"What did you say!?" Bradley's eyes widen in shock right before he shoves the cup from Ophelia's hands, "Why did you drink it!?" his expression was so pitiful that her heart fluttered unconsciously.
"Are you saying that we allowed an assassin to infiltrate the party!?" the Earl speaks obnoxiously loud but even then, she saw his true intentions. You can say that she already had her suspicions about how much that man knew from the start.
"How should we solve this situation...?" Ophelia smiles charmingly.
"Erwin, gather all the maids and butlers here," Devlin declares to his most trusted servant and then, after five minutes, every worker was lined up on the garden.
Both the Earl and Patricia start looking at the servants, trying to find any possible culprit, and, after observing everyone thoroughly, they finally reach Millicia. Her head was hanging low since she knew that everything would be ruined if they found her.
"Lift your head," the Earl states but the maid ignores his remark. Feeling the nerves grow, she clenches her hands in her dirty skirt.
'If I hadn't bumped into her this wouldn't have happened...' she never wanted to murder Ophelia in the first place, she knew she couldn't live with such guilt but her younger brother was sick and the money was scarce. Millicia had been given an opportunity, take someone's life to allow her own blood to live. She had no other choice.
"Are you deaf? Lift your head, you impertinent maid!" Erwin states after noticing the Earl's growing impatience, however, unbothered, Millicia kept on hanging low, delaying her reveal until the last moment.
The maid glances at the Duke who was holding his unconscious daughter in his arms. Their eyes quickly connected and, twice as fast, they lost touch. He ignored her and his message was clearly understood by the young girl. This was a double-edged sword from the start, however, it was never pointed at that man.
'I'm his scapegoat...' Millicia grits her teeth out of frustration. She knew this was a risky mission that she had to carry alone but she wasn't ready to burden the consequences all by herself.
Finally, the Earl signals Erwin to lift her head.
"Riddle me this Duke: there are two individuals, one is filled with greed for what he doesn't have while the other is filled with blood lust. Which one survives?" Ophelia grins. A shiver runs down the Duke's spine as he saw the evil aura embracing his daughter.
'She couldn't know... There's no way... She's been locked up all this time... How could she know...?' he couldn't stop trying to deceive what his gut was saying. The Duke wanted to believe that Ophelia was still his innocent, obedient child. There's no way she could've turned into this unpredictable monster.
"My daughter is fine so I am sure this is just a misunderstanding... There is no need to go to such extents," the Duke intervenes in a shallow attempt to save his skin. He knew Millicia needed to keep what she knew to herself, otherwise, his plans would be delayed and his family's honor compromised, "In fact, I heard about the new ships in the East, are they as grand as they say?"
Without any shame, the Duke's intentions were clear. He was trying to control all the nobles that kept on murmuring from behind and, he thought that, by changing the topic of conversation, this could easily be accomplished. Even then, he forgot that for nobles and aristocrats there is something more valuable than money, and that is nothing else but pure entertainment.
"Your grace, are you perhaps suggesting that I leave any remaining doubts regarding my honor?" the Earl replies coldly, regaining the reins of the conversation flow. The Duke's eyes became frustrated as he smiled politely, without being able to utter a word.
"Who are you?" Patricia gasps in shock as she sees Millicia's face, her cheeks were being strongly held by Erwin.
At this moment, the Earl places his hand in front of his mouth, covering his large smile.
'So this is what she was playing...' finally, his reasoning reaches its climax. He recognized the face of the maid, he had seen her plenty of times at the Duke's mansion. Devlin understood how much of a precious card Ophelia Criswell was.
"I'm a new maid milady..." Erwin removes his grip and she gulps. She was trying, pitifully, to settle this situation peacefully, as if everything was nothing more than simple confusion. Even then, she knew she needed to be fast otherwise the poison she placed on Ophelia's cup would start to show.
'Ah... Shit...' Ophelia was beginning to feel the effects of the unknown substance. She could feel her strength leave her body without her authorization while its temperature was rising uncontrollably as if she had a fever.
"We haven't hired maids in more than half a year," the Earl frowns his eyebrows deeply right before signaling Erwin, "Tie her up, we need to report this incident to the royal guards."
"I recognize you..." Ophelia approaches the maid right before walking a couple of steps back. It was as if she was compelled by fear of what she had just discovered. The murmurs grow louder and louder as her hands began to tremble heavily, "You are one of my father's maids!"
At that moment the words floating in the wind disappear and a sharp blade cuts everything into silence. All the eyes were now fixated on Duke Criswell who was holding Amanda in his arms.
"What are you talking about dear? I've never seen that woman in my life!" even in a tense situation such as this one, he kept his composure. This act of naiveness might have fooled some of the members present but that wasn't enough to save him from these atrocious accusations.
'Everything is...' Ophelia could feel the world around her starting to rotate, as her sense of balance began to become lost, 'I need to hurry.'
"Her name is Millicia! I remember her! She used to serve me tea!" Ophelia yells loudly, purposely creating a tenser situation, "Don't tell me... My own father tried to..." her hands cover her mouth as tears run down her face.
"Ophelia! I never did such a thing!" the Duke replies in the same tone, insisting on his innocence, however, after Ophelia's remark, the tables had turned. She was a beautiful and innocent lady who had been betrayed by her kin and so, there was no fool in the world that wouldn't pity her.
"Then how do you explain her presence!? Who else could've done it!?" Ophelia's words were like daggers cutting through flesh, aiming at the precise points the Duke couldn't expose easily.
'This brat...' his eyes wander around anxiously. He couldn't be caught as the mastermind behind this incident and, by the looks of her child, he knew the poison was already active in her body, consuming her slowly, 'There's no way I can say this was just a misunderstanding... That there wasn't anything poisonous in the first place...'
He knew he needed to shift the blame for this incident to someone else. Alvin had a bright future ahead of him and he wanted to accomplish everything he had ever desired with all his dirty plans and schemes. There was no way he would let that filthy little brat ruin everything he worked so hard to obtain.
'Should I say that someone hired her? Maybe blame the Stattons? They've been in the mansion several times... No, I still need them. The Hillgardens? That will just sound like I'm forcing excuses,' he gritted his teeth in frustration, 'Maybe someone from the other houses?' as his eyes glanced through the several nobles he realized he didn't have anyone that suited the requirements to become his scapegoat, 'Fuck... What if I say she acted on her own? Maybe someone else attempted to kill? Playing the pitiful father part... Wait... That's it!' he was running out of options but as he looked into his arms he realized his key to escape was always within his grasp.
"I thought I had raised my children properly but I guess I was wrong... How could Amanda think of such a thing...?" his voice was serene as he accused his own unconscious child of homicide. His eyes looked pitiful as he patted her hair gently, "I knew she was always jealous of you dear but I never thought...!"
'You really...' Ophelia couldn't stop but to feel her hopes crumble. She firmly believed, in the depths of her soul, that Alvin wouldn't be able to go lower and maybe, would repent for his sins but, looking at his apologetic figure of a father she knew: the Duke was no man, he was a beast, led only by greed. Things such as attachments, mutual respect, and love were long gone and that's how he lived.
As she looked around at the nobles, Ophelia comprehended she had lost. The Duke was going to blame Amanda and, after the incident earlier today, it was easy to accuse her. He would leave unscattered, as he always did, even if he had to sacrifice his own blood. Ophelia's fists clench as her face turns pained, she despised Amanda but she was still her sister.
"You..." she couldn't finish her sentence. Ophelia's strength finally leaves her body. The poison was already kicking in deeply and she couldn't be there anymore. Her body falls but Bradley moves quickly and catches her.
"Are you alright Ophelia!?" his voice was nowhere near calm or charming, in fact, he looked like an emotional wreck with something similar to tears at the corner of his eyes. Ophelia could hear Terrel rushing to her side, screaming her name loudly. She knew she couldn't be taken to the Wharton's, otherwise, everything she was fighting for would be easily lost by that man's lust.
"Keep... Terrel... Away..." the only person present that could contest that monster was holding her steadily in his arms. Struggling, she manages to mumble these words while touching Bradley's cheek. As sweat drops left Ophelia's body and her view became fuzzy, her hand falls down and she finally loses consciousness.
"Ophelia! Wake up! Ophelia!" Bradley touches her face and feels her high temperature alongside the sweat that covered her fair skin. Her breath was unsteady and several red spots in the visible parts of her body had commenced appearing.
"Someone call for a doctor!" Mace was in a state of panic as he saw the raw expression on Ophelia's unconscious body as she began groaning from the pain.
'She really was...' steadily, Bradley places his hand on her legs and begins carrying her gently.
"Ophelia...! Ugh! What happened to her skin!?" Terrel looks at her in disgust making Bradley glare down at him with eyes covered in hatred. Feeling the immense pressure the son of Trace's family was doing, he decides to slowly back away, "Well... Mace, take her, we should head back," he couldn't bear the thought of touching such an imperfect being.
"Do you think I'll let her go with the likes of you?" Bradley holds Ophelia tighter in his arms, feeling her temperature rise from his chest. In his head, Ophelia's words were as clear as day: keep Terrel away. He had seen the way that man looked at her and he even witnessed his grotesque dominance play. He knew that if he left her alone with him then there would be no way for her to become his just like he so desired.
'I'm not letting her go that easily... Not until I win,' he knew what he wanted and how much he wanted it. At this point, he already considered killing Terrel off somewhere, 'The reaper will get him, I'm just hurrying the process,' but he knew he couldn't.
"Please just take her into one of the rooms upstairs, let her stay here for the time being," Devlin Hillgarden intervenes, "Erwin, show them the way please."
"Go," Catherine whispers as one of her servants follows them quietly from behind.
'Amanda did... And I was trying to...' Patricia was pale as a ghost. Her mind kept on repeating Ophelia's painful expression over and over again, 'It could've been me...!'
"Why did you poison Lady Ophelia?" the Earl questions Milly as she kneeled down with her body tied strongly with a rough rope.
"I needed the money," she grits her teeth as she glances at the Duke, grabbing her fate on the thin hope that he would help her in any way.
"Who paid you?" she grows quiet, she knew she couldn't speak. After what had happened everyone was already suspicious of the Duke and his daughter but, even then, if she sold him out her brother would be as good as dead.
"I will ask you one last time, you must know that if you don't comply it will be extremely painful for you," Devlin's eyes were as cold as ice as he spoke. She knew that if she didn't speak she would be tortured in the worst ways possible.
"..." she couldn't speak. The only thing that mattered was the survival of her younger brother and, if that was something she could concede, she would fight the whole world if needed.
'There must be something...' Millicia's mind was prepared for the upcoming beating but, her body wasn't. Her arms were trembling heavily as tears rose from her eyes, threatening to leave them at any moment, 'What can I do?' panic filled her thoughts as she relentlessly tried to discover a solution.
"Have it your way! Take her away and beat her up until she speaks, no one wants to see something so revolting," the Earl's words were set in stone and she understood that her death was a given.
She needed to save her brother but she also wanted to survive, she didn't want to die. Millicia's parents passed away from a contagious disease when her brother was only a baby and, somehow, she managed to get through thick and thin. She survived from eating leftovers, spoiled or rotten, and worked hard in whatever she could get. At some point, she considered selling her body but her wish to be happy, for once in her life, was stronger.
'That's the only way... isn't it?' there was no other way for her to survive without sacrificing something and so, without any further thought, as the servants were lifting her, she places her tongue out and bites it with all the strength her mouth muscles had. As she felt her teeth penetrate the flesh a rush of pain and adrenaline ran through her body. Tears fell from her eyes while sweat dripped from her pores. Everyone gasped as they saw a spurt of blood shower the ones around her.
'This is...' Patricia couldn't stand this anymore. Why did she have to be involved with such a thing? How come her dream had been shattered so easily by schemes? Today was supposed to be about her, a fun party where she could set her trap on Bradley Trace, 'So why... Is this happening...?' her stomach growled loudly as she tried to restrain her vomit from coming out.
"Stop her!" the Earl immediately yells but it was too late already too late.
A horrid amount of blood is coughed out of her mouth as the tongue falls on the floor, squirming with the last memory of the muscles within it. Millicia looks up and sees the Earl with several bloodstains on his face and clothes while he carrying a disgusted and petrified expression. Seeing his disappointment, the maid smiles widely, showing her vivid red mouth and freshly cut tongue. She knew she would finally be safe from torture and, most importantly, her brother would be safe.
Annoyed, Devlin slaps her harshly, making her stare into Duke Criswell's direction who looked horrified at the scenario. Millicia kept on smiling and Alvin couldn't bear to look any longer. He finally looks away but she didn't care, if she didn't have a tongue then she wouldn't be able to tell who'd ordered it since only a handful of maids know how to read and write.
The servants drop her on her knees, making her skirt be tainted by her own blood as it continues to drop from her mouth as if it was a massive river of drool. Everyone was terrified, the ladies were pale and the men were disgusted. As her body started to become numb from the pain, Millicia finally loses her senses and passes out on the red tainted grass.
She knew that bitting her tongue off was the only option she had. Her brother was now safe and, she would try her best to find a way to survive, perhaps becoming a farmer in a faraway land in a faraway future but, if that weren't the plans of the Gods for her, and death was the only ending waiting for her, then she would gracefully receive it as an atonement for her sins.
"So filthy!" the heavy silence in the air was interrupted by Holly's voice that, due to the shock, revealed her true colors. If this was at any other time, all the nobles and aristocrats would've started gossiping and her image of a saint would become nothing but a memory but, currently, Millicia's blood bath and Duke Criswell's expression was way more interesting.
'Pure entertainment,' Catherine chuckles behind the bright red fan that hid her lips. She was finding this scenario most amusing, 'I wasn't expecting her to drink the poison, she is indeed fearless,' in her eyes all of this was so pleasing.
The pain that the pitiful maid went through, the psychotic side of Ophelia, the Duke's frustration, the Earl's feeling of superiority, everything was just as she had imagined it, in fact, it was even better.
'Ophelia... I want you to show me more...' her flushed face and rushing heart showed how thirsty she was for what the cursed child could provide. She needed more, more of this theatrical play where everyone is nothing but her mere puppets, she needed more of this feeling of supremacy that aroused her deeply.
"What are you all doing?! We should get her a doctor as well!" Mace intervenes as his expression turns from frightened to resolved. He knew of that woman's sins but he needed her alive. Even without a tongue, she could be taught how to write and, if that could happen then she would be able to come clean about her employer. Millicia was an important chess piece to the upcoming war among the several houses.
"Why should I bother helping a murderer?" the Earl answers sarcastically to Mace's remark, almost mocking his intentions.
'What a little mind... That's why you will never be anything more than a mere Earl' he glared at him coldly.
Suddenly, Patricia dashes out towards the mansion. Her pale complexion made it seem as if she couldn't hold this sight any longer. On the other hand, the majority of the other nobles and aristocrats were just observing the whole situation without considering the people involved.
'They only care about themselves' Mace knew how this disgusting society worked, filled with sinners compelled by greed, lust, and lack of humanity. He couldn't reprimand them too much though because, deep down, he knew he was no different.