"Tell me," she repeated her question. "What was Miss Laeticia's crime?"

"She had a secret love affair with a guard," a male servant answered, finally reaching his limit. His eroded nerve pushed him to reply, unable to control himself. Though he dreaded violating the Duke's decree, he was terrified of receiving a punishment similar to the head maid.

"How was she found out?"

"I, I'm not certain, milady. I only heard from others that the Duchess caught her in the act."

"Who was the guard?" Elaine switched to another question.

"I heard he was a young man that recently joined," a maid replied.

"No, no. That is not correct. Miss Laeticia's lover was a guard brought with her from the House of Sabran," another maid interjected.

Someone is muddying the guard's identity.

"What happened to him?" Since Laeticia 'committed suicide,' her lover's outcome should not be too different.

"He…" An uncomfortable silence descended on the room. The servants were hesitant to answer Elaine.

"What happened to him?" she repeated, her fingers again tapping on the table.

The servants instinctively recoiled at the noise, an invisible pressure weighing on them. "They fed him to the wolves!" a manservant finally blurted out, causing an audible gasp among his peers.

"Wolves?" Although the Croix's olden name was the Grey Wolf clan, their descendants were now far removed from their origin. Based on Estella's memories, the only person who owned wolves within the estate was the Duke. Did he serve the punishment?

"Y, yes, milady."

"What of his remains?"

"Forgive me, milady. I, I do not know what happens afterward. Though…his impaled head is still outside the Isolation Tower."

"They decapitated the lover, impaled his head, then fed his body to the wolves?" she summarised the male servant's recount.

"You are correct, Princess."

Upon hearing the penalties, most servants kept their composure while others' faces squirmed, especially the younger servants, sickened by the savagery. They knew about the killing but did not learn its grotesque details until now.

The brutal punishment mentioned would have caused Elaine from one year ago to nauseate with disgust. However, the many near-death encounters had hardened Elaine, and she no longer experienced any visceral reaction to this world's bloodthirsty and barbaric killing. Her stomach no longer churned with repulsion—only a numbing feeling remained.

"Good. I have no further questions." She clasped her hands, ending the interrogation. "You are all dismissed. Those that answered my questions will receive an extra month's salary."

"Thank you, Lady Estella." The servants bowed, cleaned the dining table, and hurried outside—overcome with relief. The last two exiting servants turned and again bowed to Elaine before closing the door behind them.

She waited until the footsteps in the hallway faded, then slumped in her chair and exhaled. Elaine knew her antic today would reach the Duke's ears and hoped her little performance pleased him. Only a year separated her from the original timeline, and Elaine started feeling relentless anxiety creeping inside. After reflecting on her experiences since arriving in the book world, Elaine realized she had made little progress. Besides adjusting to her environment and accidentally involving in events outside the plot, she still needed to consolidate her position within the estate. Gerard had eyes throughout the manor. Elaine doubted he was oblivious to the increased frequency of the attempt on her life.

But why would the Duke allow the assassination attempts on his daughter to continue? Estella was his legitimate child and the future Crown Princess. Would it not benefit him for her to survive? An in-depth scrutiny of the disturbances around the manor led Elaine to conclude that Gerard was assessing her. She was never in danger since the beginning because the poison testers would always die in her place. The only logical explanation for the Duke's puzzling action was that he wanted her to solve the poisoning herself.

Estella had failed once before she arrived. Elaine could continue Estella's investigation or concede and resume her daily routines until she reached the main story. However, the original plot described Estella as the primary co-conspirator in several of Gerard's schemes. Without Estella's participation, several significant events in the book's first half would derail or cease to exist. Thus, Elaine deduced her future corporation with the Duke depended on her current efforts. Monitoring from the shadow, he continued evaluating her intelligence and ruthlessness. How far would she push to achieve her objective? Would she disregard unnecessary things like morality and emotion to gain an advantage?

Even if she failed, Elaine believed she would still become the Crown Princess, though with many strings attached, restricting her movements and Gerard becoming her puppet master. Elaine shook her head—such was not the result she desired.

However, before continuing the investigation, Elaine needed to establish authority over the servants and show Gerard her innate cruelty. No matter who the servants secretly listened to, she was the law inside the manor. Laeticia's incident gave Elaine a golden opportunity—killing two birds with one stone.

Initially, she intended to threaten the servants into submission and avoid any flesh-related punishments. However, the head maid kept obstructing her plan, forbidding other servants from speaking. Tolerating her disobedience would only sow seeds of disorder in the future, complicating Elaine's path. Since the head maid openly opposed her, Elaine followed the tides and used the woman as a sacrificial lamb—a warning to anyone considering defying her. The method worked, and the result satisfied her.

The real hard work begins here.

Elaine stretched her arms and rose from the table. No matter the obstacles ahead, she was determined to reach Estella's destined ending.