~Chapter 96~
Those who had been expected to side with Abigail stayed quiet, only watching the mood. Because of this, the whispers grew louder and louder.
At last—
“I know exactly what happened here!”
The gossip-lovers threw fuel onto the fire.
“The Countess must have panicked after realizing the daughter she mistreated was about to become the future Grand Duchess. She probably regretted it, wishing she had treated her better. But spilled time can never be gathered back. So she reached out to reconcile—but Lady Bella became angry. Afraid of what her future would become, the Countess put poison into the tea—”
“That’s not true!”
Abigail screamed like she was having a fit.
“The maid! It was the maid who brought the tea. I didn’t know there was anything in it! Think about it—who would knowingly drink poisoned tea?”
Lady Wellington stood beside Abigail.
“Are you speaking of this maid?”
Next to her stood a young girl with her hair tightly tied in two bunches.
“!”
“If you are the mistress of a household, you should know what your servants are doing.”
Abigail trembled, but quickly tried to recover. If there was proof the maid existed, she could still escape blame.
“Yes! It was her! That maid—”
“Countess.”
Lady Wellington’s voice dismissed her like she was beneath notice.
“Poison is very expensive. Especially one as rare as Arkazahn. Do you think a maid could afford such a thing with her wages?”
“T-then this is a trap—”
“Thirty minutes have passed since Lady Rohiltern collapsed, yet not once have you asked after her health. Every word from your mouth is excuse and self-defense. And still, you claim you raised her like your own daughter?”
She didn’t even raise her voice. She merely listed facts, calmly and softly.
But that was enough to make Abigail feel like she was being scolded by someone impossibly high above her.
“I discovered this maid had been bribed a week ago. Worried that Lady Rohiltern might be misled, I sent someone again to inform her of the correct time.”
“……”
“Yet Lady Rohiltern still arrived at two o’clock. Do you understand? Even she, who you sneer at, fulfilled the duty of a daughter to her mother. But you…”
She clicked her tongue, a sound heavy with contempt.
“Even if you did not poison the tea yourself, the fact remains—you bribed a maid from my household. Do you understand how deep an insult that is? You dared to treat me, and House Wellington, with disdain.”
“Th-that…!”
“The more I speak with you, the dirtier I feel. Enough. Take her away.”
Imperial knights grabbed Abigail by both arms and hauled her up.
The Imperial family acted swiftly. After all, Abigail had given poison to someone nearly equal to royalty.
“No! Please! Listen to me, my lady! It was all a trap—Bella tricked me into this! My lady, where are you going? My lady!”
Abigail’s desperate cries grew fainter as she was dragged away. No one turned to look back.
I remained in the Wellington estate.
Though I had taken the antidote quickly, the poison had been so deadly that recovery would take time.
No wonder people had not believed I staged this myself.
“Why did you do it?”
Of course, there were exceptions.
Armians, his face haggard, asked me.
“Because I wanted to win.”
“……”
“I thought if I cornered the Countess, she would act rashly—exactly as I wanted. People can endure pain, but they cannot endure humiliation.”
“So you drank poison yourself?”
“Yes.”
Armians let out a long sigh.
“What was the result?”
“Exactly as I hoped. Though the Countess insists on her innocence, evidence showed Arkazahn was in Rohiltern’s possession. Her claims are hollow now. The Count, meanwhile, declared he would divorce her to protect himself. The lawsuit hasn’t been dropped, but their chances of winning are nearly gone. Isn’t that good enough?”
“Yes. Thanks to this, I don’t have to be dragged around by them anymore. And public opinion will lean toward me as well.”
“Bella.”
Armians looked off into the distance.
“Do you know what day it is?”
“The 14th…?”
I guessed it must be the day after the tea party. But his sigh deepened.
“…It’s the 26th. You’ve been asleep for more than ten days.”
He clenched and unclenched his fists, as if suppressing something.
“Do you know what I thought during those ten days, watching you lie unconscious?”
“……”
“I thought I should have destroyed everything sooner. If I had, none of this would have happened.”
He gave a bitter smile, then looked back at me.
“Bella. Am I so unreliable? Why do you always try to go alone? Was my promise to fight with you just empty words?”
I knew. He had made that promise. But…
“…The situation was against me. I needed a way to turn it around.”
The Count could argue that there had been no coercion when the adoption papers were signed—and he’d be right.
It was true that I had been deceived, that I had signed foolishly.
“Even without you drinking poison, I would do everything I can to make you the Countess.”
“I know.”
Yes, I knew too well. That was exactly why I couldn’t just sit back.
“Your plan was to reveal your past two years, wasn’t it? To use them to overturn the case.”
The past he had hidden so carefully—he had been ready to expose it just for me.
“I don’t want your past to become other people’s prey. That’s why you’ve hidden it, isn’t it?”
His brow twitched.
“So you want me to just watch while you poison yourself again?”
“I can handle pain if it’s only mine. It’s not so hard—”
“Bella.”
His voice stopped me cold. It was a tone I had never heard from him before.
“The physician said it’s a miracle you survived. If he had come even a little later, if he hadn’t recognized the poison in time—you might have died. Have you ever thought how unbearable it would be, for me to be left behind, alone?”
“…I—”
“You are unbelievably selfish.”
Tears streamed down Armians’s face.
Saying those words seemed to cost him deeply. He took a heavy breath and turned his head away.
“…What am I doing, saying this to someone not even healed yet.”
His voice was smooth again, emotion sealed away.
That calmness was terrifying. It felt like he had lost all affection for me.
“Your Highness.”
“Rest. We’ll speak another time.”
Before my hand could reach him, Armians stood and left, the door closing with a sharp thud.
The sound pierced me with loneliness.
I knew. He had only worried for me.
That’s why he had grown impatient, why he was so upset. I knew it. And yet—
‘Then why does the image of him walking away linger so painfully in my mind?’
“Milady! Oh heavens… are you all right?”
A maid had entered and froze when she saw me weeping.
My cheeks were soaked, stained ugly with tears, but I didn’t care.
‘…Armians.’
I finally realized what it was I had truly been afraid of all along.
