I Was Meant to Be the Evil Wife, But the Cold Marquis Fell for Me - Chapter 35

From the moment Leivis returned home, the mansion had been strangely restless.

Servants hurried through the halls faster than usual, whispers drifting in the air.

Liliana asked if she could help, but was told to remain in her room. She borrowed several books from the library and tried to pass the time.

Yet the unease lingered through the night and into the next morning. Outwardly calm, but tension filled the house.

(Lord Leivis, what is he doing…?)

No answer came to mind. She tried to read, but the words slipped away. Only the plant encyclopedia soothed her, and she spent time leafing through it.

By afternoon, the butler arrived.

“Madam, the master awaits you in the garden. May I ask for a moment of your time?”
“The garden? …Yes, of course.”

Puzzled, she hurried out.

There, Leivis stood holding a vase.

(A vase…?)

His expression carried a trace of sternness, as though deep in thought.

“Liliana, forgive me for calling you. Could you try lifting this?”

He set the vase at her feet.

“O-okay…”

She crouched, grasped it with both hands.

“…Ugh…”

It was larger than expected, filled with water. Heavy, far too heavy. She strained, barely lifting it.

“…I-I’m sorry. I can’t…”

Embarrassed by her weakness, she gave up.

Leivis watched silently until she stopped, then nodded.

“Thank you. That was useful.”
“…What was that about?”

He smiled faintly.

“Just a little experiment.”

Back in her room, Liliana slumped.

(I’m so weak! I need training…)

She reflected, then returned to her books. Evening fell, she ate, read again. The mansion’s unrest seemed to fade.

(That vase…)

She remembered the “experiment.”

It reminded her of the time Elina nearly struck her with a vase.

So many things had happened. Recalling the “story,” fleeing her wedding night, the flying vase, the insect in her soup. Since then, precautions had prevented such incidents.

But Elina had been present when the insect soup was served.

And before the Queen’s tea party, her dress had been dirtied—ashes sprinkled, perhaps. Elina could have accessed her room, carried ash from the kitchen.

Liliana shuddered at the thought.

(What am I thinking…?)

She didn’t want to suspect anyone.

Yet the falling flowerpot in the garden, the waxed stairs—Elina could have arranged them.

And at the ball, Liliana’s sudden illness—after drinking from the glass Elina had given her. The taste had been different from Leivis’s.

Leivis had drunk with her. Elina had not. And it was Elina who led her to the resting room.

“……”

The man who entered had claimed someone had sent him.

Who would benefit if Liliana were defiled?

The thought darkened her heart. She trembled.

(No… surely not… Elina…?)

Could she truly betray her mistress?

But suspicion piled too high to ignore.

(Yet… why?)

Elina had no reason. She was a maid of the house. Liliana was property of Elsdean, bought to bear heirs. To harm her would be betrayal.

Unless it was personal hatred.

(Because she loves Lord Leivis…?)

Perhaps she wanted Liliana gone, to take her place. But the risk was immense. She could have become his mistress without such schemes.

(Or because I reprimanded her…?)

After Liliana scolded her, the attacks grew deadly. The flowerpot, the waxed stairs—each could have killed her.

Or perhaps because Leivis had rejected her before.

If Liliana died, or was defiled, perhaps she thought his attention would turn to her.

“……”

Liliana had avoided such thoughts before. She had learned to endure, to let storms pass quietly.

But this could no longer be ignored.

If she died, dismissed as an “accident”—

(I couldn’t rest in peace!)

She closed her book, set it down firmly.

“…Should I consult Lord Leivis…? Or speak first myself…?”

Elina was under house arrest. To question her, Leivis or another witness should be present.

She rose. At that moment, a knock came.

“—Madam. The master requests you.”