The knock at the door at this time was undoubtedly the Head Maid.
As soon as she entered the room, she spoke to Penelope about the letter.
After listening to the Head Maid’s explanation, Penelope felt as if the sky had fallen in an instant.
“Head Maid, is everything you said true?”
She still held onto a sliver of hope, wishing that this was just a prank Su Mengdie and the Head Maid had cooked up together.
However, the Head Maid responded to her with an extremely serious gaze.
“It is true. If Su Mengdie does not believe me, I can contact the Chief Steward for you, and you can ask her yourself.”
“No need… I understand.”
Since it had come to this, Penelope knew that everything the Head Maid said was true.
But she could not understand it.
Why did her retired mother suddenly start interfering in family affairs again?
And she had actually used her own authority to grant Su Mengdie such immense power.
That was an order capable of completely suppressing her, one that even she could not disobey after her Transformation.
“In that case, I will take my leave. Young Lady, please enjoy yourself.”
The Head Maid bowed toward Su Mengdie and tactfully exited the room.
She did not even give Penelope a second glance.
Who told her to do so many excessive things to the Young Lady in private?
Now, even if she wanted to argue a few words for Su Mengdie, it was not appropriate in terms of either emotion or logic.
“Please enjoy myself? Su Mengdie, what does the Head Maid mean?”
She had not brought any food, so Penelope found the sudden remark very abrupt.
But Su Mengdie understood the Head Maid’s underlying meaning.
She was giving her tacit permission for any revenge she took on the Young Lady.
“Young Lady, I think it would be better if you did not know…”
This was for the Young Lady’s own good.
If she knew that her most loyal Head Maid had authorized punishment against her, she would probably be furious.
“Young Lady, let us get back to the point and continue handling the company’s affairs. As long as you do not make mistakes, I will not punish you casually. This is the oath I made to the Matriarch.”
But would the Young Lady really not make a mistake?
Setting aside errors in her work as a maid, the single rule of waking up later than her master was enough for her to be punished once every day.
“Hmph! Do I look like I fear Su Mengdie’s punishment? Your punishments are probably just making me clean the house, wash clothes, and maybe a spanking like I did to you, right?”
Penelope crossed her arms, looking at Su Mengdie with a face full of disdain.
Fine.
So she looked down on her, did she?
Su Mengdie had a temper too.
Moreover, this was a direct provocation from the Young Lady.
If she did not show her something, the Young Lady would only push her luck.
“Being disrespectful to your master as a maid… Young Lady, you should know that is a form of making a mistake, right?”
“So what if I know?”
Penelope’s attitude remained arrogant.
She was the Young Lady.
Su Mengdie talking to her like this was the real act of disrespect to a master.
She wanted to see what Su Mengdie could actually do to her.
“Committing a fault while knowing it is wrong makes the crime one degree worse. Young Lady, you brought this on yourself.”
Was she really not looking for punishment on purpose?
Su Mengdie walked toward the Young Lady’s treasure chest while this question surfaced in her mind.
The Young Lady should know very well that in this house, the Matriarch’s orders could not be disobeyed.
The Head Maid had just finished explaining the Matriarch’s command, yet she still contradicted her so sharply.
Could she really have some strange habit of provoking punishment?
As Su Mengdie thought about it, her fingers reaching for the drawer suddenly paused.
After a moment, she pulled the drawer open anyway.
In just that instant, Su Mengdie had already thought of a way to discipline the Young Lady.
If she was truly angry, then she would keep punishing her until she became obedient.
But if she was doing it on purpose, Su Mengdie had a way to deal with that too.
After searching through the Young Lady’s treasure chest, Su Mengdie found the ideal orb and tossed it into the Young Lady’s hands.
“Young Lady, this is your property. You should know how to use it, right?”
“Su Mengdie… are you serious?”
Looking at the object in her hand, a flash of panic crossed Penelope’s eyes.
She did not expect Su Mengdie to be so ruthless, using this kind of thing for punishment right from the start.
“I have the Matriarch’s instructions, and the Young Lady was the one who provoked me first. Why can I not be serious?”
The Young Lady was panicking.
Then she probably was not acting on purpose just now.
If the Young Lady could restrain her willfulness a bit because of this, Su Mengdie did not necessarily have to punish her.
“Young Lady, if you admit your mistake to me now, I can choose not to punish you.”
Su Mengdie was not being kind.
It was just that, after all, it was her own body.
Punishing the Young Lady would inevitably affect her as well, so she planned to give the Young Lady one more chance.
Unfortunately, Penelope did not seem to appreciate the gesture.
“Admit my mistake to Su Mengdie? On what grounds? I clearly did nothing wrong!”
If Su Mengdie had not said that, Penelope might have considered it.
Now that Su Mengdie had spoken those words, it was obvious she wanted to see her soften so she could take the opportunity to mock her.
How could she let Su Mengdie succeed?
Penelope bit her lip unwillingly, staring at Su Mengdie with a face full of shame and indignation.
“Su Mengdie, turn around. No peeking.”
“Fine. Then I will go over to the computer and wait for you, Young Lady.”
Su Mengdie shook her head helplessly, holding the detonator in her hand as she did so.
With the Matriarch’s authority plus this item, she was not afraid that the Young Lady would secretly run away or hide in the back.
However, this was the path the Young Lady had chosen for herself, and Su Mengdie did not believe she would flee.
After watching Su Mengdie leave, Penelope clutched her chest and spent a long time preparing herself mentally.
Even though she had used this thing before, it had always been in secret.
Being forced like this — and by Su Mengdie, who was normally as pure as a blank sheet of paper — Penelope felt a humiliation she had never experienced before.
That cursed Swallowtail.
It was all her fault.
If she had not swapped their bodies, then the one who obtained the Matriarch’s authority would have been her.
After cursing Swallowtail in the depths of her heart, Penelope swore she would catch her one day.
But regardless, that was a matter for the future.
Now, she still had to face the reality in front of her.
Penelope glared at Su Mengdie’s back.
One minute later, she had completed the preparations according to Su Mengdie’s instructions.
As long as she went this far, she no longer had to worry about being restricted by the Matriarch’s authority.
However, completing the preparations did not mean she would sit and wait.
Penelope remained silent, tiptoeing toward Su Mengdie without making a sound.
She had only one goal.
The handle in Su Mengdie’s hand.
As long as she got that thing back, Su Mengdie’s punishment would become a joke, and she would have no choice but to stop.
However, the Young Lady was perhaps a bit too naive.
Would Su Mengdie not have thought of this?
Through the phone monitoring connected to the computer camera, Su Mengdie had long since discovered Penelope’s sneaky plan.
Since the Young Lady liked to play little games, she did not mind letting her suffer a bit first.
When Penelope had approached to within two or three steps of her,
Su Mengdie ruthlessly pressed the detonator in her hand.