“Is this chocolate?”
The healers and magi look both startled and terrified, before one brave soul ventures forward, getting down on his knees and peering at the tiny sphere.
“Y...yes, my lady.”
“Do all rooms come prepared with chocolate?”
His pale blue eyes are wide, pupils nothing more than pinpricks, and Lexi wants to smack him for being so dramatic.
“Is your tongue for decoration?”
“Lexi.” Jordan decides to intervene and rescue the unfortunate young magus. “The lounges are not stocked with any food or drink, for security reasons.”
You know you’re a crappy guest when the host hides the snacks.
Looking around as the Terran magic wielder next to her scuttles back to his equally theatrical friends, she sees another telltale little ball nestled at the base of a wood and gold cabinet.
“There’s another piece of chocolate over there.”
Many people are staring at her for obsessing over chocolate and she starts to hear snickers tying it to her size, but she ignores them and rises before turning to the magi acting out a B-grade movie behind her.
“You said the poison has to be transmitted in a significant amount if it’s to work solely on dermal exposure, yes?” One manages a squeak, two manage a nod. The remaining just try to swallow ineffectually. “What if it’s ingested?”
Eyes widen in unison as the magi realize her meaning, before several of them respond at once.
“Yes!”
“Absolutely, my lady!”
“Without a doubt, that would cause death!”
All talk, no action.
“So why are you still standing around instead of testing the chocolates?”
There’s a muffled laugh from somewhere on her right, though when she turns to look there are too many people - as well as that person and his beautiful lover - gathered in the doorway, gilt double doors wide open.
“M...my....my lady!” I’m getting really tired of this. “Ulya, it’s Ulya!”
Congratulations.
She hadn’t realized she’d said it aloud until she hears another quiet laugh.
Ignore it. There’s no point. Focus on the case.
Poisoned chocolates, ingested by a viscount who’d been in a lounge designated for countesses with the door locked and knights standing guard...
Why would a man be in this room? Was he drunk? But how did he get in if the knights are watching? Maybe he snuck in here to eat chocolates without other viscounts seeing him, or...
Is that it?
“Jordan. Eric.” They almost seem to snap to attention. “The knights ensure only the right people - by gender and the indicator token handed out at the base of the stairs to the rest area - can enter each lounge, correct?”
When they answer in the affirmative, she continues.
“Where are the knights who were stationed in front of this lounge and the other one down the hallway?”
Two Imperial Knights are brought before her within minutes, and Lexi stares the tops of their heads as they kneel before her.
“Who was guarding this room?”
The dark haired knight answers.
“No man entered it on your watch?”
Shaking her head while replying, the dame swears she hadn’t left her post except on three occasions: to get the key, and to help a young countess who’d tripped and fallen on her way to the lounge and on her way back to the ballroom.
A young countess?
“What did this countess look like?”
Seriously?
The dame describes Countess Theodora Wyngate perfectly.
Something doesn’t add up.
“I guess the rumors of her affair were true.”
“She killed the viscount to cover it up.”
“It’s not surprising, didn’t her belly look distended?”
Oh?
“She must have been pregnant, and wanted to pass the child off as Count Wyngate’s.”
“That’s the only way she can stay in power in that house.”
No, it’s too easy. This must be a red herring, or part of the culprit’s intentions.
“Who said that Countess Wyngate was having an affair with the late viscount?”
No one reveals themselves until Eric takes a threatening step towards the crowd, then a trembling young lady has her gloved hands raised by the people flanking her.
“Viscountess Kiera Readelfor. What makes you so certain about the affair?”
Those eyes are shifty.
The viscountess stammers for a bit, eyes darting every which way as though wanting to be free from Lexi’s hard crystal gaze.
There’s a pattern.
Each time the noblewoman looked towards the corpse - covered with a curtain hastily ripped off its rod earlier - honey brown eyes would glance quickly in the direction of Dhampir Lily before looking down at her own hands.
I don’t have any proof, which means I need a full confession like in those TV shows.
“Dame Phoebe.” Hope I got your name right. The dark haired knight assigned to guard this lounge straightens. “Did Viscountess Kiera Readelfor enter this room?”
“No, my lady. This lounge is for countesses only.”
“And in the 30 minutes before and after the viscount’s estimated time of death, you didn’t leave your post except to help Countess Wyngate?”
“That’s right, my lady.”
Think, Lexi. Think of all those stories you read with dad, think of the whodunnits he praised you for figuring out long before the reveal.
“This corridor is shared by the second viscountess lounge, am I correct?”
Dame Phoenix blinks, but answers in the affirmative.
“And during the 30 minutes before and after the viscount’s estimated time of death, did anyone come or go from the second viscountess lounge?”
Three viscountesses entered that lounge, and two departed.
“And you were guarding the second viscountess lounge?”
The other knight - a fresh faced dame - nods and replies in the affirmative.
“Who were the three viscountesses who entered the lounge during that time period? And who were the two who exited?”
The dame can’t name two of them - only knowing they’d entered and exited the lounge at the same time - and her youthful face flushes as she bites her lower lip in shame.
Dame Felix explains that Dame Iris had only become an Imperial knight last week after a recommendation from Baron Croyton, former commander of the Mamba Legion.
Here we go.
“When the door to this room was unlocked and the viscount’s body found, were you with Countess Carlton?”
The blue eyed knight nods.
“Were you in a position to watch the doorway of the second viscountess lounge at that time?”
Dame Ibis shakes her head.
“After you found the body in this room, did you inspect the second viscountess lounge?”
“Yes, my lady.”
“And who was in there?”
Dame Aileen answers immediately. “Viscountess Readelfor, my lady.”
Too easy.
“Before the three viscountesses entered the lounge, was it empty?”
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
The young knight looks confused, but answers readily that the lounge had definitely been empty.
Almost there.
“Dame Alice, when Viscountess Readelfor entered the second viscountess lounge, was that also around the time that Countess Wyngate tripped and fell on her way back to the ball?”
Green eyes widen, as the ponytailed knight nods.
“And when Countess Wyngate fell that time, did you leave your post to assist her alongside Dame Feeny?”
Dame Idris bravely answers that she did, despite knowing that all the knights in the vicinity going to the assistance of one noblewoman who’d only tripped and fallen had been a breach of protocol - she should have stayed back to continue guarding the rooms and watching the hallway. Lexi’s eyes don’t miss the tremors of gloved hands as the young knight no doubt wonders if she’ll be sent back to the countryside.
Thanks, Dame Amiss.
“I need space.”
Jordan blinks at her, before issuing orders.
The corridor is cleared quickly, nosy nobles and players forced by the knights to back up until Lexi has a hundred feet to herself and a select few, directing Dame Irene and Dame Philly to their positions at the point in time that Countess Wyngate tripped on her way back to the ball.
She’s deliberately overdramatic as she reenacts the fall because nobles have annoyed her all night, hears more muffled laughs but ignores them.
When the dames rush over to her, she tells them to stop and hold their positions.
That’s it.
Wyngate tripped as a distraction, first to allow the viscount to enter the lounge, then to allow the viscount to leave - it’s not hard for him to have gotten to this corridor since the men’s lounges are upstairs, and there’s another set of stairs for servants around the corner if a noble is willing to walk the help’s path. What Wyngate didn’t know is that someone else had used that second distraction to slip in as the viscount was about to leave - someone who’d been waiting for the opportunity, carrying poisoned chocolates with them, probably wrapped in a handkerchief and tucked in a pocket. They’d probably been watching Wyngate or the viscount or both closely, and realized those two were meeting in the lounge, or maybe they even knew beforehand.
Staring at the double doors of the countess’ lounge, Lexi considers the locked room nature of the case.
The person who slipped in must have locked the door, that’s why Carlton needed the head maid’s key to get in. Which means that the culprit had been in this room the entire time with the dead body, waiting for their chance to escape.
She directs Dame Finny and Dame Eyeless to stand where they’d been when the doors had been opened, checks their lines of sight.
Done.
All their eyes would have been on the body as soon as they entered. When Carlton screamed and then fainted, the knights would have focused on her, probably tried to catch her and rouse her. That’s the distraction the killer needed to slip back out and wait in the second viscountess lounge.
As soon as Lexi explains and demonstrates, the crowd buzzes as knights stare at her wide eyed.
“Which means, the killer is...”
Smirking, she points at Viscountess Kiera Readelfor.
----------------------------------------
The recently departed Viscount Gregory Hewsbury had been having affairs with both Viscountess Kiera Readelfor and Countess Theodora Wyngate. Unfortunately, Viscountess Readelfor hadn’t been aware of her lover’s infidelity, believing Countess Wyngate only an old friend of the viscount’s until the countess had gotten pregnant and the viscount had mentioned she’d be divorcing her perverted old husband and marrying him afterwards, now that her parents had to accept they had reason to be together after all these years.
I thought you were thirsting after Eric. What’s with two timing with a two timer?
That had reopened old wounds for Viscountess Readelfor, who’d lost her original fiancé - also her first love - to Dhampir Lily when the man had become so besotted with the legendary player he’d broken off their engagement and then killed himself once the dhampir had grown tired of him.
And so the cunning viscountess had developed a plan, using her godfather Baron Crayon to ensure an inexperienced knight from the countryside would be put in charge of the second viscountess lounge at the ball. It’d been crucial to have a newbie from the boondocks placed strategically, since Readelfor knew the viscount and Countess Wyndfor were planning on meeting in secret before midnight, knew how the pregnant countess had been planning on getting the viscount into the lounge.
From there, it had proceeded just as Lexi explained - right down to Viscountess Readelfor inciting the crowd to accuse Dhampir Lily and Countess Wyngate.
Forget two birds, one stone. This chick was going full tic-tac-toe. Or possibly even worse, since all players would have suffered the backlash from her stupid plans.
While her memory for faces and names is still poor, after Deidre, Mia, and the maids had quizzed her incessantly Lexi had successfully memorized all the faces, names, and details on the papers she’d been given. When she’d noticed the viscountess being the one instigating the whispers that turned into shouts earlier, Lexi had dug up everything she remembers reading and begun to solve the puzzle.
“You witch! You should never have come to Terra! My plan was perfect! It was perfect!”
In what world is that considered perfect? It had more holes than Eric’s been in. Next time you have an idea, jump off a cliff first and see if it’ll fly. The only impressive thing about all this is how you managed to slither about so quickly in that ridiculous dress and heels.
It’s past two in the morning now, and Lexi is grumpier than she’s ever been.
I haven’t eaten since the day before yesterday, I’m wearing petticoats that’ve become heavier than anchors and a corset that’s starting to feel like a boa constrictor, these heels have been biting and burning my feet for hours, AND I’ve had to figure out your moronic plot before players like myself get blamed for your inability to get over a guy or two. Life’s bigger than you for God’s sake. Your lack of love from men you want is NOT. MY. PROBLEM.
As soon as the perpetrator is secured with magic restraints - handkerchief with traces of poison inside a cleverly concealed pocket already confiscated - Lexi grabs hold of Eric, bids Jordan, Ray, and Elise good night, and proceeds to drag the redhead out of the palace.
I’m STARVING.
The staff at the duke’s manor forego sleep to hear all about Lexi’s first ball, and her first case.
No one mentions Shade Raphael, at least not in front of her.
----------------------------------------
'Is your tongue for decoration’ has become a catchphrase in the empire, and Lexi wishes she’d trademarked it earlier.
My royalties...
She gets plenty of gifts from nobles praising her intelligence and cool logic, though she immediately orders them distributed among all the staff and knights in the manor.
Even the duke comments on the preferential treatment Lexi receives after that.
The emperor’s gift had been annoying - an invitation to the next parliamentary meeting - and despite really wanting to refuse, she accepts after everyone agrees it’d be best for her to attend. Which means the maids and secretaries have gone into overdrive to prepare her.
I’d rather face another basilisk.
Lexi memorizes documents dutifully, answers random quizzes even in the bath, and counts down to the day she can leave for another quest. Per Guild rules, as a minimum guarantee of ability players have to successfully complete three quests before they can start taking dungeon raids.
She’s not personally worried about the dungeons since she has Eric and Ray, but that doesn’t stop Elise from urging her to train harder in preparation. The senior sage hasn’t left the capital in decades - for reasons she says she’ll tell Lexi someday - but has plenty of dungeon raiding experience from her younger centuries, all of which she painstakingly writes in great detail for Lexi.
Jordan tells her not to worry about the guild master giving her grief for what she’d done previously, expression as close to devilish as she’s ever seen on his handsome face, and she laughs merrily before thanking him. The look on his face after that makes her a little uncomfortable, but thankfully he covers it up quickly and changes topics.
When Shade Raphael’s gift arrives, Lexi doesn’t even touch it - dismissing the messenger and then telling Helen to take the box to Eric immediately.
I made a promise and I’m keeping it with or without the ‘gods’ of this world watching, if they even exist. A promise is a promise.
Ray tells her that Eric had gotten Elise to inspect the gift carefully, after using countless precious artifacts and magical tools to assess it, but Lexi resolutely pretends she hadn’t been happy to receive something from the shade.
Vena’s progress in combat training helps distract her, the lovely half-elf mastering the bow and twin daggers at a speed unmatched by humans from Terra, and Lexi buys the girl/woman enough sweets to give an entire village diabetes.
She doesn’t bring up the shade’s gift, not even once, but it gets easier to ignore that item when Eric finally makes good on his word and tells her the information he’d promised to share once she’d reached level 10.
He’d taken his time, but once she hears it she understands why.
This is nuts.
Just as their surname means “grove on a border”, it seems that the Hargreaveses are the only players who straddle their original homes and Terra, the only people who truly see this world as a game with menus that are different from every other player’s.
As the sole individuals who can see EXP, P-ATK, M-ATK, P-DEF, M-DEF, and stats, it’s only the Hargreaveses who can allocate stat points and effectively ‘game’ with their own bodies while other players grind the hard way, power and growth limited to what their human bodies and system-granted skills can achieve.
It’s also why every Hargreaves has gotten stronger much faster than others.
But that’s not all.
According to secret records in the palace vaults, the only times a Hargreaves appears are when the empire is in need. While the general rule of thumb is that players spawn from a designated point at least once every nine months, with the Hargreaveses that number is random and dependent on the decision of the system. Over the past 600 years, the longest lull between Hargreaveses spawning was five years, and that had been more than 500 years ago.
The empire being in need at least once every few years says a lot about this world, or at least the people in charge. If anyone messed up at work that regularly they’d have been fired faster than Eric changes bed partners.
Still, it explains a lot about why Jordan had sent his two best men - the greatest knights in the empire, one of whom he’d grown up playing with and loves like a brother - all the way to the remote northeast to wait for the next player to appear from the forest near Breakfast.
The reason Jordan was so desperate to bring a Hargreaves to the capital safely was because he needed my - no - a Hargreaves’ help. Even better if said Hargreaves turned out to be an alchemist or sage, since only these classes are granted Sight. No wonder Eric was so quick to announce it that time, when Jordan and I first met.
She doesn’t feel the slightest bit miserable about or betrayed by that realization, because she’d been curious from the start about the crown prince’s motivations for sending such renown warriors to such a remote location.
We didn’t know each other when he made that decision. And it's thanks to him that I made it this far.
The fact that she’s the only person in the world right now with such a detailed status menu is another reason why the crown prince - and his father and uncle - pay such close attention to the her, though with varying motivations.
Jordan needs Lexi’s unique insight into people and items so he can lead well - so he can protect the empire that is either facing or about to face grave danger - but he has no intention of taking it by force.
Meanwhile, the emperor and grand duke want her power for themselves.
Eric is sure that after 601 years others in the empire and the world know about the Hargreaveses’ special traits, but he admits it’s hard to identify them with absolute certainty so he just nags her to be careful, reminding her not to mention her status menu to others.
Lexi later learns from Ray that the only reason the messy haired commander had always questioned her about her stat point distribution is because many previous Hargreaveses had messed up when preparing themselves to survive in Terra.
----------------------------------------
Alright, let’s get this over with.
This time the maids don’t take as long to get her ready, though Lexi barely notices since the secretaries are giving her a last minute quiz the entire time.
It’s clear they’re worried. The parliament building is packed with devices that suppress players’ abilities, so though they don’t know what skills she has they’re smart enough to realize that someone with the time attribute being rendered essentially powerless in such a setting isn’t a good thing - especially since the stakes are higher at such an assembly. At Parliament, every word spoken is recorded for posterity and made publicly available, and while Lexi is immensely grateful for all their efforts she also thinks they’re worrying too much.
She can’t wait for the session to be over so she can accept another quest, hopefully even complete a dungeon raid before Eric’s birthday celebration in early summer. Ray’s birthday is slightly more than a month after that, and her own a little more than a month later, so they can handle only one quest or dungeon in between each ball.
A Gemini, a Cancer, and a Virgo walk into a dungeon...
It’s like the setup of a bad joke, though with the way Jordan has been so actively involved in preparing for his best friend’s 37th birthday, with the way Jordan, Ray, and Elise have been so gung-ho planning for her 29+1 party, Lexi will take a bad joke any day.
Ray never wants to have a celebration for his birthday, so it seems every year Jordan, Eric, and the Hawk Legion just take him out for drinks. This year, with Elise and Lexi pleading with him, the kind shield of the empire agrees to throw a proper ball, and his grateful father had actually come to the duke’s manor to thank Lexi for changing his stubborn son’s mind.
Appreciate yourself more, Ray. You’re one of the best people I’ve ever known, and I’ve met a lot of people.
Most people she knows are simply varying degrees of rotten.
----------------------------------------
CHAPTER 22 END