Divorcing the Duke to Buy the World

Chapter 63: Did Isabella Do It?

The air was charged with a cold aura that flooded the place like an oncoming blizzard.

Evelina took another casual sip of the poisoned tea, and then set the cup back down on its saucer with a soft clink.

"It is a good tea," Evelina smiled as she spoke, "But the balance of the ingredients is slightly off. Why don’t you try it and tell me..."

Evelina leaned forward, picked up the silver teapot and poured a fresh, cup of the tea before sliding it smoothly across the mahogany surface until it rested right in front of the shaking servant.

"Lila, right? Drink up and tell me what’s so special about this tea," Evelina smiled, her eyes darker than the deepest ocean.

The porcelain cup rattled violently against its saucer, the sound echoing through the morning nook like a death knell.

For a long moment, Lila stood completely frozen, staring down at the amber liquid as if she were looking directly into the gates of the underworld.

Then, she looked at Evelina, as if she was ready to make an excuse. But the gentle smile on Evelina’s face... was more terrifying than the poisoned teacup. freёwebnovel.com

Regardless of everything, Lila was just a young maidservant after all. And her guts were way more short-lived than she had expected.

Her knees buckled.

The heavy silver tray slipped from her numb fingers, clattering loudly against the marble floor with a deafening ring that scattered the remaining porcelain across the room.

Lila dropped to the floor, her hands gripping her apron as she buried her face in the Persian rug and broke into chest-hacking sobs.

"Kill me! Please, Your Grace, just make it quick... Do not let them torture me!" Lila wailed.

"Looks like you don’t hate your life as much as I thought you did," The smile on Evelina’s face only widened but there was a hint of darkness in her eyes, "Why don’t you spill the tea then?"

"I... I did it! I put the white powder in the teapot! A man... a man approached me near the southern estate gates last evening! He gave me a heavy pouch of gold and the paper packet. He told me it was a harmless sleeping medicine to make the Duchess rest so her family could visit without letting her turn them away at the door... He said it came from your own father!"

"From my family?" Evelina asked, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms.

"Yes! Yes!" Lila gasped out, scrambling forward on her knees, her face streaked with tears and dirt, "That man left a token to prove his identity. He told me to keep it as collateral so I knew he would pay the rest when the job was done... And if I don’t do it, then me and my family... Wait, I have it in my pocket, Your Grace. Look! It belongs to the House of Snow!"

With shaky fingers, Lila dug into her uniform pocket and pulled out a small silver signet ring, placing it on the mahogany table.

It bore the crest of Baron Snow; Evelina’s wretched dear father.

Evelina picked up the ring, turning it over in her palm.

The evidence was rather strong. If she handed this ring to Ace right now, the Duke’s iron cavalry would march on the Snow estate by nightfall, and her father would be executed for high treason against a Duchess of the realm.

But as Evelina stared at the silver crest, something clicked in her mind.

’System, look into it,’ she thought coldly.

[System Notification: Scan Initiated.]

[Target: Lila’s family registry]

[Scanning public records, debt collections, and underground bank registries...]

[Scan Complete: Lila’s eldest brother owes 800 gold pieces to an underground gambling ring in the Capital. Pouch of gold received by Lila: Exactly 800 Capital gold pieces.]

Evelina’s eyes narrowed to sharp slits. 800 gold pieces. Baron Snow was currently completely destitute; he couldn’t afford to buy a loaf of high-grade bread, let alone pay off an inner-manor maid with a pouch of heavy Capital gold.

Furthermore, her father was a coward who relied on his oily charm mostly. He didn’t have the spine, let alone the extensive connections, to secure a highly restricted toxin like Widow’s Sigh.

It was a substance native entirely to the southern borderlands, a region controlled strictly by military outposts.

Evelina leaned back, her fingers tapping softly against the desk. If her father couldn’t afford this, and didn’t have access to military-grade nerve toxins, who did?

A maid with a hidden financial leverage point, an imported poison from a specific military border, and a signet ring left behind as collateral by a supposed secret agent.

A real conspirator, even if it is from the clumsy House of Snow, would have hidden their identity, not handed out their family crest like a calling card to a low-ranking maid.

Then.. who possessed the flawless strategic background to coordinate an assassination strike, frame a perfect scapegoat, and use a toxin harvested directly from the borderlands where the Northern army had spent the last three years stationed?

Only on name came to Evelina’s mind.

Isabella.

The pieces clicked into place with undeniable clarity. ƒгeewebnovёl.com

Isabella had looked like she didn’t care much about Evelina, she acted like the rightful Duchess. But Evelina knew how much power she has established in the Alvarez Estate in the past week.

Anybody would cared for the Duke in a romantic way would feel insecure of the Duchess and want to remove her, even if it was Isabella who acted perfectly like she didn’t care.

After all, there was no reason for her to not take the chance and benefit the most from the current situation.

Evelina was considered the enemy of lots of people, even her own family at this point. And Isabella was currently staying over at the Alvarez Estate. So, if something happened, nobody would be able to point straight at Isabella.

And if Evelina died, Isabella would comfort the grieving Duke.