How could he tell her it was a trap?
In the original script of this world, anyone who went to Diadra's room the next morning would find her cold, lifeless body and immediately become the primary suspect. Furthermore, the 'Golden Princess' who had just visited them wasn't even the real Diadra,she was a product of Touko Aozaki's 'Cinderella' magecraft, augmented by the properties of a Bodhi Leaf.
Reviewing the original plot, the Golden Princess's invitation to Reines had never been a simple plea for help.
"I think there's a problem here," Wayland said, breaking the silence.
Reines shifted on the bed, her beret cast aside and her golden hair spilling across the sheets. "What kind of problem?"
"A logical inconsistency." Wayland held up a finger. "Diadra's reason for not seeking out Lord Barthomeloi sounds reasonable enough on the surface, but why did she insist that *we* stay silent about it? As magi of the Clock Tower, she knows well enough that the Aristocratic Faction is led by the Barthomelois. If we were serious about helping her, they would be our first point of contact."
"She likely assumed we would contact her anyway, so she didn't feel the need to specify," Reines suggested.
"Perhaps. But didn't her praise of my mentor feel a little too calculated? It was designed to lower our guard. And the 'reward' she promised? It felt perfectly tailored to tempt us specifically. That suggests she never had any intention of negotiating with Lord Barthomeloi."
Reines sat up straight, her fingers twisting a strand of her hair. "You make a compelling point."
She frowned, unable to find a clear path forward. She looked at Wayland. "What do you suggest we do?"
"We wait. Since she asked us to come by first thing in the morning, that specific timing is almost certainly a crucial part of the trap. She didn't give us a hard deadline, so we'll delay. We won't go until nearly noon."
"Won't that look suspicious? Magi are traditionally quite punctual, especially when it comes to noble invitations. If nothing happens and we just show up late, it'll be a stain on our reputation."
"Don't worry," Wayland said with a faint smile, gesturing to himself. "I am, technically speaking, an official member of the Bureau of Policies. My excuse is simple: I'll say I was summoned by Lord Barthomeloi early this morning for questioning regarding last night's events. It's a flawless alibi."
Reines blinked, then burst into a genuine laugh. "It looks like my brother finally found a student who's actually good for something. Almost no one in Modern Magecraft knows how to navigate these political minefields, let alone handle the internal squabbles of the noble houses. You're going to be quite useful."
'No, I really won't,' Wayland thought. The only reason he could navigate this was because he possessed the 'Clarivoyance' of knowing the original story. If he had to trade wits with these ancient conspirators without that edge, he'd be outmatched in seconds.
But since he couldn't exactly explain that, he simply offered a polite smile.
The guest quarters provided by the Iselmas were close together, with Wayland's room situated directly next to Reines'. He spent the evening in silent preparation and joined them early the next morning.
They waited. As the clock neared noon, the news they had been anticipating finally broke, shattering the uneasy peace of the towers.
The Golden Princess, Diadra Iselma, had been found murdered in her own room.
***
The morning air in the Lake District felt colder than anything Wayland had experienced in London. The temperature difference between day and night was staggering. While the mid-day sun could reach twenty degrees Celsius, the nights and early mornings frequently plummeted below freezing.
As they walked across the Iselma grounds, vague, shimmering figures drifted through the damp morning mist,ghosts. The people of this region seemed to have a particular affinity for the spectral; no one paid them any mind, treating them more like free-roaming pets than restless spirits.
Gray was the only one who seemed uncomfortable. She suffered from a deep-seated phobia of spiritual entities. Wayland cast a subtle illusion to shield her vision, filtering out the ghosts from her sight.
"Ah... thank you," Gray whispered, pulling her hood down lower, a hint of embarrassment in her voice. Wayland didn't comment; no one liked having their weaknesses exposed.
By the time they reached the third floor of the Tower of the Moon, a crowd had already gathered.
"Careful," Wayland whispered as they stepped into the room.
The sight within was gruesome. A single, macabre red rose had bloomed across the pristine white sheets of the bed,a rose made of fresh, glistening blood. In the center lay the severed head of Diadra, surrounded by the rest of her body, which had been meticulously dismembered into pieces that resembled scattered flower petals.
It was a scene of horrifying, artistic precision.
Miao, the pharmacist, was huddled on the floor nearby, trapped in a state of catatonic shock. Islo, the dressmaker, was staring at the blood-stained gown with a look of profound regret. Byron Iselma stood nearby, leaning heavily on his cane, his entire body trembling with grief. And the veiled Silver Princess, Estella, stared unblinkingly at her sister's head.
"So, it has come to this?"
Touko Aozaki,her glasses removed and her 'cold' persona in full effect,swept into the room. She surveyed the scene with a detached, clinical gaze. "If I recall correctly," she began, her tone icy, "the Golden Princess's room is protected by a magical lock that responds only to her specific prana signature. In the terms of a detective novel, we're looking at a classic locked-room murder. This means everyone currently in this hall is a suspect."
She paused for a moment before adding, "Of course, from a magus's perspective, bypassing a magical lock without damaging it isn't impossible. For instance, one could use a specialized Mystic Code... like the El-Melloi family's Volumen Hydrargyrum."
Reines felt her heart skip a beat. If they hadn't followed Wayland's advice and had been the ones to 'discover' the body first thing in the morning, the suspicion falling on them would have been impossible to wash away.
Just as she was about to speak in their defense, she saw Wayland give a subtle shake of his head. She didn't understand why, but she held her tongue.
"As Miss Aozaki says, there are many ways to commit murder," Wayland said, stepping forward. "The Volumen Hydrargyrum is merely one possibility among many. However, we were not the first to discover the scene. In fact, we've spent the entire morning in consultation with Lord Barthomeloi. She can personally verify our whereabouts."
"A convenient claim," Touko said with a faint, sharp smile. "But since you are both members of the Aristocratic Faction, one could argue you're merely colluding. And besides... Lord Byron has his own evidence."
Wayland frowned. The Golden Princess's visit last night had been too sudden for him to prevent the meeting, and now that oversight was coming back to haunt them.
Touko Aozaki was acting strangely. Was this part of her contract with Byron? Aside from crafting another Golden Princess, had she agreed to help facilitate this setup?
Byron snapped his fingers, and the twin maids entered the room. One of them was Karina, the woman who had brought Diadra to their room the night before.
"Karina," Byron asked, his voice shaking. "Did Diadra meet with Lady Reines last night?"
"She did, my Lord."
"And do you know the nature of their conversation?"
"I was not present for the talk itself, my Lord."
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]