Chapter 36 Chapter 36 Bella/Some people have complicated thoughts...
The next day, Isabel asked Emily to meet Victor by the lake.
It's a deserted place, so you won't be seen by anyone.
When Isabel and Emily arrived, Victor was already waiting under the big tree. When he saw the Duchess, he immediately stepped forward and nodded in greeting.
"Madam, you asked me to investigate the medical records of the four dukes' fiancées, and I've got the results." Victor handed over a stack of documents that detailed various medical records.
Isabel looked through it carefully and couldn't help but frown: "No symptoms of poisoning or cold?"
"Yes." Victor's expression grew serious. He paused, then said seriously, "The family doctor who treated those four women has served the Spencer family for many years, but..."
"We can't rule out the possibility that he forged the medical records." Isabel picked up on his hesitant words.
"Yes," Victor nodded. "The doctor who detected the wisteria spice in the clothes yesterday is a military surgeon who has been accompanying the Duke and has no ties to the estate."
Isabel praised: "You are very perceptive, Mr. Victor."
He was able to react immediately, avoiding the manor's doctor and asking for a military doctor without alerting the enemy.
Victor said calmly: "Thank you for your praise, everything is the Duke..."
"Duke?" Isabel asked casually as she flipped through the medical records. "Weren't you sent by Lady Violet?"
Victor was stunned for a few seconds and glanced quickly at the tree.
The sky was clear and the azure blue water reflected the swaying shadows of the trees and a corner of the hem of a piece of clothing exposed through the branches.
The man in the tree snorted in his heart.
Fortunately, he was careful and didn't completely believe Victor's words!
Apparently, his fiancée hadn't guessed that Victor was the one he sent to help! Those things about "admiring him" and "playing hard to get" were all just Victor's nonsense!
After receiving Emily's request for help yesterday, Victor suggested that the employer should appear in person today, since everything was clear anyway.
When the time for the meeting came, Heinrich thought for a long time with a serious face, but it still didn't work!
It's very possible that his fiancée might have other ideas about him, but... he has no plans in this regard!
Now that she's in trouble, why not just send someone to help her? Why did he come uninvited? How could he possibly cause misunderstanding?!
So, Victor didn't keep an eye on his employer and he climbed up the tree.
There was no time to persuade them, as Isabel and Emily were seen from a distance, so the professional assistant had to cover for them in a serious manner.
"Uh, I mean... everything was arranged by the Duchess." Victor remained calm.
"Okay, thank you for your hard work, Victor. Please thank the old lady for me." Isabel nodded without any doubt. "But please keep this matter a secret for now. Don't tell the old lady."
Victor was silent for two seconds, and suddenly began to doubt his own judgment.
Such a poor excuse, as light as a layer of window gauze, is there really anyone who can resist exposing it?
Or was the future Duchess not as clever as he'd imagined? Had he truly failed to anticipate the situation?
Then the end of my job as a snail assistant, where I had to hide things from my superiors and subordinates, run errands everywhere, and occasionally work as a mood analyst, would be a long way off...
But he remained expressionless and nodded, "Okay, Madam. The old lady asked me to help you. From now on, I will naturally follow your orders."
"Oh, I was just about to ask Mr. Victor a favor," Isabel said with a smile. "Please also ask Mr. Spencer if he could contact the families of his four previous fiancées in his name. I have something important to discuss with them. As you know, he's very busy, and we often don't get to meet. And I'm not currently qualified to pass on messages privately without having to go through everyone in the manor."
"This..." Victor pushed his glasses and coughed twice.
In the tree, Heinrich thought about it and frowned: Reject her!
Suddenly, some fruits fell from the tree for no apparent reason and hit Victor on the head.
He immediately threw away the fruit and said sternly, "No."
Isabel raised an eyebrow.
"I'm saying I'm afraid the Duke wouldn't agree. The Chalvis Manor is extremely secretive about the deaths of its four fiancées, and their family has almost no dealings with us," Victor said, unburdened by his employer's image. "It's well known that the Duke is unsympathetic, cruel, and difficult to deal with. Even if you were his fiancée, he wouldn't make an exception for you."
In the tree, Heinrich rolled his eyes. Although he knew that Victor was following instructions, he felt like this kid had wanted to scold him for a long time!
Isabel's eyes moved slightly, and she smiled without any anger: "Okay, then I'll think of other ways. See you next time, Mr. Victor."
"Goodbye, ma'am."
Victor nodded respectfully and turned to leave.
"Emily." As Victor walked away, Isabel looked at the maid beside her and asked, "Did you ask who made the dress yesterday?"
Emily hesitated and said, "Edith said Eleanor gave it to her. These new dresses were all custom-made by the old lady through her usual tailor. They include clothes for the entire Spencer family. It's hard to say who tampered with them."
Isabel frowned and nodded. "Before the clothes were delivered, no one knew which dress Violet would choose for me. If everyone was tampered with, the scope of accidental injuries would be uncontrollable. Therefore, the perpetrator was identified inside the manor."
Emily's eyes lit up. "That's right. Besides, the doctor said that the wisteria spice is smoked in, and it won't be effective just by touching it. If we infer based on the time of the process, only Eleanor had the opportunity to commit the crime."
Could it be Eleanor?
As the old lady's maid, does she have a conflict of interest with me? Why would she help Edmund?
Isabel lowered her eyes in thought and slowly paced by the lake.
Birds fly by the lakeside in the summer, the water is as clear as a mirror, and the breeze blows across the green grass, rustling the leaves.
In the tree, Heinrich also fell into deep thought because of these words.
The poison hadn't been administered before the old lady sent Eleanor to distribute the dresses. What other procedures did Eleanor have to go through after she got the dresses?
The birds flying across the lake were like neatly ironed cloth being cut by a sharp blade.
Suddenly, both of them had an idea at the same time!
"I understand." Isabel smiled and beckoned Emily to come closer. "Help me do something..."
Looking at Isabel's confident look in the gap between the forked treetops, Heinrich's eyes moved slightly and he chuckled in his heart.
"Okay, I'll go right away!" After hearing this, Emily ran away in a hurry.
Isabel watched the little maid leave, but she did not leave immediately. Instead, she sat down against a big tree.
By now, everything was pretty much figured out. Edmund was going to kill her before the wedding, and now all she had to do was get evidence without alerting him. Then she could strike back fiercely.
Just like the day she first arrived in Chalves, she faced the lake and looked at the statue of Margaret in the distance. The lake reflected her thoughtful expression.
Overhead, Heinrich stared at the water for a moment.
Suddenly, a small stone was thrown into the lake, causing ripples.
Isabel raised her eyes like she did that day: "Who?"
There was more curiosity than surprise in his tone.
"Hello again, future Duchess." The deliberately lowered tone quickly reminded Isabel of the name.
She chuckled and leaned comfortably against the tree, "Henrik?"
The man sneered: "I am honored that you still remember me."
"After all, I haven't received any threatening letters from Mr. Henrik."
In the tree, Heinrich raised his eyebrows secretly and snorted coldly: "You are in trouble. Why do you have time to waste here instead of solving the problem?"
"Oh, you heard everything. Oops."
Isabel lowered her eyes and looked at the white skirt reflected in the lake. A smile flashed across her eyes, but she sighed. "It's because an important link has not been resolved. The Duke refused to help me."
Heinrich scoffed, "Don't harbor any illusions about your husband. While he's a brilliant and brave warrior with countless merits, he's definitely not a man who listens to his fiancée and is easily influenced by her."
Isabel held her chin and chuckled, "How come you are so familiar with the Duke, Henrik?"
"Please don't try to find out my identity. I am very mysterious and powerful." Heinrich leaned against the tree trunk and lazily grabbed a handful of leaves to play with.
One of the leaves fell quietly from between the fingers, fluttering in the wind and landing in the palm of the snow-white hand.
Under the tree, Isabel lifted a leaf and carefully observed the veins in the sunlight.
"Well, Mr. Henrik, the all-powerful one, would you be willing to do me a favor?"
In the tree, Heinrich paused and raised an eyebrow: "Help you write letters to the families of your four fiancées who died of illness?"
"Yes, I think you're so elusive that you should be able to avoid the manor's postman and deliver the letters secretly." Isabel said casually, "Isn't that right, Henrik?"
She called out the name again, the ending tone was lazy, as if with an ambiguous smile.
Heinrich snorted coldly: "If the Duke doesn't help you, what makes you think I will?"
"I'm just giving it a try. We met by chance. If you're willing to help me, then we're friends. We're even now."
Recalling that abrupt first meeting, Heinrich was silent for a few seconds.
The reason he hinted to Victor to reject her just now was not that he really wanted to stand idly by.
It was within his ability and it wasn't difficult to do it by just moving his fingers, but he didn't want his fiancée to have any other ideas.
Now is the perfect time. Since I am using the identity of "Henrik", I don't have to worry about my fiancée misunderstanding me as "Heinrich".
Thinking of this, he hummed and said, "Okay, I can help you."
"Thank you. I'll send Emily to you with the letter, at the same time and place tomorrow. Thank you."
Isabel said this casually, then lay down on the soft grass and gently closed her eyes.
The final steps were arranged and she finished thinking.
The weather is very good today, the air is warm but not stuffy.
The breeze brings coolness, and the big trees provide shade, blocking the glaring sunlight. It is a perfect time to catch up on some sleep.
Isabel covered her eyes with leaves, feeling the rippling water and the chirping of birds and cicadas.
She finally understood why "Henrik" loved coming here.
The magnificent castle has soft mattresses and luxurious decorations, but it is also filled with intrigues and schemes that are difficult to guard against.
Even this level of struggle did not consume too much of Isabel's mind.
But after all, the other party was coming for her life, so she had to keep her nerves taut most of the time. This resulted in her not having a good night's sleep since she came to Chalves.
In fact, in her two lives combined, her favorite things to do were sunbathing and sleeping.
This is the first time I’ve picked up my hobby since leaving Norman Manor.
Hearing the even breathing under the tree, Heinrich leaned his head out, only to see leaves covering her eyes and her light blue skirt blooming on the green grass.
"Don't you have any guard against strange men? You just fell asleep like that?" He frowned.
Isabel closed her eyes and said lazily, "This is Charvez, I'm the Duchess, and you're Mr. Henrik, who can't threaten me even if you've seen me change clothes. What do I need to worry about?"
Heinrich rolled his eyes and said coldly, "It seems that I am too upright, which makes you mistakenly think that all men in the world are like this!"
Isabel laughed. "Yes, there are many people named Henrik in Chalves, but only one is so upright."
Heinrich frowned and said nothing.
It seems that she has inquired about this name.
Silence flowed quietly, a breeze swept through the treetops, and a few leaves were blown down. Seeing that they were about to fall on the blonde girl's face, one hand quickly grabbed the leaves to block their way.
Under the tree, Isabel was completely unaware and seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep.
Heinrich endured it and did not disturb the silence.
Suddenly, her voice sounded again, "Why are you called Henrik?"
Heinrich was stunned for a moment, then scoffed, "Why? Of course we ordinary people have ordinary names. Henrik is no different from Tom, Smith, and Jack."
"Your father got it for you?"
Isabel asked casually, but Heinrich fell silent unexpectedly.
He leaned against the tree, gazing at the statue of Margaret in the distance, and said calmly, "My mother named it."
Henrik is similar in pronunciation and spelling to Heinrich. When he was very young, he always mispronounced his own name, so his mother said that Heinrich should be nicknamed Henrik from now on.
"It seems like a good wish." Isabel said calmly.
Heinrich paused and snorted indifferently: "Maybe."
Henrik sounds like a child from an ordinary family who will have an ordinary but happy life. Perhaps at the moment of naming him, she did have such a beautiful wish.
But that doesn't matter.
Heinrich lowered his eyes and scanned the lake with a cold gaze.
By the time he had swallowed the complex emotions that had been aroused, the blonde had fallen asleep.
This time she was really asleep, because the noise of him coming down the tree and approaching did not wake her.
Heinrich stared at her for a moment, his eyes scrutinizing.
His fiancée was undoubtedly a smart person who was good at being on guard, but at this moment, he was a little confused as to why the two states of "fully armed" and "completely relaxed" appeared in her in such a contradictory way.
I suddenly remembered Victor’s words - why not give it a try?
Heinrich unconsciously clenched his fingers, his tall figure blocking the cool breeze from the lake, his curly black hair drooping over his eyelashes, his eyes reflecting her sleeping face.
He sat down by the lake, his back to the lawn, restrainedly keeping a distance of several meters, but his back just blocked the glaring sunlight, allowing the person behind him to sleep peacefully.
Heinri stared blankly into the distance.
He was a little confused about his emotions at the moment.
Hearing Victor's words, he was annoyed and shocked at first. He spent the whole day in the study looking up techniques for mending socks before he finally calmed down.
He should have been relieved to know that she had not guessed his identity, but instead of feeling relieved as expected, he felt a sense of inexplicable depression.
If she didn't know that "Henrik" was "Heinrich", why did she trust "Henrik" so much?
If she knew, why was she pretending not to know? Had his help during this time made her mistakenly believe he liked her? Was she, like him, keeping her distance from him, not wanting him to cross the line?
Or is it really like Victor said, that she is playing hard to get because she likes him?
How did she come to this absurd conclusion? Was she just pretending to know that "Henrik" was actually "Heinrich"? That's ridiculous!
He's not a naive guy who's never been liked by someone. Can't he tell if the opposite sex has feelings for him?!
But if she didn't have a good impression of him, why would she accept his help so calmly and even trust him so much... trust him so much that she even slept right under his nose!
Anyway! Who did she trust, "Henrik" or "Heinrich"?! The Duke was clearly her legitimate fiancé! How could she place the same trust in a stranger?!
Wait... No, both of them are him!
Why are you getting so stuck on this?!
Also, why was he so concerned about which identity she preferred?!
baffling!
Assuming that she is completely unaware and has no feelings for me, shouldn't I breathe a sigh of relief and go back to sleep immediately?
What are they doing now? Watching each other sleep?! This is unbelievable!
The more Heinrich thought about it, the more pale his face turned. He felt that his thoughts were more tangled than the thread on a sock! He had made the right choice by reading the book yesterday!
Looking down again, I saw that all the grass around me had been pulled out, revealing the dry soil.
“…”
Throwing away the haystack, Heinrich took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
If the book told him that he could return to normal by mending a hundred pairs of socks himself, the Duke would agree immediately.
Too bad I can’t…
He could no longer tell whether he wanted her to know or not!
To put it more clearly, he couldn't tell... whether he thought she liked it or not...
Ripples appeared on the surface of the lake. He was as solemn as the statue in the center of the lake, or like a hellhound guarding the palace of Hades.
Want to try it?
I thought of this sentence again.
He raised his eyes slightly and looked at the light blue silk skirt.
That day, she also wore such a dignified and gorgeous dress, shining brightly on the racecourse.
The strong wind blew her golden hair into disarray, and she held a bow in her hand and shot an arrow through the clouds.
His gaze moved to her palm. The wound from the bowstring had not yet healed, and deep red bloodstains ran through her palm.
——Something too lethal, it can both defend her and hurt her.
This is true for weapons and people alike.
Heinrich was silent for a moment. The cool breeze blew, and his fevered mind gradually calmed down. He slowly withdrew his outstretched hand.
The medicine bottle suddenly fell out of his pocket. He picked it up, poured out the last two pills and swallowed them.
The empty bottle was thrown into the lake, creating a ripple that quickly vanished, returning the entire lake to its calm state.
Heinrich's vision gradually became clear.
In mythology, Cerberus, the three-headed dog of hell, is a spiritual beast that guards the underworld, but he is also an evil beast with a taste for killing. No one knows that his limbs are shackled and he tames himself in the darkness.
The hellhound met Hades, the god of the underworld, who freed it from its shackles. However, Hades was also bitten by the insane beast, but he was able to tame it with his powerful divine power. Myths always end with an ideal state, but reality is different.
He is not Cerberus, and there is no Hades in the world. He must walk alone on the road in the darkness.
Heinrich stood up and took one last look at her injured hand.
The leaves covered her eyes, and Isabel breathed evenly, unaware that she was being observed.
A gust of wind blew by, and the footsteps slowly moved away.
-
Time passed, the sun gradually set, and as the warmth faded away, Isabel finally woke up.
He raised his hand, his eyes fixed in shock.
I saw that the palm of his hand was wrapped in gauze. The technique looked very professional and there was a faint smell of medicine when I smelled it carefully.
Isabel was silent for a moment.
In fact, she didn't care about this minor injury. To hold the bow and arrow, there was always a price to pay. And she had plenty of strength and means.
However, she also doesn't mind the careful care from others, which will help the wound heal faster.
She brushed off the grass on her body, stood up, and adjusted her appearance facing the lake.
After a short rest, we will face the battle again after regaining our strength.
The light blue skirt gradually fades away with her elegant steps.
Behind her, the fallen leaves were blown up by the wind. They were the ones that fell from the treetops and were picked up by her.
Without either of them knowing, the tender green leaf rolled in their palms, and finally fell into the soil and turned into spring mud.
Just like she didn't know that while she was sleeping, someone's thoughts were turning around and around, and eventually drifted away with the wind.
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The author has something to say: Hehe, the attributes become a little clearer after writing this.
Large Tibetan Mastiff (unmutated version) and its trainer.
It will bark fiercely, but will also secretly lick its owner's wounds with its saliva.
While fighting side by side, one person will be willing to submit.
After this struggle plot ended, the two couples started getting married!
P.S. The details of the Greek mythology are fictitious, and the house fights and subsequent power struggles are also my own creations. Dear readers, just enjoy reading this and don't try to identify the real history. We are mainly light-hearted and entertaining articles.
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