Chapter 22

Isabel touched her mouth. And then she got up from her seat.

‘That’s fatal. This is a very poisonous insect.….’

Isabel was genuinely afraid of this situation as she trembled.

“My face, my skin!”

If you eat poisonous insects incorrectly, your skin could age, or you could have a disability.

“Give me medicine for vomiting. Where’s the puppet grass? That’s the medicine for vomiting.”

“Isabel? What’s wrong?”

Isabel, almost floundering, opened the kitchen door as she crawled on all fours.

“You damn thing, why did you feed me that stuff?”

Isabel, who ran outside swearing, tripped into something and collapsed on the floor. To make matters worse, her head began to hurt.

“Help me, hurry up, sister!”

At that moment Isabel felt something was wrong.

Freya and Jay, whose faces turned white, were looking down at Isabel.

“What did I just hear? What have you been feeding me so far?”

Freya held out her trembling hand.

“Mother heard it wrong, didn’t I? Right? You can’t…….”

(t/n: Freya is referring to herself as Mother in this sentence)

“No, Mother, this is!”

Isabel rose from her seat.

“I am wrongly accused. Sister tried to take what’s mine, and Grace…… Grace…….”

Slipping.

The door that was closed behind her back opened again.

Before she knew it, Nicole was looking at Isabel with a calm expression.

“Yes, Isabel. You forgot about your friend, didn’t you?

Isabel turned her head slowly. She looked at Nicole in disbelief.

“Karen and Jen. Why did you make such good friends and didn’t tell us? If you had told us, I would have invited you.”

“You, you…”

‘She did this because she knew everything.’

This was a trap.

Isabel pointed to Nicole with trembling fingertips. But it was Freya, not Nicole, who answered.

“At first, I didn’t believe it either. You’re trying to steal a lady’s house who lives alone. And you’ve been mixing my medicine with poisonous insects!”

Jay raised Isabel when she tried to plead her denial.

It was not a gentle nor a soft touch, but rather full of strength.

It was the first time she felt embarrassed by Jay, which was unusual.

Freya slapped Isabel on the cheek.

“Mother, did you just hit me? Not Nicole, but me?”

Slap!

Isabel’s cheeks were hit again several times.

Then Freya threw the bottle at Isabel’s feet. It was a small bottle of medicine that Isabel had made so far.

What was different from usual was that it contained poisonous insects inside.

“What is this, and what did you put in Nicole’s tea?”

“Did you see that, too?”

“I watched through the door as Nicole told me to. By the way, you, to your family…… You are….”

“Jay.”

Nicole looked at Jay. Jay grabbed Isabel’s clothes.

“Let go of me, what’s wrong with you!”

The force tore Isabel’s shirt.

Tektuek

Something fell on the floor. It was all poison and medicine that Isabel brought from the hut near the abandoned mine.

“Did you try to feed this to Sister?”

Jay looked at Isabel with disgust.

“You’re crazy. You’re a devil! I can’t believe you’re my family!”

Nicole was very calm. She only observed Isabel quietly.

This whole thing was planned from the start.

??

Her plan dates back to this morning.

Nicole overslept this morning.

‘I have to prepare breakfast. And I have to look into Mother’s condition…….’

As she hurried down to the kitchen, there were loud noises everywhere.

It was the sound of Jay scrambling.

“Jay? What are you doing?”

“Ah, sister.”

Jay looked awkwardly at Nicole.

“I tried to prepare some breakfast on my own because you seemed to be sleeping in because you were tired.….”

“You know what you’re doing.”

This year Jay was only 17. In addition, most of the vegetable garden behind the house was taken care of by Jay.

“I also know how to prepare food or light the stove.”

“Do you know that you’re about to put all the jam into the soup?”

“Why am I holding this?”

Jay said with a puzzled look. Nicole stopped laughing.

“Get out of here. Don’t make more work. I appreciate your heart.”

Jay, who was scratching his head, turned his back again as he was about to leave.

“Well, sister.”

“What?”

“Is there anything else I can do to help?”

“…….”

“I heard that Sister told Isabel to help you with the housework a while ago. I heard it from Mother. Come to think of it, I’m sorry, too. You always do the hardest chores because you’re the eldest. Don’t push yourself too much.”

Nicole was surprised inwardly. When did Jay grow up like this?

“Thank you, Jay. I thought you were closer to Isabel.….”

“That’s because she talks a lot!”

Jay put on a straight face.

“I always told you. Isabel is as innocent as the youngest, so I always watch and protect her. That’s why I paid a lot of attention.”

“…….”

“But Nicole noona was the one who raised me since I was young. It’s natural that I rely on noona the most.”

(t/n: noona means older sister, if spoken by a male)

His words touched Nicole’s heart.

“Thank you for saying that, Jay.”

At the same time, Nicole felt sad.

‘He has a great personality and is a genius healer.’

Jay would have enjoyed his life more if he had been a nobleman of the Yveschapel family.

Jay should not be a child to rot in this mountain either.

“Then Jay. I have a favor to ask of you……. Isabel will be out later.”

Nicole whispered.

‘I asked Jay to search Isabel’s secret lab.’

Nicole thought it was important to reveal Isabel’s true self to Mother.

‘But Isabel is Mother’s favorite child.’

In order for this revelation to not look like a setup, Jay and Nicole have to discover Isabel’s strangeness at the same time.

?Isabel did this to my medicine? No, my child wouldn’t do that.?

Of course Freya didn’t believe it at first.

However, Nicole also calmly explained Isabel’s plot to take Grace’s property.

?I also found out by chance while following Isabel secretly because she left home in the middle of the night. The plan that the child is plotting…….?

Jay also helped Nicole.

?Mom, I can’t believe it either. I saw it…. Indeed, Karen and Jen live in a cabin near the abandoned mine. As she said, I went to see them.?

Jay was sensible in his own way.

So he knew Isabel kept going out suspiciously for a long time.

However, he pretended not to know because he thought Nicole and Freya’s worries would increase.

Then, as Nicole said, he went down to Isabel’s lab and was shocked with what he saw.

Nicole didn’t miss that opportunity and told him everything Isabel was planning. Jay followed Isabel’s trail near the abandoned mine and secretly checked on Karen and Jen.

?Mother. Actually, I can’t believe this either. So, why don’t you try checking on Isabel??

Nicole said quietly.

That was the whole story of this plan.

??

“I can’t believe you really fed Isabel poisonous tea. How could you… You’re not even human!”

(t/n: Again, Isabel always refers to herself in the third person. Don’t be confused)

“Isabel, I didn’t feed you poisonous tea. What I fed you was a lot of sugar and nutritional supplements. If you take it a lot at once, you become excited and blood circulates quickly. So the symptoms you feel now are the effects of the supplements and sugar. Or the fear of being caught doing what you did.”

Isabel quivered her lower lip. Then she clung to Freya.

“Mother, sister misunderstood something. Isabel doesn’t do anything bad. Sister is the one who went out at night and went around seducing people!”

“Shut up, Isabel.”

Freya breathed helplessly but stared at Isabel with eerie coolness.

It occurred to her that Nicole had not seen this side of her mother in a long time.

“Even if we live on a mountain like this, we always tell you to live with pride. You’re a disgrace to your parents, Isabel. What you’ve done will be discussed again when your father comes. Until then, you should be punished.”

“No! I don’t want to be locked up. Isabel will die then!”

“Jay. Nicole.”

“Yes, Mother.”

Jay was strong, so it was not difficult to overpower Isabel.

Nicole had Jay bind Isabel with a rope she had prepared beforehand.

“Eup, euup!”

Isabel tried to say something, but her mouth was blocked.

“Keep her in the warehouse.”

Freya said. She barely stood holding onto the wall.

Nicole and Jay dragged Isabel to the warehouse.

“Woo, uh, woeo!”

Isabel resisted with a grotesque sound.

The two siblings locked the door. And they sighed and looked at each other’s faces.