Episode 13

“Did you just call me rude?”

Killian halted in his tracks at my cold voice and retorted roughly.

Contempt was in his eyes as he looked at me. I straightened my back even more.

“Turning your back first in front of royalty could be considered an act of royal disrespect.”

“What are you plotting? Have you decided to resort to threats now?”

Grand Duke Killian slowly swept back his ebony hair. He still looked at me with eyes full of loathing.

“One must show the proper respect when facing royalty.”

I took the hem of my dress and greeted him with the utmost elegance. My reflection in the ornate mirrors lining the ballroom corridor was cool.

“Since when has the princess observed proper etiquette with me? If this is some absurd act, it would be wise to stop now.”

“It seems that among the two of us, only the Grand Duke is failing to observe etiquette, isn’t that so?”

He hesitated for a moment at my chilly reply, because there was nothing wrong with what I had said.

Reluctantly, he paid his respects with a stiff manner.

“Next time we meet, I hope you’ll show the proper respect before making criticisms. Next time, I really might charge the Grand Duke with royal disrespect.”

Having received a polite greeting from Killian, I passed by him indifferently, as if all my business had concluded.

“Really… are you just going to leave?”

A look of perplexity spread across Killian’s face.

It seemed he had expected me to cling to him as before after lecturing him about etiquette.

Turning slowly towards him, I responded in a dry tone.

“Was there anything more to be said between us?”

“……”

Killian frowned and watched me silently.

“Ah, and as you might already know, I am engaged to Duke Adler. So it would be best not to labor under the delusion that I still harbor any feelings for the Grand Duke.”

As if I had not a single shred of sentiment left for him, I shot back and showed a perfunctory smile devoid of any emotion.

Then I gracefully left, passing by him as he stood dumbfounded in the middle of the dark corridor.

*

Having left Grand Duke Killian behind, I stepped out into the corridor and unfolded a neatly folded piece of paper under the dim light of an oil lamp.

First victim (28 years old, home tutor) – Graduated from the Imperial College of Pharmacy – Lived in the end room on the second floor of the Count Mosston’s annex.

It was a note handed to me by John, investigated before departing for the ball.

Clutching the hem of my dress, I quickly walked towards the annex of the count’s residence where the first victim’s room was located.

The annex, not far from the ballroom, was deserted, thanks to all the staff and attention being directed towards the main building of the count’s residence where the ball was being held.

“Phew, it’s a relief that no one is here.”

In front of the victim’s room, I quietly opened the door, hoping to find even the smallest clue.

Creak-. As the door opened with a squeaking noise, I saw an empty room with a dark navy carpet.

It seemed as if the count’s residence had already cleared out all the furniture and belongings, as if to erase the terrible event that had befallen the owner of this room.

The only things left in the room were the carpet and the curtains.

“Oh no.” I let out a sigh of disappointment.

I had expected that enough time had passed that it would be difficult to obtain much information, but I did not expect to find absolutely nothing.

Knowing it was futile, I still flipped over the curtains, the only item left in the room.

“Achoo!” As I was examining the curtains, a sneeze suddenly burst out. Soon my throat began to feel scratchy.

“Ugh, why is this happening? Cough, cough…!” I started to cough, and my breathing became labored. Almost immediately, my whole body began to itch.

Suddenly, looking down at my arm, I noticed red and white blotches appearing on the exposed skin of my forearm.

This is… surely an allergic reaction, right?

Why would an allergic reaction occur in an empty room with nothing in it?

In this empty room, something remained. Something that was clearly triggering a physical reaction in my body.

My nose tickled and I sniffled, searching every corner of the empty room for the cause.

But even as I lay on the floor and peeled back the carpet, I could find nothing.

The problem was that the more I searched the room, the more difficult it became to breathe.

“Ugh, I need to get out before the allergic reaction gets worse….”

“Wh-who are you!”

Then, a voice filled with terror sounded from behind me. I turned around, feeling my heart drop.

The person who opened the door and entered was a maid of the count’s residence, even she was terrified. She seemed to be shocked by the sight of me standing in the masterless empty room.

In contrast, I sighed in relief. A maid could sufficiently explain away the current situation.

“You! Don’t you know who I am?”

“Wh-who are you…?”

The maid, taken aback by my sudden shouting and informal speech, stumbled backwards in confusion.

Fortunately, it seemed the maid did not recognize my face.

In this situation, it would not be good for me to be found out as the princess.

“How dare you not know me! The standards of the maids at Count Mosston’s residence are atrocious, aren’t they?”

“I’m, I’m sorry.”

Even though I was the suspicious one in this situation, I shouted louder to give the maid no chance to doubt.

“The layout of the count’s residence is a mess! Who designed this place, making it so easy to get lost while looking for the restroom from the ballroom?”

“I am very sorry. I didn’t know that…”

To further distract the maid, I became even more unreasonable. The maid bowed her head in confusion at my berating.

I took the opportunity to stomp past the maid, pushing my way out of the room, and then I shouted at her once more.

“Are you in charge of this room? How do you clean it, that I get hives all over my body just from being in there briefly? I should tell Count Mosston to fire you immediately!”

“Lady, I’m, I’m so sorry. But you misunderstand! It’s not because of the cleaning that…”

The maid was on the verge of tears. I narrowed my eyes, waiting for her to continue.

“It’s a peach allergy. The person who used this room had been experimenting with peaches, you see. The carpet and the cracks in the wood were all full of peach fuzz. Other maids broke out in hives while cleaning this room too.”

Peaches?

I still didn’t know if it had any relevance to the motive behind the serial killings. It was just one more piece of information added about the victim.

It seemed this was all I could learn here; it was time to make my exit.

“Alright. If that’s what you say, I’ll let it slide this time.”

“Th-thank you, my lady.”

The poor maid kept bowing her head for something that was neither her fault nor her responsibility. Feeling a twinge of guilt, I quickly left the count’s annex.

Only after safely entering the ballroom corridor did I slow my steps with a sense of relief.

As I was about to return to the ballroom, sharp voices came from the powder room.

“We’ve all lost a great deal of money!”

“Who could have known that Viscount Ian would just run away like that?”

A few snippets of conversation from within were enough to guess the general situation.

It appeared that the young ladies from the cake shop had ultimately been swindled.

“Aha, it seems the enemy’s body has already floated downriver, has it?”

I felt a sense of schadenfreude passing by, when an unexpected name caught my ear.

“Lady Blair truly knows no loyalty!”

They were angry at Blair. It was ridiculous, but I decided to just walk past.

There was nothing to gain for me by intervening.

Just as I was about to move on, I heard a frighteningly harsh voice.

“If you try to live only for yourself among friends, do you think we will let you, the lady, be?”

…Damn. My petty sense of justice grabbed me by the ankle. In the end, I found myself standing in front of the powder room again.

Bang-! When I flung open the door of the powder room, I saw three young ladies cornering Blair against a wall.

“What on earth are you doing?”

I glared at them with a sharp voice. Then, Christina replied with a sneering tone.

“It’s none of the princess’s business.”

Tears were already welling up in Blair’s eyes. She trembled like an innocent student being bullied by her wicked sisters.

The school violence case I had dealt with before made me bristle with indignation.

“It is my business. Lady Blair is to become my family. If it concerns my family, then it certainly concerns me.”

Tiffany snorted. She lifted her chin defiantly, as if a princess of my low stature was not to be feared.

“Lady Blair is truly foolish. To think she’d call upon a rotten vine like a family. Not all princesses are created equal.”

That arrogant attitude stirred the villainess within me.

“Oh my! How fortunate for you. You might have foolishly been scammed out of your money, but at least you have a sturdy vine! Sadly, Lady Blair only has her money.”

I smirked, scratching at the ladies’ pride. My sarcasm made their faces turn beet red.

Eventually, Christina raised her voice at me.

“Foolish? Princess, your words are too much.”

At that, I gave the three ladies a particularly spiteful look.

“Too much? It seems to me that the three of you, who foolishly fell for a scammer and are now taking it out on someone else, are the ones who are excessive.”

Celine, who was fuming, finally spouted a specious argument.

“Venting? It’s Lady Blair who did wrong. She promised to invest in the business and then backed out all by herself.”

“I, I told you it was strange and to think about it carefully!”

Blair protested softly, as if wronged. Kindly, she had heeded my words and even given a warning.

Tiffany opened her mouth with a mocking smile.

“I never knew Lady Blair to be so disloyal. Oh, did she learn that from someone who flits from man to man like a migrating bird?”

Their overstepping comments made me confront them seriously.

“Can you take responsibility for what you just said? Do you want to be charged with the crime of lese-majesty?”

“Lese-majesty? I never mentioned a subject, do you feel accused? No matter what you say, princess, I won’t be punished for lese-majesty.”

Their shameless attitude infuriated me. How dare they be so insolent in front of the empire’s worst villainess. It seemed time to show who the real scoundrel of the area was.

“Do you think I’ll only charge you with lese-majesty through the law? Don’t you know fists are closer than laws?”

“My goodness, fists? Princess, please show some decorum! Oh dear, wearing an expensive dress doesn’t raise one’s dignity, as they say.”

In the end, I couldn’t help but raise my voice in anger. My vocal cords, consistently trained by Charlotte’s villainy, showed their true worth without fail.

“Ha, shall I show you what real culture is?”

As if to make a point, I elegantly picked up an expensive wine bottle full of class, displayed in the powder room.

“Eek!”

“Princess Charlotte has really gone crazy!”

The three ladies, fearing I might swing the wine bottle I had grabbed at them, fled the powder room in utter panic.

Only Blair and I remained in the powder room, my breaths puffing angrily.

Blair looked at me with wide, wet eyes. Meeting her gaze, I awkwardly smiled and slowly lowered the arm that held the wine bottle aloft.

“Don’t misunderstand. I wasn’t really going to swing it. I just wanted to scare them.”

“Sob, thank you for your help, Your Highness.”

Relieved, Blair dabbed her eyes with a pastel silk handkerchief, sobbing.

“That business really was a scam. Viscount Ian, the ringleader, had accumulated substantial gambling debts. Really… thank you.”

“It was nothing.” I shrugged it off with a nonchalant smile.

But maybe it was because I had been shouting too much that evening, my arm, weakened, suddenly lost its strength.

“Ah!” The wine bottle slipped from my hand in an instant.

Thud – crash! The wine bottle shattered on the white marble floor with a loud noise, and the gushing wine stained the hem of my dress a deep red.

“Are, are you okay, Your Highness?”

“Ah, I’m fine. My arm just went weak for a moment.”

I grimaced at the sight of my dress hem smeared with stains. Wine doesn’t wash out easily; what a waste.

Thud – bang! Just then, the door opened with a rough sound. I looked towards the door with a scowl.

Unexpectedly, the one who opened the door was Duke Adler.

With an angry face, he looked back and forth between me, Blair, and the shattered wine bottle on the floor.

“What on earth are you doing!”