Chapter 9

"Gah!" Easter gasped as Osiris flung the letter towards his head once more. It hit his forehead with a dull and quiet thud, and Easter sighed. The Anonymity, acting as Elias's guide, was holding his hand, both of them staring at the twins in confusion. (Or, only the Anonymity was staring. Elias had no eyes.)

"Oh. Easter. I need to talk to you about something else." He shooed the two white-haired brothers away, and the Anonymity closed the door. He turned his face back to Easter, frowning.

"What is it?"

"You say the Tarnin family is... good at observing?"

"Yes."

"Then, they could've easily seen the flaws in the murder," Osiris replied. It was strange. If the Tarnin family was as esteemed as Easter claimed, why hadn't they seen even one error?

Easter looked mad at his question. Well, he always did. "Seriously, have you never even looked at your political papers? What have you been doing all day?"

"...Sword-fighting?"

Easter rubbed his temples with his hands. "Really? I don't believe you. How can you train everyday without stop? That's impossible."

"What...? Is that not what a crowned prince does?" Osiris looked confused. His mother had taught him that. Just fight. Just swing your sword. Don't think too much, just kill. It's why the whole "playing detective" thing Mother threw at him so suddenly was so overwhelming.

"Of course not. He needs to learn how to talk and... wait. You're seriously training all day?"

"With breaks for food and time for sleep..." Osiris replied hesitantly. Easter looked horrified.

"No wonder you have no braincells!" he exclaimed. Then, under his breath, he muttered, "so, that's what Mother is planning."

"Pardon?"

Easter shook his head. "It's nothing. Back to your question - I don't know either. Either your ploy was so flawless, or the social opinion had swayed so deeply that their words weren't credible anymore, or maybe because of pressure from the Royal Family..." He meant Mother. Whatever Easter talked about always had to have Mother in it. What was he, obsessed?

"...RIght." Osiris sighed. "That's all. Thanks, Easter." Easter was quiet for a while.

"Good luck, Osiris. Oh, and don't let Elias know our secret~" Osiris left before Easter could open his letter.

Outside, the two Tarnin siblings were waiting patiently for him. Elias said nothing, but the Anonymity nodded to him quietly. "We're leaving."

"...Alright."

In the carriage, Osiris read the investigation out loud for Elias and the Anonymity, who was fidgeting with his red silk gloves. He was wearing red today. Elias was not very talkative in high society either, but now he seemed like a patient and obedient servant. It make Osiris slightly uneasy.

"There was a girl murdered at around midnight, again." He muttered the last part under his breath, but Elias flinched silently. "This time she was stabbed cleanly with a sword through her heart, so hard it went through the chair. Her name is Laura Hawthorn, the ill-tempered and spoiled first daughter of the Hawthorn family. So, far, the only main suspect is this Pyrian guy, but it's obviously not him, because why else would the royal family try to investigate this?" Elias was silent. "What do you think, Mr. Detective Ex-Tarnin?"

"...Please continue. More conclusive evidence would be required to remove Pyrian Demetree from the suspect list."

Osiris sighed. "Alright. The main reason he was a suspect is because he already tried to publicly embarrass Miss Laura multiple times, but also wrote an angry threat to her, which... is all that's written."

"Your Highness... apologies for being rude, but is there really nothing else written?"

"Well, not much investigation has been done yet," Osiris replied. Look at this blind guy accused of murder, acting all high and mighty. "Do you have any information related to this? I remember at one point you tried to flirt your way out of Elizabeth Marion." Elias didn't flinch this time.

"I've only seen her. No offense, but nobody wants to court her, even for money." Osiris nodded, even though Elias couldn't see him nodding.

"I remember kicking her out of a ball many times," Osiris remembered with a smile. "Anyway, she's dead now. If Mother wants us to investigate the murder, it's probably because something really bad happened."

"Despite her reputation, she's still part of a very influential family," Elias replied. "Who knows if her murder was for personal or political reasons."

They arrived at the scene, and Elias had nothing to say. Because he couldn't see anything. The lady still laid there, the same way she had when Osiris first saw her. He frowned, picking at the hem of her dress. With a hand, he lifted her arm.

"She has marks on her skin," the Anonymity said, peeking behind Elias's shoulder.

"What kind of marks?" Elias asked.

"...Bite marks. Claw marks too." Osiris added. He felt like Elias's little assistant, but he didn't say it out loud.

"So, there were signs of struggle?"

"The murderer covered it up nicely," the Anonymity commented, idly swinging his dangling earring. He still looked a little shaken, but calmer now. There was a small edge to his voice when he spoke. "There are... marks on her neck too. Nail marks."

Elias walked up to the body, slightly interested. The Anonymity guided his hands to her face, and her neck. He kneeled down, lightly removing her neck ruffle collar, and brushing his hand across her neck.

"From... fingers?" Osiris was silent. He had already given up, leaving the brothers to do it. Easter would've probably shouted at him, but its not like he could be really helpful. He looked around the room, at the furniture, the curtains.

"Where did His Highness go?" Elias whispered quietly.

"Just to inspect the room, he's still here," the Anonymity muttered back.

Elias stood up, feeling the hilt of the sword. "Oliver... is this hilt this sword a phoenix?" Did Elias not know the Anonymity's name? Osiris half-heartedly read the letters placed on the table, while listening to their conversation. Just letters to her father, trying to convince her to get rid of some woman she didn't like... Marleyn Freian.

"I dunno. It's some kind of bird, so I guess?" The Anonymity replied.

"Oliver... the phoenix crest..." Elias lowered his voice. "Is the crest of the Royal Family."

"Oh, right. I knew that.. Wait, what??" The Anonymity swung his head towards Osiris, the chain on his fake eye glasses clinking slightly. Osiris turned to look at them, pretending not to have noticed.

"Yes, what is it?" The Anonymity's shocked face naturally looked a little angry, which made him laugh. Elias had also anxiously tuned his head.

"N-Nothing. We were just discussing the stuff Miss Laura did, Your Highness," the Anonymity replied quickly. Osiris honestly didn't know why they were so shocked. So what if there was a bird on the sword?

"Your Highness, let me summarize what I found," Elias added, clearing his throat. "I'm not sure if Miss Laura was actually killed by a stab to the heart, but rather strangulation. Her body has... many signs of struggle that were hidden for some reason, along with on her neck."

"Okay. So you don't know what killed her?" Osiris was trying to sound cool and not confused at all.

"...No."

"Is there anything else you need to inspect? Otherwise, let's go."

"No, Your Highness." The Anonymity whispered something like "His Highness took some papers with him" into Elias's ear.

"Pft. How cute. You two are acting like real brothers." He turned around before he could gauge their reactions.