The Devil's Duchess - Chapter 16: Claiming the Duchess-II

From quiet grind to legacy brew.Jun had nothing—no café, no followers, not even a bed. Just a secondhand kettle and a broken dream.Then came the Barista System.No shortcuts. No instant success. Just slow, intentional tasks... and a promise:Brew. Grow. Endure.Every pour sharpens his skill. Every cup deepens his path.From street corners to pop-ups, from whispered praise to a space of his own—Jun’s grind is just beginning.This is a story of stillness, patience, and the quiet pursuit of mastery.Because greatness isn’t given.It’s brewed—one cup at a time.

Intelligence without ambition is like a bird without wings.

After her rebirth, Rita vows not to repeat her past mistakes. This time, her first priority is to stop her brother, who is about to marry into the Lopez family, from participating in the initial game beta test. In her previous life, she was deceived by this scheming brother until her dying breath. It was only at the end that she realized she was merely a villain in a male-oriented novel about a live-in son-in-law, with all the malice and manipulation orchestrated by him behind the scenes. In this life, Rita decides to change the rules of the game. She will stay in the shadows and seize all the opportunities meant for the male and female leads. By participating in the beta test and re-selecting her abilities, she systematically dismantles the protagonists’ advantages, all while making them believe she’s on their side. Rita has no intention of harming innocent people, nor is she a selfless saint. In this game, she works with the authorities for mutual benefit, all to achieve her ultimate goal—becoming the true master of her fate.

Her original self was a powerful jiangshi who had cultivated for innumerable years. However, when she attempted to unlawfully enter the world of the immortals, she was discovered by the Jade Emperor and thrown into the mortal world as punishment. Her soul then left her corpse, fusing with the body of the Motian Dynasty’s sixth princess. She didn’t even have a chance to fully comprehend her current circumstances before her maid unexpectedly ignored her mistress, even publicly provoking her!

“What? That weak and cowardly idiot who has neither her father’s love or mother’s favor actually mistook her older sister as her maid?! All the royal princes in the world loathe her?”

“Damn you! This old lady will let all of you understand why the flowers are so red!”

“Hey! Did you hear? That cowardly sixth princess unexpectedly snatched away the man that the eldest princess favored today!”

“How is that interesting news? That fourth princess who ran always ran amuck in the capital city is now confined to her bed now!”

The good-for-nothing counterattacks! The previously cowardly and incompetent sixth princess suddenly reveals her exceptional talents! She is full of radiant elegance, and unparalleled disdain!

She is driven by the desire to shed no more tears! However, if she had known what would happen later, she would have been better off acting stupid! She had calculated thousands, tens of thousands of scenarios, but had never calculated one where one day, her own prey would unexpectedly turn around, and ruthlessly bully her instead! Damn it, she still hasn’t sucked any blood yet!

- Description from Novelupdates