Inner Garden

  A crowd was assembled right in the middle of the garden, it was composed by the staff of the Aurelia household along with a pair of commoners.

  They were gathered around the tree where the body was found, which had been identified as Margaret’s.

  Those two commoners were no other then Margaret’s elderly grandparents, who had been allowed entrance upon the tragic occasion.

  They were devastated, having already buried their son and daughter in law and now even their granddaughter.

  The grandmother was holding the bag with Margaret’s possessions in a tight grip, while the grandfather was hugging into her from behind as if to stop his wife from fully falling apart.

  Their eyes were staring at the flowers piled around the base of the tree, but they were empty, the grief they felt was too much for them to bear.

  It was as if such grim reality didn’t fully settle in them yet.

  The sober peace broke as the Duke, the Duchess and Alexander made their way towards the grieving couple, they were flanked by Commander Regulus and Hound Master Valentia, while Amelia was trailing behind the Duchess shielded from the mocking rays of the sun with her umbrella

  “I am terribly sorry for your loss” the Duke had addressed the couple “I will make your granddaughter’s cremated remains reach your household as soon as possible after the officials finish their examination”

  “My Lord, how could this happen within your walls?” the old man had asked, without even turning towards him “how could some beast get in there?”

  “We are still investigating on the matter” the Duke responded, not having any other answer to give, at which his Head Chief scoffed

  “Ugh nonsense we all know who did this!” Bernard had exclaimed as if it was the most oblivious thing

  “Do we?” the Duke had asked rhetorically “Chef Bernard please do tell” he urged the man to speak his mind

  “There are only two animals allowed to roam in the Inner Garden, who else could it be?!” the Chef seemed outraged by the request “Everything that cursed child touches turns to ash! Who knows, maybe she sicced those dogs on poor Margaret herself” he ranted on after making his claim

  “That’s a demented take Bernard” Hound Master Valentia had responded to the no sense accusation before the Duke could have said a word “Phobos and Deimos aren’t even fully grown, and even if they were the wounds on Margaret’s body indicate a way bigger beast”

  “Enough, I don’t want to hear this!” Margaret’s grandmother had cried out, busting into sobs

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  “It’s alright dear, we are leaving this cursed place” her husband had said holding her even closer as he lead them away, his eyes meet with the Duke’s.

  They had nothing but contempt.

  Once they were out of sight murmurs echoed between the staff, it didn’t matter how illogical the accusation was the die was cast and there was no going back.

  Alexander looked at the whole scene with a frown.

  Duke’s office

  “Burns? Margaret’s shoulder wound was closed off with fire?” the Duke was reading the report

  “Yes, she lost the arm due to a strong fire skill, but the wound had been healing so she had been alive for quite some time before she crossed paths with our unknown beast” Julius had explained

  “First some unknown animal and now fire” the Duke couldn’t believe in such coincidence, both things pointed in one direction, but at the same time such answer didn’t make any sense

  “You can’t be thinking Veronique had an hand in this?” his bodyguard had asked, guessing the direction of his thoughts

  “I don’t know what to think” the Duke admitted

  “She has a solid alibi for both instances and Fireball may be a strong kill, but whatever hit Margaret was even stronger” Julius pointed out

  “Stronger?” the Duke wanted a deeper explanation on such point

  “Yes, had it been Fireball it would have charred her shoulder, not got it right off with one hit not even an expert could manage to make it that destructive” Julius was quick to provide

  “Regardless the staff is turning against me” the Duke affirmed, Bernard would have never dared to speak to him in that way if he weren’t close to that point “I wanted to let Veronique enjoy her childhood but maybe Madame Luise was right, maybe it would be for the best if I left her in the care of the Royal Knights”

  “Alfred you are being ridiculous” the Duke was straddled by the voice

  “Valentia?!” he said out of surprise before he frowned towards Julius, who already had his hands up in mock surrender “You let her in” he accused him

  “Don’t be mad at him, he just knew you needed someone to set you straight” Valentia had said “Your staff is going off pure paranoia at this point, what happened is a tragedy but we can’t dump the fault on Veronique because we can’t find an easy answer to it”

  “You are right, but it’s getting too dangerous for her to stay here” the Duke said back “What else can I do?”

  “There is nothing you can do” Valentia bluntly affirmed

  “What?” such answer wasn’t one the Duke was expecting

  “If you cave in and have Veronique sent away you will prove the staff right, that girl will be burdened with the label of murderer for the rest of her life and the idea that you covered up for a murderer will be set in stone” Valentia explained then added “You need to not only find the culprit but also give irrefutable proof of their guilt”

  “So what till then? do you want me to do nothing as my whole household falls apart?” the Duke was baffled

  “Not quite, you will do something but it will look like nothing for a couple of years” Valentia mysteriously affirmed “I am sure you can keep together this household till then”

  “A couple of years?” he repeated baffled

  “Enough time to have Veronique moved somewhere safer without it looking related to Margaret’s death” Valentia expressed her plan

  “Wouldn’t the staff have calmed down by then? Assuming they won't take it out on Veronique first” the Duke was unsure about it “and such thing doesn’t solve today’s problem, they are turning against me”

  “They hate her too much you know they will find something else to scapegoat her with, and you should have some of your knights stationed inside” the Hound Master explained “We still don’t know who or what killed Margaret and such move will appease some of the staff fears”

  “I will take it into consideration” the Duke conceded “Now leave, the both of you, I need to be alone”

  “As you wish my Lord” Valentia had said before she turned on her heel and left, Julius did the same after some hesitation.

  Starting from the next days the Knights of the Aurelia were stationed all over the Estate.