"What does cousin think he's doing? You were sent here to reflect upon your mistakes and help the citizens of Nethermoor whose trust you've betrayed. Nowhere did Father declare you're Nethermoor's lord. So why would you act like one?"
Astaroth sneered. "If you don't want me to act like a lord, then go ahead and tell everyone here how I broke their trust - how their blessed broke their trust."
Zerath stayed silent.
"But you won't do that because it's too complicated to deal with the repercussions. It'd cause an uproar if my actions came to the public light because how could the people lose faith in their blessed? Even the Sanctum would vehemently oppose this."
"Is your status what is giving you so much confidence, cousin? It's true that the trust from the blessed shouldn't be shaken, but that luxury," his eyes squinted with a lethal warning, "also has its limits."
He scoffed.
"Perhaps Sir Malphas, too, began to think just like you - that he was untouched just because he was a part of the mighty Order. But what happened? He met a terrible end."
Astaroth's smile vanished at his mention. "What do you want to imply?"
"Nothing. I just find it interesting that cousin happened to hurt Princess Clairette at the same time as when Sir Malphas had planned to hurt her with the Convoy's help."
"Are you insinuating that we had colluded?"
"Hm? I don't know. Should I be insinuating that? You tell me."
Astaroth leveled his cold gaze at him. "For a child who was picked up from dirty streets, you've forgotten all about what boundaries mean, haven't you? How about you bring some evidence before you run your filthy mouth."
Zerath smiled, unfazed. "I simply worry that you'd end up meeting the same fate as Sir Malphas."
"Heh. You've gotten too insolent to even mock one of the Orders, who's not even among us anymore. Are you watching this, Sir Gressil?" He cast him a disdainful smile. "Maybe you could be next."
Gressil didn't respond to his provocation, but Zerath did.
"Sir Malphas would indeed be respected as an esteemed member of the Order, but that also doesn't wash off his sins of how he had planned to hurt Princess Clairette and risk our peaceful relations with the Human Realm. A noble status doesn't mean you're excused because of it - just like how you weren't."
Astaroth struck his palm against the table, a thunderous roar blasting off in all directions.
"Get out of here!"
"I'm here for an important investigation, and I won't leave until then. But you, cousin. You're here to repent, not become Nethermoor's lord, and as such, I don't want to see reports of any grievances by your hands. Your next actions could make or break your position."
Astaroth watched him leave, pinching his lips tight. A vase crashed against the wall the next moment with the weight of his fury, shattering into pieces.
"How dare he threaten me! The nerve of him to show his face without my permission…"
His resentful gaze landed on the two locals, who he had managed to bring under his thumb.
"What investigation was he talking about?"
"We-we don't know, my lord-"
A tall wall of fire leapt towards them, threatening to engulf them within its searing flames.
"Aahhhh! Pl-please forgive us, my lord!"
"Then don't spout nonsense I don't want to hear!"
One demon trembled. "Crown Prince Zerath could be here ei-either to find that ice demon child's mother o-or perhaps investigate the disappearances."
"Disappearances?" Astaroth blinked. "What disappearances?"
The locals exchanged a glance and looked back at him.
"There've been rumors of demons' sudden disappearances from some towns. They leave the town to settle in big cities, but they don't end up reaching there. Instead, they just..disappear. Nobody knows where. One such case happened here too."
The second local nodded. "There has been no news from Sira. She left Nethermoor a year ago. Not even one letter came from her. Her family is very distressed. My lord had talked to them during his previous visits."
Astaroth arched his brow.
Disappearances huh…Interesting.
—
At the tea party.
"Has this woman lost it? As if such a refined man like Mr. Lowe would have anything to do with a lowly dancer like her."
"These dancers are so shameless. Seducing the noblemen with their bodies!"
"Their performances are just an excuse to tempt men into infidelity!"
The woman abruptly quietened with Vivia's cold, hard and unforgiving stare as if she would eat them raw. Distinct beads of sweat formed on their brows.
"The blessed's power to guide the seasons is also a dance form, isn't it? I wonder if everyone holds the same belief towards Lady Priscilla as well?"
As if silence ate all the words from their dictionary, none dared to retort. Lumping Priscilla with the same likes as Audreya? That was a death sentence.
Audreya, on the other side, didn't care about their disdainful taunts and instead faced an enraged Raffert. She took out a small ring from her pocket that shimmered under the light, bringing a contrasting pale to Raffert's expression.
"You had proposed to me with this ring, remember?"
"That's utter nonsense! You can't just bring a random ring and claim it as my proposal! Is there no limit to your shamelessness? Claudia, don't believe her. She's lying!"
"I knew you'd feign ignorance, which is why I brought the proof with me."
She took out a small parchment scroll next and unfurled it.
"This is the evidence of the ring you bought at Mr. Floyd's jewel store. Can you read or have you lost that ability too along with your memory? It's your seal and signature on it."
As others gasped with shock, Vivia asked, "Can I take a look?"
Audreya didn't hand it over but did allow Vivia to have a look. Studying the scroll carefully, her heart raced. The truth dropped upon her like a bombshell. She never even got a whiff of Raffert and Audreya's relationship. Fury stoked further, her cold gaze piercing through Raffert's panicking countenance like shards of glass.
"This is a legit transaction, Mr. Lowe."
She read the writing upon the scroll. "'One custom ring set in gold, inset with black opal. For: Raffert Lowe. Date: Third of February.' It's marked with the insignia of Elowen Jewels, and this is your signature, I believe, Mr. Lowe."
"Th-that's not true…!" The color on Raffert's face only drained further when Claudia studied the same parchment.
"Th-This is…your signature, Raff…" She trembled, her face turning ashen.
"No, this witch is lying! This is fake. Yes…yes this is fake! She must've bribed someone to create this fake record against me!"
Audreya smiled. "Well, then how about Lady Claudia send a letter to Stras and summon Mr. Floyd of Elowen Jewels? This is your proof of the purchase as a customer, but Mr. Floyd, as a merchant, would also hold his own record of sale. We can then match the two records together and see who's lying, correct? Or why only Mr. Floyd? Why not call our entertainment group altogether? Master Walterce, Nellie, Emil, Ella. Will you deny knowing them too?"
Raffert froze.
Vivia nodded. "There's merit to her idea. If Mr. Lowe is innocent as he claims, then there's no harm in cross-checking Elowen Jewels record, isn't it?"
Raffert grabbed Claudia's hand, his chest heaving with a desperate breathlessness. "Believe me, Claudia. This is a trap! I-I don't know this woman, and why she's after me!"
Audreya gnashed her jaw. "Because you killed Vivia!"
Her fingers grabbed his collar, her cheeks red with frenzy. "You joined hands with the culprit who hired that assassin to kill Vivia! And you agreed to do this because you loved Vivia but couldn't tolerate that she didn't return your feelings!"
Huh? Raffert liked me? But didn't he…
Vivia held a vacant stare, akin to being crushed under a massive boulder. Trying to reign in her obvious confusion, she said with dizzying heartbeats, "I don't understand. Didn't you just show that Mr. Lowe proposed to you with that ring?"
She sneered. "I was only a replacement for him. Raffert always loved Vivia. But he heard our conversation one day where Vivia had said she saw him only like a brother."
Her memories took her back, recalling that particular conversation with Audreya after their performances were over.
'Did you see how many men were cheering for me today?' Audreya smirked with pride.
Vivia snorted. 'Those claps were for me, not you. Get your eyes checked, Audreya.'
'You need a checkup more than me. Such overconfidence will drown you, Vivia. Then perhaps the only man who'd accept a troublesome woman like you might be…Raffert. He's the only one who pampers you so much.'
Her eyes widened. 'Raffert? No, no! How can we be together like that? I treat him as my elder brother for whom I'm his favorite younger sister to dote upon~'
'Brother huh…' she murmured under her breath.
Now that Vivia thought about it, it did look as if Audreya had a lot more to say back then but held it back.
"That's why Raffert confessed to me to forget about Vivia, but I was well aware of his feelings. I only accepted his confession because I thought it'd help him move on from Vivia, and she wouldn't be burdened with it. He then proposed to me to show his sincerity. But I declined because I knew that in his heart, he hadn't really moved on. Then a day before that fateful performance…"
Audreya balled her fists. "He had tried to force himself on me. Probably to prove that he had indeed moved on…"
Vivia shook hard.
"I resisted and fought fiercely, and during that escape, I hurt my toe. I thought Raffert had lost all sense of reasoning that he could go so far. But then I saw that noblewoman giving gold to that assassin, and seeing how Raffert easily declared her dead without even trying to take her to the doctor, I began to wonder if…"
A tear rolled down her cheek, "if hurting me the day before was only a farce to hurt me and let Vivia take the center stage just to make her that assassin's target!"
Vivia exhaled shakily. At this point, all thoughts had spiraled out of control. Raffert's feelings for her, Audreya's relationship with him, and the fact that he stooped so low to hurt Audreya just to take his revenge on her…She was in the dark about just how much Audreya had suffered in silence for her sake.
"You helped that woman kill Vivia and that's why I vowed…I vowed to expose the real faces behind Vivia's murder!"
Unnoticed by everyone, Audreya's declaration had shaken Priscilla to her core. Her face was losing color as quickly as Raffert's.
Amidst the fierce whispers of gossip roaring louder and louder with each of Audreya's claims, a calm voice echoed from the back.
"Is that indeed the truth, I wonder?"
They turned, watching Sierra approach Audreya, unhurried and patient.
"Ever since you attacked Clairette and were locked up in prison, the royal family had naturally begun to investigate you - which is when we learned an interesting story, completely different from the tale you're telling."
Sierra smiled with a measured curve to her lips. "We can summon Mr. Floyd as you wish, but how about we get some answers from Sir Walterce first?"