Chapter 24

Chapter 24

“A suicide…”

Jade mumbled to himself. In one hand, Percy’s corpse held an engraved dagger. Blood trickled down the wrist of the other. He appeared to have died from slitting his wrist.

Kallen? I noticed that, as the duke quietly observed the body, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly. Did he just… smile?

“Darling,” the duke said. I looked up and nodded nervously. “Go over there and count to three. Then walk ten steps and shout for the other two pests to come this way. Remember to keep your back turned. We’ll take care of the body.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

I twisted around, my muscles rigid with anxiety. I walked ten steps forward, then squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath.

“Something terrible has happened!” I cried out.

There was a confused noise, and then the two boys dashed toward me.

“What is it?” one asked.

I silently pointed to the rose bush, and the moment they glanced over, their mouths fell open.

“Wh-what happened?!” Jax shouted with an incredulous look.

Ryan slowly approached Percy’s body and stared at it blankly, as if in disbelief. A tear coursed down his cheek.

“Suicide?” he gasped. “But Percy would never. He… He had a bright future ahead of him.”

“But we were together the whole time. No one else was on this hill,” Jax sputtered. “And boats can only be docked on this shore, which means…”

He trailed off, biting his lip. The logical conclusion seemed to be that if no one had killed his friend, that he had killed himself.

“It’s all my fault. If only I hadn’t mentioned my younger sister… Her death was a source of great pain for Percy. Perhaps I reopened an old wound.” Ryan started to sob as if he was having a fit. It broke my heart to see him weep.

But… Something was strange. An impulsive suicide? It’s possible, but why now? Why one year after his fiancée’s death? Percy did seem sad at the mention of Eliza, but before that, he had been cracking jokes with a big smile.

“Hmm…” I lightly bit my lower lip and sank into deep thought.

“Are you scared?” Kallen asked, walking toward me.

I tensed but shook my head. I had witnessed death one too many times to be afraid.

But I really don’t know anything this time, do I? The parts of the novel that I remembered had already concluded with the previous murder case.

“Please forgive my impudence, Your Grace. I do not mean to offend you, but you and your family were the ones who discovered Percy’s body, correct?” Jax gingerly asked.

“We were all together when Percy excused himself, and this happened just as Your Grace left for a family jaunt around the rose bush…”

“I am aware of the rumors surrounding House Lewelton, but you need not suspect that the three of us plotted to kill Percy before summoning you.”

I glanced around nervously, wondering what the rumors might be.

“Based on the volume of blood loss and the degree of coagulation, I would estimate that the boy has been dead for at least thirty minutes. In other words, he died while the rest of us were still seated and conversing.”

Jax pressed his lips tightly together.

“Th-that means—”

“Ryan, was it?” the duke asked, glancing at the boy next to Jax. “When you went to signal your servants across the river, Percy was already dead. That means, for the time being, you’re not a suspect either. You couldn’t have killed him in the few seconds it took to walk to the opposite end, and such a time of death wouldn’t align with the volume of blood loss.”

“Then… He really did kill himself?”

A strange expression flitted across Kallen’s face. “Well, I’m neither a doctor nor a detective. The police can assess the situation once they arrive. However, one thing is certain: given the circumstances, everyone present is innocent. It appears like a textbook suicide.” Kallen spoke calmly, but his words seemed to carry a hidden meaning.

Jax and Ryan cried out in sorrow, clutching each other’s shoulders. In the next moments, time seemed to fly by in a blur. Our servants arrived on a boat to escort us home, but one had to row back across to notify the police.

I feel like we’re missing something. With one hand I squeezed Kallen’s, while the other clutched my lurching stomach.

I feel strange, as if some piece of information is trapped just beneath the waters of my subconscious. No matter how much I think about it, it doesn’t seem to be a suicide. But why? How am I so certain? Random thoughts raced around my mind as fast as my pounding heart. Faster and faster they spun. Confusion chased each thought as I reflected on the incident.

I…

“Do you feel unwell, child?”

“Pardon?”

“You look pale. Are you frightened?” Kallen leaned in, removing his glove and pressing his palm against my forehead. “You don’t have a fever.”

“I’m fine—”

Oh? At that moment, a strange memory entered my mind.

What’s this? It was similar to the vision I’d had before, but this time it wasn’t a memory from my own past.

“Get here, you dummy! Haha!”

“I’m hiding right here.”

“How can you appear out of thin air?”

A small house on a cliff, a beautiful scene with waves crashing below. A boy and a girl dashed around the house, twirling and giggling playfully.

What’s going on? Why am I having this vision? Who are they? And the boy’s face… He looks like… He looked like the boy I had met today, whose face had felt strangely familiar. His face multiplied in my mind, as if within the facets of a diamond.

“Leticia?”

“Y-yes?” I jolted, returning to my senses.

Huh? Did I just have a vision with my eyes still open? And what was that? It wasn’t a memory from my past life, like the ones I’d seen before. It wasn’t a memory from the novel either. So, what exactly was it? Who in the world were those kids?

I stared blankly ahead, my mouth still gaping with surprise.

“She must be in shock,” Jade said, carefully examining my face. “Just persevere a bit longer. We still need to speak with the police before heading home.”

The servants soon arrived with the boat, as if on cue. Kallen and Jade led me to the shore, where we waited for the police. Jade gently patted my shoulder.

“We should put Leticia to bed as soon as we get home, Father.”

“Yes, I agree.” The duke seemed worried about me, but he was clearly distracted by other thoughts.

“It was murder, wasn’t it?” Kallen whispered.

“Certainly,” Jade replied. His eyes narrowed, and I nervously tightened my grip on Jade’s sleeve.

Jade then turned to his father. “It’s quite a strange puzzle. Unless there was someone else on this island hiding among us.”

“But boats can only dock on this very shore, and the island is small and peaceful. If someone had managed to sneak in, they couldn’t have done so without making a sound.”

“Perhaps the culprit was a mermaid,” Jade joked dryly.

“We’ll find out once they investigate,” Kallen said, then looked out at the river and murmured, “Today is a lucky day.”

If this truly is a murder case, who could the culprit be? Is it more likely that someone was hiding on the island prior to our arrival, or that the perpetrator is one of us? Oh, wait. Could my vision have been…

The puzzle pieces within my mind gradually began to slot together, much like the novels I’d read endlessly in the past. In that case, everything makes perfect sense. And from what I remember, the culprit misspoke earlier. Yes, exactly. If what I’m thinking is correct...

I gulped.

Then that means… At the touch of Kallen’s hand, a vision had been projected into my mind. However, this time was different from the last. It hadn’t been a memory from my past, but rather a bit of the past from this world.

I think I know what really happened. I thought about the people I’d seen today, along with what Kallen might do next.

He probably intends to discover who the culprit is in order to “hunt” them, right? And if he realizes I’ve discovered the truth, then... I glanced at Jax and Ryan, who were still in tears. One of them was the criminal who would meet his demise at Kallen’s hands, the person who would be punished for killing Percy.

And I knew who that person was.