Living as the Villain’s Stepmother

Chapter 161

Purple hyacinth caught her eyes. White hydrangeas and colorful rose bushes covered the streets entirely. People were clearly enjoying the festival, sporting big smiles on their faces at the sight of the welcoming atmosphere. It was something the people thought they wouldn’t experience.

“I never thought this day would come.”

“I know. I can’t believe the Duke is marrying.”

Various exclaims of both wonder and approval filled the streets everywhere.

“It seems like they’re having fun.”

“I think so too.”

Lila, who was looking at the people walking along the colorfully decorated streets, leaned her face close to the carriage window. The wedding would start sometime in the afternoon, but they had to prepare as early as possible and do the necessary adjustments. Jane was seated beside her in the carriage and she would be assisting her throughout the wedding ceremony.

“Are you feeling tired? I’m worried because you came back so late last night.” Jane said worriedly.

“I gave Lacias the gun, and we spent the whole night talking about everything.”

“That’s what I thought. You must have talked about a lot of things, huh? It’s the night before the wedding, after all.” There was a slight teasing in Jane’s tone. Lila’s face flushed red, and she turned her face away.

“Look outside the window. How romantic.”

Lila asked, “Romantic?”

“The flowers… They are all your favorite flowers, right?” Lila took her time admiring the bright selection of flora. She recalled Lacias staring at the purple hyacinths that occupied most of her garden.

She knew he was trying to find out what flower she liked the most.

Realizing this, she felt embarrassed of herself since she had no idea what he likes.

“It’s like the whole town exists solely for Madam Lila.” Jane said with a nod.

Lila blushed at Jane’s kind words. It seemed like she was growing more shy by the day.

“Ah, I think this is the way to the entrance!” Jane said with an excited voice. The carriage, which crossed the Duchy, passed underneath a magnificent arch as it ascended uphill. The black castle stood loud and proud, bearing with it an overwhelming atmosphere deeming fit for the Duke Wipere family. It was not a place for their own residential use but for special events of the descendants of Wipere.

“I could see plenty of carriages.” Lila said as they wheeled further in the castle grounds.

“Yes. We have invited a lot of people.” They could see the vicinity was already packed with arriving guests. “They probably arrived much earlier to socialize with other attendees before the event started.”

“Good thing we opted to use a simpler carriage.” Lila was in a plain, shabby carriage with no coat of arms stamped on its sides. If she had arrived in a carriage bearing the Duke Wipere’s emblem, everyone would’ve noticed her entrance right away, and that’s the last thing Lila wanted.

“I don’t want to be the center of attention. But I guess that would be inevitable today, huh?”

Jane glanced at her and smiled, “Everyone would surely be all over you.”

The Knights of Wipere were guarding the black castle. They have made sure to assign their most elite knights at the castle entrance, and Lila could see a handful of familiar faces as they sauntered forwards.

“Both Roxana and Lugar would serve as guards inside the party hall, and Hizette’s probably with Hir.”

As the carriage wheeled on, a knight stationed at the castle gates raised his hand, signaling them to stop. Jane’s eyes narrowed in confusion as the carriage halted.

“Identify yourself.” The knight said in a firm voice. Lila glanced out the window and saw the coachman alighting the carriage with a confused expression on his face. He explained the situation carefully but the knight only shook his head, repeating that the passengers should identify themselves.

“The Knights were informed about the carriage we’re using, so why was he barring our entrance?”

“I think there’s a misunderstanding.” Lila muttered.

Jane asked in a worried voice, “What should we do?”

“It’s not a big deal. Let’s just open the window and have him see me.”

“Yeah, we should.” Jane nodded, but she was nonetheless irritated at the unnecessary interruption.

“This is so bothersome.” Jane added with a sigh. The Knight waved the coachman in dismissal before walking up the window and tapping on the glass with his knuckles.

“You’re only allowed entrance if you have an invitation. Please understand that this is an important event, so we have to confirm your identities—“

“Is this enough?” Lila spoke as the window rolled down slightly, revealing her purple eyes. The knight’s face blanked for a brief moment, his mouth parting and closing as if lost for words. The recognition on his face was apparent and he could not hide his surprise.

Is he a new knight? Lila heard they had stationed more knights in the castle, but why did they assign an inexperienced one at the gates? Could it be something happened to Roxana?

“My apologies. But the design of the carriage was entirely different from the one I saw previously…”

“Different?” Lila’s eyebrows raised.

“Yes. It’s not at all the same as the one I saw.”

Lila frowned. She fully rolled the window down and asked, “Did the carriage you’re talking about arrive already?”

“N-no, it hasn’t.”

“Don’t allow that carriage entrance, or at least double check the passenger’s identity properly. It would be wise if I told the commander or vice-general about this mishap.”

“I’m so sorry!” The knight apologized quickly, his head bent down to his chest.

She wasn’t about to tell the knight’s superiors about his mistake; what she wanted to know was why such wrong information was given to the knight. Lila did not fail to forget the commotion back at Hiln’s party.

“You don’t have to worry. I won’t go into detail about your mistakes. There’s just something strange, that’s all. I’m just trying to figure it out.” Lila assured.

“T-Thank you!” The knight bowed once again and led them towards the gate. The knight standing at the opposite side scrambled and helped his fellow knight open the gates wide.

“The Knights would never commit such a mistake. I feel like there’s something strange going on here.”

“Yes. I’ll let others know about this as soon as possible. I really do hope it’s nothing but a small error.”

But deep down Lila knew it wasn’t just a minor slip up. Because if it were a mistake just like Jane hoped it would be, then the false information would’ve been corrected before it was passed down to the knight stationed at the castle gates. Someone obviously wanted to enter the castle with their identity hidden. Lila thought of all the possibilities, her mind coming up with several thoughts and she could see Jane was just as bothered. Lila snapped out of her thoughts and reassured her,

“Everything will be alright. Besides, the party hall is filled with elite knights everywhere.”

“You’re right. I worry about the young master too much.” She shook her head.

“So you’re only worried about Hir, not me?” Lila pouted teasingly.

Jane chuckled, “You know that’s not true.”