Chapter 83. Any Deductions Yet, Mr. Rol?
"Miss Aina, there is no need to be nervous—I am only going to ask you a few questions about everyday details. I won't be prying into your privacy."
Seeing the young maidservant's face sowhat tense, Criminal Investigator Rol offered a reassuring word.
"N—no problem at all! If it's questions about the Young Lord, I will absolutely, absolutely tell you everything I know!"
"Ahem…… I am very glad that Miss Aina is willing to cooperate with our work in such an enthusiastic manner. Then let us begin."
Rol touched the tip of his nose, settled himself into the sofa to the side, and sat facing Aina at a distance.
It was rather odd, really—Captain Grego clearly held the higher rank, yet right now he was the only one still standing in the entire reception hall.
Whether it was Rol, Anya, or Serela seated at the central main sofa, all three of them were sitting.
"Captain Grego, is there truly no problem with handing all the work over to Mr. Rol?" Serela asked.
"Of cour—of course there is no problem, Your Highness. Don't let his age fool you—Rol is rich in experience and exceptional in professional ability!" Grego replied in a fluster.
Serela gave a slight nod. "Is that so…… In that case, could I trouble you to step outside and settle the minds of the remaining people first?"
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Grego raised a hand to wipe the sweat from his brow, shot Rol a look that said there is nothing I can do, then waddled his plump fra out of the reception hall.
After Grego's departure, only Rol, Anya, and Serela remained in the vast reception hall.
"Mr. Rol, you would not mind if I, as the Notary, listened in from the side, would you?" Serela fixed her gaze on Rol and asked with a smile.
"Your Highness's request is perfectly reasonable." Rol gave a nod, his words asured and steady.
But inwardly he felt things were going to be a bit tricky.
If Serela was present, certain questions were going to be rather difficult to ask……
"Has it started yet, has it started yet? Sorry I'm late."
With a thud, the ever-impetuous Anya pushed the door open and ca striding into the reception area in two or three quick steps.
She swept her gaze over the three sofas to the left, right, and center, found them all already occupied, and stood there for a mont not knowing where to sit.
"Should I…… go wait outside too?" She tilted her head and asked.
Serela extended her jade hand and gestured to the space beside her. "Miss Anya, co sit next to —as soone who was personally present at both of Luo Nan's assassination attempts, and moreover the ritorious person who saved him twice in a row, you naturally have every right to listen in."
"Oh—oh right, I did save him twice, didn't I! Your Highness, I had nearly forgotten if you hadn't reminded !"
The girl suddenly ca to a revelation. She felt as though that nagging sense of vexation that had been coiling around her chest had lightened considerably.
Well then—it turned out she had saved him too, so that evened things out!
Only…… the girl could not help but recall the image of Luo Nan as he had stood before her at the ti, a patch of pitch-black across his chest, his entire body run through.
It seed…… the danger he had faced was sowhat greater?
No, no—I need to properly tally up this account and see whether it is I who owe him, or he who owes ……
"All right, Miss Aina, let us begin."
Seeing Anya take a seat beside Serela and sit there with her head bowed, seemingly lost in thought, Rol formally comnced his work.
"Please go ahead."
Rol fished a notebook and pen from inside his jacket. "Na."
"Aina."
"……Miss Aina, please state your full na."
"Oh—oh! Aina. Aina Anjiru."
"Gender."
"Female."
"……"
"……"
"Miss Aina, do you recognize this?"
Once the basic information had been gathered, Rol produced from inside his jacket a transparent sealed bag, inside which was unmistakably that tie belonging to Luo Nan—the one that had been torn and then sewn back together.
At the sight of this tie, the young maidservant Aina's whole body gave a sudden tremor, and those wide erald eyes locked fixedly onto that tie as she asked in halting, broken words:
"Pl—please, where did you get this tie?"
"We swept an assassination organization's safehouse and found this valuable tie inside." Rol stated the facts in an objective tone, then added: "Also, Miss Aina, please answer my question."
"I recognize it, of course I recognize it—the Young Lord gave it to ……"
Halfway through her words, Aina suddenly froze. She abruptly realized that this tie was one she had secretly kept for herself; Luo Nan had not given it to her.
"Luo Nan gave it to you?"
Rol raised an eyebrow—he had no recollection of that happening.
"……"
"Miss Aina?"
"……No. No, he didn't." The girl lowered her head and murmured.
"It wasn't what?"
"This tie is……" Aina's erald eyes stared at her own toes, her fingers fidgeting restlessly as she wrung them together. "It was secretly kept by ……"
After a long mont of deliberation, Aina decided in the end to tell the truth honestly.
In her heart, the Young Lord's safety outweighed everything—even the entire world.
"Mm," said Rol with a nod, his pen moving continuously across the notebook. "Since it was Miss Aina who kept it, regarding its appearance at the assassination organization's safehouse, do you have any information to add?"
Having asked this, Rol lifted his head, and those deep dark eyes held steady on Aina's small face without blinking, as though searching for sothing.
"I…… three days ago, I lost it…… I don't know how it ended up……" The girl lowered her head once more and replied quietly.
"Very well, then moving on……"
"That—that, may I ask one thing—where is the Young Lord right now?"
After a long inner struggle, Aina finally summoned her courage and cut across Rol's words, asking the question she wanted most to ask.
"Miss Aina, I am not clear on Luo Nan's situation. Please calm yourself, continue cooperating with our work—it is also for the sake of Luo Nan's safety."
"O—okay, I'm sorry……"
Upon hearing the words "for Luo Nan's safety," Anya—whose emotions had been sowhat stirred up—instantly composed herself once more.
"Then let us continue."
"……"
"……"
"All right, Miss Aina—thank you for your cooperation. The relevant records are now complete, and we will find the mastermind behind Luo Nan's assassination as quickly as possible." Rol closed his notebook, his voice even and composed.
Through the questioning just concluded, combined with his existing mories, Rol was able to determine that maidservant Aina's suspicion could largely be ruled out.
Once Aina rose and left, the hitherto silent Serela, who had not said a single word throughout, suddenly spoke up:
"Mr. Rol, what do you think—would Miss Aina not be considered the most highly suspected person? Do you have a reasonable deduction?"
"Your Highness, the specific situation must await the conclusion of all the questioning before any determination can be made. I will not presu soone guilty or innocent on the basis of a single account alone."
"Mm, well said," Serela gave an approving nod, then turned her gaze toward the reception hall doors. "Then…… who might the second person be?"
"Pardon the intrusion."
As the door was gently pushed open, a capable short-haired maidservant walked in with graceful steps. She first gave a respectful bow to the three persons in the room, then, with Serela's permission, sat down bolt upright on the sofa directly across from Rol.
Her every movent was like that of the most exquisitely crafted marionette.
"Miss Pati, ti is of the essence—let us begin."
Rol picked up his pen again, tapped it lightly against the notebook, and comnced the second round of questioning.
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