Chapter 24

The moment I stepped into the Grand Hall, the eyes of everyone inside snapped toward me and Geralt. I felt my spine stiffen instantly under the collective weight of their gaze.

“Well now, the investigation is proceeding quite smoothly,” Geralt said without a hint of hesitation, twirling his cane. I felt the tension in the room relax.

He had saved me. However, calling things “smooth” when we hadn’t discovered a single lead was a bluff of epic proportions.

“Now then, I suppose all that’s left is the matter of questioning those involved?” Geralt said, glancing back at me.

“Right.”

To be honest, that was the only thing left to do. I looked at the grandfather clock in the hall and was shocked to see that nearly an hour had already passed. We only had one hour left.

The people in the hall had somehow settled into three distinct groups: the Royal Castle group, the Church group, and the Military Academy group. Yasha moved between them, serving tea.

“Well, my supervision shouldn’t be necessary from here on. In that case, I’m going to sleep for a bit.”

“Huh?”

I thought he was joking, but Geralt strolled over to a far corner of the hall, away from any of the groups. He lined up a few chairs to serve as a makeshift bed and promptly flopped down onto them.

Left alone, I hesitated for a moment before heading toward my allies—the Military Academy group. Well, one of them couldn’t exactly be called an “ally.”

“Hmph. What do you want? There’s only about an hour left, you know.”

That one person—Bob—spat out his usual spiteful greeting.

“I’m here for questioning.”

“Questioning? But didn’t most of the story come out during Sir Geralt’s deduction?” Kirio asked. It was a fair point. Most of the relevant information had been shared while Geralt was asking about Princess Victie’s movements.

“Even so. For instance, what everyone was doing when they weren’t involved with Princess Victie.”

“We remained still in our rooms, of course,” Merlin answered concisely. Since Yasha had instructed everyone to do so, it was only natural. Everyone else nodded in agreement.

“Wait, but wasn’t Leo different? I heard he stopped by the Grand Hall midway through.” I recalled what I had heard from Raika and Jin.

“Ah, that was on my way back from the chapel. It’s true I didn’t return straight to my room and stopped here instead.”

“Lord Leo left again almost immediately,” Yasha added, popping up as she served more tea.

“Weren’t you ‘peckish’?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t even have to wait for Yasha to prepare anything. There were desserts left over by Jin and Archbishop Mintz. I ate those and headed straight back to my room.”

“Did anything unusual happen on your way back from the hall? Did you run into anyone?” I asked, clinging to a sliver of hope.

“If I had, I would have said so.” Leo’s flat rejection made sense, so I let it go.

“Madam Yasha, how long were you in the hall cleaning up?” I asked her next.

“I apologize, but I do not know the exact time. However, on the way back to my room, I encountered Lord Bob, Sir Jin, and Lady Raika as they were returning from the chapel.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Bob said, puffing his chest out pompously. “I feel like it was around 2:00 PM.” He tilted his head, seemingly unable to recall the exact minute.

“That should be right. That’s about the time the escort came to my room,” Kirio added. Kirio had come to my room at 2:15 PM. Considering it took me about twenty minutes to go to the chapel, receive my award, and return, that timing lined up.

“Wait, Kirio.”

“What is it?”

I suddenly went back to the most fundamental question: When was Princess Victie killed?

Since her status was confirmed by Jin, Raika, and the award recipients once the ceremony started, it was hard to imagine she was killed during that window. If so, I needed to hear the details from the very last recipient, Kirio. That specific timeframe was suspicious.

Geralt’s questioning had seemingly ended with Leo, so he hadn’t covered this part—not that he could be blamed, since it hadn’t yet been revealed that Kirio and I knew the Princess’s face.

“Tell me everything from the moment you were called.”

“Eh? Oh, well, as I said, the escort came for me around 2:00 PM. Then the three of us went to the chapel, they opened the doors, and I went inside.”

“Were the doors definitely opened using both keys?”

“Yes, of course. Then I received the award from Princess Victie…”

“And you confirmed her face then?”

“It would have been disrespectful to stare, so I didn’t look closely, but it was definitely the face of that statue.”

So it was the same as my experience.

“The presentation itself ended quickly. I left the chapel and, um…” She trailed off awkwardly. “After parting with the two of them in the entrance hall, I… I went to Van’s room.”

Kirio looked away, her face flushing red. Simultaneously, several “warm” gazes turned toward me.

Crap, that’s right.

“T-tell me more about what happened after the presentation finished,” I said, trying to steer the conversation away. Kirio looked relieved as she nodded rapidly like a small animal.

“R-right. Right. But the truth is, I don’t remember much. I was so nervous that my memory from the moment I entered the chapel is a bit hazy.”

I couldn’t blame her. I had been exactly the same.

“Hmph. Weak-willed as expected. I didn’t have that problem,” Bob bragged, but no one responded. I didn’t even know how I was supposed to react. Was I supposed to praise him?

“One thing that stuck with me, though, was that we walked very slowly on the way there and back.”

“Slowly?” I asked, not quite following.

“Well, partly because I was nervous, and partly because the two guards were escorting me… but it felt like we were walking unusually slowly. It just felt a bit strange. Sorry, it’s a silly detail.”

“No…”

I found myself stroking my chin. This might be something worth considering in depth.

“The distance from the hall to the chapel isn’t much, but I also have the impression of walking slowly. It’s a path that wouldn’t take a minute if you ran, but it felt like it took five minutes. That means from the time Kirio’s presentation ended until the next time the guards opened the chapel doors, there would be a gap of about ten minutes, wouldn’t there?”

Could something have happened in that gap? I thought idly. Of course, even if that were true, it didn’t explain why the guards found nothing when they checked the chapel afterward.

“Your math is correct, but how likely is it?” Leo countered calmly. “The interior of the chapel would indeed be unobserved for those ten minutes, but if someone tried to enter, they would be seen as long as Raika and Jin were outside. Though, I won’t say it’s impossible.”

“Then what if they slipped into the chapel in the time it took for those two to enter the entrance hall and come back out?” It felt like a stretch, but that would be the only way to approach the chapel without being seen.

“How would they track the guards’ movements? No one could know exactly when they were in the entrance hall except Kirio, who was with them.”

“Maybe they watched from the outside as the two of them entered the hall.”

“Were they buried in the ground somewhere? That’s not much different from Geralt’s theory,” Leo noted.

I fell silent. I was fully aware that my current reasoning was full of holes. But I honestly didn’t know where else to start.

“Besides, even if you approached the chapel, you couldn’t get in,” Merlin added, stroking his long white beard and delivering the final blow.

That was the problem. We were still dealing with a locked-room mystery.

Just then, Yasha came by with more tea.

“Madam Yasha, you were the one who arranged for the door, right?”

“Yes.”

“Is there absolutely no way to open that door without using both keys?” I asked, feeling like a drowning man clutching at straws.

“None whatsoever,” Yasha declared. “I believe you would get the same answer from the King, the Queen, or the Archbishop. It is impossible to enter that chapel without both keys.”

Her humble yet confident tone left no room for doubt.

“Hmm?”

Bob tilted his head as if something didn’t quite sit right with him.

“What is it, Bob?”

“Shut up! Don’t call my name so casually!” He snapped at my simple inquiry before muttering, “Something just feels off.”

“What does?”

“How should I know!”

With that, Bob turned away petulantly. He likely didn’t even know what was bothering him.

But I felt the same way. I felt like something was wrong.

Next, I moved toward the Royal Castle group, feeling quite apologetic.

“We are short on time. If you have questions, ask them without hesitation,” Queen Ice greeted me with a dignified air. King Uraenus remained slumped in his chair, giving no reaction. Arle and Raika were speaking quietly to one another.

“Ah, thank you.”

I offered my thanks, but the truth was, I had nothing I specifically wanted to ask. Or rather, that was the wrong way to put it. The truth was I had no idea what question would bring me closer to a resolution.

So, I started with the same question I had asked Yasha.

“Is there truly no way to open the chapel door except by using the two keys?”

“None. I stood by and confirmed it myself, and held numerous meetings with famous craftsmen. There is no way into the chapel without those keys. Isn’t that right, Uraenus?”

“Yes…”

Uraenus agreed in a hollow, lifeless voice without even looking up. It was exactly the answer I expected, so it didn’t discourage me any further.

Well, I have no more questions for this group. What now?

“Is there… anything at all that caught your attention?”

I find myself asking a question so vague it practically advertises my own incompetence.

“Um…”

I wasn’t expecting a response, so the voice startles me. It belongs to Arle, who had been speaking with Raika until just a moment ago.

“I discussed this with Raika-chan, and we weren’t sure if we should mention it,” Arle continued, tilting her head. Ice, Raika, and I all fixed our eyes on her.

“It’s about after lunch, following the briefing Queen Ice and Archbishop Mintz gave regarding the ceremony proceedings. After we saw Princess Victie off with her two escorts, we all returned to our respective rooms.”

Arle hesitated, casting a brief, nervous glance at Ice’s face.

“I went into my room, but then I realized I’d forgotten something. When I was helping Princess Victie change, I’d brought along my own cosmetics just in case, but I left them behind. So, I thought I’d go back to get them, and just as I opened my door… I saw it.”

“Me, leaving my room?” Ice answered calmly, leaving me, Arle, and Raika taken aback.

“Y-yes, that’s right. My apologies.”

“It is fine. It is not something I intended to hide.” Ice’s expression darkens. “In fact, it was my own failing not to speak of it until now, regardless of how distraught I was. How pathetic of me.”

“Um… you left your room and went where?”

“To the Grand Hall. I wanted to speak with Yasha. But in the end, I did not enter. I saw her through the gap in the door, busy with the cleanup, and I changed my mind.”

As she spoke, Ice’s face formed a smile—that same self-mocking one I saw before. A smile that ridiculed herself.

“How terrible of me, still trying to save face with lies even now. The truth is, I lacked the courage to speak at the final moment, and I fled. I became afraid.”

Afraid? And why go all the way to see Yasha, the steward?

“Ah, I see. I haven’t mentioned this. Arle has only been Victie’s caretaker for the past year or so. Before that, Yasha had looked after her ever since the day she was born.”

“What?”

The sudden revelation caught me off guard. It seemed to be common knowledge within the castle, as Arle and Raika remain unfazed.

“To put it bluntly, Yasha is closer to Victie than we, her biological parents, ever were. I removed her from the position a year ago because I feared they were becoming too close. But even now, Yasha is likely the person who knows Victie best.”

Conversely, that meant Victie must have been like a daughter to Yasha. Yet, she seemed almost too composed. Suddenly, Yasha’s calm, stoic demeanor struck me as eerie.

“So, what I intended to do was talk about Victie.”

“I see… I understand.” I offered a vague reply, feeling it would be overstepping to ask for the specifics of the conversation, and tried to move on.

But Ice’s dark eyes locked onto mine.

“Could this incident… could it have been Victie’s suicide?”

She suggested the impossible. Immediately, Uraenus snapped his head up, his face a mask of etched despair.

“S-suicide? That couldn’t possibly be—”

I tried to argue, but I was cut off by Ice’s haunted words.

“I do not know the method. But the motive is more than sufficient. Victie is a doll. Since she was born, and as she grew to resemble Saint Fata, I thought only of how to use her. Uraenus opposed it until the very end.”

“Stop… we are equally guilty,” Uraenus interjected, his voice thick with tears.

But Ice wouldn’t be stopped.

“Our relationship with the Church back then was not necessarily good—to be precise, we were in open conflict. We knew other nations were lurking in the shadows, using that discord to sap Shark’s national strength, yet we could not stop our hostilities. So, I thought this could be useful. I would make my daughter the reincarnation of the Saint. I would give her to the Church. By doing so, we and the Church could be bound together.”

At some point, a brilliant light began to glow at the edges of Ice’s eyes, while a void-like darkness appeared at their center.

“It was necessary for the country. I treated Victie that way with that thought in mind. I believed it was fine if my daughter hated me, so long as it was for the nation. I was prepared to suppress any rebellion through any means necessary. And yet…”

Ice stopped, her whole body beginning to tremble.

“She never resisted. Victie accepted everything. Even a position where she was barely treated as human, she never uttered a single word of resentment. On the contrary, she followed every order absolutely. Just like… just like a doll.”

Tears were streaming down Uraenus’s face as he sat there. It didn’t look like he was crying so much as he was being emptied out.

“I became afraid. She didn’t feel human, so I distanced myself even further and treated her as a Saint. Even then, she behaved exactly as she was told, and I grew more terrified. Yes… it’s as if Victie isn’t human. But I know… I know. I am the one who made her that way.”

“No, it wasn’t just you. It was us. We chose the country over our daughter. That is the truth of it.”

Streaming tears, Uraenus stood up and placed his hands on Ice’s shoulders to comfort her, even though he was the one weeping. They looked like a pitiful couple, not a King and Queen.

I stayed silent for a while, unsure of what to say, until I realized that silence wouldn’t solve anything. I gave a quiet bow.

There is a common critique of the “amateur detective” trope in mysteries: they have no right to involve themselves, rip open the wounds of those involved, and bring an end to the case as they see fit. In my case, the reality was even worse. I might rip the wounds open and still fail to end the case.

“Ah, forgive me. I’ve wandered off-topic.”

Ice quickly regained her dignified composure, and Uraenus returned to his chair.

“No… speaking of which,” I said, addressing Arle to change the mood. “Miss Arle and Miss Raika, you seem to get along well.”

“Hm? Oh, yeah.” Raika made a complicated face. “Before becoming a court physician, Arle was a teacher at the Military Academy. She taught medicine. I was her student.”

“She was a terrible medical student,” Arle said, her eyes distant with nostalgia. “But since her skills with magic and the sword were so exceptional, I knew even then she’d end up in the Royal Guard.”

“Compared to a doctor like Arle, who can sew a severed arm back on, of course I was terrible.”

“No, in your case, you were clearly below average.”

Listening to them, they seemed more like sisters or friends than teacher and student.

“Um, did anyone else notice anything unusual?”

No one answered. I suppose that concluded my questioning of the Royal group. Checking the time, I saw over twenty minutes had passed since I entered the hall. Time was running out.

“Do not let it weigh on you,” Ice said, noticing me looking at the clock. “If you do not solve the case by the deadline, it is nothing to be ashamed of. Neither we nor Geralt will blame you. You are a talented individual representing our nation. Hold your head high.”

The Queen’s words actually stung, but I offered my thanks and moved to the Church group. This group consisted only of Archbishop Mintz and Jin, sitting apart from one another. Jin was standing, staring off into space, largely ignoring the dejected Mintz.

“Is it absolutely impossible to open the door without the keys? No way at all?”

My standard first question was met with Mintz’s weak but firm declaration: “It is absolutely impossible.”

“So, Sir Jin, why were you chosen as an escort this time? I heard you specialize in ‘dirty work’?” I asked bluntly, recalling what Geralt had said.

“That’s got nothing to do with the case,” Jin snapped.

“Y-yes, it has nothing to do with the incident,” Mintz repeated, sounding frightened.

“Listen, kid.” Jin pointed at me, his attitude uncharacteristically serious. “I’ll give you a tip about the culprit. They’re a pro.”

“Eh?”

“There was a smoke screen, sure, but they still managed to lift the key off me. That’s no amateur skill.”

“Yes… i-it’s unbelievable. For Jin to be handled so easily…” Mintz groaned, trembling. “Jin is a man who has traversed deep dungeons in caves without a single light. No matter how thick the smoke was, for him to miss someone approaching…”

“Between the way they erased their presence and the way they picked my pocket, I’d bet it’s the work of a first-class assassin or a master thief,” Jin grumbled, stroking his goatee.

“I wonder.” I couldn’t quite agree. Would an assassin or a thief bother decapitating the body and painting the room in blood?

“Damn it… how could this happen? For Princess Victie to die…” Mintz clawed at his white hair. “If only… during the briefing…”

His short, sharp cry was filled with raw regret.

“The briefing?”

“A-ah.” Mintz seemed to snap back to reality, looking at me with startled eyes. “The briefing after breakfast. We explained the flow of the ceremony and emphasized that she must not deviate from the plan, and to follow Jin and Raika’s instructions in an emergency.”

“Wait, is there a problem with that?” It seemed perfectly normal for security purposes.

“Princess Victie follows the orders of myself, the King, and the Queen. Absolutely.” Mintz closed his eyes so tightly they wrinkled, drowning in regret. “That is why… why she might not have fled or resisted when something happened in the chapel. That might be why she lost her life.”

He sounded like he was on the verge of tears. Both I and Jin were stunned.

“Whoa, Archbishop, that can’t be right. She’s human. If her life was in danger or she was scared, she’d do something,” Jin argued logically.

“That is the point: Princess Victie is not human. She is a Saint. Or rather… we made her one.” Having said that, Mintz suddenly clapped a hand over his mouth, turning pale as if terrified by his own words. “What am I saying? Please, forget I said anything.”

He slumped his shoulders in defeat.

“I… I understand. By the way, did you notice anything else?”

Mintz didn’t answer; he didn’t even move. It was as if his soul had left his body.

“Now that I think about it, I heard King Uraenus brought a razor into the hall,” Jin said, dropping the detail casually.

“What? King Uraenus?” Well, it was possible. He might use it for shaving. He was the King; it wouldn’t be strange for him to bring one in. More importantly:

“How do you know that, Sir Jin?”

“Hah? Oh, just picked it up. Heard something about a razor. Wasn’t a big deal, so it just kind of stuck in my head.”

Was that true? I was skeptical. Why would a personal detail about the King naturally reach the ears of someone from the Church side? Did Raika mention it? They were together the whole time. But would a member of the Royal Guard be that careless?

“Hey, I don’t know what you’re suspicious of, but a razor is a trivial thing, isn’t it?”

Jin’s comment pulled me back. He was right. A razor didn’t explain how this crime was committed. I was becoming paranoid.

I took a deep breath. I had nothing left to ask the Church group. I looked at the clock; there were about fifteen minutes left.

I let out a sigh of despair.

It was over. I couldn’t do it.