Capítulo 1290: Chapter 1290: The Yordle Palace Murder Case
Stepping out of the room, Shard turned and saw Lecia approaching with a group of maids, their footsteps light. As she saw Shard standing in the corridor, she thought Shard was waiting for her specifically:
“I’ve brought the ‘Summer Night Collection’.”
Her Highness the Princess waved the book she held in her hand with a smile. Though Shard had seen the book many times, he had never truly delved into its contents.
“Good to know you’ve brought it; I’ve been eagerly looking forward to its contents.”
Shard replied, and Lecia, with a slight blush, asked again:
“Have you brought that?”
This was something Lecia had specifically asked Dorothy to remind Shard not to forget in the morning.
“Yes, I have.”
He shook the small crown pendant hanging from his wrist, and the Red-Haired Princess showed a pleased expression:
“I hope this book club meeting will be as… smooth as the last one. Come along with me.”
She pretended to use a key to open the door to the lounge at the end of the corridor, then turned to see Tifa standing by a diagonally opposite door, looking at them.
“Good evening, Miss Servit. How is the County of Saradiel?”
Lecia greeted, and Shard turned, intending to say something more to Tifa, but was directly pulled into the room by Lecia:
“No one is to enter without my permission.”
The crown-wearing Her Highness the Princess solemnly instructed her maids, who then stood by the door. Lecia flashed a final smile at the dark-haired Miss Maid across the way, while Tifa, seeing her inside, turned and warmly embraced Shard, with his left eye covered by Lecia. His right eye, through the doorway, looked at Tifa.
The two locked eyes across Lecia, and as Lecia’s sorcery gently closed the door behind her, the space between the door narrowed. Shard continued looking at Tifa, as did Tifa at Shard, and she even saw the Golden-haired Girl approaching.
The door soon completely blocked their view of each other, one inside and one outside. Lecia’s maids quickly took their places at the door, yet seemed very interested in what was happening inside the room.
“This feeling…”
Tifa blinked her beautiful eyes:
“It’s truly interesting.”
The silver crown the princess wore differed greatly from His Majesty the King’s crown, and with both present, many interesting games could be played. Even Dorothy, usually so reserved, exhibited her enthusiasm on this night of the “Day of the Red Butterfly,” just over a month later.
What was happening inside the room was unknown, but those aware of this special event couldn’t help but imagine the exciting scene within.
At around eight-thirty that evening, hurried footsteps disrupted the tranquility of the lounge. The star of the birthday party, Little Princess Angelina, slightly anxiously lifted her skirt and, accompanied by her maid, came to this place, wanting to approach the innermost door but hesitated, fearing her sister, and thus knocked on Miss Galina’s door.
At that moment, the Duchess was inside the room, chatting with Lecia’s married sister, Princess Camille. Seeing Angelina rushing in, the princess, already a mother of two, remarked with some dissatisfaction:
“Angelina, you’re seventeen now; why are you still so hasty? Where are your lady-like manners?”
“I need to talk to Aunt Galina,”
She said timidly, prompting Miss Galina to nod, and Princess Camille, regrettably, ended the visit. When Tifa closed the door, Angelina anxiously said:
“I need to see Shard, now. Something’s happened, and he needs to be there.”
She briefly explained what was occurring on the other side of the banquet hall, causing Miss Galina to set down her book with a slight frown:
“Such a thing happened? Tifa, take Angelina to knock on the door, even Lecia has to let Shard appear in such a situation. No, I had better go knock myself; otherwise, you might be torn apart by an angry eater.”
With that, she herself rose from the sofa, and the group moved together into the corridor toward the tightly closed door. The maids initially wanted to block them but had to step aside upon seeing Miss Galina.
The Witch personally knocked on the door, and though she did not hear any response from inside after two knocks, she knew they must have heard. Thus, the people in the corridor waited a moment, and the door soon opened. Shard, wearing only a white shirt, appeared at the doorway, shielding the door from the ladies peeping inside with his body:
“Is something wrong?”
Seeing both Angelina and Miss Galina present, he also realized that something must have gone amiss.
The witch’s face turned slightly red upon catching the scent on Shard:
“Clean off the lipstick marks before you say anything. Honestly, what have you all been up to… Angelina, you explain.”
Shard had hurriedly put on his clothes to open the door, without even buttoning the top two buttons of his shirt. Her Highness the Princess stole a glance at Shard’s neck, her tongue touching the inside of her lips as she quickly said:
“A murder has occurred.”
“A murder? Here? At Yordle Palace?”
“Yes, father already knows about it. Around twelve people are aware of the presence of the corpse, all being controlled by MI6, so most guests are still unaware of the incident. Father instructed that the culprit be found before the banquet ends, with you solving the case in your capacity as a detective, rather than having the police investigate in an ostentatious manner. We must minimize the impact of the incident and conduct the investigation without drawing too much attention.”
“Such a thing? I mean, I understand, I’ll go right away.”
As he was speaking, Lecia’s voice came from the room behind Shard:
“Shard, have those damned Carsonrickians attacked Tobesk City?”
“Of course not.”
“Then what’s the matter?”
Shard explained the situation to Lecia and Dorothy, and although they were reluctant to let Shard leave just like that, they had to admit that he was indeed needed to handle the matter. Thus, the three hurriedly got dressed, with Shard going to the crime scene with Angelina, while Lecia and Dorothy mingled in the ballroom, ensuring no one would wonder about Lecia’s whereabouts all night.
However, before Shard left, Lecia demanded that he return within an hour and threatened Angelina. Although Lecia’s tone was relatively calm, the Little Princess could sense how dissatisfied Lecia Cavendish was at this moment.
Miss Galina was not suitable to participate in this matter, so she sent Tifa to accompany Shard as a temporary detective’s assistant. As he walked to the scene with Angelina, Shard inquired about more details:
“By the way, how many victims are there? Is it someone I know?”
“There’s one victim, whom you met just over an hour ago.”
“Who?”
“Daniel Philip. The firstborn of Marquis Philip, whom you had a disagreement with at the ballroom entrance.”
With this, before Shard could intervene, one of the marriage prospects favored by Larus III for Angelina was already out of the picture.
The murder did not occur in the grand ballroom where everyone was, but instead at the end of the long corridor where the ballroom is located, in the room temporarily used to store gifts. The rooms in Yordle Palace are generally large, and at this time, piles of gifts filled the crime scene, where Shard immediately saw Daniel Philip lying on the ground upon entering.
Just like when he saw him over an hour ago, the young man wore the red Royal Army uniform and black boots. He lay face down on the carpet, with a noticeable injury from a blow to the back of his head. Beside the corpse, a blood-stained bronze swan statue lay discarded. It was a gift from the guests, with a pink ribbon tied around the swan’s neck, though much of it was stained black with blood.
The servants and guests aware of the incident were “resting” in the adjacent room, while Her Highness Angelina also went to the next room since she could not be with the corpse. At the scene stood the butler of Yordle Palace, the Royal Attendant, Deputy Director Morris of MI6 responsible for Yordle Palace affairs, and Mr. Johnson, the senior inspector from Riddlevitch Field who, like Shard, had hurried to the scene, as indicated by the crown and star on his shoulder epaulet.
Among those present, only Deputy Director Morris of MI6 knew that Shard was also with MI6; others only knew him as a renowned detective in Tobesk.
Therefore, before Shard started his investigation, the very serious-looking senior inspector posed a question:
“I apologize, Lord Hamilton; it’s not that I doubt you. However, before the investigation, could you clarify your personal itinerary from seven o’clock until Her Highness Angelina saw you just now?”
His suspicion was quite justified, as hundreds of people had seen the conflict between Shard and the deceased earlier. Shard certainly couldn’t reveal what he had been doing, but fortunately, Tifa volunteered:
“Hamilton was with Miss Galina just now.”
She introduced her role as a maid:
“They were in the lounge upstairs the entire time. As for what they were doing, sorry, that’s the privacy of Miss and Mr. Hamilton.”
People immediately understood, and suspicion of Shard was easily dismissed:
“Since it’s vouched for by the Duchess of Saradiel, Lord Hamilton naturally has no suspicion. Now, please begin your investigation.”
Everyone retreated to the sides of the room, leaving only Tifa with Shard. Shard crouched beside the corpse, put on white gloves, and inspected the wound. Pretending to be this professional was because he had almost seen the “answer,” and what followed was merely finding the process from the answer.
He hoped to be quick, not wanting Lecia and Dorothy to wait too long. Yet, at the same time, he was very curious about who killed Daniel Philip and helped him so much. If possible, Shard genuinely wanted to shake the person’s hand to thank them and then give them a punch in return, for wasting the time of the Day of the Red Butterfly.