Page 122 of The Villainess Chose Naps Over Death Flags

"These are incredible," she said, biting into a honey cake.

Cateline laughed. "You really do love your desserts."

"Unashamedly," Carol confirmed, reaching for a fruit tart.

The ladies around her were smiling now, genuinely warm. This was going well. Better than well.

Maybe the quest was wrong. Maybe there wouldn't be a scene. Maybe—

A loud voice cut through the pleasant conversation.

"Well, well, well," the voice slurred slightly, carrying across the suddenly quieting hall. "If it isn't the Duchess."

Carol's stomach dropped.

Lady Millicent Ironwood stood from her table, swaying slightly, a wine glass clutched in her hand.

Every conversation in the hall died.

Eighty pairs of eyes turned to watch.

And Carol knew, with absolute certainty, that the game system had been right after all.

Chapter 26

The Wine Attack

Lady Millicent Ironwood swayed slightly as she stepped away from her table, her wine glass sloshing dangerously.

Every conversation in the great hall had died. Eighty pairs of eyes watched with a mixture of shock, curiosity, and barely concealed anticipation.

Carol remained seated, her hands folded calmly in her lap despite the way her heart was racing.

Here we go, she thought. The system was right.

"Millicent," Earl Magnus Ironwood said urgently, half-rising from his seat. "Sit down. Now."

"No, Father," Millicent said, her words slurring slightly. "No. Someone needs to say it. Someone needs to tell the truth."

She turned to face Carol directly, her delicate features twisted with anger and wine-fueled courage.

"You trapped him," Millicent said loudly, pointing an unsteady finger at Carol. "Everyone knows it. You used a seduction spell. Got yourself pregnant. Forced the Duke into marriage with your scheming."

Gasps rippled through the hall. Several nobles shifted uncomfortably. Others leaned forward, clearly fascinated by the unfolding drama.

Carol felt Caspian move across the room—she could see him from the corner of her eye, already stepping away from the group of men he'd been speaking with.

But she held up one hand slightly, a subtle gesture asking him to wait.

She rose from her chair slowly, deliberately, maintaining perfect composure.

She could handle this.

"Lady Millicent," Carol said calmly, "perhaps you should sit down. You've had quite a bit to drink—"

"Don't patronize me!" Millicent shrieked. "You don't deserve him! You're not worthy of someone so handsome, so powerful, so—" Her voice cracked. "He should have married someone who actually loves him. Not some conniving witch who trapped him!"

The hall erupted in whispers.