Chapter 2.7

Carlson rubbed his forehead and let out a deep sigh. He glanced at Liam, who looked flustered and hastily explained himself. 

“Ah, I didn’t eat dinner. My stomach wasn’t feeling well yesterday…” 

“…What an incredible coincidence.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Alright, everyone, think about it. While the commander and I were away, you all ate dinner and fell asleep as a group, right? The youngest, who didn’t eat, was the only one awake. And during the time when there was no one to watch the suspect, he vanished…” 

“Could someone have spiked the food with something suspicious?” 

“Exactly. But if it’s something that could knock everyone out so easily, they could’ve just gotten rid of us instead.” 

Gasps erupted throughout the room. Some knights began touching their necks, glancing nervously at each other. 

“Could it be that someone helped the suspect escape?” 

“That’s right! They deliberately opened a path for him to escape!” 

“If that’s the case, wouldn’t it have been done more cleanly?” 

As various opinions were exchanged, Carlson left the knights and entered the kitchen. He rummaged through the leftover food and scraps from the previous day but found nothing unusual. 

“Hmm… I can’t exactly eat this myself. Especially with the commander gone, I need to stay sharp.” 

“Gasp, should we make the youngest try it?” 

“Fine. Colin, the one who just suggested that, step forward.” 

At Carlson’s words, the other knights promptly dragged Colin to him. 

Carlson grabbed a bowl of leftover soup and approached Colin. 

Held firmly by the others, Colin struggled to escape but to no avail. 

“Sir Carlson? Carlson? Let’s not do this!” 

“Your sacrifice for the knight order! We will never forget it.” 

Carlson pretended to wipe away tears and then placed a spoonful of soup into Colin’s mouth. 

Colin swallowed the cold soup reluctantly. 

Three seconds of silence passed, but nothing happened. 

“Oh, he seems fine. Give him another spoonful.” 

Another spoonful of soup was promptly shoved into Colin’s mouth. 

Eventually, Colin finished the entire bowl before being released. 

As soon as the knights let go of him, Colin collapsed to his knees, glaring at them with betrayal in his eyes. 

“You bastards…!” 

Just as Colin tried to stand up and say something, he staggered. 

Carlson quickly caught him. 

Colin blinked slowly a few times before suddenly falling asleep as if he had fainted. 

Carlson handed Colin over to the other knights. 

“It’s definitely a sedative.” 

This was far more serious than expected. 

If Robert had escaped on his own, the incident could be attributed to the investigation team’s negligence. However, his escape had clearly involved external intervention. 

Investigations revealed that Robert was a man with no ties. 

He had no family or relatives, and even his friendships were nonexistent. 

The case itself stemmed from impulsive crimes fueled by personal grudges, and there was no reason to believe he had an accomplice. 

This meant that a third party, unrelated to Robert, had interfered to facilitate his escape. 

‘What’s their goal?’ 

Carlson wished for Azrael’s quick return while issuing search orders to the investigation team. 

Nearby inns and villages were thoroughly searched. 

They checked every location within walking distance during the early hours, but no trace of Robert was found. 

Even the cabin was inspected, but it was suspiciously clean and organized. 

Carlson suspected that Robert had indeed visited the cabin. 

As the search net gradually expanded, Azrael finally returned. 

He practically leapt off his horse. 

Carlson resisted the urge to embrace him tearfully and instead reported the situation to Azrael. 

“Honestly, it feels like he didn’t just escape but disappeared entirely!” 

“Do you think someone smuggled Robert out?” 

“The possibility isn’t low.” 

The two conversed as they walked around the area. 

Several investigators sent in interim reports, but there was still no progress. 

Then, Azrael’s eyes caught sight of a carriage. 

The carriage was circling the area around the temporary investigation headquarters in an odd manner. 

It didn’t seem like a simple case of a lost carriage, as there was no coachman in sight. 

Feeling uneasy, Azrael immediately approached the carriage and stopped it. 

“Commander, I feel like I’ve seen this kind of situation somewhere before.” 

“Same here. Let’s hope our assumptions are wrong.” 

But as they opened the carriage door, their fears were confirmed—a corpse greeted them. 

Azrael was the first to examine the face of the deceased. 

The facial skin appeared to have been partially carved away by a blade, making identification difficult. 

However, the other side of the face was wrapped in bandages. 

With a faint hope, Azrael unraveled the bandages to reveal the intact half of the face. 

The skin beneath the bandages bore clear burn marks. 

“…It’s Robert Medley. Send him for identification.”

Azrael continued to examine the corpse. The cuts on the wrists and ankles were clean, as if deliberately severed. He frowned and unbuttoned the tattered shirt. 

It wasn’t just the face that had been mutilated. On the chest of the corpse, the number ‘10’ was carved deeply into the flesh. It seemed the skin had been repeatedly flayed to the point where the heart was exposed. To complete the gruesome scene, a single chrysanthemum was embedded above the heart. 

“This really is the tenth victim… It seems like that’s the message they’re trying to send.” 

“So, the one who helped Robert escape might be the Newethen Street Serial Killer. I didn’t think Robert was the true culprit from the start, but I didn’t expect things to escalate like this.” 

“Ugh, this is disgusting. It feels like we’re being toyed with.” 

Carlson rubbed his mouth with his hand and examined the opposite seat in the carriage. There lay a single red handkerchief. When he picked it up, the number ‘11’ caught his eye. Initially, he thought it was painted in blood, but upon closer inspection, it turned out to be white hair soaked in blood. 

“Commander, this… Isn’t this the young lady’s hair?” 

“…Carlson. Take care of the scene. I need to check something immediately.” 

Azrael mounted his horse and galloped toward the Delphinium estate. He knocked on the door of the villa, but neither the butler nor any servants came to greet him. 

His growing anxiety gnawed at him, and he debated whether to force the door open when Adam appeared from the garden. 

“Duke? What brings you here…?” 

“Sorry for the sudden visit. Can I see the young lady right now? It’s related to the case—there are safety concerns.” 

“The case… you say? Understood. Please follow me.” 

Azrael followed Adam into the estate. As he walked, he began to notice details he hadn’t picked up on the first time he woke up here. Normally, one would expect to see servants in the hallways, but the estate was eerily devoid of any presence. 

‘Come to think of it, even when I was here before, it was always just him.’ 

Azrael suddenly realized he had never seen anyone other than Adam serving Beatrice. She seemed to keep Adam exclusively by her side. For a noble young lady, it was unusual not to have female maids nearby; instead, she was closely accompanied by a male servant. 

Passing the guest room where he had previously woken up, Azrael walked down the hallway until they stopped in front of Beatrice’s room. Adam knocked on the door, and Beatrice’s voice answered from inside. He opened the door for Azrael and stepped back. 

Inside, Beatrice was reclining on the bed, reading a book. She blinked in surprise when she saw Azrael. 

“Sir Azrael? What brings you here?” 

“Apologies for the sudden visit, young lady. I have a few questions I need to ask you.” 

“No need to apologize. Your visit is always welcome. What do you need to know?” 

Beatrice appeared calm on the surface. However, the bandages wrapped around her wrists and neck caught Azrael’s attention. Clenching his hands behind his back, he suppressed his emotions. 

“Did anything unusual happen last night?” 

“After the knights and the doctor left, I think I just slept the whole time. The medicine I took made me drowsy… Oh, I did wake up briefly in the early morning. I kept hearing a rattling noise near the window.” 

“…Could someone have been trying to get in?” 

“What? But this is the second floor, and the window was locked.” 

Azrael immediately went to inspect the window. The lock was an internal latch, meaning that anyone attempting to break in from the outside would have had to shatter the glass. There were no signs of forced entry. 

Beatrice quietly observed Azrael’s back as he investigated. 

There was one fact the investigators had overlooked: victims could lie in their testimonies. 

Beatrice already knew the full truth of the case as the perpetrator. Adding a few misleading statements to the mix would easily create confusion in the investigation. 

“Last night, due to negligence on our team’s part, the suspect managed to escape. The suspect’s corpse has been found, so I don’t believe you’ll face any direct threats from him. However…” 

Azrael closed the window and returned to Beatrice’s bedside. 

When she tilted her head to look up at him, he knelt on one knee to meet her gaze. 

“A warning has arrived from the Newethen Street Serial Killer. Although the reasons remain unclear, it seems highly likely that they intend to make you the eleventh victim.” 

“The eleventh victim… Does that mean the tenth victim has already been found?” 

“I just confirmed it before coming here. Thus, I believe your safety could be at risk.” 

Beatrice had deliberately cut her own hair and staged the eleventh victim warning. If the Crown Prince’s lover became the target, Azrael’s actions would become highly predictable. 

“So, I think it would be best to report this matter to His Highness…” 

“No, Sir. Please don’t tell His Highness.” 

“But young lady, the report on the suspect’s escape has already been submitted. His Highness hasn’t commented yet, but if he learns about this incident on top of everything else, he will surely be concerned.” 

“Even so, Sir Azrael.”

Beatrice had already set her book aside and was now meeting Azrael’s gaze directly.