Chapter 3

Easter rearranged his notes, sighing loudly. The puppet was back, today. It had been three days since the ball, two since the discovery of Elizabeth's body. Elizabeth's parents had ordered a trial, that would begin in twenty-two days. It was quite fast for a trial.

Once again, Easter's head was laid on his desk. Recently, the puppet seemed to be visiting Easter more often, to check on his health regularly, and to just sit silently across from Easter's table and watch him work. Easter found himself looking absent-mindedly at the flowers every time the trial tired him, which was too often.

He found himself rotting in his room. Not that he could go outside, because Mother had ordered the maids lock his door. He reached out and grabbed the puppet's small hand, interlocking their fingers idly.

The puppet seemed around ten years old, which meant Easter was six years older. What a poor sixteen-year-old, having to do his mother's work. He felt years off his life, sitting in his room, reading his books and papers over and over again. It almost seemed like a collar was on his neck with an iron chain nailed to the wall.

He wondered if his brother would reply to his letter. Was he truly mad that Easter killed the bird? Well, Easter never told him that he *killed* the bird, so he shouldn't have known.

No, he was probably just busy.

"Listen, Puppet," he sighed, grabbing his summary to reread. "Duke Marion bought the Northwest Mines, where gold was recently discovered. Lord Sternin found out about this and seduced Lady Marion to trick him into giving him a portion of the gold profit, which Lord Sternin was using on the black market. After Elizabeth realized this, she ran away." He groaned, smacking his head on table to the puppet's shock.

"I-I think that was a very good summary," the puppet said quickly.

"That's not the point. Right now, we don't know what that fuck Lord Sternin was doing in the black market. After Elizabeth ran off with his information, we captured her and threatened her in secret, but she didn't budge. Honestly, we couldn't keep her hidden for too much time since her family is pretty influential, and she wouldn't spill, so we killed her. If we sent her back she would've just told the Duke that the Royal Family kidnapped and interrogated an innocent girl."

"But you have evidence of her scheming with Nico," the puppet argued.

"Yeah... but... the problem is we don't... really know if Nico was participating in the black market."

"W-why?" The puppet seemed surprised.

"Uhm... a maid simply reported to us that she saw a tall, black-haired man being addressed as Lord Stanin interested in the location of the black market."

"Is that not proof enough?"

"Well, the maid has been rather suspicious lately, after we killed Lady Marion. We don't know if she was lying or not, if she was simply mistaken or actually correct."

"Oh..."

"...so, basically we don't know if we have been cornered by an unknown person, wrongly killing Elizabeth and being overly suspicious of Nico, or if we are actually correct. We could just be a mouse cornered by a holograph of a cat."

"But, you do know that Nico was stealing Elizabeth's family riches, and that Elizabeth ran away, right?"

"Yes, that much we know is true. We don't even know if Elizabeth ran away simply because she was giving Nico free money and was ashamed, or if she actually knew anything about his relations with the black market. Essentially, we might have made too many rash decisions and now just need to hope we're right."

"What if you aren't?"

"...Then we'll bullshit our way through, I suppose. Mother has many tricks up her sleeves, but I hope she won't need to use all of them."

He set down his paper, hitting his head on the table.

"...Your Highness, please refrain from doing that too often."

"Oh? When have you been so formal with me, Puppet?" The puppet sighed, crossing his arms.

"I feel like a mom more than ever now, having to listen to your problems and take care of you."

"Hmm, but I think of you more as my little brother~" He sat up. "Oh! Puppet, do you want to come to the black market with me?" The puppet frowned.

"Is this to ask about Lord Sternin?"

"...I mean, what else can we do, Puppet?" Easter asked, already getting up and putting on his coat. "I suppose I'll need a disguise. Puppet, you should disguise yourself too."

Easter didn't expect to find anything at the black market. There were arcane men selling live animals, slaves tied to poles, and small children held in cages. The puppet seemed uneasy with the setting, since he was most likely a slave before, trapped inside one of those cages. Easter tightened his grip on the puppet's hand, in case it got kidnapped by a seller.

There was nothing to really investigate here. He had put on his "Nico" disguise, in hopes of somebody recognizing him. He walked past the people in masks and cloaks with his head held high, looking down at the products and sellers with cold eyes.

"Hey, Nico!" he turned around to see a woman in a grey, expensive but tattered dress. He frowned at her, but she smiled back. "Are you here again, dear Nico~"

"It's... you," he said in a low voice. The woman's red hair was tied back in a ponytail, her frame strong but petite.

"Aww, do you not remember my name?"

"I come here not to make friends," Easter replied.

"That's okay, I remember your name, Nico~"

Easter sighed. "I've only come here for the goods. Hand them over." It was a wild guess. He didn't even know if Nico had business with this woman. She smiled, handing him a small pouch. She whispered in his ear.

"I put a few spares for you, Nico~" Easter nodded, tossing her two gold coins. She caught them with one hand. "How generous of you today."

"What's in the pouch?" the puppet asked. They were sitting in a carriage, making their way back home.

"No clue," Easter replied, slowly opening it. He reached in, feeling a soft but slimy texture, like a mushroom. And, he pulled out an eyeball.