Day 7 - Nighttime - Night
28th Second autumn, 1152
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Meanwhile
Hannah is inside Prince Koenig's private room. She is bored, not knowing what to do at the moment. Everything she did today was nothing significant. She is waiting for her mother to go back to her.
Hannah is not too worried about being away from her mother. Things like that happened a lot in her childhood. Her mother would bring her anywhere all the time when she had a case to solve. Hannah was well fed, well educated but she lacked her mother's emotional affection despite being close to her most of the time. But she doesn't care about her mother being away, as long as she goes home safely, everything will be alright.
The young investigator soon fills up a cup of tea and starts sipping some tea. She also takes some cookies from a plate, she has some bites while thinking about the case.
Hannah has finally found out what she discovered from the maids taking care of the flower field in the backyard this morning. The number, some maids weren't there. She hasn't lived long in the palace but she has lived long enough to remember every face of the people living here. In the days doing nothing, she would also go around the palace to watch the scenery.
This could be explained that these maids have different shifts. However, Hannah has discovered that she hasn't seen at least two or three maids for four days. All of them were supposed to appear in other areas at different times, but she has never seen them again.
Also, she has noticed the mood swings of the maids. Unlike the previous days when they were peaceful and cheerful, they have become more nervous recently. This could be explained that many bizarre incidents suddenly happened after a peaceful month without anything scary. It started from the incident when Jeanne and Hannah were poisoned to Hannah being chased by a shadow figure and the person vanished during the chase, leaving no traces.
However, being anxious so much that most of the maids avoided facing the investigator is something Hannah never experienced. Thanks to Braun's help, Hannah learned at least two maids had gone missing recently, they were scared that they would be arrested although they didn't know much about the case.
To Hannah, this was a pure shocking news. How insignificant those maids are, people don't even notice their sudden disappearance. She wonders how many people will disappear from now on if she lets it happen while enjoying the tea.
Hannah shifts her thoughts to another topic. She went to see Prince Koenig and Braun to ask them if there were any missing cases or murders happened in the palace three years ago when Selena first came to the place. Nothing. Nothing scary or mysterious happened in that period of time, so the information about Selena's personal life at that time doesn't have any value.
At least Hannah has created another possible theory about this murder case. The Queen and Reila are the masterminds, Selena joined them due to the same objectives. The maids are the accomplices of the murderer - Selena. The Queen and Reila give orders for Selena to get rid of their would-be future political rivals, while Selena is rewarded by being appointed to become the prince's private maid.
Right now, the case is about to come to an end. Those who know about the case are being eliminated to erase the evidence. Selena may be one of those who are going to be getting rid of. Of course, Selena may strike back, but she may end up like other victims. Selena is the suspect with the lowest social status. If this case ends with Jeanne and Hannah successfully solving it, Selena is likely to be the only person arrested, there will be some other maids if they aren't executed.
The opportunity to arrest Reila and the Queen is almost zero. This case will be solved, but many things will remain a mystery as an aftermath.
"It's about to end". - Hannah smirks, she enjoys every drop of tea
"What's about to end?". - Prince Koenig, who is sitting on the other side, asks
"Hmmm... nothing".
"So you came to my room to enjoy those biscuits and tea, nothing else to do at all?". - Koenig later gets off his couch, he approaches the door and looks outside for a few seconds, as if waiting for someone
"What would you like to hear, Your Highness?". - Hannah bites some cookies, she enjoys tea again
"My wife and your mother haven't returned, and you're still here not caring about it".
"They will be fine". - Hannah keeps having the cookies, she looks around the prince's private room. "Your bed looks quite wide over there. You don't sleep alone?".
"Stop talking nonsense". - Koenig replies with a discomfort tone
All of a sudden, Koenig runs outside of his room after making that yell. He later walks back to the room with his private maid - Selena, being wrapped by his both hands. The prince keeps holding the girl tightly, he can't stop clinging to her, as if his wife is his lifeline. Hannah doesn't understand this, and she never understands how much she tries, she just watches it.
"You must be very tired, my love. Give yourself some rest". - Koenig caresses Selena's face, he seems to hold back his outburst feelings
Hannah returns to drinking her tea. For some reason, she has some jealousy towards Selena. She has never experienced an intimate relationship with a man in her life, she wonders how would it feel.
Hannah looks up to see the situation, she notices that Selena has gone back to her private room. Right now, Koenig is sitting opposed to Hannah. The prince sips the tea in relief, he looks at Hannah to see how is she doing.
"You're very calm, miss. She is your mother, you should care about her more, go check on her already". - Koenig reminds Hannah
Hannah does feel worried when her mother is not home. Her insecurities also increase when her mother is not home for a long time, but Hannah is quite... cold. She can sleep peacefully without any problems even if her mom is not with her for a long time. She deeply wants to see her mother here, but her worries are shallow.
"She'll be fine...". - Hannah puts down the teacup, she doesn't have a mood to drink anymore
"I heard that the reports from today's stalking have come to you". - Hannah looks at the documents placed on the table, they're the reports of the previous stalking
"It's odd. They said madame ordered them to hand these to me". - Koenig gasps. "She didn't follow them, I wonder what happened to her, it's very dangerous at night". - The prince lowers his body, he feels very worried
"My mom will be alright. She tends to lick herself in the room when she returns from work, it's her habit".
"I hope so...". - Koenig holds his head, appears very anxious
"Your Highness". - All of a sudden, someone knocks on the wall
Hannah and Koenig glance at the doorframe, Reila Foss is standing there with a document. She approaches the prince and slowly takes a seat next to him.
"I'm sorry for disturbing this late, Your Highness. But it's important. Minister Alt would like to see your thoughts on this". - Reila hands over the document to Koenig
The prince flips the pages of the document, he looks at each page and makes a big sigh.
"Alright... I understand...".
Hannah stays quiet. She wonders what kind of political problems this prince is facing, but she is not in a position to have her involvement.
"Well... I guess... I have to leave...". - Hannah grabs two cookies and quietly leaves the room
The young investigator sighs when she leaves the room. She waves at Dunkel - the prince's bodyguard, who is guarding at the front door. The bodyguard doesn't reply, he just nods. Dunkel guards the door firmly, he barely blinks his eyes.
Hannah shrugs. She starts walking on the hallway to go back to her room, hoping to see her mother. She notices the palace is quieter than the earlier days. It could be the result of the people's fear. Back then, many servants could be seen walking around at night and chatting with each other. Right now, that scene is already gone.
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Hannah stops by a room when she was on her way. It's Braun's room. The young investigator wants to peek inside to check on how that woman is doing. But she doesn't want to be considered a stalker.
Knocking three times, Hannah steps aside and waits.
"Oh, Ms. Hannah". - Braun opens the door, she bows to Hannah
"Are you good, Braun?". - Hannah pays more attention to Braun's child more, she wants to cuddle her
"I've been better, thanks for asking".
"Make sure to take care of Reimi. I'm going then". - Hannah walks away after a few greetings
The young investigator suddenly thinks about the case. Till this time, there is no physical evidence against Selena, Reila or the Queen. Only theories are made. The theories can mislead the investigation if they are wrong.
Tomorrow will be the day Jeanne and Hannah hand over the weekly reports for Koenig. The reports will contain documents about the murder case, about what has been discovered in the entire week. Together with the weekly reports, a request document will also be sent to the prince. It's about asking for his permission for the two investigators to search the royal basement in the palace and the Land of The Dead in Veta region.
Hannah also wanted to send a request herself but she cancelled at the last moment. She wanted to deploy a dog in the palace to help the investigation, but she didn't think Koenig could allow it at all. Despite being a prince, he is still controlled by others. Hannah also didn't hope to see the request document of her mom be allowed. To her, the answer is impossible.
All of a sudden, Hannah realizes she just walked past Selena Breima's private room. She turns around to look, then approaches it.
"Oh". - Selena opens the door and feels surprised to see Hannah. "Well... I thought that was His Highness".
Hannah blocks the door when Selena was about to shut it.
"May I come in?".
"Why?". - Selena appears to be a little frustrated
"I already saw the report of my mom. She stalked you, and now she hasn't returned".
"Then does it have anything to do with me?". - Selena frowns, she crosses her arms
"Hmmmm... just a little talk".
Selena still frowns. She doesn't seem to welcome Hannah at all. However, the girl still nods and steps aside. Hannah steps inside after a bow, she takes a seat at a table while Selena closes the door.
"Tea?". - Selena sits opposed to Hannah, she grabs a teapot
"Yeah".
Selena fills the two teacups. She drinks the cup, still frustrated.
"There's no poison". - Selena puts down her teacup
"Let's not talk about that topic, shall we?". - Hannah smiles lightly, she drinks half of the teacup
"Fine then...". - Selena tries her best to stop her grumbling face, she also smiles back
Hannah looks around Selena's room, she loves the way it looks simpler than other rooms in the palace.
"Nice place you have here".
"Yeah, it should be nice". - Selena smiles back
"What about my mom? When was the last time you saw her?".
"Hey, I thought we agreed not to talk about that". - Selena frowns
"Why did you piss off when I asked about my mom? I ask nothing about you, just my mom, Breima". - Hannah drinks the entire teacup
Hannah hopes her mother is completely alright. Despite being shallow in emotions, she still cares about her mother and her well-being, she just can't express sadness because... she can't feel it. She doesn't understand her odd nature as well. She just lives with it. It has been a part of Hannah since she was born. It grew from her childhood to her grown-up self.
That's why she sometimes lives in a facade... just like what she sees from Selena here.
The young investigator is feeling a rush of excitement flowing in her body and mind. If Selena, the person in front of her, is the true killer, she will be fully satisfied.
"We parted ways. That's all I know". - Selena smiles, she fills her teacup full of tea
All of a sudden, Hannah notices the front door is having a gap. She can see an eye looking through there. Somehow, after looking over there for a while, that person appears to be Saeko Ashura. Hannah wants to ask but Saeko just left the door.
"She is a weird girl". - Selena comments while sipping some tea
Hannah sips some tea. She wonders if she is wasting her time. She should have looked for her mother, but she is now chatting with a suspect.
"Hey, I'd like to ask you something".
"Sure". - Selena nods lightly, she smiles
"Well... there's a girl. Her mother dies, people come to her funeral", - Hannah starts asking Selena a test question that she heard from her mother. "she meets a prince there. She falls in love with him... but she can't find him anywhere after that funeral ends, she craves for him". - Hannah takes another filled cup from Selena. "Then... a week later, that girl kills her little sister. Why?".
Selena giggles after hearing the question, she sips some tea.
"Interesting...". - Selena sighs. "Well... that's the most stupid girl I have ever heard of. She craved for his presence so much when she found out her sister was his lover". - Selena giggles more. "Stupid, stupid, she's so stupid though. Killed her sister after a week? How...? How could she get rid of murder that way? That's stupid". - Selena stops giggling, she looks into Hannah's eyes seriously. "Just... follow her sister. Wait until her prince comes, stab him and follow him after he's dead... that's one of many possible happy endings, she's so stupid to choose a quicker but loser way".
"You've been too immersed in that story". - Hannah comments
"Well... at least I don't have to do that with my man. Hmmm...". - Selena giggles. "Wouldn't you do that to the person you love as well? I mean... so much love that you can't describe how you feel".
"I don't think I will love someone to the point that I will die for them".
"So heartless...". - Selena smiles
"How would you deal with that sister if you were the girl in the story?". - Hannah wonders what Selena's answer would be
"Make sure... she disappears...". - Selena looks up. "Quick and clean".
"Why not torture her instead?".
"It's very messy...". - Selena sighs. "You see... we have so many similarities just by having this short conversation. We're the same...". - She smiles. "Do you see it?".
"Kind of".
"Hahahahahahahaha". - Selena giggles a bit and then laughs
"Hahaha... well, we can die just by laughing".
"Hahahaha". - Selena can't stop laughing
"Hahahahahaha". - Hannah decides to play it down with the suspect
"Hahahahahahahahahahaha".
"Hahahahahahahahahahaha".
"Hahahahahaha".
"Hahahahahahahahaha".
"Hahahahahahahah-".
All of a sudden, Hannah opens her eyes and sees a figure standing behind Selena. The suspect was stabbed, possibly from behind because she's not yelling, her eyes look very shocked with pure terror. The stabber appears to be a maid, her hand as if moving on its own, constantly stabbing Selena's back with a bloody knife in her hand.
Hannah wonders what is going on. The only thing she notices is the closet on the left side of the room. Earlier, it was closed. Right now, that closet is just widely open.
Hannah gets off her chair, she kicks powerfully and the maid has her back hit on the wall. The young investigator also throws the table which she used to drink tea towards the maid who is collapsed on the floor, covering herself. Selena is also seen on the floor, blood keeps dripping out of her body, she just stays there.
"He-".
Hannah was yelling but she immediately collapsed. Somebody just stabbed her from behind. Everything doesn't end. Every passing second is painful, she keeps feeling those stabs coming. One, two, three, and not just her back, her belly seems to have been stabbed as well. She can't count how many stab wounds she is taking, she feels like her consciousness is going blank. Those stabbings keep coming...
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Day 8 - Daytime - Early Morning
29th Second autumn, 1152
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Investigator Jeanne is standing before the entrance of the palace. She wonders how she could make it out of the woods. She managed to push herself out of those corpses and ran away when she realized no one was around. Despite losing the horse and her handbag, she managed to get out of the Land of The Dead. She was stuck for hours navigating where to go after she escaped the chasers. She ran when she felt her body was ready for it, she walked when she felt she wasn't ready to run.
No food, water and yet... it was a miracle when she still found the way back to the palace. However, Jeanne has no more strength left. The guards wouldn't let her in even if they recognized her face, she thinks to herself. Never once in her life she has seen someone who looks ragged and dirty be allowed to enter a luxurious place, never. But Jeanne still wants to get in there no matter what it costs.
Hannah... she misses her daughter. She wants to make sure she slept well last night. She wants to make sure she is safe, she feels insecure when her daughter is not in her sight, especially at this moment.
But she can't get in. Her hands and legs are too sore, she can barely walk, at least she can still breathe.
Jeanne looks up, trying to take the air through her ragged gasp. Somehow, she sees herself being lifted up by two royal guards, they move her inside. She realizes a woman looking at her, it's Braun.
"That's her. Call a healer, quick". - Braun orders a guard next to her
"This way, madame". - Braun leads the way, those two guards also help Jeanne to enter the palace
Braun and the guards appear to be anxious, all of them are very hurry for some reason. Jeanne doesn't understand what is going on.
"She'll rest in my room. It won't be enough space for her with her daughter, be careful". - Braun holds Jeanne, joining the guards to move her gently while being very rushed in the hallway
"My daughter...?". - Jeanne lifts up her face when she heard about her daughter, Hannah is like a spark of light to keep her life source
"She's going to be fine... shit". - Braun realizes she just said something she should never have
"Huh...? What happened!!!!!!?". - Feeling panicked after hearing something negative about her daughter, the mother seems to lose her control. "Get me to her!!!!!!!!!". - Even she doesn't realize she could howl that loud with her sore throat
As if using all her strength, Jeanne keeps resisting. She is willing to scratch and bite anyone who stands in her way to find Hannah. The guards can't take it, they have to drop her. The mother is now left alone, trying to crawl all the way she can, thinking her daughter should be safe in her room, is now sleeping like an infant.
"She's going to be fine, madame". - Braun tries to hold Jeanne
"What happened to her exactly!!!!!!? Get me to her!!!!!".
Braun helps to aid Jeanne in walking. The mother doesn't want to walk, she wants to see her daughter as fast as possible. She notices she just went across Selena's room, Prince Koenig seems to be there, holding his wife and crying.
"What is happening here...?".
"They were stabbed, both of them". - Unable to hold back, Braun says it out immediately
Jeanne squeezes Braun's shoulder, demanding a clearer answer.
"Both of them. Selena and your daughter, someone stabbed them!". - Being patient but consumed by frustration, Braun yells out loud
Jeanne can't believe what she just heard, her mind keeps spinning, she can't find a real answer. She just sees red, now she only sees red.
"She tricked us again... she tricked us...". - Jeanne starts sobbing
"Madame?!". - Braun feels very shocked when she Jeanne just snatched a dagger attached to her belt and pushed her away
Jeanne holds the dagger, using all her strength to crawl towards Selena's room. She sees Dunkel walking outside to check the hallway due to curiosity.
"What happened?". - Dunkel steps forward with a question
"What are you doing?!". - Koenig accidentally sees Jeanne crawling on the floor, he wants to come closer to help but appears to be scared of her angry eyes
"Ahhh!". - The prince screams in pain when his right foot was stabbed, he was blocking her way
"Your Highness!".
All of a sudden, Jeanne feels a loud thud smashing her head. Her consciousness seems to freeze there, she can't keep her eyes open.
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