Instead, the liquid hung suspended in the goblet, sloshing violently against the silver rim, held back by the sheer strength of Evelina’s grip.

Selene’s eyes went wide.

In Evelina’s eyes, the System flickered again, a massive prompt appearing in front of her.

[DECISION POINT: THE SISTER’S BETRAYAL]

[Option 1: Forgive.]

Release her quietly. Play the role of the saintly sister. (Reward: 0 points. Status: ’The Martyr’)

[Option 2: Humiliate.]

Expose the intent. Return the ’gift’. (Reward: +500 Heart-Wrecker Points. Status: ’The Predator’)

Evelina looked at the prompt. She looked at the options as if she were choosing a dessert from a menu.

Forgive? Evelina’s mind echoed the word with a cold laugh. What a silly question it is! I didn’t come back from the dead to be a saint.

She felt Ace’s gaze on her from across the room, waiting to see what the she would do. Along with the rest of nobility, the Empress’s curiosity was peaking as well.

They all saw what was playing out but they didn’t try to stop it because they were intrigued. They wanted to see how she would deal with it.

Selene tried to pull her wrist away, her face flushing with a mix of fear and realization that something was wrong, "Evelina... I—I tripped... Let go..."

Evelina smiled quietly as she tightened her grip until Selene let out a muffled whimper of pain.

The court was silent, watching the two sisters locked in a frozen struggle. The Empress leaned forward, a delighted smile spreading across her face.

Evelina looked at the glowing red box floating in the air raised a brow

[SELECTION CONFIRMED: HUMILIATE]

Evelina’s lips curled into a smile.

"Since you were so eager to share this wine with me, Selene," Evelina whispered, "I think it’s only fair that you enjoy it first."

With a flick of her wrist, Evelina twisted her grip.

The goblet inverted dark liquid fell directly onto the center of Selene’s pale pink bodice.

Selene screamed in pure horror as the wine soaked through her expensive chiffon, staining her skin and her reputation.

She stumbled back, the silver goblet clattering to the marble floor with a ringing sound. How could it be...

How could Evelina have become so heartless?

She had always been as meek as a mouse, the easiest to bully and corner. How could she act like this...?!

[Notification: Target ’Selene’ is 100% humiliated and enraged!]

[Notification: Target ’Ace’ is 60% bewildered and 40% aroused!]

A-Aroused?

Before Evelina could dwell on it, the notifications kept bombarding.

[Reward: +500 Heart-Wrecker Points!]

[Sneaky Note: The Empress is cackling internally.]

[Current Balance: 4000 Heart-Wrecker Points]

Evelina stood up slowly, looking down at her sobbing sister coldly.

"Someone get my sister a towel," Evelina said to the stunned servants, her voice dripping with mock concern, "She is so delicate that she keeps getting involved in such accidents every once in a while.’’

Across the room, Ace felt a sudden jolt of adrenaline that he could barely understand. Whatever this was, it made him feel a thrill he had rarely felt before.

Selene stood frozen, her hands hovering uselessly over her chest as if she could somehow scoop the stain back into the goblet. The pink chiffon, once the symbol of her lily-like purity, now looked like a grisly wound.

And at that moment, she heard Evelina order the palace servants as if she was the Empress herself. Get her a towel? Was she deliberately mocking her?

Selene wanted nothing more to grab one of those towels and choke Evelina but she had understood at this point that Evelina wasn’t faking her brand new personality.

There was something different about her and before Selene figured it out, she couldn’t act up.

"I... don’t need any towel," As she spoke, Selene sounded pitiful, enticing the tender hearts of many of the noblemen present in the scene.

"Oh, heavens..." Evelina gasped in sisterly concern, "I know this is embarrassing but don’t put a strong facade now..."

As she spoke, Evelina moved.To the onlookers, it appeared as though she were reaching out to steady the trembling Selene.

But nobody noticed the way her black-gloved hands caught Selene’s shoulders, pulling her upright with a firm, almost painful grip.

Evelina’s fingers hooked into silver-threaded strap of Selene’s silk embroidered pouch where the ’Saint of the North’ kept her most private essentials.

And right at that moment, the strap snapped.

"My hand! It slipped..." Evelina cried out, her voice pitched just loud enough for the Empress catch her words clearly.

The pouch hit the floor with a soft thud, its drawstring loosening upon impact. The contents spilled across the white marble, sliding toward the feet of the nearest countesses.

Out tumbled a lace handkerchief, a small vial of rosewater, several gold coins and a tightly folded piece of parchment, sealed with a familiar but unauthorized crest.

The parchment skittered across the floor, coming to rest directly in front of the Marchioness de la Croix.

Selene’s face paled. She lunged for the floor, her wet skirts tangling around her legs, "Don’t! It’s nothing... just a private prayer!"

"A prayer?" Evelina spoke with genuine curiosity, "It looks like a correspondence, sister. And is that... the crest of the Royal Guard’s Captain? I didn’t know your prayers were addressed to men of the sword. But as expected of my sister, she always comes up with something innovative."

No matter how one heard it, it looked like Evelina had no clue about the implications of her own words. She genuinely seemed to be praising her sister, not understanding the depth of the current situation.

Marchioness de la Croix, desperate to reclaim some scrap of social power after being humiliated by Evelina earlier, saw her chance right there. If she couldn’t take down the Duchess of Alvarez, she would at least destroy the Snow family’s pride.

She stooped down, her jeweled fingers snatching the letter before Selene’s trembling hand could reach it.

"A prayer? Let us see how the Lily of the North petitions the heavens," the Marchioness sneered, flicking the letter open.

Selene let out a broken sob, "Please... Marchioness, give it back!"

But the Marchioness was already reading.

Her eyes widened, her painted eyebrows climbing toward her wig. Soon, a venomous grin spread across her face.

She looked up at the Empress, then back to the letter, and began to read aloud.