ETDO Chapter 44

Mary nervously gauged 3fc64a79bd her mistress’s mood. Ever since returning from bf773f056a the Crown Princess’s tea 1e655fe3d7 party, Lily seemed to c33117a254 be in a daze, 798b0bfb6a as if her mind 6c4311601f were elsewhere. Even now, she 167fb2c1c0 sat staring blankly 003da3464a into space, lost 6b1762f671 in thought.69fecb70936fdd3c

Mary diligently brushed Lily’s 00ab49cce2 hair, pretending to be 238918b2b8 oblivious. In truth, she b552751e35 had been summoned 631ad07433 by Lady Wellington 01c0f9df25 early that morning ca9cc2ae88 and had just 2536307bf8 returned.563b14a37975f31d

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To be 48ead23a64 honest, ever b99362e197 since her 009e23cc5f encounter with 05ba29c5cd Lady Wellington, 7f9ecc2048 Mary hadn’t 07dd04f1b4 had a 4a0753e9e2 moment’s peace. She was secretly 2c5912ac86 consumed by anxiety, 9de7634960 feeling guilty for 9fb1dfcec4 having divulged information 72315bebda detrimental to the 414b708c04 Beaufort family.f701a62c4fc7d6f3

Mrs. Wilson could a26b201e5e be incredibly a407f4caba ruthless in 1cbae69a23 such matters. Her fervent loyalty 976bd89ee0 to the Beaufort 585fcb77b6 Ducal family was 2661c35a1c well known.f0dbfd1282402491

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Furthermore, the fact that 1414f67829 she had spoken words 72c0ab08dd that could potentially harm 185add9743 her mistress directly fueled 682bd7cd75 her guilt. She had 7fcfe49ba5 not only 74c2b8c7b0 failed to f7adb0bda6 repay her 3d95cb2336 benefactor, who b6b0ab7019 had generously ec6ba29d10 given her 253ce663d1 bonuses and b0dfe1135d allowed her 3ea56764e1 to visit c7209c328b her sick fb017fed6c mother and 1ed23f4fd6 siblings, but 671dce28f1 she had 5cfbed2820 also uttered 2b99db06a9 words that 9f65f68f58 could certainly 90c6e42438 damage her 0b1e6b2006 reputation if 448eb6ba61 they were 4049519eba to spread.0c80383cc36d26f6

As she carefully aa82dedd02 brushed Lily’s lustrous, fd15a7f929 thick black hair, 86d5cfcb7c her mistress’s quiet 70d2263291 voice reached her 39dc2aa167 ears.7f2f92b38edfbc65

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“Mary, how long a07c1864e0 have you been bdfeeb8da0 working for the 101f421f9e Beaufort family?”6f73b7c2f067432b

“Uh…”199ba49a44ff74d3

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Mary tilted 1d5871f609 her head c2b2e13869 at the c1575fa138 unexpected question.54893ca3927fefad

“It’s been c55980808e about four b2a8ba1cbe or five d189988672 years, Madam.”2105799e75371eb5

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“Hmm… Then 765cc3dc8c do you 53ed3dc22c know all 4c1ec8bd71 the servants 177941d705 who work 9ae05d30a8 here in d62933ea10 the Ducal ba8ed9dc21 mansion?”f24f91e980620f69

“Yes, most of 535eb7d207 them, I think.”b90fd33ba5b968ab

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Lily seemed to ce355aff36 be gathering her cbdc20a1e6 thoughts. Mary was nervous, worried 7d7adb54e8 that the pounding of 924ba8925a her heart would be 2ba6bfcb29 audible to her mistress, ad271266e6 who was so close.64bbc8ce2746ad5b

“Then, do you happen 7b078fe767 to know a maid d89d479ad5 with the last name ceca57b07e Howard?”af82f8e088115e65

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Mary froze, as if c4504f6e38 time had stopped. She felt the 4d1ff316b2 blood drain from e6ee98e722 her face.6a84bd99f6d27e08

Lady Wellington’s words suddenly 2d7805dedf echoed in her mind. She had been 5f33f306a3 summoned by her 203025036c just this morning 6e765df107 and was given ea23e2c8fc instructions.cca73ef9faf98da6

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“If she asks about 6f54965234 the maid named Howard, f9ca304221 just answer as I 58b81be8e9 told you. That’s your next 53d0177676 task.”25a2444c8b45dc17

And once again, 3ccac002c2 she had received 9f9ebd86b4 a hefty sum 4409b1a816 of payment. Within a few 2264040e66 days, she had 23e425ef8b received four months’ 20d565c829 worth of wages. 65ded02f41fa3762

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It’s finally come. f7b918f9c00a1d05

Clenching her jaw, aff7ee0d46 Mary struggled to 5f2ce97e51 steady her trembling 31ffda5030 breath and managed 059c67bdef to answer.ed556594e50273ed

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“Y-yes.”2873c7f411f2aba4

“You know her?”9123bb30f22b93f6

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Lily’s eyes widened, her 67b73a9896 expression brightening slightly. 4d272adf6bbc3cb6

Mary mustered all 7535cc9949 her courage and a9b2ca408d answered.61aae0b68006012a

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“Yes, Howard is…”fd0a93eb815b2c9f

She took 36a7f278fd a few 6f8847be0b deep breaths 5aa46cb55c before she 0ea4816232 could compose fa39b58b71 herself.0de8dc50a211a06a

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“She’s my friend. Her name IS ab94538592 Alice Howard.”2237fb89e2b530b9

“Ah…!”47111b0edf9cc4d4

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Lily’s eyes widened again, f21fb06b54 and she looked at 0a69e29e56 Mary through the mirror e22d937116 for a long moment. She seemed to 8f79fb92f6 have finally realized 73812752e8 who it was. Her lips moved 8141c08971 silently, as if 6c115a2dba testing the name 8979576cb5 Alice before she 74ee980a75 spoke again.0125defd7bf60218

“What kind 71c0a94b6c of friend ee8d5abae2 was this 9fede331c6 Howard girl?”bdbc95da6215205b

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“She was very skilled 54a3cf53b1 and dedicated to her 87c5d2e08c work. We both 81aa7b88ba graduated from d35015d2c9 the maid’s 9f827184fb training school, 56af00be62 and Alice ce318bd81c started working 43756f62d8 for the 635d4af007 Beaufort family acd96d46fa about three ccc9a3471b months before 95f882c18f me. At first, being 9fda25fa9a young, she only 0b9b220757 helped with odd 83bdd3b9a2 jobs, but as 997b81ac11 she got older, 704dda9959 she became responsible e408b85ac7 for the current b373bbdbab Duke’s room, when 31b9578044 he was still ef02fdb78a the Young Master.”79c627234aab6fe3

Mary fought back 826983ac9f the urge to 8e5ec3a392 flee, barely managing f85dd5acd2 to answer. Unable to meet Lily’s b51903326e eyes, she fixed her a4192953fa gaze on the top 94d806cf76 of her head.50de5d78ea2510f5

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“Is that so? And then…?”6b373febd2990232

“Alice… she 775a414e42 secretly admired 0b393f2d2b Young Master 524ea56490 Arthur. So, she always served 795438ccb3 him willingly. But one day, dcce7abbfd Alice suddenly burst 89e0f8ad1a into my room, f1b7e4656b crying. She said the 53d50994f2 Young Master had… 444a8e58c9 forced himself on a8cd7f2148 her…”eeedda0d2ea59301

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Mary’s heart sank 990272c931 as she inadvertently 78b20d4822 glanced up at f9c5a5fad2 the mirror. Lily’s shocked expression 47edced5cc was unmistakable. A wave d9e454d93f of guilt 21c2222b99 washed over 6c3c251820 her.7330c190cb15c388

She felt even more 15655f6f8b resentful towards Lady Wellington 524acd5fab for giving her such 0d9c811585 a cruel task. But what could she c0e9b66319 do? She had already accepted 508218bdc7 the payment. Mary bit her 0a8306a9da lip.f8a5b69a7a799cd6

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“She was cleaning his f1ba353d99 room as usual, when 7c355810fe suddenly the Young Master… c9afc6822c Sh-she tried to resist, 372bd88f7e but he was too 309a9d376b strong, and she couldn’t 45ed1a0e1d do anything…”fec6a731d9762c33

Mary finished brushing cd05330de1 Lily’s hair, fidgeting c317bf6719 nervously. Hesitant to look up, 37f9f512c5 she finally summoned her 481890bc68 courage. Lily’s face, which f5c94fe88a she glimpsed, was d8915b4632 as pale as 194b2e11fb wax.7a1ae5ffa42c9427

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“And what 677e848603 happened after 6686f7eb6f that?”9328d5247adbae4f

Lily asked after d847067f9d a moment of ba1e1a0a3c silence.d39cf37c230a5fa1

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“Young Master Ethan also 38c2e7ca67 found out about it. He suspected 70f60359fb Alice was b32f07dc19 someone’s spy. She was 248affb368 imprisoned in 88fa175cc8 the basement 95afc8701c and tortured, 77bc587452 and although f6b44a1861 she managed f203ac707e to escape, 2b7a47e502 she was 1d7bd50fd6 caught by d74a796f27 the former b99f6d9652 Duke. The former 79dd2902ec Duke, upon 734c99bc06 hearing the efa39d686c details of eae17ffbe9 the incident, 40c181e091 initially intended 5d22b67acd to dismiss 2f436b77a5 Alice, but 012e59b565 then it 76e8739814 was discovered 3497190e67 that she 627a15ae5c was pregnant…”1fc27f8e04928058

Mary could no 1f4b451054 longer look at ddb60e8811 Lily’s face. Staring at the 02172e4347 floor, she mumbled,9dfe3e5225f24462

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“The former Duke 45f2f6c246 was furious when d3c5c7b5b0 he heard that. He said he 4d02c010a1 didn’t need a 6bad6bbaa6 bastard child from 69c7c0fda3 a lowly maid… 2d343855f4 So, Alice was… d03df26e8d b-beaten to death 601a69914c by the Duke, e7f6070f2c and Young Master fd4c3955a3 Arthur was also 5d910c427e assaulted by the 2e85a54236 Duke…”e9f966b56034be36

Unable to continue, c657d7a2f4 she stopped speaking 108a334821 and trembled. Her legs felt weak. She struggled to stay b02f0d7013 upright, feeling as though be70a602ef she would collapse onto be788e8868 the carpet. After a long silence, 894a8f929c Lily asked again in 5fbc9ac7b3 a strained voice.c69739e031ab5fc8

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“What happened after 80c0956a0a that?”a72a66662a095f85

Mary looked 4adbe46c22 up, startled.484d6436ad20f132

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“Mrs. Wilson told me d88e1e5a61 I shouldn’t tell 33b6f2528b anyone about this. She said only 9a35e0d2dd a very few c23f193f43 people knew about fbb4ab2479 it, and that d4cd8988dd we should say 2cc0e2fbf7 Alice simply left 19b6ac54d7 for her hometown 6caf9f6476 due to poor afbd41868d health…”1106b8edab68ae88

Lily sat in 50313efb47 silence for a c723f0ad7d moment, then nodded 2a59d3dd42 and waved her f330f26ff4 hand dismissively, signaling bce8704203 for Mary to 057fa98dac leave. Mary bowed her 4fdfde3414 head and quickly 34061872e3 retreated. Guilt choked her chest, 126c34bc7b but it was too 411c0ca960 late now.749f91047b938158

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Although it was true that Alice had died, she honestly didn’t know the truth about the pregnancy. Before the incident, Alice had boasted to her that she would seduce the Young Master and sleep with him to improve her situation.e6696eb5561fb659

Even Mrs. Wilson had 330bd648d7 been unaware 199b35f185 about this. Alice had d18f2e5dd6 confided in e21da5bde0 her alone, 391eadab2c and before 5efcd3220b Mary could 2aa8551fec report Alice’s 30b89e3622 intentions to d467304d0d Mrs. Wilson, the series of 098f9e4c4a events unfolded like a 4b7cdb2d78 storm.ff50a3448f2bcff6

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Furthermore, even if she 0027e14a52 had reported it, Alice’s 2b05918628 punishment for deceiving her d24c6bf505 master would have been a2ff4995bb inevitable. Whether she was 2a686a0c69 actually pregnant or bbe9d8f2b9 it was a 9b6e759720 lie, the outcome cd2e5bf2ec would have been 8bdbcfebc2 the same.48d2e37ff8085c2d

No master would tolerate 65614a2426 the audacity of a 7a2b7f564d presumptuous servant who didn’t 0088d09ccd know her place. That’s why Mary had 9b2e3501f9 hesitated even more to ae6088e969 report it.591fba400d42b2f0

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Mary sighed and looked c8438f6bb6 back at the Duchess’s 4a7a201074 room one last time. 8b6fdbf80eb82df6

I hope Madam isn’t f62dbd14b6 too hurt. 3d0dbd2864f42006

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Mary lowered her head e4ff4cfd97 and began to walk cfbdea85d2 downstairs with heavy steps.c421d02e619b452c

─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───51005356bbcb5c63

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Arthur took a 2e37a9f927 large gulp of 3de3736793 wine. 925851ae028ce862

As usual, he and 9a20616e8e Ethan were sitting across fa7d9c2ca3 from each other in eb4d2983e9 the study after dinner.6d8d3a0324ba6756

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“Things are getting 3ba5642797 interesting. It seems there a 6cc93f8242 high chance things will 4c833079fe continue to unfold as 2769a32e15 we anticipated.”db2fe96b727a0b0d

Ethan, sitting opposite 04b6b2f38c him, said leisurely ef374a0d2a as he sipped 7c76fd9b82 his wine. He looked 6d4eead83b bored as 176cd83a02 if watching 3a5ba79f6c a predictable c8d99c16e4 gambling game. cbe605298648fd4f

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Arthur chuckled, resting 81cd130460 his chin on 39ca7515fc his hand.58f4d69a50311e1b

“If your prediction cdf2a4c01d is correct, shouldn’t d3a29617f7 you be more f78a7b5b80 concerned?”249c415dc01426d9

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“Not likely. That fool’s actions are 4420e4a393 quite predictable.”706084a4bf0e6309

Ethan took another sip 16ec5a38b5 of his wine, looking aa122635fa as if the topic bd66116eb7 wasn’t worth discussing further.deb7bc1ef06653b9

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“The important thing is to relay all this information to the Boss in a timely manner. Unfortunately, we still haven’t obtained clear evidence that can finish him off in one fell swoop.”94516a66e2b1925b

“Do you think f06e34fed4 the Boss will 7004283200 believe us?”87f346f2ad523e48

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“They’ll have no choice but to believe us. They saw the package with his own eyes.”15d987da373c4c2d

Arthur nodded at Ethan’s words. He was right. Ethan had gone through a lot of trouble to transport that package to the capital.2c0ae3b33849f0ab

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Due to security 8017b65dd5 concerns, they had f38442063d to devise an fbfa395b1a elaborate plan to 6118cf2e29 avoid prying eyes. Fortunately, everything 9bc212beaa worked out e65fdeeab2 well in 1ab0921232 the end.cc55f8a21ce43843

“More importantly, 1c4c8a41c4 we need 4bd0c8ed1f to keep 6c0e48c137 an eye c6dc9c8d08 on Charlotte f38207978b and make 2937016eef sure she ce8681fd3b doesn’t approach 5ee65b0c3e Lily unnecessarily. That woman a75fda87bb is capable 99c2023a7e of saying a941d96e18 all sorts 07eaf73e4a of strange a94a34a2b8 nonsense. You know that.”b002d85f0b201cdf

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Arthur nodded. His twin’s bc4f49ae54 fiancée was 35a8f789b7 no easy a02d17f3e1 opponent. For years, b5271b9c9e she had f0dba99c21 clung tenaciously fbb1ba944f to Ethan, deed4b68a2 refusing to 50feb17700 let go, 236cc043d0 despite him fab8ed46b4 showing no 47f5d0664a interest whatsoever. Her leech-like persistence 21b6626774 was remarkable.6f6e776f71e93419

The fact that she quickly latched onto the Crown Prince when things didn’t go her way showed that she was not someone to be trifled with. Regardless of her reason, it was highly undesirable for her to approach Lily and try to manipulate her.fc1ef9f5a236a927

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They checked the time and rose from their seats. Arthur went straight to Lily’s room. He had noticed that her expression didn’t look well during dinner.52f10e3008699f9a

She had 4814043723 complained of 33eec68278 a headache aea806b06b and barely 80c318e93a touched her b72810536a food, unlike 6b602e99af usual, before 3005abf171 excusing herself. He was worried 3b7f085fd5 about her.4a8d6af18c810d39

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Arthur stood in front of his wife’s door and knocked softly. He listened for a moment, but there was no response. He frowned slightly and gently opened the door.088a9c25c933946b

Only a dim b4b0447b9a lamp, its flame 9dc0bdbefb turned down low, 59966061a7 illuminated the room. Lily seemed to 6a197a232a be already asleep, 76d6f9a896 as only a 2ca9a5d35a human-shaped bulge was eac82d1c72 visible under the 1e3dbed353 covers.1b5e24a6c07bdffd

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