Unusual Request

"...Prince? Sylvia attor- WHAT? What the hell are you talking about Douglas?"

Eugene was quite dazzled by his friend's sudden plea for help. He expected anything from the problems with the criminal syndicate to something mundane like fetch him from a hellhole in Southern France, but what was told instead more reminded him of a sick joke. However, judging by his tone which was overflowing with desperation, he did not play tricks, but was telling the truth. Just how did Douglas end up in this situation?

A sigh spread through the handset, Douglas used Eugene's bewilderment from the situation and repeated his request, "I know, I know, this is a lot to take in. Just ask Sylvia, ok? And for the love of god, do not tell Cossette about it!"

Eugene nodded to his words, even though Douglas could not see it. He remained silent for a few more seconds. Then, smiled wryly with the hand against his forehead and murmured, "Where the hell do I even start with this?"

"Just do not hang up, I am telling the truth!"

"Fine, fine." shook his head Eugene, then he asked, "Let's start from the very beginning. This murder must have taken place quite a while ago, right? Why didn't you call earlier?"

Douglas groaned at this question, but still answered, "I could not remember any of the phone numbers! Only Cossette's and my own just now…"

"You really are such a moron."

"Well, I am sorry for cataloguing every god damn phone number and not remembering it by heart! I have a lot of people to talk to, so you know."

"Yet, I am the 2nd person who received a phone call from his majesty."

"Only because this is my damn phone! Anyway, I have little time, could you find out if Sylvia could be my attorney?"

Once again, Eugene heard her name in this conversation, he finally realised how obscure his friend's wish was, thus Eugene pressed on this issue, "Why would you want Sylvia to represent you? Is it even legal?"

"Because the one I got was shit! He refused to listen to whatever I said and simply tried to persuade me into admitting my guilt. I am not a damn murderer! Who does he think he is!? As for why Sylvia… she is the closest thing to a lawyer among my acquaintances."

Eugene was baffled by his reasoning, he sat on the bed, nearly knocking the phone off the cabinet, to contemplate what he heard. Sylvia as the closest thing to the defence attorney? The more he thought about it, the more mock laughter rang in his head. This request truly made his statement about having plenty of people to talk to false as hell. Once Eugene was done savouring Douglas's words, he spoke while shrugging his shoulders.

"I mean, I will ask her without issue. But she is not too fond of you and will probably declain. Especially to become a defence attorney! Are you sure you are not daydreaming?"

"Eugene, I said that I am more serious than ever! But I understand, she might not agree, but that's why I am asking you. If it's your request, then there is a higher possibility of her agreeing."

Eugene sighed, "You are clearly underestimating her ego, as well as the stupidity of your request. And you want to say that you calling me specifically was not a coincidence?"

"Alright, I admit it!" exclaimed Douglas, making Eugene draw the handle away from his ear, "When I called Cossette, I was planning on her reaching out to you, but I chickened out! I did not want her to worry about me, nor know that-"

Douglas suddenly fell into silence and for quite a while, Eugene even suspected that the line was cut, but after a minute or two, Douglas continued, "Anyway, this is my request, I will not delve into deeper details, because I am already running out of time. Just do whatever you want, if you do not believe me. Guess I will die alone."

"Jesus Christ, you are such a big baby! Fine, I will try to come up with some reason to make Sylvia go to Liechtenstein. Call me tomorrow at around 8 o'clock in the evening. I will be home at that time."

"Thank you, Eugene, you are the real o-"

Before Douglas managed to finish, the call was cut short with only quiet beeping coming out of the phone handle. He put it back on the set and returned to the bed. Today's meeting with Cossette and Lawrence as well as this evening call truly gave him an overload of information. But he deemed one piece of information as significantly important, Douglas's whereabouts in Liechtenstein. At first, this felt random, but after giving another thought, the man remembered Eleonora von Schwartz of Liechtenstein, whom he saw besides Douglas along with other nobles. Seems like he sucked up to their group in order to sneak into the Fire of Prometheus and as a result ended up in their household.

"Could Eleonora have done it?" asked himself Eugene, but quickly brushed this idea off his head. It was way too early to make assumptions, considering he did not know anything about the occurrence at Liechtenstein palace or wherever that prince was killed. He was not good enough to deduce anything, thus Sylvia's help was essential in this case. Heck, even Douglas's request made more sense the more he thought about possibilities. Perhaps, Douglas was not as much of a moron, or maybe Eugene himself was not much brighter than Douglas.

Such was the dilemma Eugene put himself into sleep with. It remained even after his awakening and arrival at the workplace. Truly a fascinating fixation that kept him busy for many hours until Sylvia finally arrived at the café.

Jessie and Arnold were present in the café as well, however, now Jessie was the one in the role of a customer. He sat quietly all this time, but once Sylvia showed herself, her eyes took on a spark, and she invited the daughter of the la Avise family by her table. The woman sighed, glanced over Eugene and strolled towards Jessie's table without saying a word. Eugene narrowed at her cold treatment, but did not make a scene out of it. In the end, he needed her favour in order to complete Douglas's plea.

He dashed into the kitchen, where Arnold was taking care of his espresso machine that he grew fond of. The man observed Eugene, who took the initiative in brewing coffee. He giggled a little at this sight and left the man alone, escaping into the café premise. Once Eugene was done brewing a cup of coffee for Sylvia, he went directly to her table. Both Jessie and Arnold were awaiting the mockery that always came after the serving.

Sylvia glared at the cream art of a rooster, sniffed the mixture, and took a sip out of the cup. After savouring the taste for a few seconds, she lowered the cup and faced Eugene to say, "Bold of you to leave in such a strong, sour undertone. Street kids may have prepared a better cup with a good deal of luck."

"I can remake it if you do not like it." narrowed his brows Eugene, to which Arnold said, "With money from your own pay cheque, I presume?"

Sylvia, however, said, "There is no need, it has been a while since I tasted sour things. It is fun to remember such a sensation."

"How very kind of you, Sylvia!" exclaimed Jessie, but nobody supported her enthusiasm. Eugene took a seat with all of them, which was a surprise for Arnold and Jessie, however, not for Sylvia. She welcomed this turn of events while enjoying her coffee.

"Did Monsieur hustler call you yesterday?"

"Are you talking about Douglas? Yeah, he did call."

The woman nodded, leaving the other two in confusion. Arnold asked, "What do you mean by that, Eugene? Why is it so strange that Douglas called you?"

Eugene did not answer, instead he tried to come up with fine arguments to ally Sylvia into their endeavour. But his head could not come up with a good calling line or a sly way to direct the conversation into the topic of law. Moreover, Eugene was quite sure that she already grasped the situation from his attitude, thus he bluntly said, "Sylvia, Douglas is in trouble. He is charged with murder of the prince of Liechtenstein. He is currently in search of a defence attorney and asked me to assign you that role."

Jessie and Arnold nearly stood up from their seats, their jaws were dangling in shock. Sylvia, however, remained composed.

"Uh oh, well, I refuse." she said calmly, to which Eugene groaned, "Of course you are! Why did I even consider any other answer!?"