Chapter 3
As soon as the maid left, I quickly turned and spat out the medicine.
"Your Grace, what are you doing?" Kiera asked, puzzled.
"Just playing their game," I said.
I lay back down on the bed and closed my eyes.
"From now on, my illness will only get worse," I said.
Only when I was no longer a threat would they finally let their guard down.
And only then would I have a chance to carve a bloody path for my daughter and myself.
Lying in bed, I made a fierce vow in my heart.
Wilfred, Sabrina, I would make you pay in blood for everything you had done to my daughter and me.
Just as I'd planned, my "illness" grew worse with each passing day.
Before long, I was so "sick" that I couldn't even get out of bed. I slept all day, and whenever I woke up, I just babbled nonsense.
Sabrina had people watching me at first, but after seeing me lying there barely alive, she gradually let her guard down.
That afternoon, Sabrina showed up at Thalindor Hall herself, unannounced.
She wore a lotus pink palace gown that made her skin look as fair as snow, and she was stunningly beautiful.
She waved her attendants away, then strode over to my bed, towering over me with a look of disdain.
"Doesn't look like you'll ever recover, Juliette," she said.
A subtle smirk lingered on her lips, her tone dripping with malicious delight.
I forced my eyes open, feigning the look of someone barely clinging to life.
"Why... why are you here?" I whispered.
"Just checking in on you, Juliette," she said.
She covered her nose and mouth with a silk handkerchief, her face twisted in disgust.
"Ugh, it really smells awful in here," she sneered.
"Honestly, I just can't figure out why Wilfred ever fell for someone as cold and stupid as you," Sabrina sneered.
She settled herself in the chair beside my bed, lazily playing with the nail lacquer on her fingertips.
"But that's ancient history. Now, Wilfred only cares about me," she said.
I shut my eyes, refusing to look at her self-satisfied face for another second.
My show of weakness had made her drop her guard completely. In her mind, I was nothing but a helpless fish on the chopping block, ready for her to carve up however she pleased.
Just a few days after Sabrina's visit, a scandal erupted in Eldorath Palace.
Sabrina found a cloth doll in her own chambers.
The doll was stuck full of silver needles, and on its back, Sabrina's birth date and time were scrawled in red cinnabar.
The fabric for the doll had been ripped from one of my old dresses.
The evidence was irrefutable.
Wilfred flew into a rage.
He didn't even bother to send anyone to question me. He just ordered me thrown straight into the dungeons.
Kiera sobbed and pleaded for me, but the guards pinned her down and silenced her.
Two burly attendants hauled me away from Thalindor Hall, dragging me all the way to the dungeons.
My hair was wild and tangled, my clothes a mess. I looked like a wretched stray dog left for dead.
The servants watched from afar, pointing and snickering, their eyes full of disdain and schadenfreude.
The dungeon was dark and damp, the air heavy with the smell of mold and blood.
Rats darted past my feet, and cold droplets seeped down the walls.
But deep inside, I felt remarkably calm.
All of this was just as I expected.
Did Sabrina really think this was enough to destroy me?
She seriously underestimated me.
Kiera had been thrown into the cell right next to mine, crying and shouting curses at Wilfred and Sabrina.
But I knew now wasn't the time to lose my cool.
I needed to hold onto my strength and wait for the right chance.
A few days later, Sabrina came to visit.
She wore a simple white dress, her makeup making her look wan and delicate—almost fragile and sorrowful.
She waved the guards away and approached my cell alone.
"Juliette, how did you end up looking so wretched?" she said.
She sighed, pretending to be genuinely concerned for me.
"Wilfred is really furious this time. He says he's shown you all the mercy he can," she added.
I leaned against the cold, damp wall, saying nothing.
Seeing I wasn't responding, she didn't get angry. Instead, she just laughed.
"Juliette, did you know? Your precious daughter is on her last legs," she said.
My heart lurched.
Sabrina said, "I heard your daughter caught a chill a few days ago, and her fever just wouldn't break. The servants at the side manor were too scared to report it, afraid they'd be blamed.
"By the time anyone noticed, she was barely alive—just a breath away from death. Tell me, if she dies like this, do you think she'll be waiting for you on the road to the underworld?"
Her eyes gleamed as she took in my pale, stricken face, her smile twisting with satisfaction.
I glared at her, searing every expression and every word deep into my heart.
At last, I knew for sure that my daughter's suffering was all her doing.
I lunged at the cell door, clutching the icy iron bars with both hands, shrieking in fury like a woman possessed.
"Sabrina! You poisonous bitch! Even if I die and become a ghost, I'll haunt you forever!" I screamed.