CH 213

Chapter 213: The Count’s Death

Leticia’s beautiful and pearl-like face paled. She gripped her fist tight. There was no other way to deny this. She had publicly threatened Count Clovis’ wife — said that if she did not want to die a cruel death from poison, it was best she keep her mouth shut. 

She was able to say those words freely because of the count. He lusted after her body, endearingly so, and she made use of that. She used it as leverage. Leticia thought it a fair trade. 

But in one day, everything turned upside down. She was regaled a wanted criminal. News of this snaking its way through her ear caused her inner wrath to explode.

“Then what am I to do?!” Leticia screamed hoarsely. “You mean to tell me that I have lived my whole life for nothing? Crawling on the floor, sneered at as an illegitimate child all my life meant nothing? Even though this was not what I wished for? I… I never asked for any of this!” 

Her label and title as an illegitimate child followed her from the moment she was born. Ech*es after ech*es pierced her ear continuously for as long as she could understand the human language. She was not at fault for the status of her birth, yet fingers continue to point at her and mouths continue insulting her. Maybe her father might have put an end to those sniding remarks. He was of noble birth; he had riches, he had power, yet he was barely holding on from the minimal pension he received from Rihannan. He never protected her. The situation only worsened when tried his luck on gambling, his debt piling up in masses.

“I also didn’t want to kill my own father, my own blood. But if you learned that you were being sold off to slavery to pay someone’s own death, you’d do something, right? That’s why I killed him! I never wanted to! I…”

Her own blood, the father who promised her a new world, threatened to sell off his daughter to a life of servitude and slavery. It was the only way he could pay off his mounting death. And when she learned of this, she came to a sudden realization — she needed to cast him aside to survive. It was only her in this world. 

She hurriedly purchased poison. Had she poisoned him over a long-period of time, chances of someone learning the cause of his death was high. She needed something potent, something that caused death instantly. She found it not longer after. One night, her father came home drunk. In his drunken state, she mixed poison on the last cup he drank. He noticed something amiss when his body reacted strangely, but it was too late. He tried calling the servants, but Leticia hurriedly covered his face with a pillow, pushing it down on him till he breathed his last.

He breathed no longer. Leticia laid him on top of a blanket covered with bloodstains; she opened a bottle of pills and placed it next to him. After a job well done, she rubbed her hands and instructed the servants not to disturb him. He was deep asleep.

Finally, the worse had passed.

And as expected, her family members were embarrassed that he committed suicide after suffering from massive gambling debts. They quickly covered up the cause of his death like blazing lightning.

She received a lump sum payment for her father’s pension after his death, but after it was taken piece by piece by debt collectors, she had nothing left. The family members from her father’s side avoided Leticia like she was a leech, an infectious disease. At that time, a noblewoman took pity on her. The noblewoman suggested Leticia serve her and live in her home.

“How about coming to my home and work as a maid? Since half of your blood is of noble background, I’ll make sure you do not do any dirty work. Simply cleaning up the study room is plenty enough.

Leticia’s happiness was short-lived. She harbored deep hatred toward the noblewoman after the words she spouted. The noblewoman, she played a perfect act like she was giving Leticia an incredible favour. This was laughable. She would work as a mere lowly maid. Bitterness spread across her heart. She thought of tossing poison onto her face. 

When the noblewoman remarried Viscount Olbach, Leticia realized that her chance for revenge finally arrived.