Viper's Lair (6)
Kosa answered softly, like drifting gray mist. "Tell me what you saw."
"Though I couldn't see it clearly, I'll tell you. But what part do you want to hear?"
"You probably already know the part I'm after."
A smile crept across Kosa's lips. "Understood. I'll tell you."
Kosa recounted to me the past of Elua that she had glimpsed while holding hands that day.
"Hmm..."
I paced around the inn with my arms crossed. Kali wagged his tail, trotting happily at my side.
"Hmmm..."
"Hey! If you're free, come help out!"
Ukun, in the middle of construction on the employee dorms, shouted while swinging his hammer. The dorms were already more than halfway done. At this rate, everyone could move in before winter ended, and we'd even hire new staff.
But that wasn't the issue right now.
"Master? Here for a bath?"
Della, carrying a basket of towels, widened her eyes.
"Huh? Oh, uh, no."
"Really? It's cold out—why not soak in the warm tub?"
"Uh, yeah, later."
"Okay. Come tonight then? I'll get it ready."
Della flashed a smile, lightly lifting her skirt hem.
"Uh, sure, sure..."
"Eee... what the..."
Della pouted and slipped into the bathhouse. I kept wandering aimlessly past it.
"Bertrand? What're you doing?"
Francois asked as she emerged from the kitchen with a bin of food scraps, heading to the back yard.
"Huh? Doing what?"
"Taking Kali for a walk?"
"Huh? Yeah, uh, sure."
I gave a half-hearted reply, and Francois tilted her head.
"Hmm... something wrong?"
"No, no, everything's fine."
Even after Francois headed back to the kitchen, I kept circling the back yard. Then a mocking voice came from above.
"Heh? Lame hero. Wandering around pointlessly like that. Got dementia already? Instead of smearing shit on walls and harassing the others, why not drown yourself in the river while you're still somewhat sane."
Looking up, Aterugar was perched on the third-floor windowsill, grinning.
"Yeah, got it."
"Eh...?"
My lackluster response killed her interest, and Aterugar vanished back inside.
"Hmm... hmmm..."
"What're you doing?"
I'd reached the front yard and bumped into Pelle, who was heading into the inn.
"Hey, Pelle."
"Hey what? We just saw each other. What're you up to?"
"Just wandering."
Pelle narrowed her eyes. "Master's got too much free time on his hands?"
"Nah."
As I tried to brush it off, her eyes narrowed further.
"What? Sneaking around behind our backs?"
"What? Us? Cheating? What bullshit is that?"
"I don't care if it's other inn girls. I can even tolerate the saintess or the administrator. But screwing some random bitch with zero connection? Can't stand that."
"Ha... haha... good one."
Pelle stared at me coldly. But I could read the emotion behind that mask—thanks to the beastly instincts I'd inherited and years of honing my Pelle-expression analysis skills.
She was worried about me. Pelle should be okay to tell.
"Don't wanna talk? Fine, don't."
"No, Pelle. Come here a sec. Let's talk."
"Wait here then."
Pelle breezed into the inn. While Kali and I stood there, she soon returned with a blanket.
"Can't talk inside the inn, huh?"
"Yeah. Let's head to the riverbank."
The Buren River bank behind the inn's back yard was perfect for contemplation. In summer, city girls stripped down for swims, so I avoided it, but now in the cold, it was deserted.
We spread the blanket in a good spot and sat side by side. Kali wagged his tail, resting his chin on Pelle's lap.
Pelle gently scratched Kali's head, waiting for me to speak first. I watched the river flow for a moment, then opened my mouth.
"Don't tell anyone..."
"Won't."
"Good."
I pondered how to explain. But did I need to complicate it? Pelle was straightforward and didn't beat around the bush. Neither should I.
"You know all the talk about the late king's death?"
"The queen poisoned him."
"I thought so too. But she didn't do it."
Pelle turned to me. "How can you be sure?"
"Kosa told me. She can glimpse the past through physical contact."
"So when she visited the inn and held your hand, she read it then."
"Yeah."
Kosa told me what she had seen of Elua's past that day.
"It was morning. Someone knocked urgently, and just as she got out of bed, the door opened and several people entered her bedroom."
Kosa narrated from Elua's perspective.
"They looked like high-ranking ministers from the palace, blurting things like 'His Majesty isn't breathing' and 'We must hurry.' The moment she heard, she jumped out of bed barefoot and ran to the late king's bedroom."
Elua dashed endlessly down the long corridor leading to her father's room. Maids hurried after her but couldn't catch up.
Father's dead?
He was perfectly healthy just yesterday. Why? For what reason?
She couldn't believe it. He was elderly, with some minor ailments common for his age. But nothing severe enough for sudden death overnight.
Just last night, he'd called her over to taste fine wine that had arrived and chat.
Why? What happened?
At the corridor's end, a crowd gathered. Guards blocking the way hurriedly parted, shouting,
"Make way!"
Entering her father's bedroom, Elua saw him lying peacefully on the bed. Right beside him knelt Gobert the prince.
The ministers around the bed turned to her. Gobert, seeing her, spoke in a cracking voice.
"Elua..."
"What happened?"
"He's... gone..."
Gobert bowed his head, unable to say more. Elua stepped forward, arm outstretched, but soon staggered and collapsed.
Ministers rushed to support her, but she shook them off.
"Father... really gone? Why?"
The ministers said nothing. Elua whipped her head around, eyeing each like a cornered serpent.
"This is assassination. Isn't it, Intelligence Chief?"
An wildly inappropriate remark with the top two successors present.
"Princess... it's too soon to judge..."
"Assassination. Father wouldn't die so suddenly."
At "assassination," the ministers exchanged odd glances. The shrewd, cunning Elua caught it.
"What, do you suspect me? Think I poisoned him for the throne?"
"How dare we think such treason, Princess. Not at all..."
"Then why did he die?"
Gobert stood and approached. "Elua... calm down for now..."
"Brother. You know something, don't you? Telling me to calm down so easily."
"Elua, what do you mean...? You think I did something awful to Father...?"
Elua glared silently. Gobert knelt to meet her eyes.
"Brother. They suspect me, so I suspect you too. What do you think?"
With the legitimate heir alive, bastard Gobert had near-zero chance at the throne. He should be the prime suspect.
But no one eyed him that way. Gobert was kind-hearted, doted on Elua since childhood, yielding everything—a good brother.
"Elua... don't do this... We can't fight now. If we siblings fall out after Father's death, the kingdom crumbles."
Elua stared coldly.
"Elua. I don't want to bury Father like this either. We must clear even the tiniest suspicions, or face backlash later."
Gobert raised a hand to stroke her hair as in childhood, then hesitated.
"Elua... Father and Mother gone, just us left. You're the kingdom's sole legitimate heir; I'm ready to support you as a great queen from behind. Let's handle this rationally, together."
At Gobert's earnest plea, Elua commanded icily.
"Seal the castle gates. Let not even an ant escape."
She rose slowly, approaching the bed. "Interrogate everyone inside, find evidence. This is assassination. We must catch the culprit."
Ministers glanced at each other, whispering. Elua knelt by the bed, caressing her father's cheek.
The cooling body was chill; eyelids sealed forever.
"Father..."
Elua pressed her forehead to his hand, whispering softly. Watching, Gobert clutched his face in anguish.
"That's the past I glimpsed hazily, Master."
Kosa added, "The memory from the day before was the late king conversing with the queen. Seemed like explaining sending Prince Gobert as front-line commander."
"No other memories?"
"No. Nothing directly tied to the assassination you're worried about. But it's not precise—just from brief contact."
This... totally unexpected.