Unfortunately, I'm an Evil Villainess

Chapter 130 - Trial (III)

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'I could not have attempted Lady Valentina's life over His Highness because I'm in love with Lord Damian Avington.'

Catherine wished it was as simple as standing up and saying that. It would probably cause the same outraged eruption among the audience as they did now, and better yet, it would actually be true. Father and Uncle had somehow arrived at the conclusion that this was their only chance, but it was awfully unsettling to think that proving her innocence depended on lies instead of investigating the real culprit.

She couldn't understand why Father and Uncle didn't focus on finding out the truth. They seemed to have some mutual understanding to wave her off whenever she asked about it weakly. She didn't want to pry, but more importantly, she had resigned herself to the fact that her fate was out of her hands here. All she wanted was for it to be over soon, and this small mystery was a drop in the bucket at this point.

Had she really left such horrible impressions on Lady Valentina and her friends? Were the rumours so vicious to have made Lady Valentina afraid of her? She was very sorry, if that was the case. And why was Mary talking about things that never happened? Was she being threatened or blackmailed by the secret mastermind behind the scenes? She couldn't wrap her head around it at all.

"My intention was to frame Lady Catherine. For the victim to have been Lady Valentina was an accident, and I confess now out of guilt for harming the Holy Saint."

Her double's voice was like cold water poured over her, jolting her back from her thoughts. It somewhat sounded like her own, but was flat and much calmer than she could've spoken on that podium, under the intense scrutiny of the entire room.

"I have been with the Bryant family my entire life. Lady Catherine's arrival caused a rift in the household, driving away Her Ladyship the Baroness and Lady Briana, which made the staff fall into disarray. Due to the chaos, I was assigned to the laundry when Lady Catherine contracted smallpox, and was infected from cleaning her clothes."

A murmur of pity from the crowd.

"I nearly died. The cost of the physician drained my savings and put me in debt. I was unable to work for a month and would have been dismissed if not for my begging on account of my many years with the family. I was to be wed, but my lover left me after seeing my scars, and now my prospects of marriage are permanently ruined. That is why I set out to ruin her."

Catherine winced. She didn't know how much of the statement was grounded in truth, but the emotion that had crept into her scapegoat's voice made her heart pang with guilt regardless, while the maliciousness of the confession sent a shiver down her spine.

"It was my good fortune that I resembled Lady Catherine. I came up with a plan to frame her."

Piece by piece, the evidence against Catherine would be shifted onto her.

"I overheard which dress Lady Catherine was planning to wear to her party. Without Lady Bryant's management, it was easy to get the work assignments I needed. During a laundry shift, I sewed the pocket into the dress. I had seen the design from a novel that had been popular among the servants. Despite being a commoner, my sister took care of the threadwork, so I have little experience with sewing, which worked out in my favour for the stitching to resemble Lady Catherine's handiwork."

"The household was scrubbed completely after the smallpox breakout. Every piece of clothing was washed, and I had the chance working in the laundry to steal Lady Catherine's cloak. I purchased a locket that resembled Lady Catherine's from a travelling merchant so it could not be traced. The night before, I accentuated the likeliness with makeup, as I do now, and wore the cloak and locket to buy the poison, making sure I would be seen."