Before the floor-to-ceiling window on the second floor of the little Western-style house.
The woman before the full-length mirror put on the dress the tailor had rushed to alter for her.
The champagne-colored lace and satin gown swayed like flowing moonlight, falling to the bottoms of her calves. Delicate rippling pleats cinched the waist, outlining alluring curves. She paired it with silver stiletto pumps studded with rhinestones, their slender straps entwined with silver chains around her ankles.
Her flaxen curls fell naturally to her waist. Her makeup was light, with the fashionable peach-pink blush swept over her cheeks, making her look playful yet dignified.
Fleur had applied the makeup herself.
Li Jia looked at herself in the mirror. Only one word could describe her: perfect.
The corners of her mouth rose involuntarily, and she pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh aloud.
Of all the dazzling, sumptuous gowns in Melina's wardrobe, this was the one she had chosen.
Because in her memories, Melina had spent a fortune on this gown at an auction last week, then flaunted it before the original female lead, both deliberately and in passing, for three whole days.
Melina intended to wear it to the next ball, winning admiring praise from the other young ladies and stealing the spotlight, so she had kept it hidden in the deepest recesses of her wardrobe.
Li Jia had pulled it out with ease.
"Aunt, is this one really all right?"
Li Jia rested her clasped hands over her abdomen, her eyes like those of a startled fawn. She looked timid and utterly pitiful.
Although Fleur disliked this burden living under her roof, Li Jia was now going to the Divine Mountain in Melina's place. As her aunt in name, how could she bear to blame her?
Fleur stroked her shoulder, reassuring her not to be afraid. "Of course, Lijia. Before I knew it, you'd already turned seventeen. You're a grown girl now."
Though Li Jia had expected this body to be fairly young, she had never imagined it was not even of age yet. She looked at her full breasts.
No wonder people said foreigners had short blooming seasons, but bloomed brilliantly.
Anna, the housekeeper, informed them that the Divine Mountain had sent a pegasus carriage to collect the attendee for the Night Banquet.
Melina stood at the entrance with Conrad to welcome the divine messenger.
Four pegasi spread their silver wings and soared into the air, neighing. Their wings resembled the brightest morning stars in the heavens, and flowing silver star trails scattered from their manes.
The pegasus carriage had been forged from a single piece of glazed gold. Two small silver snakes coiled around the shafts, their eyes set with rubies the same color as their master's.
As the wheels rolled, they crushed the clouds and scattered starlight across the sky.
Li Jia slowly descended the stairs, radiant as a goddess come down to earth.
The moment Melina saw Li Jia, she nearly exploded with rage. She screamed, "How dare you! How dare you wear my clothes! Do you know how precious that dress is?!"
The corners of Li Jia's eyes instantly reddened. She looked at Melina, her eyes filled with the helplessness of being misunderstood, and spoke in an uneasy, choked voice. "I'm sorry, Sister. I didn't know this dress was so precious."
Li Jia slowly walked over to Conrad and looked at Melina with utter sincerity. "Aunt told me to choose a dress from your room for the Night Banquet. I saw this one tucked away at the very back and thought it must be the one you liked least."
"It's all my fault."
Seeing her favorite dress on Li Jia, altered to fit her measurements, Melina turned livid with rage. She glared at her with fire in her eyes, her teeth grinding audibly.
"You're nothing but an orphan living on someone else's charity! What right do you have to wear my gown to the Night Banquet?! You should have died with those short-lived parents of yours!"
Very good.
Li Jia suddenly gave a cold laugh. She approached Melina, her eyes filled with hostility, yet her smile remained gentle.
She disliked fools, and she disliked owing anyone anything.
She seized Melina's wrist with extraordinary speed and leaned close to her neck, her voice icy. "In that case, Sister, you can attend the Night Banquet yourself."
"The list says a daughter of the Vance Family, but it never specified which daughter. You're right, Sister. How could a filthy bastard like me bear the Vance surname?"
Li Jia's words were as light as a feather, yet they settled into the hearts of everyone present.
Melina's face instantly drained of color. Compared with a dress, her life was more precious.
"I was the one who told Lijia to choose a dress, you wretched girl!"
Fleur scolded Melina. This daughter of hers had been spoiled far too much since childhood, raised without any sense of her limits.
Conrad frowned, turned, and struck Melina across the face with a backhanded smack. The sudden slap caught her completely off guard, and with nothing to brace herself, she fell straight to the floor.
Conrad flew into a rage, pointing straight at the tip of Melina's nose. "You reckless fool! Who are you calling a bastard? Lijia is the child of my own younger brother, born of the same mother! She is a rightful daughter of the Vance Family!"
For a time, the scene descended into chaos. Li Jia stood to one side, watching it purely as a spectacle. She would count this as the last thing she did for the original female lead.
Reclaiming for her the Vance surname that belonged to her father.
"Uncle Conrad, my father was Fenrick Vance, and my mother was Cersei Fenna. I am no bastard. I bear my father's surname. It has nothing to do with you."
Li Jia drew out her words lazily, a bloodthirsty smile curling her lips like a sharp dagger slowly slicing open his throat.
"Uncle, we'll meet again."
"Only then, I'll walk toward you holding the silver coin my father clutched before his death, and let those clauses of the will you altered curl into ashes in a brazier."
"Just like the one you pried from between his fingers as he lay dying."
She delivered that last sentence almost against Conrad's ear, at a volume only the two of them could hear, speaking flatly of these matters that seemingly had nothing to do with her.
Conrad froze. Li Jia's words left his mind blank, and a fine sheen of sweat broke out over his forehead.
"You... how could you kno-"
Before he could finish, the divine messenger brought the pegasus carriage down smoothly onto the level grounds of the Vance Family estate.
A young man stood on the pegasus carriage, his features handsome and refined, his figure straight as a pine. A striking radiance surrounded him, but most eye-catching was the winged crown on his head: a crown cast in gold, edged with light, feather-white wings that symbolized his office as divine messenger.
As the divine messenger, Hermes maintained close ties with the gods, carrying messages between them and serving as their link to the outside world. He was clever and sociable.
"Hello, beautiful young lady. It's time we set off."
"Which young lady of the Vance Family might you be?"
He had long heard that the Vance Family had two pearls: one treasured in a jewel box, the other buried in the mud.
Li Jia bent her knees slightly, lifting her skirts and dipping her head to Hermes. Only after he returned the gesture did she walk toward him.
"Lord Messenger, it's me."
"Lijia Vance."
Hermes gazed at her pale blue eyes, as clear as the sky, and sighed before asking, "Have you truly thought this through, Miss Lijia? As a daughter of the Vance Family attending the Night Banquet, you have the right to refuse everything before it begins."
"Yes, Lord Messenger. I am attending the Night Banquet of my own free will. If I'm chosen to serve a deity, it will be my blessing."
"If the road is thorny, I will pave it into a carpet of flowers with blood and resolve."
Hermes had never met such an interesting girl, the first who had not left home either weeping or driven by helpless necessity.
He extended his hand to help her aboard. Li Jia rested her hand on his wrist and climbed into the pegasus carriage.
The girl sat silently inside the carriage, watching the passing scenery outside the window, as still as a stone statue.
Hermes drove the pegasus carriage. Li Jia was the calmest girl he had ever seen, and it softened his heart a little.
He began making conversation to help her relax, believing she was too nervous.
In truth, Li Jia was somewhat afraid of heights. The weightless sensation high in the air made her nauseous, so she could only distract herself by looking elsewhere.
As she chatted with Hermes, Li Jia learned that twelve chief gods lived on the Divine Mountain, namely:
Zeus, god of thunder and the sky; Hera, goddess of marriage and family; Poseidon, god of the sea; Demeter, goddess of agriculture; Athena, goddess of war and wisdom; Apollo, god of light; Artemis, goddess of the moon and the hunt; Ares, god of war; Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty; Hephaestus, god of fire; Hestia, goddess of the hearth; and Hermes, the divine messenger.
"So you're a chief god? Why would you be willing to serve as a messenger, tirelessly running back and forth?"
Li Jia already knew the twelve chief gods by heart. She simply had not expected Hermes to come and collect her in person. He seemed to be a god who put on few airs.
"Because I like being a divine messenger. What's the point of just being a stiff, lofty figure? I'd rather be an ordinary shepherd and see this world."
As he spoke, he flicked the reins, a gentle smile on his lips.
A god's lifespan stretched immeasurably long. He was not as dull as the others, living the same days over and over, year after year, fulfilling their divine duties.
"Then which five chief gods are selecting attendants this time?" Li Jia asked casually.
"Athena, Apollo, Demeter, Artemis, and Hera."
When he reached the last name, Hermes hesitated. If that vicious woman, who tolerated nothing that displeased her, learned he had spoken ill of her behind her back, he feared he would come to a bad end.
"Then which chief god do you think is easiest to get along with?" Li Jia looked at Hermes curiously and added, "It would be wonderful if she chose me."
"Aphrodite, of course. She is the embodiment of love and beauty, the very definition of kindness."
"Unfortunately, she already has an attendant."
To Hermes, it was only natural. How could anyone dislike Aphrodite?
She was so lovely, so pure and unsullied, without a trace of filth.
By contrast, another vicious, jealous figure appeared in his mind, coiling tightly around him like a venomous snake. The mere thought sent a chill through him.
Li Jia gently shook her head, the corners of her lips lifting as she held back a smile, and murmured, "Interesting."
Men really do only look at the surface of beautiful things.
Stupid and shallow.
Love and anger are two sides of the same coin. You never know which side will turn up today.