After initial shock wore off Kathryn Merteuil took a deep breath. Exposed. Finally after so many years of pretending to be perfect little miss sunshine she was exposed for cutthroat bitch that she really was and in the most spectacular fashion too! And somehow... somehow it felt extremely liberating. Liberating as only total lack of conscience could feel. She was on this path for a very long time and it took Valmont's death and journal to finally get there. To the place, where she suddenly realized that she felt absolutely no remorse or regret over his demise, not anymore. For all she cared pathetic traitor could rot in Hell! And if she could finally let go off Sebastian and her 'love' for him she could easily let go off anything else. And the best part about it is that there was nothing to hold her back! No more pretending, no more hiding her true nature. Valmont's journal took care of that. She felt as if she could finally breathe for the first time in her life and ironically she had poor bastard to thank for it.

She worked so hard on her reputation as goody two shoes, put so much effort and time into it, that she probably would never be able to send it all down the drain on her own. She used to wonder if she has chosen the right modus operandi, if she could actually achieve more if she didn't have to hide in plain sight, if she didn't have to limit her association with 'wrong' kind of people or worry about someone tracing the attacks back to her. She has lost some significant advantages, yes, but at the same got rid of numerous limitations as well! There were so many opportunities to inflict damage out there that she couldn't wait to test her abilities in total war mode.

So she imperiously raised her chin and gave a little crowd another look. Only this time a lot more intense and calculating one. Majority of them continued to glare at her with disdain and derision, some even shaking their heads with disapproval, but here and there she could notice some covert curious looks and annoyed expressions, some even openly gaped with fascination or smirked with grudging respect impressed with her schemes and abilities to maintain this ploy for such a long time. She recognized some of them as 'unsavoury' type of individuals who either didn't bother to deceive their victims or simply were not very good at intrigues. She used to avoid some of them before, open association with them were detrimental to her image but now she was exposed as one of them and she intended to be their queen.