‘Yeah. As expected, I suit it better. Much more than that brat!’
All he had to do was find the body of that girl named Marie. The Grand Duke would fall, and this genius detective who revealed everything would rise.
‘It wouldn’t be bad if the lady were found alive, just as that knight wanted.’
Of course, that wouldn’t happen, but it didn’t seem too bad either. It was because a plausible newspaper headline came to mind.
‘The Grand Duke Who Spirited Away His Mentally Ill Fiancée. Is His Secret Sexual Preference an Idiot?’
It would be more than enough to drag the Grand Duke’s honor through the dirt. Of course, Lady Marie’s reputation would fall along with it, but what could be done! Wasn’t it natural for a woman to share the same fate as her husband (or husband-to-be)?
‘Since I’m the one saving her, the lady should be grateful!’
Even fate seemed to be following this genius detective.
“Keltas! Stop right there. No matter if you’re Viscount Elion’s grandson, rummaging through this Grand Duchy without any evidence is unforgivable—”
When the Grand Duke, who had appeared after receiving a report, tried to block his path, Keltas had already witnessed clear evidence.
“Ha! No evidence? You say there’s no evidence?”
Keltas let out a triumphant laugh and pointed his finger.
“Then what on earth is that!”
The ceiling of the corridor was open! The secret passage was clearly visible!
There was nothing obvious to climb up with, but that didn’t matter.
“You there! Bring the ladder I told you to bring earlier!”
This genius detective had already prepared in advance!
“Here it is, sir!”
A servant ran up, panting while carrying a ladder.
“Tsk, how lazy.”
Keltas tapped his foot impatiently. It was to be the first witness to discover the horrific scene. As soon as the servant stepped back, he climbed the ladder. He heard the Grand Duke shouting something to stop him, but he had no intention of listening.
‘Our positions will be completely reversed by the time I climb down this ladder, so there’s no need to listen to those words!’
The detective busily climbed the ladder. Finally, the moment he reached the top, what he saw was…!
“…Heis? Were you here first?”
It was the guard he had seen before. For a moment he was taken aback, but Keltas quickly managed the confusion like a top-tier detective.
“Just as we discussed! So, did you find the lady?!”
That guard was someone he had talked to and conspired with earlier. So to speak, he was a member of his team. Therefore, what the guard found was no different from what he himself had found. Above all, that guard shared the same goal as him. The fact that he was here was proof that he was right…!
“The lady? What on earth are you talking about?”
…It should have been, but for some reason, the answer he got was quite lukewarm.
“I am the only one here.”
“What? That can’t be true!”
The detective looked around the room in a panic. It was strange. This was definitely the secret room of the Grand Ducal Castle that his grandfather had told him about. It looked like there was no better place to hide something than here.
“Are you really here alone?”
“Does this place look wide enough to hide a person in your eyes, sir?”
As he said, the space was small enough to be seen in a single glance. The only furniture was a pathetic dresser, and even that was open and empty.
“Is the tour over?”
Keltas flinched at the voice and turned around. The Grand Duke, who had followed him up in the meantime, was sneering at him.
“Keltas Elion. I am very disappointed in you. My ancestor was so close to your grandfather that he even told him about the secret room of the castle, and yet you reveal it so thoughtlessly before others.”
“N-No. I…! To find Lady Marie…!”
“Ah, yes. That nonsense about me killing Lady Marie and hiding her body here. It’s not even funny. So where is Lady Marie here?”
People climbed up the ladder one after another. In the narrow space with no place to hide, dozens of eyes looked at him, at Keltas Elion.
Keltas, his sweet dream shattered, panted for breath. He hadn’t considered the possibility of failure. What should he do? How…
Ah, right!
“It wasn’t me!”
Keltas pointed at the person who had arrived before him.
“This man said he saw Lady Marie’s body disappear, that Lady Marie’s body must be hidden somewhere in the castle! I only followed this man’s words—!”
“Pardon? Me?”
“What?”
The guard spoke as if he were dumbfounded.
“Do you know me? I don’t even know your name.”
“What…! Just one or two hours ago, you said it in front of that cliff! That Lady Marie’s body would be hidden somewhere around here!”
“That’s impossible. I’ve been here all morning.”
“That kind of lie…!”
“I don’t know who is lying.”
The guard looked around the crowd and said, “Did any of you see me passing through the main hall?”
This was a secret passage connected to the third-floor corridor. You couldn’t get to the third floor without passing through the main hall.
But no one had seen the guard passing through the main hall. Even the maid who had been cleaning the main hall the entire time said so.
“See? I really was in here the whole time.”
“T-That can’t be! Ah, right! Your clothes! Your clothes that were ruined after you jumped off the cliff—”
“Pardon? What’s wrong with my clothes?”
The guard chuckled while wearing a stylish long grey coat.
“N-No…”
“You’ve been saying and doing things that a commoner like me can’t understand for a while now. I suppose you see things differently through your professionally trained detective eyes.”
He pulled up the corner of his mouth and mocked the detective.
“Perhaps… could you be possessed by a ghost?”
“What? A ghost?”
“You said you saw me jumping off the cliff. Even though I was in here the whole time. Besides, the appearance of the illusion you saw… doesn’t it seem like the last image of our lady?”
At those words, the crowd began to murmur.
“It seems Lady Marie appeared in my likeness. To play a prank on you.”
The guard said nonchalantly that his lady was quite a prankster.
“How interesting. Lady Marie saw the ghost of Miss Elise, but you saw the ghost of our lady. In fact, I saw a ghost too.”
“What did you say?”
“She had curly red bobbed hair. Her eyes were tilted up, and her laughter was very high-pitched. She said she knew the secrets of the castle and ran through the castle while cackling. I chased after that woman desperately. But the moment I reached this secret passage, the woman scattered like smoke without a trace.”
“I-It’s the Grand Duchess.”
One of the listening servants couldn’t hold back their shock and blurted it out.
“It’s Lady Sarah, the second Grand Duchess!”
“R-Really… but Mr. Heis has never even seen Lady Sarah! Yet he knows her appearance so well, how on earth…”
“Someone must have told him! A ghost? There’s no way such a thing exists!”
“Who exactly? His Grace was so strict about making sure the stories of the former Grand Duchesses didn’t reach Lady Marie’s ears… huff!”
Instead of interrogating the servant who had made a slip of the tongue, the guard gave a deep smile.
“It seems that the ghost of the Grand Duchess is really wandering around the castle.”
When they heard that the lady who was supposed to be the third Grand Duchess had jumped off a cliff while being chased by a ghost, everyone thought she just had a mental illness.
But this unlucky noble lord had met the guard of the Grand Duchess at the place where she died, even though he couldn’t have been there, talked to him, and even saw him jump off the very cliff the Grand Duchess had jumped from. The Grand Duchess’s guard described exactly the appearance of the second Grand Duchess, whom he had never seen before, and said he discovered a secret passage he couldn’t have known about after chasing her.
With so many strange events overlapping, no one could deny it now. The ghost of the Grand Duchess was truly wandering within this castle. An ominous murmuring broke out.
“…I guess Lady Marie really did see a ghost.”
“Miss Elise, Miss Sarah, and even Lady Marie. They all ended up like that, so it’s not strange for a ghost to appear.”
“Shh! Have you forgotten that His Grace is also here?!”
The people were startled and fell silent. Grand Duke Kalan, who had been silent the whole time, finally spoke.
“…It seems everyone thinks this is a banquet hall.”
The atmosphere in the room turned cold.
“This is a sanctuary passed down through generations in the Grand Ducal family. Keltas Elion, I will hold you accountable for exposing the secret military facilities of the Grand Ducal Castle before the people without even listening to my warning. You’d better not think you’ll get off easily.”
“N-No…! What did I do wrong!”
“Even your grandfather won’t be able to save you this time.”
The Grand Duke gestured.
“Servants of the castle, take that man away.”
The servants moved quickly to avoid being scolded. They grabbed the self-proclaimed detective’s arms and dragged him toward the exit. The servant who had been called lazy earlier was particularly hardworking. Keltas and the servants soon disappeared into the dark passage.
“N-No! My glory! The glory of this genius detective!”
Following the sound of someone resisting violently down below.
*Thump!*
The sound of him falling from the ladder was heard.
“Ouch! My butt!”
“Stop making such a fuss! Anyone listening would think you broke something!”
“Come on, let’s go!”
Next, the sound of a heavy object being dragged was heard. The sound grew more distant and eventually became quiet. Now, only two people remained in the secret space. The guard, and the Grand Duke.
“It’s a shame none of the servants are very observant, isn’t it?”
The guard said slyly as he took off the coat he was wearing.
“Not even recognizing who the clothes I’m wearing originally belonged to.”
“……”
“Here.”
The knight, revealing his tattered clothes, handed the coat to the Grand Duke.
“I’ll return it on behalf of Lady Marie.”
“…Marie,” the Grand Duke asked with a trembling voice. “What did you do with Marie?”
Inside the secret space where only the two of them remained, a chilling conversation took place.
“Do you want her back? Your precious Lady Marie?”
“…Yes.”
“Then you’d better cooperate with me.”
The Grand Duke slowly, while trembling with rage, nodded his head. It was a violent scene that looked like it would appear in a crime drama. A shameless kidnapper and a victim being blackmailed by that kidnapper. Of course, the kidnapper was the guard, and the one being blackmailed was the Grand Duke.
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