Chapter 30 Ruby Necklace
Delphine curled up on the sofa in her study.
She’d loaded the fireplace with as much wood as she could, but the thin blankets on the couch weren’t enough to keep out the chill.
A snowstorm at its height rattled the windows.
Delphine hugged her knees tightly and buried her head in them.
Even though she was indoors, she could feel the snow outside falling on her shoulders.
Lonely, cold.
Delphine couldn’t fall asleep for long, staring blankly into the orange glow of the fire in the fireplace.
This cold.
She remembered the girl in the fairy tale her mother had told her.
She was about to freeze to death, but she lit a match and felt warm.
One match and warm food.
One match, one loving mother.
In the last match, she said she saw an angel.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaah!”
She was dozing off when she heard someone scream.
Still in a nightmare.
Delphine thought dazedly, her eyes barely open.
“My Lady! My Lady!”
Just then, there was a harsh knock on the study door.
Delphine opened her eyes with a start.
When did she close her eyes?
She thought idly, and the door burst open without her permission.
“My Lady, My Lady, you must wake up!”
It was one of her faithful maids. Her face was flushed.
When Delphine looked up, her shadowed eyes narrowed, the maid shrieked.
“So, the guest is… dead!”
***
Callie is dead.
Delphine stared blankly at the corpse of a woman who looked a lot like her.
The place where she was found was by the well.
It had been found by two users who had gone out to break the ice in the morning, hands clapping, afraid that the water would freeze.
She was fully dressed, down to her coat.
But no one can last half an hour outside in this weather.
Is there anyone in this Empire who doesn’t know that?
In the hall, where everyone was gathered, Delphine stared blankly at the body.
She looked as if she had fallen asleep.
Except that she was so white, so motionless, that she looked like a doll.
“My lady.”
It was then.
Wilson, who had been calming the users, approached Delphine and said, hesitantly.
“I don’t think I should say this after that… someone died.”
“Something.”
“Don’t you think we should look in her pockets?”
The words had already been exchanged between them.
The users nodded quickly, as if to say they agreed with Wilson.
“Her pockets?”
“Yes. She came out of nowhere, trying to escape in this weather… I wondered if she was trying to steal something.”
“Was anything of yours missing, My Lady? She looked a little suspicious.”
“Among my things? Well, I’d have to check…”
Last night he had stayed in her study, and most of her valuables were in her quarters.
“If you don’t mind, My Lady, may I search her pockets?”
“I hope you don’t mind, but it’s searching for something in a dead body, and we can wait for the constable to come.”
“I don’t think it’s possible to call an officer in this weather.”
“You’re right. We don’t know when the snow storm will end, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
A murmur of agreement from the users.
There was no trauma, and in the sub-zero weather, Callie’s body was as clean as if she had slept.
After a moment’s hesitation, Delphine decided she had to do something to reassure them.
“Well, then, search her pockets.”
“Yes, My Lady.”
As soon as permission was granted, two of the more daring of the users stepped forward and searched her coat pockets, and then the inside of her dress.
“… My Lady!”
Rising to his feet, the user held out his hand to Delphine.
In his palm, a ruby necklace glinted in the light.
It was the necklace she had worn all day yesterday.
“Of course!”
“How come? You won it in the first place?”
“What kind of crazy person comes to someone else’s mansion in this weather, unless she has some purpose…”
“What’s going on!”
As if on cue, the door to the guest room burst open and Glasscok appeared.
His neatly groomed blond hair was disheveled.
“I fell asleep late last night and forgot… Huh? What’s wrong with you all?”
Everyone in the hall was looking at the ‘madman who came to someone else’s mansion in this weather’ with subtle expressions.
“My lady?”
Instead of answering, Delphine pointed wordlessly to the floor.
The body lying like a doll on the floor, to be precise.
She didn’t forget to keep a sharp eye on his expression.
Glasscok’s eyes widened at the sight of Callie’s body.
He looked very surprised, but Delphine recognized a hint of amusement.
Something theatrical.
Was he surprised that a body had been found, was that it?
Or is… surprised that the body was found so early?
“This, this… No, isn’t that… Miss Callie?”
Just then, the gates of the mansion opened.
Ioannes stood there against a backdrop of swirling snowflakes.
White flakes poured into the mansion.
Ioannes closed the massive gates, which were pushed open by a gust of wind, with a casual motion.
His entrance was met with a collective gulp from those in the hall.
The rumors of Ioannes Pride that had spread through the capital were no secret to the users.
Closing the door behind him, he turned his back.
The first thing his gaze landed on was Glasscok.
Delphine noticed at once that the way he looked at him had changed.
Where before his gaze had been a mixture of hurt and jealousy, now it was calm and cold.
It was more eerie.
Like a beast of prey hiding its tracks before the kill.
“Put the body back outside the mansion, it could begin to decompose in the warmth of the house.”
He gave the order in a calm tone.
He gestured to two sturdy, well-built men to carry the corpse.
“Yes, master.”
“Then we’ll all gather in the dining room… You too.”
He pointed coldly at Glasscok, then turned to Delphine.
His impassive expression changed instantly.
“You look very pale, My Lady. Have you had a good sleep?”
Worrying about her own sleep in the middle of cleaning up a corpse.
“… I’m fine.”
“Perhaps some hot tea will make you feel better, My Lady.”
He put his arm around her shoulders, ignoring Delphine’s bemused expression, and led her into the dining room.
For once, Delphine offered no resistance and followed his instructions in silence.
***
Once the servants had returned from removing the bodies and the cook had returned from brewing tea, everyone in the manor gathered in the dining room.
There were seventeen people in all.
Delphine, Ioannes, and Glynn.
Wilson and Delphine’s four faithful maids.
The cooks and others, nine.
The blizzard had sent all the commuters home, so there were fewer people than usual.
The remaining occupants were all residents of the mansion, educated and of relatively secure status and loyalty.
… Among them is a murderer.
“It may not necessarily be murder.”
Glasscok spoke cautiously.
The others chimed in.
“That’s right, that stupid woman… I’m sorry, sir. But didn’t she die trying to steal something and get away with it?”
“There were no external injuries, so it was obvious that she had frozen to death.”
“She was dressed in… but who would go out in this weather dressed like that? Even the craziest of people.”
The maid who spoke the last word glanced at Glasscok.
Delphine noticed that all the other users were staring at him as well.
“Besides, she didn’t even get far, she died right next to the manor.”
“That’s, well. Look at the weather. It’s blizzarding at night and you can’t see anything.”
“Malcolm’s right, even when we went out to fetch water from the well in the morning, we almost got lost, didn’t we?”
“That’s right, we couldn’t see a thing… We’re familiar with the geography of the manor, but she wasn’t, so she must have frozen to death wandering around here.”
Everyone has a point.
But none of them have proof.
Ioannes, who had been silent, finally spoke up.
“From now on, until the blizzard passes, you will all work in pairs.”
The users nodded in agreement, all glancing at Glasscok.
“You, too,” he said, “will Betty and Malcolm escort Lord Glasscok?”
“Yes, My Lord.”
He could feel the uneasy faces of his users visibly relieved.
“The Lady’s escort will be mine… Is that all, is there anything else?”
Ioannes said, and everyone held their breath for a moment, even though his tone was very calm.
His mood was noticeably different today.
Quiet, like a lion prowling around, eyeing its prey.
Ioannes took in their frightened moods with a familiarity he was used to, and ordered.
“… Then disperse.”
Ioannes held out his hand to Delphine, his face tinged with a faint chill.
“My Lady. Please come with me to my quarters, you need to rest.”
His tone was friendly, but unlike before, there was no room for negotiation.
Delphine glanced at Glasscok one last time, then followed him wordlessly.
***
Ioannes tossed more wood into the fireplace of the quarters.
Delphine sat on the bed and watched his strangely calm form beside her.
There was something she hadn’t told him in public.
She hadn’t been in the storeroom where the ruby necklace was kept yesterday.
It was Ioannes who had kept the room to himself all night.
And the shape of his mouth as he muttered to Callie as she ran into the parlor yesterday.
She is pretty sure he said, ‘I’m gonna kill you.’
Delphine hesitated, then finally parted her lips.
