When My Enemies Began to Regret

Did King Balmong think this much won’t tarnish the prestige of Kingdom Kasius? Or, since the dead noble was so precious, he wanted to find out the cause immediately? Or maybe he wanted to show off his power?

“I don’t know what kind of a mess this is.”

“Aloken.”

Soon after, people who scattered outside the hall, such as rooms and gardens, were dragged back. Among them, there was Aloken.

“A noble died?”

“Yes.”

Fanora looked at his face and glanced back. Then, a couple of other nobles were dragged from the room where Aloken came out. They’re all tough nobles.

The political movement of Duke Jalier was something she knew now, but it was nothing to do with her. Therefore, Fanora was only concerned about trivial things like the fact that everyone who came out of that room had a cigar in their mouth. I don’t like that smell. Does Aloken smoke too? Why would she be nervous when she had done everything anyway?

Fanora stood next to Aloken, who appeared befitting her fiancé. And she breathed a little, but he smelled like he normally did. I guess he doesn’t smoke.

Around the time Fanora was thinking about something else and maintaining her composure, Aloken seemed to be aware of the situation by talking to the people around him.

“Fanora, the investigator has arrived. Would you like to go with me?”

“What?”

Tap, tap. When he tapped her shoulder lightly and pointed somewhere, Fanora raised her head. However, the direction of Aloken’s index finger was none other than the outside of the blockade.

“Why are we going to see the investigator?”

“I want to go home early.” Aloken glanced at the chandelier hanging on the right and continued lightly. “People say it looks like a noble fell from the terrace.”

“…”

“Even if this isn’t a simple slip-and-fall, the culprit must have been at least on the second floor, right?”

“…So?”

“I’ve been on the first floor the whole time, so there’s no charge. I don’t want to waste my time.”

He grasped Fanora’s shoulder with a rare hint of annoyance. It seemed that he intended to go to the investigator, claiming his innocence, and leave the castle…

Impatient! I just don’t want to draw attention, so I have to follow the king’s order! Fanora resisted his actions with strength. Aloken’s reaction wasn’t very good though.

“Wait a minute, Aloken. It’s a king’s order, so we’d rather follow the procedure.”

“Who says we won’t follow the procedure?”

“…!”

“If you can’t say it right away, you will only be investigated first. As a duke of the kingdom, I will lead by example.”

After releasing Fanora’s arm, he stood in front and tilted his head. His expression was calm. “Why do you refuse when I say I will send you home quickly?”

“…”

“Ah, did you go up to the second floor by any chance?”

Fanora was unable to respond to the subsequent remarks. Even though she had already imagined a situation where she would be asked several times, she couldn’t breathe, and all she could do was shake her head.

In a mystery novel, the culprit returns to the crime scene like an idiot and gets caught. Aloken won’t know her desperate heart. But Fanora eventually came to a conclusion. Apart from Aloken’s stubbornness to leave the castle quickly, there was a reason to visit the scene personally. But I want to check the body. There was only one way to do that. So Fanora decided to walk directly to the scene.

“If we’re found guilty later, you have to take responsibility.”

When Fanora spoke with an icy face, Aloken smiled and lent his arm. It was as if he was trying to escort her. Fanora looked at the surroundings and had no choice but to cross arms with him. Then they headed to the main entrance of the hall.

Since the king’s order had fallen, of course, all the doors leading to the outside were surrounded by tight security. However, only a few words were enough to break through the security, which was like an iron fortress.

“You have worked hard. I wonder what kind of accident I’m being held for right now. So can you move?”

A knight blocked the door with a spear when Fanora and Aloken, with arms crossed, appeared.

“Right now, the entrance—!”

“You idiot. Do you know who the person in front of you is?! He’s the Duke!”

“Huh? I-I’m sorry.”

“Duke wants to see the investigator, right? He’s not far and only a few steps away, so if they go with us, it will be fine.”

Does this knight acquaint with Aloken? Aloken nodded contentedly as the person guarding the door sensibly escorted us. As the knight’s permission had been obtained, the two then moved with the knights to the place where the body was found.

“…”

And the scenery followed was the bloody lawn Fanora had hoped for.

“Chief Investigator!”

“What, who led someone to… Huh? Aren’t you Duke?”

Fanora looked behind her as Aloken greeted the man who introduced himself as the chief investigator. There, the result of her own revenge was clearly laid out.

“What’s going on?”

As Fanora turned her head like a woman who knew nothing, the investigator said, “Aah, this. It would be unpleasant for Madam, so you’d better not see it.”

“Thank you for calling me madam, but unfortunately, I haven’t married yet.”

“I see! I don’t know much about it because I’m working all the time.”

In the distance, while the chief investigator spoke, another man dressed in brown was gazing intently at the scene. That person was the royal investigator who had participated in this banquet.  

“Is this the noble who died this time?”

“…”

Aloken strode forward with his hands behind his back as if this rare incident at the royal banquet was amusing. As Fanora timidly followed him, the old royal investigator who was examining the scene spoke bluntly. “Don’t come any closer. The scene will be damaged.”

While his colleague looked quite light-hearted, the royal investigator had a rather heavy atmosphere. But Aloken didn’t care, took a few more steps, and said to him, “Then how is it? I have an appointment tonight, so I have to go quickly…”

“…”

“Oh my gosh, it’s a familiar face.”

It was then, Aloken seemed to have finally figured out who the dead man was. He pointed at the dead man’s golden hair and pretended to be surprised. The royal investigator turned around to explain.

“Yes. The deceased is the first son of the Demangdwi family.”

“How did this happen?”

“Should I explain it to you?”

“There is no reason why Duke Kasius can’t listen to it.”

Aloken smiled like a picture and pushed his opinion. The royal investigator eventually explained it as if he was too lazy to argue. “He fell from the terrace on the second floor and died instantly.”

Died instantly. Standing in front of the deceased blonde man was a professional royal investigator, one of only a handful in the kingdom. Such a man declared that Naverius was definitely dead.

“…Is it really Naverius Demangdwi who died?”

“…?”

“…!”

She didn’t have to see his face anymore.

“Naverius, is dead?”

One day when she was framed and imprisoned by Naverius, she cried alone in a cold, dark room. Fanora’s emotions from the time she cried to death were vivid. When she blew out the candle and went to bed, the dark scenery reminded her of prison, which was always painful.

“Oh God…”

It was only now that she felt a big lump lifted.

“Lady…!”

“Oh gosh, she must have been surprised to see the body. Call the doctor! Doctor!”

Fanora sat down, dripping tears with a pale face after hearing the death of Naverius. It wasn’t strange for anyone to see that a noble she had known since she was young was found dead.

“…”

They didn’t know it was tears of joy. Even Aloken stopped looking at the dead boy as she began to cry and came closer to pat her.

“I thought a stranger died, but I brought my fiancée out for no reason. Go inside and take a rest, Fanora. I will do the rest.”

Fanora nodded silently to his words and returned, escorted by a knight. The knight who was guarding her said a few words that seemed to reassure her, mistaking her for being shocked, but she was silent, pressing down her tears with a handkerchief. Do I need to shed more tears to avoid being presumed to be the culprit?

When Fanora reappeared in the hall, it became noisy for a moment. Then, the royal investigators rushed in and began to collect the alibis of the nobles gathered in the hall.

“So, Lady Fanora Celsius has been on the first floor since the banquet started, right?”

“Yes, I heard that.”

“I remember when it was 11 o’clock, she was with me at that time.”

The investigators were the first to begin investigating the high-ranking nobles and their associates. In other words, the Guelder and Jalier families were the first to be asked, but it was clear that most nobles were on the first floor except for a few.

“Then, have you ever seen someone go to the second floor after 10 o’clock?”

“After 10 o’clock, it was our shift. There were just two people.”

“Princess Vasago and young Master Demangdwi.”

There was no rigor nor purple spot, so this noble died recently. In addition, the time when Naverius went up to the second floor was around 10:40-10:50. Vasago found him around 11 o’clock. There was no culprit match with the time period. However, there was a possibility that Vasago, the one who discovered him, was the one who pushed him.

“Are you sure he was killed?”

“From my point of view, he was obviously drunk and slipped. Last time, there was an idiot who fell while doing tricks after trying to look brave.”

Murmur. The atmosphere in the hall gradually became noisy, followed by the result of the investigation.

“Hmm, is that so?”

“Yes.”

“If we hold on to them any longer, there will be dissatisfaction, so there’s nothing we can do about it.”

The investigators in charge of this work said in unison. There was no evidence to confirm it as a murder. Even after a careful investigation, it was said that only the discoverer and the deceased were the ones who went to the terrace on the second floor of the east building at the time Naveirus died. Therefore, the king ordered that most of the nobles gathered there were fine to return, except for the discoverer, since there was a slim possibility.

At last, the real end of the summer ball has come.

“…”

She couldn’t believe it was all over. Fanora was able to leave the banquet before anyone else because she had the status of the duke’s fiancée. She thought, with a staggering step, heading to Celsisu’s carriage. I can’t believe it.

The sky that she looked up at inadvertently was filled with stars. However, in front of Fanora’s eyes, the corpse of her ex-fiancé, seen from a distance, was clearer than those beautiful stars.

I didn’t get arrested again…  She now realized it was no longer painful to recall memories of Naverius. The anger that had filled the corner of her heart faded.

“…Hmm?”

It was a few minutes later. After completing her revenge, she arrived at the carriage half-drenched in accomplishment, half-depressed.

“Aloken?”

“I thought you must have been very surprised by what happened earlier, so I was worried about sending you alone.”

A man with black hair stood quietly in front of the carriage.