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CHAPTER 64
Could it be that she knew my plan when she made that offer? Leticia doubted it but kept her composure and calmly shook her head.
“I appreciate the thought, but I’m fine. I’ve toured it before. You and Miss Florence go ahead and enjoy yourselves.”
Elise looked at Leticia for a brief moment, as if studying her.
“That’s a shame, but if you insist, madam, then I won’t press.”
With that, she left the greenhouse with Rewen.
Leticia watched them go, then shifted her gaze to the seat Elise had been sitting in.
On the table, Elise’s handkerchief had been neatly left behind.
Leticia narrowed her eyes at the sight of it.
‘In my past life, Elise had laced her handkerchief with poison.’
Of course, in that life, it wasn’t at the Empress’s tea party—it had been at a gathering hosted by Leticia at the Farnese estate.
There, Elise had soaked her handkerchief with poison in advance and staged a fake poisoning by pretending to wipe her teacup with it.
It wasn’t a poison lethal enough to kill, but it had fast-acting, dramatic effects.
‘The situation’s different now, but Elise is still the same. Her ideas probably haven’t changed either.’
Leticia looked coldly at the handkerchief, then deliberately spilled a bit of her own tea and, pretending to be in a rush to clean it, took Elise’s handkerchief by “mistake.”
‘Even if I let Elise poison herself, I have evidence to prove it was a setup…’
But she couldn’t just whip out the receipt Elise had signed. How would she explain that she’d obtained it in anticipation of Elise staging a poisoning today?
She would have to wait until the knights uncovered the receipt themselves.
But people tend to react strongly to what’s immediately in front of them.
‘In my past life too, when Elise collapsed coughing up blood, everyone assumed I had poisoned her.’
No one would ever suspect that she had risked her own life for a staged act.
‘Which is why—I can’t let Elise go through with the poisoning.’
Not long after, the break ended and Elise returned with several other noble ladies who had gone to see the gardens.
“Well then, picking up where we left off earlier…”
Vanessa resumed the discussion about the charity bazaar from before the break, and the tea party continued.
But Leticia wasn’t listening anymore.
Her eyes were fixed on the teacup she had wiped earlier with Elise’s handkerchief. She dipped her teaspoon into it.
‘If poison was on the rim of the cup, stirring it should cause a reaction.’
And that would be her chance to expose Elise.
Leticia, pretending to cool her tea, stirred it gently with the spoon. But…
‘…Why isn’t the spoon changing color?’
The spoon was made of silver, and the poison Elise had bought was supposed to react visibly when it came into contact with silver.
But no matter how long Leticia stirred, there was no change.
Panic rose in her chest—until something she had forgotten suddenly returned to her mind.
‘That’s right… when I’m in mortal danger, objects usually shimmer or turn black.’
If the poison was truly deadly, the spoon or cup should have darkened.
But both remained completely normal—suspiciously so.
‘Something’s different from my past life.’
Sensing that something was off, Leticia looked over at Elise—
And froze.
Rewen, who was seated next to Elise, was drinking from a blackened teacup.
And—
Elise was watching her intently.
“Cough… cough… huh…?”
Rewen began to cough up blood.
“L-Lady Florence?!”
Gasps erupted across the greenhouse. Panic spread like wildfire.
“Summon the palace knights and royal physician—now!”
The maids, who had been stationed in the corner, quickly surrounded Vanessa and carried out her orders.
As chaos erupted and no one dared to approach Rewen, only Elise stood still—staring at her.
Her gaze wasn’t one of fear from the chaos, but rather of dread for the storm she herself had created.
Then, her lips trembling, she let out a shrill cry.
“Poison…! Someone poisoned the tea!”
Murmurs spread. Suspicion flashed in everyone’s eyes.
And then, one by one, they turned to stare at Leticia—
The only one who hadn’t left the greenhouse during the break.
It was only then that Leticia fully understood.
‘Ah… so that’s how it is.’
The fact that Rewen, not Elise, had been poisoned—it wasn’t a mistake.
‘Elise targeted Rewen from the beginning.’
To push Leticia into disgrace and ruin, without risking the miscarriage of the child she was carrying.
Leticia stared blankly at Rewen, who was now vomiting blood, and let out a bitter laugh.
Elise’s malice toward her had now hurt someone else.
‘Why… why go this far?’
Leticia could understand if Elise targeted her—but why drag someone else into it?
Even though Elise had an affair with Peydan and framed her in their past life, Leticia still held onto a sliver of belief.
Not in Elise Fran, but in the shared decency of humanity.
But now that belief was crushed.
Utterly, mercilessly.
Leticia glanced between Elise—now trembling in false fear—and Rewen—writhing and coughing blood—and clenched her fists.
‘If we’re in the Imperial Palace, there must be an antidote stored somewhere.’
But could Rewen survive long enough for it to be found?
Leticia reached into her dress pocket. Her fingers touched a vial—the antidote she had brought, just in case.
‘If I use this now, I’ll become a suspect.’
No—definitely a suspect.
Who else would carry the perfect antidote to a sudden poisoning unless they were the one who planned it?
And if that happened—
‘Even the receipt the knights are supposed to find could be dismissed as planted evidence.’
Leticia gripped the vial, chewing on her lip.
The risk of acting on pure justice was enormous.
Meanwhile, Rewen was turning paler by the second.
“P-please… save…”
Unable to finish her words, Rewen looked around desperately, her lips red with blood.
Realizing no one could help her, her eyes filled with tears.
Leticia saw it.
The despair.
The silent plea for someone—anyone—to help.
“……”
Leticia stared at her, frozen in thought.
And finally, she made her decision.
She pulled the antidote from her pocket.
Approaching Rewen, she gently brought the vial to her lips.
“Drink this. It’ll save you.”
Her own safety versus one person’s life.
Leticia chose the latter.
“Trust me.”
Even if this moment put a noose around her neck, she would not abandon her sense of justice.
Rewen, teary-eyed, looked at Leticia and swallowed the antidote.
Leticia let out a small sigh of relief.
Then her expression turned cold as she spun around—
And grabbed Elise by the collar.
“Gasp…!”
Everyone—including Elise—was stunned by Leticia’s sudden outburst.
But no one stepped in to stop her.
The murderous fury in Leticia’s eyes froze them all in place.
“You… really are insane.”
