THE PLOT IS TOO STRONG

"NIGEL claims that Isaak has no personal connection to Lady Rochester," Veronica Sulien said while cutting her palm with a dagger. "Apparently, Lady Rochester discovered that Miss Ashmore has been scheming with the other ladies to humiliate Isaak using her name and seal. Thus, Lady Rochester sabotaged the plan in the most dramatic way as payback."

"That's what you get for using a lowborn woman for your plan, my little sister."

She just rolled her eyes at her older brother's 'I-told-you-so' tone.

Then, she put her hand above the pot sitting on the windowsill while bathing under the moonlight passing through the window. She watched as her blood trickled down the cracks in the soil. Slowly, the pile of dirt became fertile.

"It's not that I used the wrong woman. Miss Ashmore is the most ambitious maid that served me here in the palace. I had confidence that she could deceive Lord Rochester just as I planned," she said defensively. "After all, that child just needed to follow what I told her to do. She didn't have to think or do anything else for herself."

Who would have thought that her carefully planned grand scheme was single-handedly destroyed by the person she least expected?

"Perhaps I underestimated Lady Rochester," she admitted, ashamed of her miscalculation. "I was under the impression that she doesn't care about her position as the Rochester Heiress. I thought living in the temple for so long has made her lose her earthly desires. But, at the end of the day, it seems like Lady Rochester isn't ready to lose her position to a lowly woman's illegitimate child."

She carefully picked up the clean handkerchief on the tray next to the pot. Then she gently placed it on the cut in her palm.

"I don't think Lady Rochester cares about her position that much."

"And what do you mean by that?" she asked, then she bent her knees to get a closer look at the small red sprout emerging from the soil. "You're the one who has been obsessed with eliminating House Rochester all this time. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have manipulated the most powerful clique of noblewomen in the empire just to get Lady Rochester involved in the scheme to humiliate Isaak."

The plan wasn't only to humiliate Isaak.

If anything, it was just a bonus that the Grand Duke's detractors would enjoy. She didn't care about that because she didn't hate Isaak, anyway.

Her actual goal was to make her brother-in-law lose his mind and bring the downfall of House Rochester into a fit of anger. All the pieces of evidence that would point to Lady Rochester as the mastermind behind Isaak's humiliation had been prepared well.

But the plan failed because of Lady Rochester's unexpected move during the banquet.

"Come to think of it, why do you want House Rochester gone, anyway?" Veronica asked, then she turned around.

She focused her gaze on her older brother, who was sitting cross-legged on the sofa– wine glass in the left hand, cigarette between the fingers of his right hand.

"House Rochester is useful to us because of their wealth and military power," she told her older brother. "The only reason why I agreed to your plan is because if they fall, the Royal Family could confiscate everything they have. Having said that, I'd rather have Marquis Hendrix Rochester lend his strength and wealth to my husband than to get him killed pointlessly."

Moreover, a lot of noble households followed Rino when he ascended the throne because House Rochester openly supported her husband.

The marquis's reputation as a war hero was still useful to the Royal Family.

"You can keep Lord Rochester alive, but not his daughter."

"Did Lady Rochester offend you when you served the temple as one of your voluntary works last year?" she asked, confused. "I don't understand why you wanted her gone as soon as both of you returned to the empire."

"You wouldn't understand even if I explained it to you, Veronica," her older brother said, grinning lazily. Then he took a sip of his wine. "But I'll tell you this: the Lady Rochester that you saw at the banquet is not the Lady Rochester that I worked with during my time in the temple."

She tilted her head to one side.

[Was that a riddle?]

Her brother loved playing mind games with her.

In the end, she gave up deciphering her older brother's confusing words. She had lived with her brother her entire life. And yet, she still couldn't figure him out.

"I decided to get rid of Miss Ashmore," she said, changing the topic abruptly because she was too tired to think about her brother's riddle. "I don't want Lady Rochester to dig deeper and discover that I helped Miss Ashmore with her pregnancy."

If that happened, her secret might get exposed.

[I won't let anyone or anything steal the empress position from me.]

"Yeah, you should do that," her brother said, blowing smoke into the cool air. Then, he turned to her with glowing green eyes. "Don't underestimate Lady Rochester again, Veronica."

"I won't," Veronica said. Then she turned around to face the "plant" that she was growing. She smiled when she saw that the sprout earlier had turned into a red mushroom now. "I will listen to you this time, Brother Vaughn."

***

"WHAT did you like about Grand Duke Viotto?"

Zoe almost rolled her eyes at her father's question. God, their estate was so big that they hadn't reached the manor yet, despite entering the premise ten minutes ago. It wasn't like the carriage was slow or something. It was just that they had to pass through a man-made forest first before arriving at the mansion. "His Grace is a good person, Father."

She opted for a standard and safe answer because she thought a father would want to hear his daughter say that she found a good man.

But the scowl on Marquis Hendrix Rochester's face told her that he didn't believe her.

"I'm sorry I lied, Father," she said, taking back her bullshit and deciding to be honest instead. "I like the Grand Duke's visual, Father."

""Visual?""

"His face, Father," she explained, her enthusiasm now genuine. "Grand Duke Viotto is so handsome." And sexy. But she had a feeling that she shouldn't say that to her father. "He's such a face genius."

This time, it seemed like her father believed her.

"I'm glad that your attraction to the Grand Duke is superficial," Marquis Rochester said. "I have nothing against His Grace, but he has too many enemies. You're going to live a tough life if you become closer to him, Zoanne."

She was a little stunned by what her father said.

To be honest, she thought her father didn't want Isaak Viotto for her because the Grand Duke was a ghoul. But it wasn't the case. The marquis just simply didn't want his daughter to be involved with a dangerous man with a lot of enemies.

"Father, you're a good person," she said, touched. "If only you weren't such a tsundere…"

Her father obviously looked confused by the literally out-of-this-world term that she used. "A what?"

She smiled sweetly at him. "Nothing, Father."

Thankfully, her father didn't get the chance to ask again because the carriage stopped and the coachman announced that they had arrived at the mansion.

The knight opened the door for them, and the marquis went out first. Then, he assisted her in getting out of the carriage like the gentleman that he was. She wasn't surprised to see the servants lining up in front of the mansion to greet them.

But she was surprised when the head maid and the head butler approached them with an anxious look on their faces.

Ah, the head maid and the head butler were the real ones that served the family and not the ones that Milli-bitch brought when her father left the mansion.

[We asked them to move back to the mansion as soon as we found them.]

"My lord, my lady, something terrible has happened just now," Maria, the fifty-year-old head maid, said in a calm manner despite looking anxious. "Miss Ashmore is gone."

She almost choked on her saliva. "Gone as in... dead?"

"She's dead?" her father asked calmly. "What happened?"

Jonathan, the head butler in his late fifties, swallowed hard before he spoke. "Miss Ashmore took her own life, my lord."

Zoe, upon hearing that, felt sick to her stomach.

If Millicent Ashmore took her own life, then the baby was also gone.

[But why…?]

Isaak Viotto didn't make a move this time. How come the true "villainess" who tried to humiliate him still ended up dying?

[Is it because Milli-bitch and her baby died in the original novel?]

If that was true, then all the characters that died in the original novel would still die in this "setting." The cause of death may change, but not the characters' fate. If her hypothesis was correct, it could only mean one thing.

[I will still die in the end…?]

Wow, the plot was too strong.

***

NOTE: Hi! Please consider ADDING 'I Won't Let The Ghoul Duke Go Hungry!' to your LIBRARY. Thank you! <3