Chapter 32: Pry For Empathy

Jalen yells, baffled at his older sister's stupidity even after her constant warnings to him. At this very moment, Myra's aware he must think of her as a fool, or even a hypocrite for being so strict on everyone but herself.

Although the pain might be excruciating, it couldn't compare to the psychological burden she must've carried across her lives. Pain will be her weapon rather than her poison, in whichever form it may come, and it must be her job to make full use of it.

"It's not that serious," Myra still dares to say as her breath starts to hitch and tears well on the bottom of her eyelids. Her cheeks have flushed and her lungs have started to feel as if they hold no more space within them.

Jalen furrows his eyebrows deeply, feeling even insulted that she takes him for someone that can be fooled so easily. "You're being stupid. Why on earth would you touch something like that?"

"Blackmail," Myra meets his eyes in a stoic gaze through heavy-lidded eyes. Jalen feels a shiver run down his spine as he hears the determination in his older sister's wavering voice. He straightens his back against the seat and frowns, turning his head as he turns his head out to face the window.

Myra sighs deeply with resentment as she throws her head back, begging herself to hold on for a while longer before giving in to the pain.

The carriage makes a turn towards the Ruskin manor but the young lady already suffers with a sickening feeling spreading through her stomach.

As the carriage jerks to a stop, Myra's head grows heavier and she lurches in her seat, consciousness fading.

What she hears last is Jalen's voice over the throbbing of her heartbeat in her ears but doesn't remain awake long enough till help gets to her.

When she does wake up several hours later, Myra is filled with endless shock, thinking she'd surely died. She sits up abruptly in her bed, running her hands across her body to make sure she's alive.

Raising a hand to her forehead, she realises that she's inflicted with a deep fever. Leia and Jen are by the bedside, crouched on the ground as they wait for her to awake.

The family doctor's also in the room and he lifts his head quickly at the sound of the sheets shifting. "You're awake!" the maids yell before the doctor can make his announcement. Myra's lips shift into a weak smile.

"I'm sure you know the reason why you're in this state, young lady," Doctor Aren smiles, wrinkles framing the shape of his smile.

Myra turns her head away with a sickened expression, slightly annoyed that the doctor could tell. Perhaps she's less mad that she'd been knocked out unconscious for a while but that she's being figured out.

"Likely what happened was you touched a plant with a poisonous outer coating, which got onto your gloves and seeped in. And whichever species you did touch, has high amounts of toxins. It's a privilege to see you alive, I must say."

"Privilege? You mean to say I could've died?" her jaw falls agape.

Myra raises her finger to her face and chews on her finger tips nervously. Her eyes dart around the bed which is in her immediate view and she's sure the sudden racing of her heart isn't because of the poison.

If she'd something so impulsive that could've completely shattered all her plans for good, she's going to have to make good use of this. Ariana, that sly vixen.

Myra's expression darkens farther till it seems almost like she carries an entire storm in her eyes.

"Indeed so, it's only because the butlers had been so kind to prepare an anti-toxin to cancel out some of the effects of the poison that it didn't affect you more than a three-day sleep," Doctor Aren then folds his arms and presses his clipboard against his chest.

Myra's head starts to spin with the possibilities of what she should say, because she couldn't possibly ruin everything by saying it was deliberate—no one would believe her and it's best they don't.

Whipping her head towards the doctor, she makes a frail expression and lowers her hands under the blanket in a way that makes it seem like she's cold in her humid room. "My lady, is there any problem? You've been looking quite pale since you woke up."

"I just recalled… Ariana had intentionally invited me to the greenhouse and while I was begging to leave, she insisted that I follow her. And she kept egging me on to touch a plant of hers saying she'd grown it herself and I would be a terrible person if I were to act against the hostess' wish," she cries, pressing her hands against her face to feign a reddened face.

A sob chokes out of her throat and she quivers like a vulnerable little girl. Doctor Aren's eyes grow twice in size at the statement and snaps his neck backwards as the two other maids in the room.

Upon noticing their expressions, equally horrified, he chews on his lower lip in thought and decides it's essential that the duke is informed immediately. "I feel so horrible that I've been betrayed like this because I was so trusting," she continues to wail.

Doctor Aren's expressions shift into one of genuine worry as he leans forward, hovering a hand over his patient, wondering if there's anything he could possibly do. "We'll inform your father of this incident, okay? He's been tense wondering the cause of your wound."

Mizuki raises her hand, revealing puffy eyes and lids bright with crocodile tears. She pouts her lips and nods, though celebrating the success of her act internally.

Minutes later, alongside Leia and Frederick who pauses outside the door, Duke Ruskin storms into the room with his jaw clenched and a furious expression on his face.

He slams the door wide open in a manner that Myra had never seen before, to the point she almost trembles at the sight of her agitated father.

Almost fearful that she is the object of his sentiments, she considers melting into the sheets of her bed. "Is it true?! Did those Bougainvillea scoundrels hurt you, my daughter?" his lips curve down to show worry but his eyes flare with the same intensity as hellfire.

Myra clutches onto the fabric of her nightgown.