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Join the ServerThe next day, a special visitor arrived at the mansion rented by the Snow Princess in the Imperial City.
It was a Senior Inquisitor from the Inquisition.
“…That’s the situation. Regarding the missing Count Gina, Snow Princess, do you have any leads?” the Inquisitor, wearing an iron mask, inquired from outside the main gate.
“No,” the Snow Princess replied flatly, standing at the doorway. “I do recall Count Gina; we met once at Marquis Roman’s birthday banquet. However, this is the first I’ve heard of his disappearance. I find it rather peculiar that you’ve come to ask me about this matter.”
“Oh, please don’t misunderstand. We are simply seeking every possible clue. More than one person mentioned that he had a pleasant conversation with you at that banquet,” the Inquisitor explained, waving a hand.
“That’s a rather common excuse, isn’t it?” the Snow Princess remarked. “He and I merely exchanged a few casual words.”
“Would you mind telling us what topics you discussed? Did he say anything noteworthy?” the Inquisitor pressed.
“I can’t quite recall, but it was likely just some insubstantial small talk.”
“You truly can’t remember? Please try to think carefully.”
“I believe we discussed the grape harvest for wine or something similar; everything else has slipped my mind,” the Snow Princess replied coolly.
“Then, would you be so kind as to inform us of your whereabouts the night before last?” the Inquisitor asked in a formal, businesslike tone.
“You wish to investigate my movements?” The Snow Princess remained expressionless. “What exactly are you suspecting?”
“You say you don’t know, very well,” the Inquisitor stated, not pressing the issue further.
The Snow Princess stared at the iron mask, a flicker of interest appearing in her eyes for the first time.
This Inquisitor, it seemed, was utterly unafraid of her.
****
Yesterday, the Snow Princess’s intelligence network had uncovered a major event in the Imperial City.
The residence of Duke Bedford, the Minister of Finance, had been attacked, and the Duke himself was missing.
During their investigation of the house, the security forces discovered two startling secrets. Firstly, the highly esteemed Duke Bedford had secretly been studying forbidden necromancy.
Secondly, a private dungeon had been covertly built beneath the Duke’s house, holding several immigrants from northern villages. They claimed to have been abducted by barbarian bandits and then transported there.
Furthermore, Count Gina of the Cauchon family, who had close ties with the Duke, had also mysteriously vanished.
Today, the Inquisition immediately sought her out. Clearly, they harbored suspicions about her whereabouts that day, yet they lacked any concrete evidence.
“Do you have any further questions? If not, please leave. You are merely wasting your time,” the Snow Princess said, her words laden with deeper meaning.
This implied not that she was entirely unconnected to the incident, but rather that even if the Inquisition suspected or even concluded her involvement, they would find it exceedingly difficult to hold her accountable.
The Inquisitor paused, then finally nodded. “Very well, thank you, Your Highness, for taking the time to answer my questions.”
The Snow Princess closed the door without a word. The Inquisitor then withdrew and boarded the Inquisition’s carriage.
“Why in the world did you make me ask her?!” As soon as she was inside the carriage, the female Inquisitor ripped off her mask and slammed it onto the floor of the compartment. “Have you forgotten what she did to me before? My veins nearly burst just seeing her face!”
Senior Inquisitor Eve, who had suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Snow Princess in an academy exhibition match, naturally harbored a degree of resentment towards the Snow Princess.
Yet, her superior, seated opposite her, had specifically assigned her this questioning task. Eve now understood the immense difficulty her superior had just faced.
“The first thing you just said to me is enough to be charged with insulting the royal family in the Empire,” Prince Kleiman calmly reminded her. “So, what was her answer like?”
“She barely even tried to conceal anything, yet she couldn’t be bothered to tell us directly. She neither wanted to make excuses nor reveal the truth—that’s roughly the feeling I got,” Eve replied impatiently.
“She must know something, though that’s just my intuition,” Prince Kleiman said.
“Honestly, what’s so great about investigating the deaths of those two noble scumbags? I think we should be celebrating instead!” Eve snorted.
“I am also pleased that two parasites of the nation have been purged. However, no government will tolerate cleaners other than itself,” Prince Kleiman calmly responded.
“Who do you think did it?” Eve asked. “Could it have been those people who rescued the condemned at the execution grounds that day?”
“It’s possible, but there are also many inconsistencies. At the very least, there were no traces of a ‘Mad Devil’ left at the scene, yet there were signs of a high-ranking Paladin, of at least the fifth order, having acted,” Prince Kleiman whispered.
“Hold on, are we going to investigate the Duke of the Northern Territory next?” Eve immediately connected this matter to Jeanne Decker’s wrongful conviction.
“There’s no need. No one is willing to accuse him. This matter is somewhat awkward. If you were to accuse the Duke Alençon of killing Duke Bedford, you would need to state a motive.”
“The true motives are only two: one is the Saintess’s case, and the other is that the people who impeached the Duke of the Northern Territory previously were from Duke Bedford’s faction,” Prince Kleiman said with a shrug.
“But if you use those two motives to accuse him, it’s tantamount to implicitly admitting that Duke Bedford fabricated a wrongful case and colluded with partisans to attack political rivals.”
“It’s simply impossible for those who have reason to accuse the Alençon family to do something that would shoot themselves in the foot for Duke Bedford.”
Eve took a moment to process this. “Ah, so it’s still because they have skeletons in their own closets.”
“Indeed, many things have been happening in the Imperial City recently,” Prince Kleiman said, stretching. “I hope no more troubles arise. My dear Eve, would you mind rubbing my shoulders?”
“Go to hell, alright?” Eve replied, her tone as usual.
****
Meanwhile, the Snow Princess returned to her house and settled into a lounge chair in the living room. She addressed the spy kneeling before her:
“The person concerned has left; you may continue your report. You said you lost track of her again that day?”
“Yes, that day we watched her pass through crowded streets, but after she turned a corner, she simply vanished,” the spy replied.
The Snow Princess fell into deep thought.
Ever since identifying Alice Liddell as the witch’s spy, she had frequently dispatched people to monitor Alice’s movements.
This was the third failed attempt to track Alice Liddell, confirming that the target possessed a strong anti-tracking awareness and corresponding methods in her daily activities.
However, although the spy had lost her, they did at least discover that Alice had indeed gone out on the night Count Gina was assassinated.
Then, the following morning, on the day Duke Bedford was assassinated, the Snow Princess herself used her authority as an internal academy teacher to find that Alice had “coincidentally” recorded a half-day leave.
“I fear it’s no coincidence,” the Snow Princess quickly concluded.
She believed Alice would be the breakthrough to unraveling this series of events. It seemed she would need to investigate this witch’s spy thoroughly using other methods.
You’ve got to see this next! Madam, Please Behave Yourself! will keep you on the edge of your seat. Start reading today!
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