Flower of Steel

“Except for you, my lady, and the other three who were with you, the people who were at the garden were Kyles von Pail, Jianneen von Reclan, Arhan von Stayner, and His Highness, my lady.”

So, the suspect is currently one of those four, and there could be more. Who was it? Who could have done such wonderful work? I would have felt a bit sorry if he had died, but he didn’t. So that’s good. I’m not so kind or foolish enough to worry about a man who came at me with hostility and ridiculed me.

Wouldn’t it feel better to have the enemy die and disappear, whether or not the man was good? I just think that he didn’t deserve death after what he did to me, so I thought what happened to him was a punishment from God, who sided with me this time.

After listening to the guard, I went to the crime scene. According to the guard, Hillain was attacked with a sword from behind. I guess around the kidney area? From the way, the flowers were bent, and the blood had sprayed around the place where the victim had fallen, the criminal used his left hand to handle the sword. The criminal is a left-handed swordsman or is right-handed but used his left to hide his habit.

This was a shame. I could have gotten more evidence if I got to see Hillain’s state myself. Are these traces the only thing I can look at?

There were giant trees around the flowerbed where Hillain was attacked, which seemed like a great place to hide before making a sneak attack. It was important to know if he saw the attacker or not, but the victim was now in a coma from a critical wound.

The way he couldn’t even scream makes me think that the attack was unexpected, and Hillain was taken down at once. Or maybe it was just a coincidence with luck. If it was the former, then the attacker should have been skilled enough to strike him in the heart. I should think about a possible candidate who is skilled enough to sneak up on Hillain and strike him down at once.

From the list of suspects that the guard told me, Kyles didn’t have the guts nor sword skills to do this but may have despised him. It seemed that he couldn’t get into Elise’s group because Hillain didn’t like him. But I’m sure that foolish bookworm wouldn’t have the guts to attack. How could a guy who shivered in fright whenever he saw Rey or Chelleno attack Hillain, who was a knight?

Then I’m left with Sir Arhan, the captain of the Royal Guards of the Crown Prince, and the Crown Prince himself…

Sir Arhan is a guard of the Crown Prince. He would know Hillain since he is a member of the Central Knights, but they are stationed in different places and probably don’t have many connections with each other. Sir Arhan nor the Crown Prince seem to have any reason to have any ties, either good or bad, with Hillain, so who is left is Jianneen then.

Jianneen… a 15-year-old boy, my cousin, the second son of my uncle, brother of Chelleno, and the twin brother of Lumi. He is considered to have quite the potential with his sword skills. If he had heard what Hillain had said to me, it would have certainly angered him. But I couldn’t consider him a criminal just because of that.

Jianne’s height is similar to Lumi’s. Perhaps because he is still growing, if he had struck Hillain, who was tall, from behind, toward the top, the wound should have been just slightly above the center. But I couldn’t be sure because I hadn’t seen the wound. Of course, it won’t be fun if the problem is too easy to solve.

I looked around again. Looking from this angle, if I were to attack this flowerbed where Hillain had fallen, it should be from the top or from the back of that tree in front of the mansion. If not, then there is also a possibility that the attacker came from the mansion. If so, then the suspect can be anyone who was at the party. I should check that tree and that mansion then.

I investigated the mansion and saw no evidence on the windows of the first floor. I then checked the other flowers but to no avail. It was when I was up on the second floor to look that I felt something strange. Oh… I think I now know who it was.

I smiled intentionally and told Chelleno that I was going to meet with someone. Then I called the suspect to a quiet room. In response to the smile the man gave me, I made a grin and looked up at him.

“Why did you attack Sir Hillain? …Sir Adrian.”

His blue eyes bent in a smile, enjoying what I had just said. But his mouth spoke as if he didn’t understand the question and asked, “What do you mean, Lady Marina?”

“Do I really need to explain?”

“I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about, lady.”