episode_0180

In the late afternoon, with the sun hanging in the western sky, Earningstern and his junior, who had visited various parts of the mansion to gather information, returned to the guest room to combine the information they had gathered.

Earningstern opened up his notebook where he had written down the information he had gathered so far, laid it out on his desk, and was formulating various hypotheses in his head.

As soon as my junior returned to the room, he fell asleep on the sofa.

Earningstern, who saw this, thought that he must have been quite tired, so he shook his head and left him to sleep.

‘Arcienne La Rochelle. He was a person whose behavior was not very good, and even when the previous head of the family was alive, he did not seem to get along very well. He has shown on several occasions that he is strangely sharp towards his sister and obsessed with power. Sarah, Charlotte’s maid, is currently serving him… … .’

Earningstern, who was looking down at the writing in his notebook with his arms crossed, massaged his eyebrows as his feelings and all the circumstances pointed to Arcien.

Circumstances and symptoms. Although these were of great help in resolving the case, Earningstern could not shake off his uncertain feelings.

When we investigated Charlotte for the Spring Festival incident, it was a similar situation. Earningstern, remembering his mistake at that time, frowned and looked down at his torn notebook with both hands on the desk.

‘What am I missing?’

I’m definitely missing something. This is also what I felt at that time.

Earnings Stone sighed deeply, brushed his bangs, sat down in the chair, and closed his eyes.

‘Don’t just think about what you see, let’s think more broadly.’

What is the keyword in this case? The death of the family head. poison. wine. drug. Charlotte. Arcien. Genea. Derkel. Sera.

What do they have in common? Except for Sarah, they are all members of the Rochelle family. no… … . There are probably more strange things besides that. Think about it.

What’s awkward? Which part is out of the box?

Earningstern, who had been reviewing the flow of events created based on the information he had obtained while investigating this case, over and over again, suddenly remembered the image of a person he had missed and stopped thinking for a moment.

‘Priscilla de Arbel… … ?’

Why is someone who is not from the Rochelle family here? Even though they are sisters to Genea La Rochelle, they brought an outsider into the case of the death of the duchy’s head?

No, what if you’re not an outsider? What if he is the real culprit’s assistant in the mansion? What can she do? As a professor of potions and herbalism, what can she do?

‘Manufacture of poison.’

no. Does she have a reason to do that? What if the Duchess called Priscilla not because of the poison, but because she was worried about the head of the family going crazy from drugs?

And what if someone who found out about Genea’s plan broke the whole plan and made Priscilla drink poison before she arrived at the mansion?

“There is a possibility… … .”

Either way is a possibility. In the former case, it was still too early to be certain, but in the latter case, the possibility was quite high.

Earningstern opened his eyes after thinking and narrowed his eyes at the scattered pieces of paper.

‘After work is over, I’ll go back to the academy for a moment and check out Professor Priscilla’s lab… … .’

Just as Earningstern was getting up to sort out the papers he had placed on his desk, his junior, who had been lying face down on the sofa, jumped up and stared at the door.

Earningstern turned around at the sound of a clatter and sighed at the sight of his junior half-covered on the sofa, looking toward the door.

“Sinaera.”

“… … !”

When Earningstern called the junior’s name, the junior was startled, trembled, and slowly turned around.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Ah… … .”

Seeing Earningstern laughing and talking, the junior sighed in relief and scratched his head.

“I guess it’s because I don’t sleep well… … . I had a nightmare… … .”

“I see. So, why did you wake up after a good night’s sleep? Who is coming?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Then yes.”

If you wake up from a good night’s sleep, there’s no other reason.

Earningstern nodded and said as he looked at his junior who kept glancing towards the door.

“Then… … . It’s a little early, but I have to greet the guests.”

“I understand.”

At Earningstern’s words, the junior nodded and quickly cleaned up the place. Earningstern roughly gathered the scattered papers together, placed them between his notebooks, and stood up.

And as I was finishing organizing the room, a light knocking sound was heard from beyond the tightly closed door.

“Yes, who are you?”

[This is Priscilla de Arbel. I’d like to talk to you for a moment. Could you give me some time?]

Morningstone, whose eyes trembled at the name he heard from beyond the door, changed his expression completely with a sigh, and then opened the door.

“Yes. As much as you want. Would you like to come in?”

“Please excuse me.”

Priscilla said that and naturally entered the room and sat down on the sofa, while Earningstone sat opposite her and looked at her.

Earningstern carefully looked at Priscilla, who seemed to have changed somewhat, and the junior remembered Priscilla’s every move behind Earningstern’s back.

Priscilla, who was sitting on the sofa, opened her mouth cautiously, recalling what she had simulated in her head several times before coming here.

“The reason I came here this time is to provide you with information that will be helpful to the investigation.”

“This is information that will be helpful to the investigation… … . New information is always welcome.”

Of course, let alone whether it is reliable information. Earningstern quietly thought back and nodded.

Priscilla opened her mouth, sighing in relief, thinking that she had gotten the first button right.

“Here, please look at this.”

Saying that, what Priscilla took out from her bosom was――

“This… … .”

It was a piece of paper with the written conversation I had with Sarah written on it.

* * *

Time passed and it was time to eat dinner. As in the morning, Priscilla arrived at the restaurant first and tried to relax by taking out a handkerchief and wiping the sweat from her palms several times.

are you okay. It will be fine. okay. I’m not bad. I just let Sarah know because she was acting suspicious.

Priscilla thought so and hid her shaking hands under the table.

Not long after that. Priscilla’s senses, which had become extremely sensitive due to nervousness, felt two figures slowly approaching from beyond the door.

“… … .”

As the popularity approached, Priscilla felt herself becoming dizzy. The moment I crossed a certain line, I felt something fall and my mind became clear.

Priscilla, who folded the crumpled handkerchief neatly and stuffed it into her bosom, slowly stood up when the maid told her that Arcien was coming.

“Master Arcien La Rochelle has arrived.”

With those words, the door opened, and Arcien and Sarah, following him, walked into the restaurant.

Priscilla smiled lightly at the two, and Sarah was the only one who responded to that laughter.

Arcien sat down without saying a word, and Priscilla followed Arcien. As soon as the two people sat down, the restaurant door opened and a tray came in with a strangely light sound.

“The meal has arrived.”

And, the one who brought in the tray was Earnings Stone, not the head deacon.

At the sudden appearance of Earnings Stone, not only Arsien but even Sera could not help but be shocked.

Although he is said to be an investigator with the same power as the king’s representative when it comes to investigating cases, what on earth was he thinking when he committed such a thing?

After standing blankly for a moment, Sarah turned her head and looked at Priscilla, but Priscilla just shook her head with an expression of complete ignorance.

“What is this? Do you think this kind of behavior is acceptable as an investigator directly under the royal family?”

“Of course, this is something you should never do to a noble.”

“Whoever knows that dare――”

“But.”

After interrupting Arsien, Earningstern looked at Arsien and said.

“There is no problem with a heinous criminal who committed kin murder.”

“What… … ?”

“Arcienne La Rochelle. You are under arrest on charges of familicide, one count of attempted murder, and the murder of a high-ranking nobleman.”

The moment Earningstone finished speaking, everyone in the restaurant gasped.

Not long after that, the servants in the dining room began to whisper while looking at Arcienne.

-Nonsense. So you’re saying that was true?

―You don’t even know if it’s real yet… … .

―But this is what an investigator directly under the royal family said… … .

―Then, Master Arsien did the whole thing that caused Lady Charlotte to fall?

Arsien, whose eyes were fluttering at the sudden remark and the overly confident attitude of Earnings Stone, kicked up his chair and screamed in rage.

“How dare you… … . dare!! You spit out such nonsense just because your mouth is open!?”

“There is no use in acting like a fool. Because the maid by your side has already told you everything.”

“… … what? Just what? Sarah… … . that… … . no… … . It’s a lie, it’s a lie… … . There’s no way something like that could happen.”

Arsien, who was shaking his head in denial, looked at Sarah with trembling eyes, then gritted his teeth and shouted at Arsien.

“Don’t be funny!! Sera, Sera couldn’t have said something like that!! You guys dared to scare Sarah――”

“You don’t believe me either. Then let me show you the evidence.”

Earningstern said so and took out a piece of paper from his pocket.

This was written on the paper:

[――The real culprit is Master Arcien――]

“Se, la… … ?”

And that handwriting was clearly Sarah’s.