Chapter 83
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 83
"Lady Rohanson is not a criminal. It will be fine."
"Not a criminal? Are you so blinded by love that you can't even grasp the situation? I can't believe the noble Paladin has fallen this low."
The Imperial knight sneered, his words dripping with contempt for Gabriel. Gabriel stared back coldly and replied in a flat tone.
"Perhaps I was simply overrated."
"Yes! It seems so! I must have been completely mistaken about you."
With that, the knight refused to speak to Gabriel again. In my opinion, that knight was definitely a fan. He must have been furious that his favorite idol had neglected his duties to play house with some woman. I could almost understand how he felt… But Gabriel wasn't about to leave the sulking Imperial knight alone.
"I would like to speak with the young lady alone for a moment. Would you mind giving us some space?"
"Are you aware that you are currently under surveillance, Sir Gabriel? No, never mind. Go ahead and have your little chat. I, on the other hand, will go report to Dame Musetta."
To that knight, I was now a witch who had seduced the Paladin, and Gabriel was my partner-in-crime who had abandoned his faith for me.
Huffing, the knight gathered his colleagues and stormed out of the dungeon. Gabriel, seemingly unbothered by the display, continued speaking. This guy really didn't care about anyone outside his inner circle.
"It seems the eyes watching you were of no use."
"Well, the lights went out, so no one could see anything."
Even with so many people in the banquet hall, the moment the lights went out, it was impossible to see a thing. Ah. Speaking of which, thinking back on it now, there was something strange about that moment.
"When the lights went out, I bumped into someone. It was pitch black, yet they knew exactly who I was. That’s when the red stains got on my dress."
I hadn't uttered a single word, so the theory that they recognized me by my voice made no sense. If they deliberately smeared blood on me, wouldn't that make them the culprit?
"Do you remember the voice?"
"Yes. It sounded like a teenage girl."
It was definitely different from Bishop Marik's voice. So, was Bishop Marik not the culprit? I only suspected her because her veil made her look like some kind of suspicious mastermind. She seemed to have a terrible relationship with Dame Musetta, and she probably didn't get along with the Crown Prince either. But would an exorcist kill someone just because of a bad relationship? Was she that confident she could handle his ghost if he came back for revenge?
The maid wearing the scarf also crossed my mind, but she couldn't speak, so I ruled her out.
"On the contrary, the culprit might be someone close by. For instance, Lady Jeremia."
Gabriel brought up a different name. Jeremia… the one with the green necklace who was dancing with the Crown Prince until the very end? A princess, not the bishop?
"Are you referring to the Princess?"
"Yes. We must keep all possibilities open."
It felt surreal that I was the only one excluded from those possibilities. Even though he wasn't with me, he firmly believed I hadn't killed the Crown Prince. I was actually a little touched. It seemed all the stringing along I'd done so far wasn't in vain.
"Since the banquet hall doors were closed, it couldn't have been an outside intruder. And because it happened in such a short window of time, the Princess, who was closest to him, cannot escape suspicion."
But I recalled how she stood there dazed, letting drops of blood fall onto her face, utterly shocked by her father's death. It was hard to see her as the culprit.
Yet, as Gabriel said, Jeremia was in the best position to commit the crime. She was closest to the Crown Prince, and it would have been easy for her to hide the dagger. The only reason she hadn't been on my list of suspects was that they were father and daughter.
If Jeremia really was the culprit, did that mean Gabriel was trying to uncover the truth of his niece murdering his brother? Truly, no matter where you go, the imperial family is a soap opera-level mess.
Wait. Before that, did Gabriel even know the secret of his birth? He resembled the Crown Prince so much that everyone must have known about it secretly. Surely he wasn't the only one in the dark?
He was in a situation where he had to prove his niece killed his brother just to clear the name of the girl who was leading him on. Shouldn't I tell him beforehand?
While I was agonizing over this, the topic of conversation shifted. I’d tell him the next time he visited. The secret of his birth was shocking enough for me; I needed some time to prepare myself mentally.
"Madame Toten and Miss Hena have safely escaped the Imperial Palace. I assigned Uriel and a trusted knight as their escorts. However, Lady Rohanson's coachman…"
Gabriel paused. The coachman? He must mean the beastkin who filled in for Melek.
"…was found decapitated. It seems they made preemptive moves in case you tried to flee, My Lady."
The person who framed me must have also taken out the coachman, anticipating that I might try to run. No, Mr. Coachman! Did he die because of me, just for coming to help? He only came as a substitute today because Jelly called him.
Guilt welled up inside me. He wasn't even an official employee; how was I supposed to send the obituary to his family? I’d have to talk to Jelly about this. I didn't even know how many people had died today alone. Even if this was just a novel, a corner of my heart felt heavy and uncomfortable.
Gabriel explained more about how things were unfolding outside, but he finally stood up when the Imperial knight returned, mockingly asking how much longer he planned to chat with the criminal.
"I will make sure you can leave here soon."
After Gabriel left, investigators appeared as if taking his place, and I underwent questioning. Only after I repeated that I did not kill the Crown Prince a hundred times did the investigation finally end.
It was deep into the night before I could finally rest alone. After checking my surroundings to make sure no one was around, I quietly called for Jelly.
"Jelly."
"Yes."
A reply popped out of thin air. He was here! My trump card! Teleportation really was the best. The only reason I could maintain some semblance of peace in the face of a grim future where I might be executed was all thanks to Jelly. If push came to shove, I would just grab his hand and run.
"I was wondering when you'd call."
It seemed he had been waiting, since I had sent word through Pudding to come when called. But why did Jelly come alone?
"Where's Pudding?"
"He's brooding over his own helplessness. What did he even accomplish, going to all that trouble to disguise himself and come here?"
Jelly snickered, mocking Pudding. Honestly, how petty. A young cat transformed into a human and sneaked into the Imperial Palace to protect me; even if the results weren't great, he should be praised for his admirable effort.
Actually, at first, I didn't recognize him either because I was too busy staring at his face. But the second time I looked, once I got used to his striking appearance, I noticed his collar. The embroidery I had stitched onto it was so obvious; how could I not have noticed it when we first met?
"Humans are truly something else. To think they actually locked you up, Master… No, in this case, you let yourself get caught."
With a snap of Jelly's fingers, the bleak prison cell transformed into a cozy room. Complete with a bed, a sofa, and even a hearth, it was comfortable enough to live in, save for the iron bars serving as one of the walls. Is this what they call a prison hotel or something?
"Canna said we had to set up at least this much because you'd be cold and uncomfortable, Master. But it still seems uncomfortable. Can't you just sleep at the mansion and come back?"
Honestly, I wanted to teleport back to the Rohanson mansion and sleep there too. But what if someone came by, saw the empty cell, and assumed I had escaped? It was better to have furniture suddenly appear out of nowhere.
When I insisted on staying, Jelly even brought me a change of clothes. I handed the blood-stained dress back to him. Misha was going to freak out when she saw that. Since the blanket I was wrapped in was the one Gabriel gave me, I decided to keep using it. When I mentioned I was hungry, he brought me a freshly prepared dinner a short while later.
After finishing my late dinner in the cell, I quietly brought up the subject.
"Jelly, about the coachman who drove the carriage today. I think we need to send an obituary to his family."
Since an acquaintance had met a tragic end after getting caught up in my affairs, it would have been natural for Jelly to be angry. However, he simply scooped up some sherbet and replied nonchalantly.
"You mean officially reporting his death? You don't need to worry about that. He's already been reported dead."
What? How? Jelly wagged his tail and continued his explanation.
"Turns out, that man was keeping two separate households."
Apparently, the coachman was a massive playboy. His legal wife, who had been turning a blind eye to his cheating, realized he had set up another household when he stopped coming home recently. In her rage, she went ahead and reported him dead. They even held a funeral, so all the neighbors in that area already believed the coachman was gone.
I should have known ever since he, Jelly, and Daisy hung out together. The coachman just really loved love triangles.
"See? It's fine for someone who deserved to die to die, right?"
"I suppose so."
Of course, the shock of him dying because of me remained, but my guilt felt relatively lighter. It wasn't like this was the first or second time I'd seen someone die since transmigrating, and in a world with such a rigid class system, things like this were bound to happen. I just had to adapt.
"Is there anything else you need?"
It seemed Jelly was trying to comfort me in his own way so I wouldn't be weighed down by guilt. To think this kid, who usually did nothing but laze around, was asking if he could run errands. Come to think of it, there was one thing I wanted him to do.
"Could you gather some cherry blossom petals from the garden and feed Melek? And while you're at it, could you look after Madame Toten as well?"
"Can I make Pudding do it?"
"Go together."
"…Yes, ma'am."
Perhaps he hadn't expected me to actually give him a task; Jelly puffed out his cheeks in a pout and reluctantly agreed.
* * *
The nest that Flauros had so carefully built was now devoid of its master.
It was all because he had failed to play his part. He hadn't even been able to properly face Astaroth, and he had been forced to watch with all three of his eyes wide open as the knights dragged Lady Evangeline away.
He wanted to immediately hack to pieces everything that had touched her. He wanted to cut out the tongues that insulted her and use them to plow the fields. He wanted to pluck out the eyes that glared at her and hang them in clusters, cultivating an orchard of them.
“Stay quiet until I call you, Pudding.”
The only reason he did not was because Lady Evangeline did not wish it. He revered her enough to suppress his rising hunger and murderous intent, forcing himself to mingle with humans. He did not mind being called by the name of a trivial dessert like Pudding. He had transformed into a cat, snuggling into her arms and acting cute. He had been desperate to receive her affection.
How lovely she was. How pitiful and tragic. And so, having done nothing but act cute, his pride was now utterly shattered. Perhaps it would have been different long ago, but after abstaining from preying on humans for so long to follow Evangeline, it was only natural that Flauros was no match for Astaroth.