The Slave Queen - Chapter 101: Chapter 101

Isabel had to bite the bullet and lie, "Yes, Lady Julia was really shaken up today. She'd be terrified if the lights were turned off."
"Alright, then." Gabriel didn't press the matter.
He sighed before casting a long, deep look at the door to Julia's room. Then he said to Isabel, "When Julia wakes up tomorrow, send someone to inform me. I have important matters to discuss with her."
"Yes, Lord Gabriel," Isabel replied while nodding respectfully.
Gabriel shook his head with a frown and walked away, clearly weighed down by his thoughts.
Gabriel thought to himself, 'I just hope that when I tell Julia about this tomorrow, she'll actually listen to reason.'
After making sure Gabriel had left, Isabel finally entered the room.
Julia sat on the daybed, her face dark with anger. "Is he finally gone?"
Isabel lowered her head. "Yes, my lady."
Julia's shrill, grating voice cut through the air. "Useless. He can't even handle Raelynn!"
Julia had just heard from the gatekeeper how Gabriel had been given two stinging slaps across the face by Raelynn.
But what the gatekeeper hadn't mentioned was that Shawn had also arrived.
Just then, Katherine entered and announced, "My Lady, Vania is here."
Julia's eyes lit up with malicious glee, a sinister smile curling at her lips.
"Let her in," she ordered coldly.
With Gabriel failing to handle Raelynn, at least Julia still had an ace up her sleeve.
She thought, 'That bitch Raelynn would never have dreamed that among the maids her mother hired, there was actually one who was my spy.'
Julia didn't really know much about Vania, including her background, her abilities, or whether she could be trusted.
Yet with just a few casual appeals to her interest and some vague promises of future rewards for her loyalty, she'd easily turned Vania to her side.
Julia thought, 'It's such a shame. I never meant to settle for a lowly maid like Vania. My real targets were the first-tier maids, like Nina, Lane, and Elaine.
"At the very least, I'd hoped to recruit Eileen.'
However, every one of them rejected her proposals.
Left with no choice, Julia had to set her sights on Vania, who was a lowly maid.
After all, she was the only one who had taken the bait.
"But as a lowly maid, Vania rarely got close enough to Raelynn to learn any valuable secrets in time. It was quite a waste of Julias carefully laid plans.
Julia thought with a sneer, 'Thankfully, Vania hasn't been completely useless these past few times.
'She often passed along details about Raelynn's schedule. Even what that bitch was wearing today. That's exactly how I came up with the idea to use those carrot cakes to ruin her clothes.'
She was somewhat satisfied with Vania.
Julia thought coldly, 'Of course, someone as two-faced as Vania, who is willing to sell out her employer for a bit of profit, was never going to stay by my side once I was done with her. Who knows when she'd turn around and stab me in the back?'
While Julia was still lost in her scheming thoughts, Katherine had already ushered Vania into the room.
As soon as Vania saw Julia, she dropped to her knees with a fawning smile and bowed deeply. "Greetings, Miss Lennox!"
The mere address instantly darkened Julia's face.
Isabel and Katherine exchanged worried glances.
They were beaten for calling Julia Miss Lennox. For an outsider like Vania, they felt that she was surely doomed.
However, to the maids' surprise, Julia merely darkened her expression instead of lashing out at Vania immediately.
She took a deep breath, visibly swallowing her anger.
In an icy tone, she commanded, "Get up."
"Yes." Vania scrambled to her feet, wearing an ingratiating smile as she looked at Julia. "Lady Julia, I came because I overheard a secret about Lady Raelynn."
"What is it?" Julia asked coolly.
Julia couldn't help but sneer inwardly.
She thought, 'If she dares to barge into my room without a good reason, I'll skin her alive!
'Of course, I'd never say any of that to Vania's face. Otherwise, I'd lose my only eyes and ears in the Lunebloom Hollow.'
Vania whispered eagerly, "Just now, I saw Lord Shawn escort Lady Raelynn back to her place."
"What?" Julia shrieked, her shrill voice cutting through the air before Vania could even finish speaking.
Julia had completely abandoned her ladylike composure and sprang up from the daybed, not caring about her still-weak condition.
Not even bothering with her cloak, she strode straight over to Vania.
Towering over Vania in disbelief, her whole body trembling with rage. She demanded, "What did you just say?"
Vania had never seen Julia in such a frenzied state.
Terrified, she pulled her head in and stammered, "Lord Shawn escorted Lady Raelynn back to her courtyard..."
"My Lady!" Isabel cried out in alarm.
Julia reeled and nearly fainted.