity being stripped away like an animal at that moment, a sense of grievance surged in Carlen’s heart, her body trembling even more fiercely.
