Chapter 32 Radio
After what had just happened, Ioannes was sure.
He mustn’t let her know the depth of his love for her. Or rather, hate.
She’s already turned his life upside down.
She hadn’t even realized the extent of what he had done for her yet, and yet she was still clutching his leash like a master.
All it takes is the tiniest sliver of his true feelings, the tiniest sliver of his heart, and she’s got an entire iceberg to wield him like this.
‘What is going to happen?’
Ioannes smiled gently, hiding his icy heart.
“Nothing, My Lady.”
“Please don’t keep it in your mind for long… Sir Pride.”
The corners of their mouths tilted upward as they smiled at each other once more.
It was a very aristocratic and polite conversation, but neither of them meant it.
Day Four.
The blizzard had finally stopped.
As soon as it ceased, Delphine was released from Ioannes and headed for the promised garden.
But no matter how long she waited, Glasscok did not appear.
If she waited any longer, Ioannes might become suspicious.
Finally giving up and heading back to the mansion, something caught Delphine’s eye.
A small, black object in the bushes.
It had a square body with a clear crystal in the centre.
‘… What is this?’
She had never seen anything like it before. The users came running, panting, toward Delphine, who picked it up and examined it.
“My lady!”
It was the cry that announced Glasscok’s death.
***
Glasscok was found outside the mansion, next to Callie’s body.
He had his own dagger in his heart.
Betty and Malcolm, who had been watching him, swore that he had never left the room.
But the window of the guest room, where he had been staying, was locked from the inside.
The constable was summoned at once.
“Lord Pride!”
Arriving at the mansion, the officers found Ioannes before they found the body, and saluted him with a snap of their fingers.
“We’ve received a report and are here to investigate!”
“Yes.”
He merely shook his head.
The officers began to investigate.
A moment later, they found a letter envelope in Glasscok’s arms.
It was a short suicide note, written in a hastily scrawled handwriting.
[That night, I had a minor quarrel with Miss Callie.
And in the heat of the argument, I killed her.
It was never my intention. Please forgive me.
I would rather die an honourable death, before the blizzard stops and all my sins are revealed.]
Several times at the end he added, ‘Please preserve my honor as a nobleman.’
The investigation was concluded with unbelievable speed.
Everyone’s alibi was perfect.
“We’ve had at least two people with us for the last two days!”
“That’s right, ask everyone, we could never be the culprits.”
“Even the master and mistress, they haven’t stepped out of their quarters for safety’s sake, and they’re suspicious of sudden arrival.”
“We knew for sure that he had killed that red-haired woman.”
One after another, the users testified.
However, none of the officers who saluted Ioannes seemed to dare to investigate the Marquis or his wife.
Throughout the process, Delphine watched Ioannes with a white-knuckled gaze.
He had returned to his usual soft features.
Was she overreacting if he looked like a lion returning from a kill?
… She doesn’t know.
She doesn’t know why she keeps thinking he’s suspicious.
As she stood in the courtyard taking it all in, Delphine took a slow step forward.
Her staggering, frail steps led her to the barn where the two bodies lay.
No one was inside the barn.
A white cloth was draped over the two bodies, which had been roughly identified.
The investigation had already been concluded.
With trembling hands, Delphine removed one of the cloth.
A blue, sleeping face appeared.
It was Callie.
“You didn’t happen to check… those eyes after the Count’s death, did you?”
“Was there anything unusual about those eyes, for example?”
“There was a common thread in all those unusual murders. The corpses all had their pupils gouged out.”
Delphine stretched a trembling hand to her cold face.
She couldn’t tell herself what was driving her now.
Perhaps there is something underneath a human being even when they think they have reached their limit, she thought.
She can’t help it, she have to check.
Delphine muttered a prayer to her gods, and brought her hand to her closed eyes.
The touch of the cold corpse sent goosebumps all over her body.
“Hu.”
An uncontrollable sob burst from her mouth.
Delphine yanked her eyelids open with force.
Dead pupils.
Empty pupils, without the slightest twitch of the pupil where it should be.
Callie’s green eyes were fixed blankly into space.
Delphine stifled a frantic sob and reached out, this time to Glasscok’s eyes.
“… Up.”
Were his eyes blue?
She couldn’t remember because she hadn’t looked closely enough.
But Delphine would never know what colour his eyes were again.
For where his eyes should have been, there was only a round hole.
The sudden rush of earthenware made Delphine dart out of the barn, gagging.
“My Lady!”
“My Lady? Why are you in a place like this…”
“Oh, don’t come!”
Ioannes, who had been hurrying toward her, stiffened when he saw her expression.
What expression she’s wearing now?
Delphine quickly ducked her head so he couldn’t see her face.
“Well, I’m just shaken up, I’ll feel better after a little rest.”
“Oh, well, you have every reason to be. Here, take my shoulder, My Lady.”
Anna, looking pitiful, helped her up.
Delphine pushed past Ioannes, who remained frozen in place with his head bowed low, and returned to the quarters.
“Come on, lie down, I’ll get you changed into something comfortable, what is going on…”
Delphine shuddered as Anna’s hands busily removed her dress.
No pupils.
Only glass slits.
Who did that?
Why on earth?
Why is Callie here?
What does this have to do with the recent spate of murders in the capital?
And why does she feel so… Uneasy about Ioannes?
“There you go. That’s it, get back to bed…Ah. My Lady. What are you going to do with that necklace?”
“A necklace?”
Delphine snapped out of her reverie and looked at Anna’s plump face.
“That ruby necklace that woman tried to steal from me. I can’t believe you’d leave something so valuable just lying on the table like that.”
Ah, that necklace…
Delphine stared blankly at her bedside table.
She hadn’t even bothered to put it away, so she’d left it on the table in front of the mirror.
“I’m sure you’ll be offended, so shall I call a jeweller?”
“Yeah. I suppose I should.”
Delphine replied blankly, picking up the necklace without thinking.
Was Callie really going to steal this necklace?
Next to the necklace was the black object she’d picked up in the garden.
Oh, yes. There was this too.
Delphine picked it up, still in shock, dumbfounded.
The object was unrecognizable.
Angular and square, with a crystalline gem in the centre.
Examining it closely, Delphine suddenly realised where she’d seen an object like this before.
It bore a striking resemblance to the northern continent object she’d seen in the District 2 council chamber.
It seemed to glow at the touch of her hand.
“It’s the incredibly delicate workmanship and the… crystals.”
Delphine muttered to herself as she picked it up and examined it.
She tugged at something on the end of it, and a long iron bar came out.
It was a strange-looking object indeed.
What could this be used for?
Delphine’s fingertips touched the crystal.
At that moment.
The crystal was transparent, but five colours of light shone through it.
Chizik-.
An unfamiliar sound emanated from the black object.
Delphine jerked the object out of her hand in surprise.
“Baby. What are you doing, why don’t you lie down?”
“…”
Delphine didn’t have time to answer Anna’s question before she quickly picked up the object.
As she put her trembling hand to the crystal, she heard the crackling sound again, coming from the holes in the black object-.
[“… Duke Glasscok, are you there?”]
A low, calm voice came out of the black object.
“Just now, a man’s voice is in there!”
“… Anna.”
Delphine quickly called out to Anna.
After the events of the past, she was developing a habit of being rather cold under pressure.
“Outside the door, watch the net. Give me a signal when Ioannes comes.”
“Baby, what are you doing…!”
“Anna.”
Delphine called her name loudly, her voice filled with an undeniable authority.
Anna stamped her foot and fidgeted, then ran out of the room.
“I’m not going to live up to my name because of you, baby…!”
Delphine whispered, her hand still on the crystal, her lips pressed to the black object.
“He’s dead.”
No answer came from the black object.
Ioannes could appear out of nowhere at any moment.
Unable to control her nerves, Delphine whispered again, this time against the black object.
“He, Ioannes, might be coming. There’s no time.”
Is the connection broken?
As she thought, the voice answered.
[“… Pride Lady?”]
