Chapter 387

“You... Sophie nearly lost her composure when Eliza spoke She bit back her imitation and said, “But you’re not officially part of the Black Flag, Your Grace, Isn’t it inappropriate for you to take charge of this search?

Sophie managed a strained smile and added, “After all, everyone knows about the bad blood between us, so what if you...”

Sophie left the sentence hanging, but the message was obvious to anyone listerring.

It was clear to everyone that Sophie wanted to say, “What if Eliza plants something inside to frame me?”

Eliza turned toward Sophie, her expression calm, her features lit by a faint smile. “I’m not as despicable and shameless as you.

Sophie’s face darkened in humiliation, but before she could speak, Eliza continued, “Still, you raise a valid point. Since you! re so worried, I shall search from the doorway.”

From the doorway? How would that even work? Sophie thought.

As confusion swept through the crowd, Eliza turned her hand, revealing a small vial.

Renee stepped forward, took the vial from Eliza, then crouched down and tipped it onto the ground. In an instant, dozens of thumb–sized white spiders crawled out of the bottle. There must have been 20 or 30 of them.

As the spiders scattered into Sophie’s room, everyone immediately understood what Eliza had meant. Gabriel’s face darkened further, his expression grim.

The moment Gabriel saw those spiders, everything clicked. The one who had ruined the foreigners‘ plan–it had been Eliza. Eliza was the one who had placed the parasites on Sophie, an act that caused them to be arrested by the Ministry of Justice and locked away in prison.

If only I had known then, I’d have exposed all of Eliza’s tricks without hesitation, Gabriel thought.

But now, all he could do was hope those foreigners had left no evidence behind.

Tother credit, the foreigners‘ cover–up had been nearly flawless.

Eliza’s spiders combed the room for nearly half an hour before they finally uncovered something.

“Well, it looks like this search was not entirely in vain, Eliza said softly. She turned to Sophie, a ghost of a smile playing at her lips Sophie, whose heart had been lodged in her throat the entire time, panicked when she saw the spiders dragging out several writhing parasites bound in their webs.

She thought, “No! How could this happen? Those parasites had been hidden extremely well–how could they have been discovered so easily?

What’s more, Lucas had said that those parasites were exceptionally powerful. How could those seemingly harmless spiders capture them?

Sophie was utterly baffled Even more perplexed was the foreigner watching from the shadows From just one glance, the foreigner could tell those spiders were not the same type of creatures as the parasites. They look so ordinary–how could they possibly suppress my parasites? he wondered While the man hiding in the shadows was still trying to figure things out, he did not notice one spider slipping away from the others and quietly crawling up his clothes This particular spider was even smaller no more than a fifth the size of a fingernail–and blended so seamlessly into the shadows that the foreigner failed to notice it entirely At that moment, as if sensing something. Eliza arched a brow and carried on with her plan int this one of the foreign tribe’s parasites? At the palace banquet, you insisted the one found on you had been planted by another So tell me, Lady Sophie–how do you explain these?”

Eliza smiled at Sophie Lady Sophie, the evidence speaks for itself. The suspicion of your collusion with the foreign tribe is too great to ignore Take her away Without warning. Eliza’s smile vanished. Her voice Successfully unlocked and unwavering as she delivered the order.

Sophie panicked Father, Matthew, help me! I’ve been framed!”

She spun around, wanting to run toward Gabriel and Matthew, but a gleaming blocking her path 387 Chapter 387 The Black Flag captain who drew his weapon stepped forward, his voice icy. “Lady Sophie, where do you think you’re goin You’re under suspicion of colluding with the foreign tribe. Until the investigation concludes, you’re not allowed to move freely Sophie stumbled back, barely avoiding the Black Flag captain’s blade, her expression crumbling. “I just want to stand beside my family What’s wrong with that?” she asked.

Eliza smiled faintly. “No, there’s nothing wrong with that Don’t worry–they’ll be joining you soon enough. After all, the parasites were found in your house. You’re not the only one under suspicion.”

In that moment, Gabriel could barely contain his frustration Those damn idiots! I told them to get rid of everything, but they still left some parasites behind! And, of all places, they were found in Sophie’s room! he thought angrily.

As Gabriel tried to think of a solution, Matthew suddenly lunged forward.

“Get out of the way!” Matthew shoved the Black Flag captain aside and stood protectively in front of Sophie, his eyes burning with fury as he glared at Eliza.

“Eliza! What exactly do you want?” he yelled.

Eliza found his anger amusing. She smiled coldly. “Haven’t you already figured out my intentions? So make your choice. Either I send Sophie to hell personally, or you call off your engagement with Diana.”

E