Day 5 - Daytime - Afternoon
26th Second autumn, 1152
...
...
...
The young investigator walks side by side with her suspect. Hannah is wondering what Seako meant in the earlier conversation when she talked about the luminol. She just doesn't know what to think, she wants to approach and find out the real meaning behind those words. Saeko just walks slowly without a proper emotion on her face, it's plain, the investigator has to keep up her walking pace despite her growing impatience.
Saeko suddenly stops when she walked past the hallway. The girl looks forward, somewhere beyond Hannah's imagination, it is unclear what Saeko is actually looking at. From what Hannah remembers, that area leads to the backyard of the palace. "Could it be a hint?", Hannah thinks in her mind, just a thought passing by and then gone.
Hannah looks around and behind her in secret. It appears that no maids or guards are nearby. However, the young investigator doesn't know if this is a good opportunity for her to pry some questions for the suspect.
"You said you smelled blood from the luminol, didn't you?", - Hannah opens the conversation playfully. "well, my gloves get bloody sometimes... because of my work, you can check this thing instead. It's definitely not blood from the luminol, maybe... it has something to do with my gloves... so well...". - She hands over one of her leather gloves to Saeko
"It's not... either from the rabbit... or your gloves... ". - Saeko takes the glove but then returns it
Hannah wonders about the real meaning behind Saeko's words. It must have something to do with the case. "Witness?", Hannah thinks about it all of a sudden. Those short and unclear words could be some kind of meaning from Saeko, she could be using a wise way to describe it. It's clear in Hannah's thoughts that Saeko could be involved in this murder case, but it's unclear which role she is in. "Witness? A victim who is looking for help? A killer's helper who is confessing to me?", Hannah keeps thinking about it.
Hannah then sees two maids coming from behind. The women appear to be cleaning the hallway with the brooms, they seem harmless but Hannah is cautious. After the incident in Braun Frieden's room, Hannah has become a bit more cautious. Every time she sees a maid, she would look at them for a while to analyze if that person is watching her or just an innocent.
This young investigator hates being in this kind of environment. She hopes her conversation won't be eavesdropped, she will play it down like a very normal conversation.
"What were you looking at, Lady Saeko?". - Hannah makes a step forward and looks in the direction where Saeko used to look at
"I want... to have some air... it feels nice to touch grass". - Saeko replies
"How about watching flowers?".
"They look bland...". - Saeko replies once again, her facial expressions don't seem to change, just plain
Hannah wonders if the earlier words had some kind of meaning behind them. The investigator can't focus because another conversation is going on at the time when she was thinking. Somehow, Hannah got curious after hearing it. She approaches the direction where the conversation is coming from.
"Make sure to find someone looks like me the next time, Dunkel. I can't take it, I don't want to stay there for hours just to sit and hear people talking over and over again about a problem that never has a solution for it". - One of the two voices in the conversation comes out, appears to be a man's. "By the way, is she here now?". - Then it appears to be Prince Koenig Sonne who is talking
"Ms. Jeanne is not here at the time, Your Highness. That's what I heard from the guards, she left the palace with your wife". - The voice which appears to be Dunkel's, the Prince's bodyguard, speaks up
"Hmmm... I hope she doesn't spill it out. This isn't something funny, those missings can decide our kingdom's fate overnight".
"Hi, you two". - All of a sudden, Hannah comes out after a while of eavesdropping, following her is Saeko - who just stands and bows to Koenig from a distance
"Ms. Hannah". - Koenig nods slightly to greet Hannah
"I heard from my mom that you weren't here".
"Yes, I just returned. I'm not used to those meetings, it feels much better when I left". - Koenig sighs a little. "By the way, are you looking for me for something, miss?".
"Yeah, I'd like to ask you something about the case", - Hannah sighs a little when she glances at Dunkel. "I mean I'd like to ask you something about it, Your Highness". - She feels annoyed every time his bodyguard uses his quick glare to demand respect from her words toward his ruler
Prince Koenig turns his face to serious, listening to Hannah. Both of them walk together and soon enter the prince's private room, Hannah and Koenig come in. Saeko also enters in silence, Hannah thinks she can ask the suspect later after she has done with the prince. Dunkel closes the door, he gets behind Koenig and makes a guard pose, beside his ruler.
"Would you like me to serve you done tea, Koenig - sama?". - All of a sudden, Saeko stands up and bows deeply before Koenig
"Of course, my wife". - He replies. "Thanks...". - Koenig murmurs to himself when his concubine turned around
"Would you?".
"Well... I'm not really into noble's things". - Hannah giggles a little
The young investigator just lied. She doesn't want to experience another tea incident, she hates being poisoned. However, part of Hannah just wants to let loose, she'd rather solve the case by approaching dangerous things for clues instead of being careful.
Hannah feels disappointed when Saeko left the room. She feels curious about this suspect and wants to pry more clues she believes would come out of her mouth. However... not everything she expected was as planned.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
"She's strange, always addresses us with odd words".
"It's the way people speak in her homeland, Ms. Hannah. Just get used to it...". - The prince sighs a bit after he spoke up
"How's the investigation going, Ms. Hannah? I know I asked you and your mother to report by the end of the week", - Koenig sighs a bit heavily. "but... it's about my wives and my country, I don't want to see them disappear anymore, I don't want my country to be in danger either".
"It has some progress, Your Highness ", - Hannah glances a bit at Dunkel again, hoping him to behave normally with her even if she doesn't the prince properly. "but the documents haven't been finished, I'll give you a full one by the end of the week".
Koenig nods slightly as if to thank Hannah.
"So... what do you want... to ask me?". - Prince Koenig tries to steady his breath
"First, our scope... broke. So I'd like to ask you if you could provide us with a new one".
"Scope?". - Koenig feels a bit complicated to understand what Hannah said
"I mean a small object... a small object used in war, generals will watch things from afar by using it". - Hannah feels frustrated a little when she forgot to bring the broken scope with her to help Koenig identify it faster
"Oh, I get it". - Koenig nods twice. "I already gave it to your mother last night, she said it'll be used to identify fingerprint samples or something, is it correct?".
Hannah nods.
"I don't know what that thing can do exactly but... if you can find whoever did this, it's a good thing when no one will go missing again". - Koenig sighs
"Alright. The second one... I heard from my mom that the two investigators who came before us and then went missing. Before their arrival, you had already founded an investigative group from the time when the first missings occurred, Your Highness".
"Yes, but it didn't work well. That's why I had to hire you people for that duty". - Koenig replies with his hands covering his face, he feels breathless
"Even if the investigation on your side went with nothing, at least you must have some clues to give us, right?". - Hannah is curious about the unrevealed information
"What do you want to know about?". - Koenig looks up
"A list of suspects, maybe... or something you found suspicious".
Prince Koenig keeps being silent despite Hannah's question. Dunkel opens the door and Saeko enters with a tray of tea cups and teapot, she silently takes a seat. Hannah smiles at the girl and then watches the prince. The more the case progresses, the more she wants to put Koenig on the suspect list due to his behaviors and her growing frustration towards an indecisive-looking man like him, who appears limp while being a ruler.
"I believe... someone powerful is standing behind it... but if it's true... I wouldn't want to continue the case". - Prince Koenig holds Saeko's hand as she sat next to him. "I hope it's someone else...", - he holds his breath, as if he is very stressed inside. "about the clues... I keep the letters of my wives who disappeared. I already found them odd, but I don't reveal them... my country will be dead if it's leaked out".
"What's inside them anyway? Death to your kingdom? Just because your wives are daughters of the big lords over there?". - Hannah stops after expressing a bit of her frustration, she doesn't know and doesn't care about politics but she understands the consequences Warsaw Kingdom would face if this case was leaked outside
However, she doesn't care. If Koenig Sonne wasn't someone powerful and Dunkel wasn't some kind of strong-built and intimidating-looking man, she would use force to pry any information she wants.
"Hannah - sensei... Koenig - sama needs time to relax. The case... is progressing...". - Saeko suddenly speaks up
Hannah just wants to understand the meaning behind Saeko's words. She wants to keep her eyes on this girl from now on, every time she speaks up is very precious. The more unclear Saeko's words come out, the more Hannah feels the urge to slit her throat due to her frustration. She would need to reveal everything in detail, that's what Hannah wants from this suspect.
Hannah was bored with the case from the start since it did not have much evidence to start with. To her, boring things should be neglected. But the case is now progressing, she is very excited to place the puzzles back in their places. But these new puzzles are so difficult, she just wants to tear them apart and come straight to the answer.
"Yeah... sure". - Hannah smiles
"Oh. You're here, sweetie?". - All of a sudden, a voice appears to be from investigator Jeanne comes out
Hannah nods to greet as she saw her mother entering the room. Jeanne quickly takes a seat next to her daughter, she slowly puts down a document on the table.
"Your Highness". - Jeanne bows before Koenig. The warrant... no I mean... I was looking for you, it's good to see you here this time". - She slowly pulls out some letters. "Here, Your Highness. I'm sorry very much when I stole these from you, I don't want to make excuses, but these letters seem significant to progress the case".
"I know. It's my fault anyway". - Koenig takes the letters from Jeanne with a sigh. "Come find me if you need anything, madame".
"What are these letters, mom?".
"Letters of the victims who are missing, sweetie". - Jeanne doesn't keep her eyes on her daughter, she just darts them towards Koenig. "Your Highness, I know this is quite sudden but I'd like to have your approval to own a warrant paper".
"Warrant paper?". - The prince feels a bit breathless
"It's for the case, Your Highness". - Jeanne makes her tone a bit firm. "Hmmm... by the way, I guess this is Lady Ashura". - The investigator bows slightly before Saeko, the girl also bows to greet back
"Would it be alright to discuss this without Lady Ashura's presence, Your Highness?". - Jeanne asks
"I don't think she is the problem. Anyway... I feel safe when my wives are safe and in my sight". - Koenig holds Saeko's hand much tighter. "Reila and Selena...". - He sighs
"I met the ladies earlier, nothing bad will happen to them". - Jeanne tries to reassure the prince, she doesn't want to see a suspect being in a discussion, but now she would be willing to deal with it
"Could you say it more in detail?". - Koenig requests
"I'd like to tell you to prepare yourself, Your Highness. The people who are missing could be no longer alive, their bodies have been likely to be moved away". - Jeanne gazes at Koenig's eyes, hoping him to understand. "The killer made it very clean, their bodies could only be moved away by the gate in the backyard or something else... like the wagons. This palace has wagons parking all over the place, if the killer uses one of those to move the bodies away, evidence could be left there".
"So... I hope you would approve it, Your Highness. A list of wagons and their owners, I hope I find no evidence there but it's the only way to solve the case right now, I still need more clues for the gate". - After speaking up, Jeanne slides the document on the table to Koenig. "Here is another request. In case it's possible... I hope you approve it as well, Your Highness".
Koenig picks up the document and checks every detail, every content written inside. His eyes appear heavy, as if he just wants to experience an eternity sleep, hoping not to face harsh reality.
"I'll prepare everything as soon as possible...". - Koenig slides the document back to Jeanne, he nods and lowers his head, as if saying "understood"
Hannah snatches the document right after it was handed back to her mother. The content of the document caught her eyes at the time both of them met each other. She wants to speak up the content out loud, but her mother's constant tap on her shoulder prevents her from doing so. Hannah is deeply frustrated, it's always her mother who stops her from being able to show herself something useful.
Saeko hands the teacup to Koenig as he wanted to drink it. The tea is already cold, but the prince doesn't care about it and immediately takes a gulp, his eyes appear very heavy, he just wants to be pampered, held by his wives who give him warmth, hoping all of them are still alive.
"Koenig - sama needs some rest...". - Saeko speaks up
Jeanne nods. The investigator carries the document, leaving her seat, thinking about leaving. Hannah, on the other hand, wants to stay a bit more. However, she knows she can't pry anything else no matter how long she stays, she leaves with frustration in her mind.
"There's always a monster under your bed... be careful...". - Suddenly, Saeko speaks up whispers to the two investigators
Still unable to understand the meaning behind Saeko's words, Hannah thinks about coming back to her another day. But this next time, there will be force for it.
...
...
...