Chapter 68

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 68

Chapter Title: Means and Methods

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Evangeline hurled the newspaper at the maid's face.

"Did you handle it properly?"

In the face of this utterly unbelievable reality, Evangeline was grilling her maid.

Thank goodness her strength hadn't fully returned yet. Otherwise, she wouldn't have settled for throwing mere paper—she'd have grabbed a flower vase.

"Y-yes, we definitely switched out the water bottle. I swear, miss. You saw it yourself."

"Do you think I had the presence of mind to check on that in the middle of everything?"

Her forehead still throbbed and spun from the lingering effects of the drug. Evangeline's hand trembled with rage as she rubbed it.

Stupid girl.

She wanted to whip her and throw her out right then and there, but she held back, worried the maid might harbor a grudge and blab about yesterday. Instead, she just snatched the hair clip away.

"Miss, please calm down."

"How am I supposed to calm down right now?"

Evangeline bellowed, and the startled maid shrank back, hunching her shoulders.

Her excitement made her breathing quicken again, and the fever rose. Evangeline glared at the maid with narrowed eyes.

That's when a knock echoed through the stark hospital room.

"M-maybe it's the lady of the house."

The maid, who'd been watching Evangeline's mood, dashed to the door.

She thought that if anyone came in to rescue her from this icy tension, even Olivia Blanchett would do. With that, she flung the door wide open.

"Who is... uh..."

"Hello."

The voice was refined, like the sound of clear spring water.

The maid, who had frozen at the sight of Olivia Blanchett like she'd seen a ghost, finally moved her lips after a long moment.

"...M-miss. Ms. Blanchett is here."

Sunlight poured through the room's glass window, stretching long in the afternoon light.

Olivia knew why Evangeline had collapsed.

It was no heatstroke, as the newspaper claimed. She'd come to visit precisely to confirm something.

"Ms. Seymour."

Olivia, who had been silent until then, finally spoke.

Evangeline, propped up against the bed's headboard, looked at the woman with bated breath.

What could bring her all the way here? Was she really so pure and harmless that she'd worry about the health of someone she'd only met once?

Her eyes, filled with the yellowing sunlight, seemed utterly kind.

"Aren't you curious why you lost consciousness, Ms. Seymour?"

"......"

"Ah! You already know, don't you?"

In an instant, her gaze sharpened, piercing straight through Evangeline.

A chilling sensation washed over her, like being pushed off a cliff. Instinctively, Evangeline clutched the blanket.

It was highly suspicious, but could this woman really have orchestrated it?

How?

Evangeline hardened her gaze to meet Olivia's.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Ms. Blanchett. I've been feeling unwell since before the match. You know that."

Not grasping the full situation, Evangeline denied it flat out.

"I should have forfeited. I pushed myself too hard. As a fellow player, you must understand. It's not easy to give up."

A crisis was an opportunity.

Depending on what this woman said next, Evangeline might even pin the whole thing on Olivia Blanchett.

It wouldn't be strange at all for a woman called a shameless vixen to get blinded by her competitive spirit and drug an opponent's water bottle.

But Evangeline's face drained of color at Olivia's next words.

"There was a witness. Someone saw your maid swap the bottles."

"!"

Her hand gripped the edge of the white blanket, trembling with shock, but she didn't even have time to notice.

"Did Princess Annblin put you up to it?"

"!"

Words that beggared belief rang out.

She'd not only failed the princess's expectations but sullied the noble princess's honor.

In that moment, terror surged through her—the golden staircase to high society crumbling like sand, vanishing into dust.

"That's absurd speculation. The princess has nothing to do with it. It was all my own greed."

Evangeline blurted out a confession in her fluster. Then piercing blue eyes met hers head-on.

Even as she spoke the truth, a cold chill lingered around her heart, like an icy aura.

"There's no reason for someone like her to do that. Especially not for someone like you."

Evangeline forced her expression steady, straining to speak firmly. She even mustered an elegant smile.

"Exactly."

Olivia, who had been listening quietly, readily agreed.

Evangeline felt relief. At least this woman knew her place and could be reasoned with. At least until her next words.

"She didn't want to lose to someone like me."

Olivia's round eyes, fixed on Evangeline, slowly curved. Her crimson lips arched in a graceful line.

"That's what I think. What about you, Ms. Seymour?"

Olivia cornered her gently, relentlessly. Her voice was serene, but her questions cut like knives.

Meeting those eyes she'd thought harmless felt like being pulled into the abyss of the deep sea.

"......The princess has nothing to do with it. I just... wanted to beat you and prove my skill."

Now Evangeline only hoped the fire between her and Olivia wouldn't spread to Princess Annblin.

If she earned the princess's indifference and wrath, her dream of high society was over for good.

"That's something you just shouldn't do."

"I think I've paid more than enough for it already."

How brazen. Madam Lauren had been the same, and now Evangeline Seymour too. Was shamelessness a national trait of Britt Kingdom folk?

Olivia let out a short sigh of exasperation and rose from her seat.

"I hope I never see you on a tennis court again, Ms. Seymour."

"Why should I do that?"

"Because you don't deserve it."

"I could sue you for framing me. There are plenty of people who'd claim to be witnesses for a few coins."

Cornered, Evangeline's eyes flashed with venom.

But that lasted only a moment. Soon, she stared up at Olivia with a dumbfounded look.

"Didn't it occur to you that I could do the exact same thing?"

Olivia Blanchett smiled quietly.

The sky beyond the window was already tinged pink. The endlessly benevolent light in Olivia's eyes darkened.

"I'm curious what that witness would testify to."

Her gaze shifted from the cooled teacup to Evangeline.

"Where's your maid right now, I wonder?"

"......"

Goosebumps prickled across Evangeline's skin in an instant. She suddenly remembered the maid she'd sent out to give them privacy for their talk.

No way. Had she come to bribe the maid?

Her breath came in ragged gasps of fury. A metallic taste filled her mouth from biting the inside of her cheek raw.

"I was going to show you mercy, Ms. Seymour. But I was wrong. I understand your intentions now. We'll settle this in court next time. Take care of yourself."

Olivia turned away coolly.

Terror gripped Evangeline. Her future looked bleak.

No one in high society would accept a merchant's daughter tangled in such a scandal.

If she couldn't join their world anyway, letting this woman walk away now would be foolish.

For her goals, she wouldn't scruple over means or methods.

"The princess."

The sharp click of Olivia's heels halted at the desperate cry as she stepped out.

"Princess Annblin ordered it... Said she'd let me into the Royal Tennis Circle."

Olivia turned slowly.

"She told me to get rid of you..."

Rain-streaked light shifted hues, dyeing Olivia's pristine white blouse rose-pink.

Her lake-silver eyes gleamed as they fixed on Evangeline.

"Nothing more to say?"

"......I'm sorry."

Olivia nodded, her smile softening.

"Can I trust you'll testify to that in court?"

"Of course."

"Good. Oh, and your maid won't be coming back. You'll need to find a new one."

Olivia flashed a bright smile and left the room.

Angela Burkin, and now Evangeline Seymour too.

The noose around Princess Annblin's neck was tightening, link by link.

Amid yesterday's chaos, Olivia had seen it. While Anne had gone to fetch the medical staff and Olivia turned to check if she was coming back, through the crowd, someone placed a water bottle on the bench where she'd been sitting.

'I admit I touched the bottle—that was my mistake. But the maid's behavior was suspicious, so I just put it back as it was. No other intent. I swear.'

The stadium staffer had denied it vehemently.

Lies.

Olivia was certain.

A woman acting on Princess Annblin's orders had tried to frame her once the crime was exposed, right before her match with Ms. Seymour.

Of course, she'd dumped the water and rinsed the bottle clean before refilling it.

But she hadn't expected Evangeline Seymour to collapse.

The road to the finals looked treacherous. But she wasn't alone.

Olivia paused by a hallway window overlooking the hospital's quaint garden and gave a shy little wave.

Edgar, perched on the edge of the white fountain in the garden's center, looked up at her and smiled.

Olivia gazed at the scene for a while, then broke into a run down the sunset-lit hospital corridor.

Toward the man waiting for her.

Arriving at Great Hill just before midnight, Johann was greeted by a single telegram. The one he'd been waiting for all day.

His languid eyes sharpened instantly. Sinking into the plush leather sofa, Johann scanned the telegram with a cool gaze.

Morris marveled at the stark difference from how he looked reading Her Majesty's letters or the crown prince's speeches.

The coded message roughly translated to this:

It was a report from the sparrow he'd assigned—not just for surveillance after Princess Annblin's kidnapping attempt, but for protection.

Checking the code name, it was one of the agents placed at the Dumblin tournament grounds.

"Morris."

"Yes."

"Investigate Princess Annblin's involvement."

Unsteady gaslight flickered along his sharp features. Johann covered his eyes with his hand and tilted his head back.

"If there's no connection, make one. By any means necessary."

Diane Brooke was enough.

Those who had ruined Olivia's life and scarred her soul...

For that reason, Johann had no intention of forgiving Annblin Grace Brita.