His appearance of avoiding her gaze at various parties, yet following her around at a certain distance.
His appearance of suddenly appearing at Catalina’s dinner party, even though he usually avoided attending parties, and the fact that he had been saying things that were strangely self-deprecating from the moment he confessed. She felt like she finally understood all of these things.
“I’ve kept you for too long. Then, I’ll see you again soon.”
Nobert, noticing that the servants who had gathered were peeking at them through the window, bowed his head and said goodbye.
Ariella reflexively accepted his greeting and entered the ducal residence with the help of the servants, but even after going up to her room, she continued to maintain a dazed expression.
“Miss, what’s wrong with your expression? Did something happen?”
Amira, who belatedly discovered Ariella’s appearance, made a fuss and asked what had happened today.
But that day, the only answer that came back from Ariella was just two words.
“I’m his first…”
Amira, who had been eagerly anticipating hearing about her young lady’s love story, had no idea what she was talking about.
After David met his wretched end, Lizzy endured a period of hardship.
Night after night, unsettling thoughts filled her head, making it difficult to fall asleep. Even after collapsing into slumber, she would jolt awake in the middle of the night for no apparent reason, urgently summoning her maid to inquire about David’s condition.
Her anxiety persisted even during daylight hours. She would go about her daily life, seemingly unaffected, but ominous imaginings would suddenly surface, causing her heart to race and her breath to quicken.
Lizzy’s unease, of course, stemmed not from guilt over David.
Guilt? If she were capable of such a feeling, she wouldn’t have conceived such a grand scheme in the first place.
Rather, she feared the Duke of Bedford discovering the truth about the recent tragedy.
Ariella had assured her that the cleanup was flawless, but Lizzy found it difficult to fully trust her words.
‘How can I trust that bitch?’
Ariella was the one who had turned her own fiancé into a eunuch.
She continued to deny any involvement, but Lizzy instinctively knew.
Ariella was undoubtedly the mastermind behind it all, and even Countess Anabel using the gift Ariella had given her that day as a weapon was all part of the plan. Lizzy, having once been Ariella’s closest confidante, was even more certain.
This recent incident was no different. In the heat of the moment, she hadn’t realized it, but Ariella had swiftly disposed of David without the slightest hesitation, as if she had been waiting for this very moment.
It was only after witnessing David’s limbs being torn apart by the dogs that Lizzy understood.
Aaron, who had once tried to assault Ariella, was castrated, and David, who had killed Ariella’s dog, met his end at the jaws of a pack of dogs.
Such things couldn’t possibly be coincidences.
The belated realization sent shivers down her spine. At the same time, Baron Griffith came to mind.
‘Damn it, what if she’s done something to Baron Griffith too…!’
Baron Griffith was already in the Duke of Bedford’s clutches.
Society believed he had fled Edinburgh for fear of punishment, but Lizzy knew that the faint screams emanating from the mansion’s basement were his.
If Baron Griffith, after enduring horrific t*****e, revealed that he had provided information about Aaron and the Bedford princess’s first encounter, she would instantly be exposed as a fraud.
And thus, she would meet her end alongside the already deceased Baron Griffith.
‘So she deliberately used Baron Griffith! She’s trying to get revenge on me too…!’
Having reached this conclusion, Lizzy was consumed with self-loathing for agreeing to Ariella’s proposal to frame Baron Griffith.
Although she had been flustered by the sudden turn of events, she had foolishly fallen for her enemy’s scheme. It was an act of utter stupidity.
She racked her brain for a way to silence the baron, but guards, under the duke’s orders, were stationed at the foot of the stairs leading to the basement, and any clumsy attempt to breach them would only arouse suspicion.
Running away was out of the question; she was too stubborn to back down now.
Time slipped away as she remained trapped between these two options. Unlike Ariella, who spent each day with a fresh and joyful spirit, Lizzy felt as though her blood was drying up.
Even as she donned beautiful dresses, savored delicious meals, and strolled through the opulent corridors, the thought of being dragged to the basement and tortured filled her with dread.
Then, one day, a piece of welcome news arrived from a maid she had sent to scout.
Ronnie Griffith had died after enduring brutal t*****e.
‘Yes!’
The fact that she hadn’t been summoned even after Baron Griffith’s death suggested that he had kept her secret to the very end. He wasn’t the type to be so loyal, so he probably wasn’t in a state to reveal anything.
Who knew that the news of the death of someone she had once kissed would bring her so much joy? Lizzy felt a great sense of relief. Thanks to this, she was able to sleep soundly that night.
But as if to mock her, the Duke of Bedford summoned her to his study the following morning.
It’s probably nothing. The fact that it’s the study and not the basement means he just has something to discuss with me. But Ariella was also beaten in the study…
A jumble of thoughts swirled in her mind as Lizzy made her way to the study with heavy steps.
“You summoned me, Father.”
Forcing a calm tone, she entered the study and immediately noticed Bedford’s personal physician standing next to her father.
‘The physician is here, could it be…’
Thump, thump, her already racing heart pounded as if it would burst.
Cold sweat trickled down her stiff back, and her clenched fists trembled.
In the suffocating tension, the Duke of Bedford opened his mouth in a chilling voice.
“Yes, sit here. The physician is here to examine your condition.”
A sudden request to examine her condition. Knowing how much the duke regarded his daughter as a commodity, Lizzy found the situation both absurd and suspicious, but she had no choice but to cooperate obediently, as he had commanded.
Contrary to her expectations of ulterior motives, the physician diligently examined Lizzy’s body using various medical instruments and tools.
Having to answer questions about her s*x life in front of the duke was humiliating, but it was more bearable than feeling her life was in danger.
“Overall, you’re quite healthy. You could use a little more sleep, but other than that, there doesn’t seem to be anything particularly wrong. There shouldn’t be any problems with getting pregnant either.”
“I can get pregnant?”
Lizzy raised her voice without realizing it.
“Don’t be too sad about the child you couldn’t have anyway. Didn’t you know? The tea that Countess Anabel gave you, its effect is to make a woman infertile.”
Ariella had told her this, and Lizzy had foolishly believed it. She hadn’t even considered seeing a doctor and had simply assumed that she was infertile.
“Yes. That’s right. Is there a problem…?”
Turning to the physician, who looked bewildered, Lizzy explained her situation. She told him that the countess had offered her poisoned tea and that she had accepted and drunk it a couple of times.
The physician smiled with relief and explained.
“I know about the poison that Countess Anabel used. It does have an infertility effect, but it’s difficult to see the effect after only drinking it a couple of times. Unless someone already has a bad uterus, Miss Lizzy should be fine. But just in case, I’ll give you some medicine that’s good for the uterus.”
Ha, Lizzy scoffed softly.
To lie about something like that. It was so absurd that it was laughable.
‘Did she think I would cry if she said that?’
The idea was utterly ridiculous.
Lizzy hadn’t been greatly dismayed by the fact that she was infertile. It had been quite shocking when she first heard it, but she had simply accepted it as a matter of course.
In fact, she was surprised at how nonchalant she was. The fact that she hadn’t bothered to see a doctor to check her condition was further proof of her composure.
‘Aaron can’t function as a man anyway. What’s the point of worrying if I’m infertile?’
It was actually more convenient because there was one less thing to worry about. She was smiling to herself when a chill suddenly ran down her pale limbs.
One less thing to worry about. She had momentarily forgotten what that was. If she wasn’t infertile, the dirty things that could happen. That was what she had just remembered.
