The Princess and the Pauper (Arabella)

Chapter 1828

"Why didn't you wakeup?" he grumbled, annoyance lacing his tone.

The servant bit her lip, struggling for words. In this household, nobody dared to rouse Sean from sleep—nobody but Hans. Yet, she

dared not voice this truth, merely replying, "Next time, I'll be sure to wake you, Mr. Sean."

Learning that his sister had already had breakfast, Sean felt his own appetite wane. He nibbled on a few bites before setting off to

find her.

At that moment, Arabella and Hans were about to check on Erik, who was locked in the basement, when a servant rushed in with

urgent news.

"Mr. Collins, Ms. Collins, Erik's been motionless for quite stime," the servant said, breathless with worry. "We didn't dare to

open the door and check, fearing a trick, but from the surveillance, he's been in the sposition for so long, it looks like he might

be dead."

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Without hesitation, Arabella and Hans hurried down to the basement.

There lay Erik, sprawled on the floor. As Arabella moved to check on him, Hans held her back, "Letgo first."

Concerned for his sister's safety, he feared Erik might be faking.

Arabella nodded, watching as Hans approached and cautiously checked for Erik's breath. It took a moment before he announced,

"He's gone, cold to the touch."

Arabella stepped forward to examine the body and concluded, "He died about two hours ago, around six-thirty this morning. Did

either of you notice anything unusual at that time?"

She looked up, questioning the two servants nearby.

The servants, visibly shaken, shook their heads.

"We've been on watch the whole time, saw nothing out of the ordinary, and nobody has cby."

"Because Mr. and Mrs. Collins were worried about accomplices coming to rescue him, they set a trap outside. If someone had

slipped him poison, we couldn't have missed it."

The servants were near tears, fearing the blfor this oversight. They bowed deeply, trembling, not daring to lift their heads as

they spoke.

"You were on watch the entire time? Never stepped away?" Arabella pressed.

"We each took turns to use the restroom, but one of us always stayed. Ms. Bella, we swear it wasn't us. We didn't kill him."

Their bodies were bent at a ninety-degree angle in fear.

They knew the man was of great importance to the Collins family, and now with him dead, they were naturally the prsuspects.

"Mr. Cooper brought him in last night unconscious. We assure you, he didn't wake up for a moment."

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"We kept a close eye on the surveillance; there couldn't be a mistake. At first, he was just lying there, occasionally moving a bit.

Then he was still for so long, we thought perhaps he was trying to lure us in."

"We didn't want to disturb your rest since you hadn't gotten up yet, so we didn't voice our suspicions, just kept watching."

"Ms. Bella, his death has nothing to do with us, we're not his accomplices."

Their voices were tinged with a cry, anxious and unsure of what to do.

"I'm not suspecting you, just asking for details. Calm down," Arabella reassured them before turning to Hans, "I need to get

something."

Hans nodded, staying by Erik's side.

Arabella returned shortly with her medical kit. Inside, alongside the acupuncture set, were various other items. She took a

detection kit from it and took his blood as sample. Several minutes passed, the detection kit finally showed the result.

"He died of poisoning."