Melody of Strength novel

Lulu felt heartbroken seeing her mistress treated this way. Carissa had held back due to decorum, but as a lowly servant, Lulu wasn’t afraid.

Her eyes reddened with tears as she spoke, “I may be just a humble maid, but I know right from wrong. You’re a female general, yet you got involved with someone else’s husband on the battlefield. And now, you’re bullying my mistress under the guise of military

achievements…”

Before Lulu could finish, Barrett angrily slapped her across the face.

Then, he turned to Carissa and coldly said, “Is this what you teach your servants? There’s no sense of respect!”

Carissa hurried over to support Lulu. The fact that her cheek swelled instantly showed how hard Barrett had hit her.

With a sharp gaze, Carissa turned back and swiftly delivered a slap across Barrett’s face.

“Do you think you can hit my people as you please?”

Barrett hadn’t expected Carissa to strike him back over a servant girl, especially in front of Aurora. After all, a man’s face wasn’t something a woman could just hit.

But since he couldn’t retaliate, he just gave Carissa a cold glare before leaving with Aurora.

Carissa touched Lulu’s cheek gently. “Does it hurt?”

“Not at all.” Lulu smiled through the pain. “Fortunately, we’ll be leaving the general’s residence soon.”

“The royal edict should arrive in a few days.” Carissa sighed. “I just hope it’s sooner rather than later.“1

When Barrett initially mentioned the king’s edict for his and Aurora’s marriage, Carissa had wanted to meet Aurora. Since she was the first female general of the generation, Carissa had not only admired her, but also believed that she wouldn’t be willing to share a husband.

But after today’s meeting and hearing Aurora’s words, Carissa’s illusions were thoroughly shattered. She was deeply disappointed in the female general.

Barrett and Aurora’s wedding was set for October, and it was already mid–August. They had to make preparations quickly. Besides Carissa, the only other person in the household who could manage wedding arrangements was Charlotte.

Therefore, Carissa was determined to quash any thoughts from the Warren family about involving her in organizing the wedding.

In the end, the wedding arrangements were entrusted to Charlotte. She harbored deep disdain

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Chapter 12

for Barrett’s cold–heartedness, but family ties and Amelia’s illness forced her to take charge.

On the eve of the engagement ceremony, Charlotte called a family meeting. Everyone was present, including Barrett’s father, uncle, and younger siblings. When Rebecca insisted that Carissa join them, the latter could already guess their intentions. However, Carissa still went, wanting to hear just how shameless they could be.

When the marriage between Barrett and Aurora had been proposed, the Yates family had presented a list of betrothal gifts they expected from the Warren family. Having already prepared all the basic items on the list, Charlotte had now called everyone together to brainstorm ideas for the betrothal gifts she couldn’t decide on.

Looking at the list of betrothal gifts, Jonathan immediately said it was impossible to come up with them.

When Barrett married Carissa a year ago, Melanie had noted that Rebecca had to take medicine all year round and that the Warren family wasn’t very well off. So, she hadn’t asked for much. She only requested five hundred silver coins and some ordinary jewelry as betrothal gifts.

On the other hand, the dowry Carissa had brought with her to the Warren family included houses, estates, and shops. The total wealth amounted to a hundred thousand silver coins. Just the furniture, silk, and bedding she had brought was enough to fill an entire room.

Over the past year, Carissa had relied on her dowry to pay for the visits from Sebastian, who prescribed pills to maintain Rebecca’s health. If she hadn’t done that, Rebecca might not have lived past a month of Barrett’s deployment