CH 22

o…”

“Go?”

“Let’s go.”

Richard covered his mouth as Ophelia, who had turned her back on him very awkwardly, put out her left foot and left hand together.

A smile that could not be hidden or erased was blooming on the corners of his mouth that was hidden behind his hand.

Just like that, Richard and Ophelia faced the very person they wanted to meet.

“I see you, Your Highness.”

“And, I wonder…?”

“Yes. I’m in charge of this case.”

After bowing his head politely, the investigator put down the pile of papers.

“These are the case records of the incident. This is about the site, this is about the surrounding area. And this is about other matters.”

As Ophelia’s gaze followed the investigator’s fingertips, Richard blinked at her.

Richard, facing the investigator with Ophelia sitting behind him, did not missed the opportunity, quickly grabbing the papers and asking,

“How far did it go?”

“We have completed the investigation of the death, it’s due to the collapse of the chest. We have also identified the victim and the surrounding circumstances.”

There was no time to breathe, but an immediate answer came back. Still, there was no information that Richard wanted.

“Did you find a clue as to who’s the assailant?”

“No.”

“A suspicious person or power?”

“Not yet.”

Cold sweat formed on the forehead of the investigator who had to spit out that there was no success in front of the crown prince.

“Sorry. We’re looking for clues, but we haven’t found anything of note.”

“In the end, you’re saying you don’t know anything now.”

“I apologize, Your Highness.”

The investigator was sweating and nodding his head over and over, but he really had nothing to say.

How dare he hide what he knew about safety.

Literally, that was the only fact he found out in this case.

He wished he could have concluded that it was just an ordinary robbery.

No matter how he looked at it, it didn’t make sense.

And right now, he wanted to destroy all of those incident records.

What the hell did he go through these past few days just because of this one incident?

Of course, the victim in this case was the only heir to a prestigious county.

But, an aide of the crown prince came. It wouldn’t have been to the degree for a chief aide to come and see.

“It is difficult to tell you the whole situation because the investigation is ongoing.”

“I know. I’m not asking you to tell me everything, just let me know when it will be finished.”

“It’s still in progress…”

The investigator swore he didn’t want to put on a pretense to the crown prince’s chief aide.

Ah, what could he do?

No matter whether it’s the crown prince’s aide or someone else, he couldn’t divulge anything in the midst of the investigation and without due process.

In the end, he said he would give her a heads-up before it was concluded.

After that, she came back two more times.

The situation was already clear, but there were not many clues, and a person who could kill the victim so cruelly could only be a lover of his fiancée. Everyone knew there wasn’t one, so there was no need for the perpetrator to kill the victim that much.

Ultimately, the investigator really didn’t have anything; he felt like he was dying from the inside as he underwent these difficulties.

But…

‘Today, it’s not just an aide. His Highness… The crown prince himself came to check the progress of the case.’

While the investigator couldn’t lift his back, Ophelia quickly skimmed through the case log and stood up.

“Your Highness.”

When Ophelia glanced at the investigator, Richard ordered.

“Step out for a moment.”

As soon as the investigator left the room, Ophelia said,

“As the investigator said, only the case record itself is detailed, and there is little to see about the rest. The singularity is that the dead person had gambling debts. But it doesn’t make sense to kill a child of a count or the heir to a family that has rights to the upcoming festival because of debt. Another weird thing is…”

Ophelia paused for a moment.

“What’s the catch?”

“What I’m saying… This is purely my opinion. You know right? I’m just an ordinary lady.”

“An ordinary lady can’t avoid people’s attention and knock out assassins like an assassin.”

“Ah, that’s just it. Anyway, please keep in mind that I’m a very ordinary person in this kind of investigation and reasoning.”

“So what is it?”

“Blood.”

Ophelia picked up one of the case logs and whispered into Richard’s ear, to which he nodded.

“Ah, and there is no information that the victim did anything for the festival.”

“Those things are only done under the water.”

“If it’s not deep enough and yet it didn’t come out even if the investigator dug…”

“There must be the involvement of a force strong enough to cover it.”

As the two discussed, one family came to their minds at the same time, it was hard to tell who thought of it first.

“Isn’t it Neir?”

“It’s Neir.”

“Then, should we dig up Neir now? No matter how much an investigator stabs it, it’s hard for them to get anything from Neir.”

Ophelia was about to roll up her sleeves, but realized they weren’t alone and lowered her arms.

“Shall I take a peek tonight? You have a map of Marchioness Neir’s mansion.”

“Yes, but there is no need for that.”

“Are you going to use someone else? Oh, come to think of it, Your Highness must have already placed someone there.”

“Yes, but I won’t use him.”

“What? Are you just going to leave me alone?”

“I mean, there’s no need to search. We’re not plotting, we’re pulling it out. The longer you spend, the more you’ll be fooled by things that aren’t relevant to the case.”

Ophelia narrowed her eyes.

‘Catching things that are not related to the case… That is to say…’

“Your Highness, you’re openly saying that it’s annoying to look into things and have to care about them.”

“It’s bothersome, so I’ll use a method that can uncover all of this at once.”

“If Marchioness Neir is planning other things, it’s better to know!”

“Of course she’s up to something. I can cut it off when it reeks.”

“Your desire… Ugh, there’s no point in saying it.”

Ophelia waved her hand with cloudy eyes.

“As expected, villains can’t do anything.”

The words came out of nowhere, but a faint smile spread across Richard’s lips.

“Why?”

“As you said, it takes a long time and effort to form a plot or a conspiracy. Patience is the basics. But it takes only one moment to break it.”

Ophelia shrugged and clicked her tongue.

“What’s the point if the villains work hard here and there? The main character comes and overturns everything at once and leaves. So, the villains have to be several times more diligent than the side of justice. Since…”

“Since?”

“Since the villain only fails each time, he has to hypnotize himself so that he won’t get frustrated, and he has to comfort his subordinates who made mistakes or did wrong, or else even ten bodies wouldn’t be enough.”

Richard asked Ophelia, who shook her head.

“Then, is the villain now Marchioness Neir and I am the main character?”

“Of course.”

“I never thought that my work was less than that of Marchioness Neir’s.”

“That… that’s what it is.”

“Then do the positions of the villain and the protagonist change?”

“No, that’s not… it doesn’t?”

Obviously, the protagonist of this novel was Richard, and the villain was Marchioness Neir.

However, when she heard Richard’s words, she thought something wasn’t right…

‘There’s no way!’

Ophelia, realizing that the corners of her eyes were rounded, slapped his arm with her cotton bat-like hand.

“Your Highness knows that you are the main character.”

“No, what are you saying? It’s not a novel, so there’s no such thing as a main character.”

Ophelia rolled her eyes and let out a dry laugh at the words mixed with a slight smile.

—This is right in a novel, you’re the main character, you punk! 

The cry just lingered in her mouth.

But whatever, even if he was the main character, was there something in this world that was going according to the original novel?

She couldn’t remember the content, but there was certainly no mention of the protagonist regressing infinitely.

Richard’s innate abilities itself would be even more terrifying than in the novel.

…Above all, this world was no longer fiction or make believe, but reality.

It was also terribly cold, harsh and ruthless.

Richard looked at the suddenly quiet Ophelia and opened his mouth.

Out flowed a very low voice, almost a whisper.

“If I were the main character…”

He swallowed the end of the sentence.

—Will it be a happy ending? Or is it tragic?

For Richard, his hopes for tomorrow or the even more distant future had long since been shattered.

But Ophelia appeared, and suddenly…

He suddenly had the thought:

Maybe she could really grab him by the collar and take him out of this pit.

“It’s poison.”

It was a voice so small that only he could hear it.

Ophelia was poison to him.

A poison that he swallowed even though he knew it was going to ruin him and make him collapse.

No, the savior who came to ruin him… yes…

Her red hair was fluttering in the distant vision.

‘If I swallow, if I catch it, if I hold it by my side…’

‘Ophelia.’

“You’re happy.”

A blue flame flashed in his blurred eyes.

“You’re surely happy in the end.”

Ophelia was smiling.

Without hesitation or reluctance, she whispered to him, as if making a promise.

“Your Highness’ last line will be ‘I’m happy.'”

In Richard’s golden eyes, Ophelia ran as a blue pulse.

It wasn’t overwhelming.

He wasn’t even excited.

He couldn’t believe it.

But yes… 

Now, even if it was just words, somehow it felt good.

Truly, if she said so. That alone was pretty… all right.