3rd Round (8)

Chapter 92: Episode 37 - 3rd Round (8)

The man in white didn't respond right away as he pondered the chairman's words.

"No. It couldn't have been a traffic accident. The prosecutor for that case was indeed Michiko Keiko's father, Michiko Kenji. Since there was no proof that it was a traffic accident, the case had been adjourned and untouched for 6 years since then, but everyone had thought that it ended as a celebrity unfortunately meeting their end by a speeding car. If anything—I don't believe it was a traffic accident in the least," the man in white glared at the ground, clenching his hands into a fist to the point where they were turning white.

"It wasn't an accident? Then what was the cause of death?!"

"I don't know either. The only people who know the truth are the people who were behind that case 6 years ago: the police in charge of the investigation and Prosecutor Michiko Kenji."

"How did you learn of this? I was also sure Ella Fournier died due to a traffic accident," the chairman pondered to himself, stroking his mustache.

"Because—there was no trial held. The person who'd hit my teacher with their car would presumably be put in jail or receive corporal punishment—but no one was arrested, therefore, a trial wasn't held. All that was released to the public was that Ella Fournier died due to a car accident."

"But why did the police and Prosecutor Michiko Kenji end it just at that? It doesn't make sense…" the chairman was confused at this alarming news as he consulted the man in white.

"All I could gather from this was that Prosecutor Michiko Kenji was possibly in cahoots with the police. Prosecutor Michiko Kenji is known for being a righteous man when conducting trials but he's also known for having a lot of connections with the police. I believe that Michiko Kenji is deliberately hiding this information," the man in white explained, rubbing his temples.

"Hiding the information?! But you said that Ella Fournier was his wife! Why wouldn't he want to expose the information?!" Chairman Moriyama was riled up at this assumption that he could no longer be seen as the easygoing and jolly old man.

"Which leads to my next assumption: This may have been a murder."

The chairman was distraught at these words that his mouth gaped open for so long before he could muster the words to reply.

"M-m-m-murder?! H-how so?" Nervous sweating was apparent on the chairman's forehead at this unbelievable hunch. This was the first time he'd ever heard of it!

"Since the police and Prosecutor Michiko Kenji seem to be deliberately hiding information, it probably means that they had no evidence to prove that it was indeed a murder. I'm just speculating at this point but, if anything—there is definitely more to the death of Ella Fournier than the world knows."

After the man in white said this, the people who walked in the plaza could feel a dangerous air around him that scared them off. Aware that there were people around them, the chairman lowered his voice down to a whisper.

"Do you think Michiko Keiko knows about this at all? That the case to her mother's death is still… inconclusive?" Chairman Moriyama awaited the man's response but he remained momentarily silent.

"..."

"Although it is not my place, Ella Fournier was my teacher whom I have respect for. And although we both know that Michiko Keiko is Ella Fournier's hidden daughter, I can't just leave my teacher's case up in the air!" The man gritted his teeth and looked up to glance at Team Michiko's Pumpkin Cakeshop from afar. Beyond those walls of the small stall was the girl in question, chatting with her teammates.

"I may sound selfish but I'll try to persuade Michiko Keiko into interjecting in this case. I don't know whether she was involved in her mother's death or not, but if I have to question or force it out of her, so be it…" The man in white was determined to settle things but the usual, jolly old chairman had veins that popped out of his forehead as if he was about to go mad. Sure, he often threw some twists and turns for his students under that happy face, but even he was baffled to hear such insensitive words come out of that man's mouth.

"Are you not afraid of striking a nerve with the girl? She's young and she lost her mother, but do you really think that reminding her of her mother's death and claiming that it wasn't a traffic accident will do her any good?! After 6 years of her mother's death, can't you see that maybe she's finally decided to open up after that period of mourning!? Do you not know how insensitive you sound right now?!" The usually light-hearted and easygoing chairman was slightly raising his tone of voice against the man in white. The blonde-haired man didn't respond, instead, he scoffed at the chairman's words.

"Tsk, I cannot allow my teacher's case to go unnoticed and be thrown under the table when there could be something more to it! If I need to ask Michiko Keiko about the details of her mother's death, then so be it. I won't be able to live in peace until her case is resolved!"

The young man's words were beginning to sound outrageous by the second but the people who walked past them in the plaza didn't hear the contents of their conversation. Chairman Moriyama had face-palmed himself at this self-righteous declaration that even he didn't know that a highly acclaimed man like the man in white would spout such selfish and heartless words.

"Henri Lucas, I advise that you think twice about your actions. I respect you and your talent but do you even hear yourself?! Consider the thought that Michiko Keiko does not want anyone to learn that she is Ella Fournier's daughter—You can't just bring it up to her unannounced! She's young and she may fear that people will learn of her secret or look at her differently. Though you bear no consequences, that doesn't mean that she won't!" Chairman Moriyama lectured with rationality, furrowing his eyes at the tall blonde-haired man that stood next to him.

"No… Although I won't blabber her secrets, there is only one way that I can bring her mother up to her—Then, she'll have no choice but to talk to me!" Henri Lucas, the highly acclaimed patissier that disguised himself under a white hat and tuxedo, was determined to get through to the young girl who wanted to live a peaceful school life. He knew the repercussions he could face when he claimed that he knew her secret but he wasn't reckless enough to announce it to the public. Whether he might strike a nerve with the young 14-year-old girl, he could not allow his late instructor's case to be tossed away and admitted as a traffic accident. He was ready to do anything to re-open the case and talk to the young student about her mother's death.

Little did he know that his declaration would open up a new chapter in this unsolved case. Long hidden mysteries that were kept in the dark would start to finally reach the light.

End of Season 1