Chapter 173: Dorian’s old nemesis

"What are you doing in there?"

Elvira whirled around, the color draining from her face as she came eye to eye with Pandora and Henna.

Her hand instinctively flew to her chest, pressing hard against her cleavage where the glass vial was hidden beneath her collar.

She opened her mouth to speak, but her throat locked up completely. The sudden horror of getting caught froze the blood in her veins.

Pandora narrowed her eyes suspiciously. She and Henna had been making their way down to grab lunch when they caught Elvira slipping out of the kitchen.

She stared at the half-open kitchen door, then locked her gaze back onto Elvira.

"I asked you a question, Elvira!" she snapped coldly.

Elvira forced her chin up, desperately pulling her composure together. She slapped on her usual arrogant sneer to mask the panic rising inside her chest.

"I was only checking to see if the maids had served lunch yet," she lied. "I skipped breakfast, and I’m starving."

Pandora took a slow, menacing step forward, planting her hands firmly on her hips. "You honestly expect me to believe that? If you were just looking for food, why were you creeping out like a thief?"

"I was not creeping," Elvira hissed back. "And I certainly don’t have to answer to you."

She attempted to brush past them and walk away, but Pandora grabbed her wrist and violently yanked her back.

"Let go of me!" she shrieked, thrashing her arm in a desperate bid to break free.

Pandora shoved the door wide open and dragged her into the kitchen. "Henna, get in here."

Henna followed closely, her own suspicion already heightened. From the stories Jake had shared with her, she knew Elvira was an insane woman who couldn’t be trusted.

Pandora shoved Elvira towards the counter and took off the lid from the pot. The rich meat stew bubbled from the heat, looking completely harmless on the surface. Yet, every alarm bell in her head was screaming.

"I’m going to ask you one last time," she said, her eyes flashing with annoyance. "And I swear to the goddess, if you lie to me, I will beat your face into this floor!"

"I told you! I was checking if the maids were finished!" Elvira spat back fiercely, her heart hammering against her ribs. "I didn’t poison the food!"

"No one said anything about poison," Henna cut in, her voice chillingly quiet as she stepped forward. "Why is poison the very first thing to jump into your mind?"

Before Elvira could scramble for an excuse, the door opened suddenly, and Martha hurried in accompanied by several kitchen maids.

The older woman stopped dead in her tracks, taking in the scene with surprise and confusion. "Miss Pandora? Is something wrong?"

"I caught Elvira sneaking out," Pandora reported curtly, never taking her eyes off Elvira. "Given what a crazy, malicious bitch she is, there is no way in hell I trust a word out of her mouth."

"You have no right to treat me this way!" Elvira snarled furiously. "I am still your brother’s rightful mate, regardless of his marriage. You will show me some respect!"

"The fucking nerve of you!" Pandora seethed. She raised her free hand, pulling it back to strike Elvira across the face, but Martha frantically rushed forward and threw herself between the two of them.

"Miss Pandora, please," she pleaded, her hands raised in peace. "This could all be a misunderstanding. I am sure Miss Elvira had no bad intentions. Please, let us remember that today is the Luna’s special day. We shouldn’t ruin it."

Pandora took a deep breath, forcing her temper down. Martha’s plea made sense, but the feeling in her gut refused to vanish.

"Fine," she muttered, her eyes burning into Elvira. "Martha, serve lunch for the house immediately. Including Elvira. Since she swears on her life she did nothing to the food, she is going to sit down and eat a bowl right in front of me to prove it."

Elvira’s eyes dilated in horror. Her brain frantically churned through options while she fought to school her expression.

"I refuse to do it! I am sick to death of you all treating me like the enemy. Besides, I’m not even hungry anymore!"

"Not hungry?" Henna challenged, her brow arching high. "Didn’t you just say you were starving because you skipped breakfast?"

That shut Elvira up.

"Martha!" Pandora snapped, keeping her eyes on Elvira. "Dishes on the table. Now! I hope Dorian makes it back soon, so you can explain to him why you’re terrified to touch a drop of that food."

Without giving her a chance to run, she hauled Elvira into the dining room and shoved her hard into a chair. Then she took the seat right beside her, her gaze locking onto her like a predator watching a prey.

Henna took the seat across from them, her arms crossed, waiting for the food to arrive.

Panic threatened to swallow Elvira whole. If Dorian suspected that she was working with Conri, or that she was targeting Alyssa, he wouldn’t bother locking her away; he would tear her throat out himself.

Once the food was set before them, Pandora shoved the bowl forward and glared at her.

"Eat. If you poisoned it, you’ll be lucky to die a quick death compared to what my brother will do to you."

Elvira knew she was cornered. There was no escape. Gritting her teeth, she squared her shoulders, picked up the spoon, and brought the stew to her lips.

Pandora sat inches away, monitoring her closely. Elvira swallowed bite after bite, her mind screaming in terror as the stew slipped down her throat.

Ten minutes stretched out slowly. When nothing happened after, Pandora’s harsh gaze slowly softened, her deep suspicion finally beginning to expel.

Seeing the shift in her expression, Elvira seized the moment, her posture stiffening with indignation. "Happy now? I told you I did nothing wrong! You cannot keep treating me like a criminal simply because of my past mistakes. Everyone deserves a second chance!"

She violently pushed her half-empty bowl away, rising from the table in a display of dramatic outrage, and stormed out of the dining room.

But the moment she reached the hallway, her rage evaporated into cold panic. She bolted into her bedroom, locked the door behind her, and rushed into the bathroom.

With shaking, sweaty fingers, she pulled out her phone and dialed Serena’s line.

It was answered on the second ring.

"What do you want?" Serena snapped from the other end.

"Serena, I’m in trouble," Elvira hissed into the receiver. "I need the antidote for the potion!"

"Wait, what?" Serena shouted back. "What the hell are you talking about? What antidote? What happened?"

"The vial you gave me!" Elvira whispered furiously. "I put it in the food, but Pandora caught me sneaking out of the kitchen. She forced me to eat it right in front of her! I need the antidote. I don’t want to die!"

"You aren’t going to die, you idiot! The liquid isn’t a toxin. It induces a comatose slumber."

"I still need the damn cure!" Elvira shrieked, tears of terror blurring her vision. "I can’t fall into a coma like the rest of the house! You have to come here and get me out!"

A long pause stretched over the line before Serena spoke again, her voice chillingly detached. "Actually, I think it’s better if you fall asleep with the rest of them, Elvira."

Elvira’s breath caught in her throat. "What?" she gasped.

"Think about it," Serena continued. "You’ll wake up in twelve hours completely fine. It’s the ultimate alibi. When Dorian realizes the food was drugged, suspicion will completely bypass you because you were found unconscious like everyone else."

Elvira opened her mouth to protest, but her jaw suddenly felt slack and heavy. A wave of exhaustion hit her, turning her limbs weak.

She stumbled out of the bathroom, her knees giving out completely as she collapsed onto cold tiles.

"S–Serena..." she slurred, her eyes heavy as she teetered on the brink of consciousness. "I... I don’t... like this..."

"It really is for the best," Serena replied, her voice sounding faint and unbothered through the speaker. "We can’t have your wild behavior messing up anything. If all goes according to plan today, Alyssa will be dead before sunset. One of Dorian’s old nemeses is already heading to the Academy as we speak..."

Her cruel laughter kept buzzing through the phone’s speaker, but Elvira couldn’t hear it anymore.

Her phone slipped from her limp fingers, and she plunged into unconsciousness.