Chapter 19
“You said the bodies recently discovered downstream of the river connected to the Imperial Palace’s outer moat were all young women, right? They all had reddish-brown hair and brown eyes, too.”
The supplementary material sent by the informant stated, ‘There is insufficient evidence,’ but that was surely a boilerplate phrase to protect them in case the report leaked. This was because, structurally, the Imperial Palace was the only place from which a body could be thrown into the outer castle moat.
“Furthermore, ever since Lowell Bavaria became Emperor, women with reddish-brown hair and brown eyes have been frequently sighted at the Imperial Palace. And no one knows why those women entered the Imperial Palace or what became of them.”
Given the disappearances, the bodies, and the Imperial Palace, there was only one highly probable conclusion.
“The master of the Empire was a perverted murderer who kidnapped and killed women around twenty years old with reddish-brown hair and brown eyes.”
“I knew he was a crazy bastard. His eyes were completely unhinged.”
Bella suddenly scrunched up her face in disgust. Then she looked at Elena with eyes overflowing with worry.
She couldn’t help it. Saintess Elena herself was a twenty-one-year-old woman with reddish-brown hair and brown eyes, wasn’t she? Moreover, the Emperor even had a record of staring intently at Elena in the middle of the Grand Temple hallway before abruptly asking her age.
“Given that he let it go then and hasn’t returned, I guess I didn’t fit the criteria. The fact that the age range is so specific……. It feels like he’s looking for a substitute for someone.”
Who could it be? What kind of relationship led to such an obsession?
“Could it be his former fiancée?”
“You mean the Late Empress, right?”
“Yes. She was originally Lowell Bavaria’s fiancée, but his brother took her, didn’t he? And she died not long after giving birth to the Deposed Crown Prince.”
“If the Late Empress had reddish-brown hair and brown eyes, it would be possible.”
At that, Bella let out a groan and rummaged through the report. But there was no way information about Trisha, the Late Empress who had neither a wedding nor a coronation, would be written there.
“I haven’t heard that the Deposed Crown Prince, the Late Empress’s son, has brown hair either. Furthermore, the Empress was the Crown Princess of the Kingdom of Piotr, wasn’t she? Most people from there have green or blue eyes, so the possibility of having brown eyes is low.”
“Hmm. That’s true. Based on the entangled story, she seems the most likely candidate. The truth is, Emperor Lowell hasn’t had any other woman he was particularly involved with besides his former fiancée. He hadn’t even met his former fiancée privately to begin with.”
Bella shook her head, saying there was no other candidate to consider. But one person came to Elena’s mind.
If the starting point of his perverted taste wasn’t the fiancée stolen by his brother…….
<Vivian, huh. A woman’s name, right?>
<A woman’s name, and they said there was a rumor that her hair was reddish-brown.>
Could it be the woman who fell from the tower and died 32 years ago?
Elena deliberately did not bring up the story of ‘Vivian.’ Mentioning it to Bella would only fuel unnecessary anxiety. Objectively speaking, the Late Empress Trisha, who was also his former fiancée, was perhaps more likely to have had reddish-brown hair and brown eyes.
‘But I have a bad feeling.’
Elena was a person with senses so keen that she could feel the Devil’s Authority, and that sensitivity often acted like foresight, extending her life.
That instinct whispered to her. That she must not let her guard down.
“Bella. We decided to stay at Viscount Odeur’s Castle today, right?”
“Yes. Since they said it’s Viscount Odeur’s territory immediately after crossing the Hafel River, we should probably arrive within an hour.”
“I hope we can rest comfortably there.”
Bella, taking her muttering as a complaint about the discomfort of the carriage journey, fussed over her, trying hard to please her.
“The moment you arrive, if you soak thoroughly in hot bath water, I will personally ensure a perfect dinner is prepared! I’ve already sent word to have all the furniture in the Saintess’s room prepared new, so you’ll be able to sleep soundly tonight.”
“Thank you. That’s a plan that makes me feel good just hearing it.”
Since there was nothing she could do immediately even if she worried, Elena spent the remaining time listening to Bella’s plans appropriately. It was an amusing conversation for the two of them, but the financial administrator of the Odeur Viscounty, who received Bella’s demands, must have fainted a couple of times while calculating the expenses for hosting the Saintess.
But unfortunately, Bella’s ambitious plan collapsed like a sandcastle the moment they stepped out of the carriage.
What caused the wave was the Imperial Family’s carriage.
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