SWMD 93

~Chapter 93~

“W-What is going on!”

Diana rushed in after hearing that Sawyer had collapsed while vomiting blood.
Sawyer, pale as a ghost, was lying in bed, gasping for breath.

“How did this happen!”

Diana grabbed Aisel’s shoulders, who still hadn’t calmed down. Tears welled up in Aisel’s eyes as she kept seeing the image of Sawyer collapsing right in front of her.

“I-I don’t know… He suddenly collapsed after drinking tea…”

At that moment, the doctor Aisel had called hurried inside. He immediately checked Sawyer’s pulse and then spoke with a grim expression.

“He was poisoned.”

“What? Poisoned?!” Aisel shouted in disbelief.

The tea leaves Sawyer had drunk were a gift from a marquis, and Aisel had taken them out just before Sawyer’s visit. There was no way they could have been poisoned. They had even checked the teapot and cups, but no toxins were found.

How did Sawyer end up drinking poison?

Besides, it wasn’t even certain who would sit where at the tea table.

Aisel’s hands trembled slightly. Diana, trying to calm her down, squeezed her hand and asked,

“…What kind of poison is it?”

“It’s not deadly,” the doctor replied. “But even with the antidote, he’ll be unconscious for one or two days.”

Diana let out a deep sigh. This meant they would have to inform the Duke of Aiberg’s family. And the problem was clear—Sawyer had been poisoned while having tea with Aisel, the one who had invited him.

“Did you notice anything unusual?”

“No… I have no idea where the poison could have been, ah!”

Suddenly, something flashed in Aisel’s mind.

“The sugar cubes!”

“Sugar cubes?” Diana asked, frowning.

“Shane!”

“Yes, Lady Aisel!”

Shane, who had been waiting outside, came in. Aisel quickly ordered,

“Bring the jar of sugar cubes from the terrace!”

“Right away.”

Shane soon returned with the jar. Aisel rushed forward and grabbed one of the cubes, crushing it easily in her fingers.

“This…!”

Diana’s eyes widened. Inside the sugar cube was a fine white powder. It was clearly the poison that had knocked Sawyer out.

Diana shut her eyes tightly. There was only one person in this mansion who would set a trap for Aisel.

“This was a trap…”

“And we both know who did it,” Aisel said coldly.

Only Catherine paid enough attention to know that Sawyer had a sweet tooth.

Just then, Shane spoke up as if remembering something.

“I heard that Lady Catherine suddenly went out in a hurry today.”

“…I see.”

She must have changed her plan after lashing out at Diana and Aisel. She had gone out to buy poison.

Diana shook her head in disgust at Catherine’s cruelty.

“Lord Sawyer!”

The door burst open. Catherine walked in, looking at the unconscious Sawyer with a pitiful expression.

Aisel stared at her in disbelief. She could no longer hold back her anger.

She had always sung about becoming the Duke’s wife… How could she do something like this to the man she claimed to love?

Aisel’s emerald eyes burned with rage.

“I heard you went out today, Catherine,” Diana asked coldly, as Catherine held Sawyer’s hand like a lover.

“…Yes. I went to the shopping district.”

“For what?”

“To look at dresses.”

Catherine lied without blinking.

“Dresses?”

“Yes. Father only buys new dresses for Aisel, so I just wanted to look at them,” she said, feigning sadness.

“You went to a dress shop?”

Aisel stepped in. Catherine glared at her for a moment before raising an eyebrow.

“Yes. What’s the problem?”

“Sawyer was poisoned,” Aisel said flatly.

“Poisoned? I thought he just fainted?” Catherine asked innocently.

Aisel’s fists shook at her act.

“The poison was hidden inside the sugar cubes,” she said sharply.

“…Oh my.”

“In this mansion, who do you think knows Sawyer likes sweets, Catherine?”

Aisel’s voice dripped with anger. Catherine’s fake expression finally cracked.

But instead of faltering, Catherine smiled. She was satisfied.

This was the first time she had seen Aisel shaking in fear ever since she became the adopted daughter of the household.

“Well…” Catherine rolled her eyes slowly and said lazily,

“It must have been you, sister.”

Aisel let out a hollow laugh at her shamelessness.

“You’re close enough to him to exchange letters, aren’t you?” Catherine sneered.

“I will find out exactly what happened here,” Aisel said firmly.

She glared at Catherine for a long moment and then left the room.

Diana also sighed and left to contact the Aiberg family. The doctor and Shane followed behind.

Now, only Catherine remained in the room.

She gently stroked Sawyer’s sleeping face.

“I’m sorry I hurt you, Lord Sawyer. But I could never allow you to marry Aisel.”

Her eyes shone with obsessive desire. She couldn’t tell anymore if it was love or just greed.

Even asleep, Sawyer looked so handsome. Catherine’s cheeks flushed as she whispered in his ear,

“You must marry me, Lord Sawyer. I’ll do anything to make that happen.”

Later, Aisel’s maid Belinda returned with news.

“…She really did stay at the dress shop for a long time and returned straight home,” Belinda reported.

Aisel frowned. If Catherine claimed to go dress shopping, shouldn’t she have gone to buy poison instead?

But Belinda’s investigation confirmed Catherine had only gone to a shop—one at the far end of the shopping district, not her usual high-end boutique.

Aisel tilted her head in suspicion.

“Did they say anything unusual?”

“Yes. They said she kept her robe on the entire time she was inside the shop.”

“Her robe?”

The empire was at the peak of the hot season before the monsoon. There was no reason to keep a robe on inside.

“That’s why the shop owner remembered her clearly,” Belinda added.

Aisel’s eyes lit up with realization.

“…I think I understand now.”

“Understand what?”

“Belinda, bring all the maids around my age to my room,” Aisel ordered.

“Yes, my lady.”

Soon, the young maids stood nervously in Aisel’s room.

“You all know what happened today,” Aisel said, looking at them.

The maids looked at each other in confusion.

“There is a criminal among you.”

“…What?” one maid whispered.

“No, to be precise… an accomplice,” Aisel corrected.

The maids remained silent, still confused.

“Which one of you went out with Catherine today?”

The room fell silent. No one raised their hand.

“You were obviously ordered not to say anything,” Aisel said coldly.

She looked at each maid one by one.

“While one of you was pretending to be Catherine, the real Catherine went to get the poison that hurt Sawyer.”

The maids’ heads snapped up. Her words shocked them.

“Of course, you didn’t know. She wouldn’t have told you,” Aisel added gently.

“But if you confess now, you’ll be treated as just a maid following orders… not an accomplice.”

The maids looked around nervously.

“I’ll make sure that’s how it is,” Aisel promised.

Finally, one trembling maid raised her hand.

“I-It was me, Lady Aisel. I was only following orders… and so were the others…” she cried.

“I know. As long as you listen to me, I’ll make it like nothing ever happened. Do you understand?”

Aisel held the maid’s shaking hand and smiled warmly like an angel.

But inwardly, her lips curled up slightly.

You thought your alibi would protect you, Catherine. But there’s no such thing as a perfect secret.

Just as my mother and I already knew the one in the robe wasn’t really you, I’ll expose all your evil deeds.