“I heard Sister Elise’s cause of death was an allergy,” Marie said, biting her lower lip. “She supposedly had an acute allergic reaction to a strange Northern food ingredient called ‘Lacquer’.”
“But… that’s impossible. She had already eaten Lacquer before.”
“…! Is that true?”
“I’m certain. She ate it with me.”
Marie’s favorite play, *Scarlett*, featured an old woman from the North who was unjustly imprisoned. The woman’s dying wish was to taste the nostalgic food of her hometown one last time. Deeply moved by the play, Marie had searched everywhere for Northern ingredients to make a stew.
“It seems Lacquer allergies are indeed common. While eating the stew, I realized my lips were swelling up. It wasn’t Sister Elise’s lips, but mine.”
Marie spoke with emphasis, as if hammering home a point.
“I was the one allergic to Lacquer. Not Sister Elise.”
“…!”
“That day was a secret between the two of us. Since Lacquer isn’t a common ingredient, the Grand Duke probably felt comfortable making up a story. But I’m the only one who knows! There’s no way she died from a Lacquer allergy!”
The blood vessels in Marie’s eyes burst, spreading a deep scarlet hue.
“Grand Duke Kalan is Taylor John. That man murdered my sister!”
There was a profound sense of desperation in Marie’s voice.
‘It’s certainly suspicious.’
Elise’s claim that she had met Taylor John before she died. A sudden, questionable marriage followed by a suspicious death. Every piece of circumstantial evidence seemed to scream that Grand Duke Kalan was the culprit.
But…
“What do you think? Can we arrest Grand Duke Kalan with my testimony?”
“I’m sorry, but that will likely be difficult.”
“What? Why?”
Marie pressed me, her expression filled with a sense of betrayal.
“You told me I wasn’t being strange. You said I wasn’t crazy! Didn’t you believe me?”
“I do believe you. I believe you’re telling the truth, Miss Marie.”
“Then why… you’re a policeman!”
“…Excuse me?”
“You came here to protect me, yet you’re saying you can’t arrest the Grand Duke?”
Only then did I realize there had been a misunderstanding.
‘Ah, I see. No wonder she didn’t ask for my identity.’
She had mistaken me for a police officer.
‘Come to think of it, it makes sense.’
I had visited her secretly right after she had requested protection from the police station. It wasn’t strange for her to assume I was with the force.
“I’m sorry, Miss Marie, but I’m not a policeman. I’m a detective.”
“…What?”
“The police rejected your request. I’m just a detective who came to find you after hearing your story while I was trailing Taylor John.”
I didn’t feel great about the fact that I had unintentionally impersonated an officer.
“However, even if I were a policeman, nothing would change. We wouldn’t be able to arrest the Grand Duke based on your testimony alone.”
“But why?! Anyone can see he’s the killer!”
“That’s…”
‘Because the opponent is a Grand Duke.’
A traveling salesman with a criminal record could be arrested just for loitering in front of a house, but high-ranking nobles like the Grand Duke of the North were difficult to even investigate. Such was the reality of this Empire.
I decided to sugarcoat the bleak reality slightly rather than stating it bluntly.
“It’s because your testimony is entirely circumstantial evidence.”
This was also true. Elise Crimson went to see the Grand Duke alone and saw Taylor John that night? So what? Does that prove the Grand Duke’s guilt?
The fact that the Grand Duke’s fiancée avoided the marriage for unknown reasons, only to suddenly marry him and die immediately after. The fact that the second wife also died right after the wedding, just like the first. The fact that the Grand Duke’s stays in the capital overlapped with Taylor John’s active periods.
These were all suspicious circumstances, but none were decisive evidence.
‘I feel bad for Marie, but the Grand Duke is so suspicious that it almost makes me think he couldn’t be the killer.’
If someone this glaringly suspicious was Taylor John, there was no way Detective Baron would have failed to catch him for five years.
“B — But what about the allergy? Sister Elise wasn’t allergic to Lacquer! I clearly saw her eat it without any issues. Does that not count as evidence?”
“Didn’t you say it was a secret between the two of you? Is there anyone else besides you who witnessed Miss Elise eat Lacquer and remain fine?”
“That’s…”
“Your testimony will lack credibility.”
I could easily predict what would happen. People would claim Marie was delusional due to her addiction to plays, or that she was slandering the Grand Duke because she didn’t want to marry him. It was unfortunate, but that was the reality.
Marie was speechless for a long time, eventually bowing her head with a sorrowful look. It was a pitiful surrender.
“Therefore, we cannot arrest Grand Duke Kalan immediately, but…”
Looking down at her slumped blonde hair, I spoke.
“That doesn’t mean you have to go through with an unwanted marriage.”
“…!”
“I will protect you.”
It wasn’t an impulsive offer.
‘It’s certain that the Grand Duke’s wife is in danger.’
The first and second wives died in succession, and it had been revealed that the first death wasn’t a simple accident. There was no way the third wife would be safe.
‘Even if that weren’t the case, I couldn’t just let a girl be dragged away to a marriage she hates.’
I wasn’t exactly a saint, but I wasn’t crazy enough to ignore a situation like this. My funds were a bit tight to add another mouth to feed, but…
‘Whatever. If it comes down to it, I’ll just ask Chairman Peterson for help.’
This would be much safer than leaving her to the unreliable police.
“I swear on my title as a detective. I will take responsibility for your safety until the investigation into Grand Duke Kalan is complete.”
Marie offered me a faint smile.
“Thank you, Detective. I mean it.”
“There’s no need for that. Protecting a witness is a detective’s duty.”
“But I’ll have to decline your offer.”
“…What?”
I was momentarily stunned by her firm rejection.
“Miss Marie, you are objectively in a dangerous situation right now.”
“I know. But it’s okay,” Marie answered stoically.
“You requested protection from the police. Is it that you only want protection if it’s from them?”
Did she not trust me?
“It’s not that. It’s just… I’ve changed my mind.”
“Changed your mind…”
“I went to the police station because I was so scared. I’ve felt like I was in danger from the very moment the Grand Duke proposed to me.”
Marie muttered in a dark voice.
“I’m an oddball. I prefer my solitary hobbies over mingling with people, so I’ve rarely appeared in public. Sister Elise told me there were rumors that I don’t show myself because I’m deathly ill. So I…”
Marie’s lips trembled.
“I thought the reason the Grand Duke proposed to me, despite having no connection to me… was precisely because of those rumors.”
My heart grew cold at the implication of those words.
‘Did he choose his next wife based on who would be the least suspicious if they died?’
“I was terrified. Sister Elise appeared in my dreams every night. She would stroke my cheek with her cold hand and whisper that we’d see each other soon. The wedding day felt like my execution day, and the altar felt like my guillotine.”
It was an unfair level of terror for someone so young to endure.
“That’s why I impulsively ran to the police station to ask for protection. I was out of my mind with fear. But that very day, my father showed me a document.”
It was the marriage certificate. The contents written on it were utterly unbelievable.
“There was a massive penalty fee listed. It was an amount that would shake the very foundations of our family if the engagement was broken due to my responsibility.”
“…!”
Marie let out a hollow laugh.
“My father… he really, truly believed that Grand Duke Kalan was a flawless spouse. That’s why he must have stamped that contract.”
The father who had pampered her his entire life had snapped at her with cold indifference. He told her that if she still refused to marry despite seeing the contract, she should enter a convent in the distant South. If she chose that, she was never to set foot in the capital again.
From that point on, Marie fell into deep thought. Should she disappoint her only family, bankrupt her household, and flee to a convent just to save her own life? Or should she walk into her own grave?
“I thought about it for a long time, and then I suddenly felt it was so unfair. Why are my choices like this?”
Choose between losing her family’s money and honor to the Grand Duke, or losing her life? She had already lost Sister Elise; did she have to lose more? Why was every path for her one of loss?
“I was so furious. So I changed my mind. Instead of being the one who loses, I’ll be the one who takes.”
Marie clenched her fists and shut her mouth tight. Tears welled up in her bloodshot eyes, but they didn’t fall.
“I’m going to get revenge on the Grand Duke. My first choice was to report him to the police and put that bastard on the execution block, but since that won’t work, fine. I’ll step up myself and take what is rightfully mine from him!”
“Exactly what do you plan to do?”
Marie answered immediately, as if she had been thinking about it for a long time.
“I’ll go down to the North as the bride-to-be, find the marriage certificate the Grand Duke holds, and destroy it. Once the engagement is canceled, I’ll find evidence that he killed Sister Elise and get my revenge!”
If both copies of a marriage certificate were destroyed simultaneously, the engagement would be nullified. While her goal of breaking the engagement and getting revenge was progressive and noble…
“You plan to do that alone?”
It was absurd. No matter how hopeless the situation, how was this any different from suicide? A fifteen-year-old minor, a fragile noble lady, intended to enter a serial killer’s home ground, toy with him, steal his property, and escape.
‘Does she think this is some kind of game? Is this Dead by Daylight?!’
No matter how I looked at it, it was hard to expect a good outcome.
‘I’d rather tell her to leave everything to me and stay out of it, but…’
I stole a glance at Marie. Her mouth was set so firmly that creases formed on her chin, likely to hold back the tears.
‘…With an expression like that, there’s no way she’ll listen even if I tell her to step back.’
If I forced the issue and she decided to act alone, that would be truly hopeless. After deep consideration, I spoke up.
“If that’s the case, how about we collaborate?”
“Collaborate? You and I?”
“It’s late, but let me introduce myself formally. I am Haze, a detective. I’m trailing Taylor John with a few friends. I also suspect that Grand Duke Kalan is a strong candidate for Taylor John. I intend to investigate him.”
Marie’s tearful eyes sparkled.
“In other words, I share the same interests as you, Miss Marie.”
“The same interests…”
Seeing her mutter it as if it sounded cool, it seemed my word choice had been excellent.
“So let’s cooperate. If you hire me as a servant and take me to the North with you, I will handle the investigation as a detective.”
“You said it was a cooperation. If you investigate the case, what do I do?”
“Your presence there is enough, Miss Marie. Just by being the prospective Grand Duchess, you… will become the killer’s target.”
Marie flinched. Knowing full well what I was doing, I spoke even more coldly.
“I am suggesting that you act as bait. It’ll be better than jumping in alone, but it doesn’t change the fact that you’re essentially leaping off a cliff. Miss Marie, are you prepared to face death?”
‘I hope she backs down after hearing this…’
However, Marie forced a smile onto her pale face and asked.
“If I draw his attention, can you really catch the culprit?”
I couldn’t bring myself to lie about this one thing.
“Of course.”
Losing the silhouette of the black-hearted culprit was as impossible for me as ignoring this pink-clad girl.
“Then… fine. Let’s do it.”
“Are you sure you won’t change your mind?”
“The protagonists of *Scarlett* eventually jump off a foggy cliff, too. The prison tower was higher than expected, and the rope wasn’t long enough. They didn’t know if there was land or water below, or how far they would fall, or if they would live or die. But they jumped anyway. So, what I’m saying is…”
Marie reached out her hand toward me.
“I’ve always wanted to try it once. Jumping off a cliff.”
I reached out to grab her hand… but then used my reflexes to form a fist instead.
—*Bump.*
“Hehe.”
Marie, having bumped fists with me, nodded with a satisfied smile.
“Then let’s do our best for our shared interests!”
—
Thus, the Grand Duke Kalan investigation team was formed.
The members included me, Haze, a detective who wasn’t great at deduction but was confident in catching criminals. Miss Marie Mansell, an eccentric noble lady, play enthusiast, and prospective Grand Duchess.
And…
“Why do I have to be here?”
“Hey, where a detective goes, his assistant follows, right?”
“I know that… but why do I have to be here wearing *these* clothes?!”
Lur Poiren, my assistant, who was currently wearing a pink frilled dress and looking miserable.
“It can’t be helped. This is all part of the operation.”
It was a dream team.
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