Chapter 2
Tinsley, Ridge, and Quentin all had dark looks on their faces.
Tinsley's lips twitched, and she put on this saintly, holier-than-thou face as she looked at me and said, "I know you're not doing all this for money or fame.
"You're just jealous that I get all this respect and admiration. You want Ridge to be proud of you, and you want Quentin to fall for you, so you're plotting to take me down. I totally got it.
"Girls like you, always caught up in your little crushes and personal drama, are the reason the household is always a mess!
"We women should think bigger, just like men do, care about the world, not just ourselves. That's the only way things will ever get better.
"Sierra, you're completely off base!"
Everyone was in awe of Tinsley's magnanimity.
Ridge and Quentin's affection for Tinsley was written all over their faces.
She seemed to glow with a gentle yet powerful aura, drawing everyone in.
I bit down on my lip, a storm of emotions swirling inside me.
Jealous? Resentful? Maybe both.
The first time I met Tinsley was the day Quentin came back as a hero.
I'd put on my wedding dress and stood atop the city wall to welcome the man I'd been waiting for.
But Quentin didn't even spare me a glance.
He just held Tinsley's hand, making it clear to everyone that he'd protect her forever.
Overnight, I became the laughingstock of Capatio.
When I returned to Spence Mansion, I fell sick. My fever burned for three days straight and wouldn't break.
Back then, Ridge was the kind of brother anyone would wish for.
He barged into Quentin's mansion, demanding to know why I'd spent five years turning away suitors and waiting for him, only to end up an old maid.
But Quentin just shrugged and said, "We never had a matchmaker, never made any promises, and I never asked her to wait five years for me..."
Yeah, he never actually said he loved me out loud.
All he did was sneak over my garden wall right before heading off to war and press a necklace into my hand.
He said, "Sierra, five years. Just five years, and I'll come back for you!"
And right before the big battle, he sent me a blood-stained letter, which read, [If I survive, will you stand atop the city wall in your wedding dress and greet my return?]
That day, Ridge cut ties with him, but it didn't change a thing.
So Ridge had no choice but to turn to Tinsley.
He hoped that a powerless country girl like her would at least have the decency to step back and know when to bow out gracefully.
Back then, Tinsley disguised herself as a guy and crashed a poetry event.
She recited, "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" and every guy in the room was instantly hooked.
Then she quoted, "She walks in beauty, like the night of cloudless climes and starry skies," and suddenly every girl was swooning.
Ridge was the quintessential scholar, cultured, unrestrained, and proud of his own charm.
Those two verses resonated with him on a soul-deep level.
He stood there, utterly transfixed, as if spellbound, unable to move or look away.
That day, worried he might do something crazy and wreck his future, I snuck after him though I was burning up with fever.
He sighed, "Who would've thought a woman like her actually exists..."
I heard awe in his voice and saw the way he looked at her, totally mesmerized.
At that moment, I knew.
Just like Quentin, he was totally smitten.
He stood there at the doorway for ages.
I kept watching him from the street, waiting just as long.
When he finally came back to himself and turned around, his eyes landed on me.
He didn't say a word, just took me home.
When we got to the door, he suddenly turned to me and said, "Lady Tinsley is so charming and sophisticated. No one else even comes close."
And me, just some nobody, how could I ever hope to compete with her?
What was Tinsley's secret? What kind of magic did she have that drew everyone in?
I honestly didn't know.
All I knew was that day she became an overnight sensation, and everyone started calling her Capatio's number one genius.
Every corner of the city echoed with her words, "Life is not about the length of time we live, but why we live it."
Teahouses and music halls were filled with the melody of her words, "My heart will go on."
She totally marched to the beat of her own drum. She wore whatever she felt like, did whatever she wanted, and didn't give a damn about the rules.
She called it living life on her own terms.
All the rich kids and highborn girls started treating her like their idol, trying to imitate her style at every turn.
She never let her maids or servants kneel before her.
She'd always say, "People are born equal. There's no such thing as high or low, noble or humble."
Even the beggar girl I'd rescued off the streets ended up idolizing her.
But what was even more remarkable was her extraordinary skill as a doctor.
She wasn't afraid to defy the world's taboos.
With her steady hands and a scalpel, she could open up someone's brain and abdomen without batting an eye.
She always seemed to have a medical kit on hand, ready to ease anyone's suffering.
Even the emperor, well into his fifties, found his vigor restored by just one of her miraculous pills.
With his own imperial decree, he named her the Divine Miracle Doctor.
The imperial physicians lined up at her door, bearing extravagant gifts.
Even the head of the Royal Hospital humbled himself and begged to become her disciple.
For a while, Tinsley was absolutely untouchable, at the height of her glory, and honestly, who in their right mind would even dream of going up against her?
And as for me, I just had to be the one who didn't know my place and ended up saving someone she'd already announced incurable.