Princess Mia is Bereft
Connery let out a short sigh when he saw the two men. I think they are looking for you. This young woman said she saw you two walking around.
He shrugged. Its okay if his secret was found out. He wasnt trying to be sneaky or anything. He thought it would be fun to follow her and see what the two men were doing.
Thats as far as shadowing goes. I think its time for me to leave with the girl.
During her adven-tour of the castle, he kept an eye on the girl. He had done what he needed to do here. He felt a little better after thinking about it, maybe too much, because the next thing that happened caught him off guard.
I see What do you know? This is actually perfect, Keithwood said. Going in by ourselves would have led to trouble in the long run. But now that youre here, well have the testimony of the captain of Count Lamprons guard.
He had hoped for an easy escape, but fate wasnt going to let him off the hook that quickly.
A testimony? I am not sure what you mean.
As Keithwood spoke in a relaxed tone, Testimony, yes. Because were going to search Prince Echards room right now.
Huh?
As Connery thought about what he had just heard, he got a bad feeling rising in his stomach. He understood now that he had put himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.
What do you mean? Im not very good at jokes, you see. It looks like I missed the funny part. I dont think its even close to right. Keithwood, its not like you to say things like that.
When Keithwoods face stayed disturbingly serious, his pointless laughing sounded even hollow. He wasnt joking. While Dion was smiling, which made him look scary. Connery realized right away that the smile he was seeing wasnt that of someone enjoying a crude joke, but of someone who liked being in trouble and danger. I think this man would still be smiling if he had gone up against an army by himself.
Connerys last hope was the girl that the Great Wisdom of the Empire had thought was important enough to bring with her.
The girl said, Wow Are we really sneaking into a princes room? That sounds like an adventure! Plus I get to do it with Keithwood, the Libra Kings most loyal knight! Also General Dion! Wow, this is amazing!
Bels eyes were shining with joy.
Nope. Theres no hope there. So I guess were going to do this Connery thought this as he felt five times worse than he did a minute ago.
Its not safe for Miss Bel to go with us, but we dont have time to wait. Well have to take a chance. Sir Connery, please stay with us and keep Miss Bel safe. Keithwood held up a mask and said, Also, put this on.
This is
Cover. In case. Its better not to show your face.
This makes me think of a rumor I heard. It seems that there is a masked pair that is taking out small groups of thieves in the area.
Milord has a strong sense of right and wrong, as you know. It keeps me pretty busy.
Keithwood just shrugged, but Connery felt a little sorry for the attendant.
The group got to Prince Echards room without too many problems because Keithwood knew exactly where the guards were stationed and how to avoid them. The closest call they got was when Bel tripped and fell, screaming and calling for a bunch of guards, who Keithwood and Dion quickly engaged. What happened was less of a fight and more of a show of how skilled the two were. They knocked out the guards and left them unable to do anything. With great skill, they made sure that the guards only unconscious and nothing else.
After the fight, Dion looked at Bel. Bel laughed in embarassment, which made the knight sigh in frustration.
Bloody moon You make me think of a certain princess in a certain forest. He then looked at Keithwood and said, But I have to say, you have a great sword arm. Prince Sion is very good, but youre not bad either.
Thank you for the compliment.
How about a few rounds? It would make a nice gift for me.
No thanks. I dont think I could last even three seconds. Ill get you a real gift instead.
Keithwood laughed happily and turned around to hide the cold sweat that was running down the back of his neck. There is no doubt that Dion Alaia was a monster. It made his hair stand on end because he could feel it in the mans energy. Even if he only had three seconds, he would have to be very tough to draw his sword when his whole body would be telling him to run away as soon as Dion appeared. The sheer fear wasfamiliar, to be honest. He had the same reaction when Mia cooked for him.
Its also very important that Princess Mia never cooks, especially with mushrooms Its just as important that Dion Alaia never sees us as enemies. It would be very bad if we went to war with Tearmoon. I should do everything I can to stop it Ugh, why are things never easy.
He grimaced as he his old friend, the headache, came.
As soon as Connery got into Echards room, he had to say something to warn him.
Keithwood, I need to remind you that even someone in your position
This is not allowed. Yes, I am aware of that.
Keithwood smiled wryly when he saw the guard captains serious face.
But certain times need unique responses. The well-being of the royal family is at risk, so this is a very important time.
What about the royal family?
It seems, Dion said, taking over for Keithwood, a very suspicious man was seen talking to your second prince. And most likely gave the boy poison.
Wha? Poison?
Yep. So the story goes, at least.
He blinked a few times and then shook his head.
Thats it. So its just a story. That doesnt make this behavior okay at all
But it seems very likely, Dion said, cutting Connery off. The guy was seen hanging out in the open market, which is probably where he gave the poison to the second prince. Does any of that sound familiar?
One of Connerys cheeks twitched.
You say the open market
His voice had a little shake to it. His eyes started to jump around. Connery wasnt able to keep things a secret.
Sir Connery, is something wrong? Keithwood asked, noticing that he had changed the way he acted.
No. Even though he didnt say anything, Dion put a hard hand on his shoulder.
Is that the sound of joy I hear? Being honest will probably help you a lot if you know something. Just a thought.
I, uh At any rate He looked at Bel, who tilted her head to look at him with interest. His fate was sealed by her big, innocent eyes.
You see
He told the truth. Connery wasnt the type of person who could lie to kids. In general, he was a good, honest person.
A while ago, when I went to the open market with His Highness, I lost sight of him for a short time
Dion laughed out loud when he told the truth.
Ha ha ha! You would not last two seconds if someone interrogated you. Connery, youre a good man, and I like that youre honest. Try to keep your mouth shut around other people, though, okay? For your own good.
should I? But
No, really, just shut up. Heads rolling bothers our princess a lot. I dont want to give her any bad dreams.
Connery had to nod because of the seriousness in his voice.
By the way, thats one more reason to include you in this operation, Keithwood said. You will help yourself and His Highness.
All right, Connery said after a long pause. I dont think I have many options. Ill join. He sighed and tried to remember more about that day.
As far as I can remember, I dont remember him holding anything. It probably cant be too big for what were looking for.
Echards room was surprisingly big. Since Solecsudo Castle was built for war, it put utility over luxury, and its inner rooms were not very big. Unless you group three of them together.
The first sub-room looked like a small library, with lots of books lined up on the shelves. It also had a desk where people could read and write. There were religious drawings on the walls of the second sub-room. Based on the furniture that was there, it was probably used for things like afternoon tea. There was a huge canopy bed in the third.
This is one hell of a room to look through Dion sighed as he looked around the room. We have no idea what were looking for. The kid might even be keeping it from him. Where should we look to find it?
Keithwood just shook his head at his whining.
Hell be the center of attention at the party today, so I doubt hed bring it. So its likely that we wont be able to find anything. He might have thrown it away. Still, we Excuse me, Miss Bel? What are you doing?
Bel crawled on all fours and peered out from under the bed. Keithwood looked at her.
Rina told me that noble boys hide things under their bed that they dont want other people to see
She looked over her shoulder at him and said with a guilt-free laugh.
Rina is very smart. She understands everything. She also told me that if you say I know what you did, theyll freak out and tell you all sorts of things, even if you dont know what theyre hiding. Theres more
Connery thought of the girl whose name was Citrina. Even though she was nice and sweet, he remembered that there was something strange about her.
It makes sense. Its likely that girl has something planned. I wouldnt expect anything less from someone who works for Princess Mia.
Bel stood up, and he watched with his arms and brows knit together in thought. She looked at the bed.
She pursed her lips and put her hand under the pillow after a while.
Ah! She pulled her arm back and showed what she was holding with a shocked cry. Keithwood jumped in to get a better look. He wrinkled his brows.
A troya? Why would a charm be here?
Ive made troyas like these before, Bel sounded very proud. First, you roll up some stuffing for the stomach. Then, you wrap the thread around it. When youre done, you can take out the stuffing and therell be a pocket inside.
She opened the belly of the horse-shaped charm.
See? You can hide things in this, she said, taking out a small black powder vial.
To which Mia replied, So you found this in Prince Echards room She let out a sigh of sorrow.
If Keithwood had found this before the party today, its possible to avoid this whole mess
But it didnt help to cry over spilled milk. Even more so when the milk made up for the mess. The poisoning gave them permission to search Echards room without his permission. They would have just broken into the privacy of a prince without the incident. In the end, there was no solid proof that he had it. Mia was sure, but she would have to use clairvoyance to back up her story, which was iffy at best in a court of law.
Of course, the cause-and-effect thing isnt helping me. There wasnt any real murder, though. Thats something to be thankful for.
She thought that Bels finding, even though it was new, wouldnt really change anything. What kind of poison was used, and they knew there had been an attack. The only thing that had changed was that they now had the powder.
May I take a look? asked Citrina as she stepped up. She took the vial and quickly shook it.
I see. If its okay with you, I think this is strong proof that Prince Echard did not mean to kill anyone.
Explain. asked Sion, surprised.
Earlier, I asked Prince Echard how much poison he had put in the wine glass. One pinch, was his answer. Citrina held the bottle up to the light, which showed what was inside. We can see that there is still a lot of powder inside, which means that he chose to use only one pinch. He would have put in more if he had meant to kill. With poison, theres no reason to risk the person living because the amount is too low. Especially if he planned to bring the poisoned drink to the party himself, because of all the noise and chaos, he would only have one chance. So, I think that the contents of this vial show that he wasnt trying to kill anyone.
This answer helped Mia understand a lot better. The vial looked like a sugar shaker, which let her use a much more common way of thinking to figure out what was going on. She would want to use it less often when the shaker was half full so it wouldnt run out. Her shakes would get softer and less frequent on their own. But if you gave her a full shaker, shed put a good cubes worth of it in her tea. From her point of view, who wouldnt want their tea to be too sweet instead of not sweet enough?
Without a doubt, poison was the same. It was possible that Echard would only use a pinch of powder if the bottle held a very small amount. But since it held a lot, he only used a little.
That clearly means he thought it would be bad if he put in too much. He might have been hoping for a mild reaction so that he wouldnt have to show too much, but even so, one pinch seems too little Well, this argument seems convincing.
Since you have so much, it makes sense to try it on something like a mouse first. At least I would, Citrina said, but her tone was stiff, which didnt match what she was saying. That way Ill understand what it does. Its likely that Prince Echard didnt even do that much. His actions were very careless, which makes me think he was acting on instinct. Someone who didnt care if they found out later. After all, you would do everything you could to hide your participation in the killing, right? Maybe you wouldnt care about being seen, but youd still make sure you used enough to kill the target.
With a sweet smile, she won over her listeners. It was even more disturbing that her analysis was so morbid. Then she came to her conclusion.
So, its clear to me that Prince Echard did what he did without planning to He didnt think this was poison either, and he wasnt going to use it at the party. It was a random chance that the poison was available and a whim that made him do it.
There was something strangely convincing about her case. It could have been because she knew a lot about the subject. Her level of expertise meant that she knew a lot about both the tools and the people who use them.
Mia agreed and nodded. If she could, she would cheer. Citrina had made it possible for people to have reasonable doubts about Echards intentions.
This is nice. Miss Rafina came first, then Citrina. There are signs that the case for a lighter punishment will be favored. Surely, not even Sion could ask for a death in this setting!
She took a deep breath and thought that all that was left was to wait for Sion to agree to a less harsh sentence. Thats why she didnt correctly understand the next question.
Mia, what do you think?
Thats it. Its time for the last word. Mia, do it. Tell Sion what to say. Were all waiting for you to finish, MiWait Mia?
Mia didnt notice that Sion hadnt tried to take charge of the conversation until after the series of expert opinions. He kept his distance and watched her without saying a word. Her!
Huh?
While the rest of her body was frozen in shock, her mouth would have dropped. There were eyes everywhere in the room on her, waiting for her decision.
Huh? What, me? Uh How do I?
She took a deep breath in and got ready to speak. As soon as she opened her mouth, her throat hurt in a strange way. It was rough and dry. Her breath left her as a cough instead of words.
What is it? No Its not possible Is this poison?!
It most certainly wasnt. It was just the cookie she swiped as she left the hall. The dry, crumbly pieces of it were making her throat hurt.
Being without her voice, Mia was going through the worst hour of her life.