Chapter 135…
Cynthia frowned and muttered to herself. And why had Elizabeth been secretly investigating the Baileys behind their backs? For what purpose?
It was something the original novel’s Elizabeth would never have done. In the novel, she simply built an overwhelming reverse harem and happily enjoyed herself with the men…
“….”
No— even that wasn’t certain. Cynthia shook her head. From everything she had experienced so far, Elizabeth was far more three-dimensional than the flat impression she had in the original.
So she couldn’t judge anything carelessly…
“And the next document contains evidence that they have recently been secretly monopolizing the jewelry trade and retaliating with near-punitive disadvantages against managers who don’t comply.”
Cynthia recalled the gardener from the Grand Duke Romanov’s estate.
Hadn’t the gardener’s friend suddenly lost his partner as well?
“But does all of this have any legal effect? You only wrote it based on your memory, after all. It’s not actual material from the Bailey estate.”
At that moment, Tession—who had been quietly watching Cynthia and Dale huddle over the documents—opened his mouth.
“Even if it’s not direct evidence, it’s enough. We can use this as bait to prompt the imperial palace to start a tax investigation on the Bailey family. There are many truths that will come to light immediately.”
“What if the Baileys already have connections inside the palace?”
“They don’t. Not yet.”
To Cynthia’s question, Dale shook his head without hesitation.
“His Highness the Crown Prince has been eager to meet Lady Elizabeth. But since she no longer exists to the Baileys…”
Hearing Dale’s words, Tession tilted his head with a displeased expression he didn’t bother to hide.
“I will speak to His Majesty myself. He is far easier to talk to than his good-for-nothing son.”
“That would be greatly helpful. And this last document…”
Dale finally opened the bottommost paper he had brought and hesitated before speaking. He glanced up at Cynthia and Tession in turn, then lowered his eyes.
“I’m not sure if revealing this would be helpful. If this goes public, the impact will be enormous…”
“What is it?”
“Miss Cynthia, may I borrow Lady Elizabeth’s notebook for a moment?”
When she handed the notebook over, Dale opened the first page and showed them.
<Record of Suspicious Incidents>
Cynthia quietly read the letters. If this was it…
“It’s the truth behind the murders secretly committed by the Bailey family.”
So it had been real.
A suffocating, dizzy feeling washed over her.
It wasn’t strange, really—considering they had hired a coachman capable of killing just to terminate her contract and murder her when she tried to leave the mansion.
Dale pushed up his glasses and continued.
“The Baileys often disguised the deaths of those who interfered with them as accidents. The incident names written in the lady’s notebook refer to those cases.”
“That’s far worse than tax evasion or bribery, isn’t it?”
“Indeed.”
“I still can’t believe it’s murder… I hope the Bailey family is utterly ruined this time.”
“I feel the same. But compared to what a tax investigation can uncover, most of these incidents have little recoverable evidence. Even if an investigation starts, they’ll likely find no conclusive proof.”
Dale sighed regretfully.
“So we should set this aside for now—”
“Lady Elizabeth was one of the victims too, wasn’t she?”
Cynthia cut him off. Ever since her conversation with the Duke of Bailey, her vague suspicions had hardened into conviction.
Dale immediately closed his mouth.
“Her carriage accident… it wasn’t just an accident, was it?”
His eyes were fixed somewhere on the table—either at nothing, or deep in thought.
After a long silence, Dale shook his head.
“It’s both true and not true.”
What was that supposed to mean?
The puzzling words reminded Cynthia of Lissandra, and she frowned again.
“What I can say for certain is that the accident was intentionally caused by the Duke of Bailey.”
“As expected, he tried to eliminate the adopted daughter digging too close to the family secrets?”
“That part is incorrect. The purpose of the accident was merely to frighten the young lady who would not obey.”
“What?”
It was only meant to scare her?
That was unexpected.
Meaning the Duke of Bailey had never intended to actually kill Elizabeth…
“But she died in that accident! Were they planning to scare her but accidentally caused a real fatal accident?”
In response, Dale firmly shook his head.
“That didn’t happen.”
“Bailey could’ve changed the plan without you knowing.”
“The accident occurred exactly at the time and place I knew of, following the method I had been informed about.”
“Then what if Lady Elizabeth was so startled she failed to avoid it properly? Even a staged accident carries some risk.”
“That is exactly the part I cannot make sense of.”
He rubbed between his brows with his index finger.
“Lady Elizabeth knew the carriage accident would happen that day.”
Elizabeth knew in advance?
That made even less sense.
If the accident wasn’t meant to kill her, and she knew about it beforehand—why hadn’t she avoided it?
The last image Cynthia had of Elizabeth flashed through her mind, making it spin.
What had Elizabeth been thinking?
Standing there weakly, as if accepting her fate, waiting for the charging carriage… Cynthia could not understand it at all.
“She knew the accident would occur at that time and still turned it into a fatal disaster. I cannot understand why.”
“How can you be sure she knew?”
Tession, leaning back in his chair, asked calmly.
Dale turned toward him. After a moment of hesitation, clenching and unclenching his fists on his knees, he spoke.
“Because I told her.”
He told her?
Cynthia pressed a hand to her dizzy forehead.
“Wait—so Dale warned Lady Elizabeth beforehand, but the accident still happened and killed her?”
“Yes.”
“…Ha…”
Cynthia let out a deep sigh.
Castleton had realized Elizabeth was secretly gathering their secrets and planned a staged accident to scare her into understanding she, too, could become a victim if she continued.
Dale—being one of the duke’s loyal men at the time—learned of it and warned her, thinking it wouldn’t matter since it wasn’t meant to cause real harm.
But the accident still happened—and she died.
Why?
Every truth only led to more unanswered questions.
“Then… why did you tell her? Were you planning to betray the Bailey family from the start?”
“No. I simply believed Lady Elizabeth Bailey was one of the key figures I would serve in the family, and since the accident wasn’t meant to injure her, I didn’t think it’d be a problem.”
Then someone other than the Duke or Dale must have interfered…
Cynthia exhaled in frustration. What was the real truth behind the carriage accident?
“Ah!”
Suddenly, Cynthia lifted her head and looked sharply at Dale.
“Dale! Did Lady Elizabeth ever show interest in black magic? Or magic orbs? Or anything similar?”
Maybe Dale had seen something.
“Black magic? I’m not sure. I wasn’t close to her when she was alive.”
He adjusted his glasses.
Well, of course—Dale and Elizabeth probably never showed any interest in each other.
So he didn’t know either… Cynthia lowered her head in disappointment—until his next words struck her ears.
“But Joel might know.”
Joel?
The familiar name she hadn’t heard in a long time made Cynthia quickly raise her head.
Why hadn’t she thought of him earlier? She knew, yet she had forgotten. She frowned in frustration.
If it was Joel—he might know.
