Chapter 222 Case File 3: Twin Butterfly Dance at Rose Villa (10)
Breakfast ended, and the puppet servants returned the guests' tips. Andrei, still preoccupied with the case, said to Takumi, "Is the kitchen work complete? Why don't we go investigate the villa?"
"Well, there's still one guest who hasn't ordered yet." Jiang You counted the names on the list and pointed to one. "Victor van Neumann... This is our city lord's son, right? But it's just one person missing, so it doesn't matter. The dishes are all prepared, and when he orders, we can just put them in the steamer. This little thing can be handed over to Leila."
Leila nodded and said confidently, "No problem, please leave it to me!"
So the man and the skeleton followed the instructions on the ordering map and came to the area where the guests were most concentrated - the living room.
Although black tea had not yet become widely popular in this era, these guests were quite receptive to a cup of black tea in the morning, especially when it was paired with delicious snacks. When they got tired of the snacks, they would take a sip of tea to clear it up. It was neither greasy nor bitter, and it was the perfect combination.
Morning tea always gets people talking, and it’s especially effective for those who already love to talk.
Historian Daskus van Gently was talking at this moment with a cup of black tea in hand. He had nailed a map to the wall panel with a dart and was pointing at a certain area. The guests present were listening to his story with great interest while having their morning tea.
"...After we discovered the underground cave and bay yesterday, I observed the night sky and calculated the possible location of Rose Villa... It's roughly in this area! This is completely consistent with historical records!"
Andre walked forward, looked at the map he was pointing at for a few seconds, and glanced at the people in the room. Most of the guests were here, except Madame Butterfly, the housekeeper, Mrs. Samantha and Victor.
His gaze, unintentionally, met Winston's for a moment, then fell on Valentine. The blond rake gave him a brilliant smile. Andrei remained calm, retracting his gaze. He stepped forward and moved the dart Dusks had used as a marker a long distance southwest. "This is where we are."
The historian's smile froze on his face. "How do you know? Didn't we all come here blindfolded?"
"Oh, I don't." Andre said seriously, "I'm just a servant doing odd jobs at the villa. I don't have to follow the same rules as guests."
Gently was clearly annoyed by the fact that his calculations had gone astray, but after taking a closer look at the location of the villa, he quickly found a new topic: "Oh! This location! Wonderful! Wonderful! It's just outside the city of Melori, and this coastline is very close to the Delman/Huntington-Rusman waterway!
"Queen Isabella is from the Rusman Federation. Legend has it that the king chose this location to facilitate her travels back to her homeland. King Rudolf even gifted the queen with a fleet. Whether it's the freshest seafood or the Rusman Federation's most skillful puppet servants, all can be delivered directly to the villa's secret harbor by this fleet!"
Gently continued to talk, while the other nobles listened attentively, some with great interest, while others gathered together to talk about other things.
Mrs. Ellenor had changed into a black dress today and put on a black lace veil. Judging from the butterfly pattern on the lace, this was probably a timely gift from Madame Butterfly to the widow. At this moment, the poor man who had recently lost his wife was talking to Winston.
"I have written home, hoping that Madame Butterfly can arrange a vehicle as soon as possible to return my husband's body to our territory."
"With all due respect, the murderer of Baron Chandler has not yet been found. Furthermore, the rain continues to pour, and the mountain path is steep. Even the best horses cannot navigate the torrential rain and muddy terrain. If a horse stumbles, breaks a leg, or falls off a cliff, the consequences will be disastrous... Madam, there's no need to risk hastily leaving in such inclement weather. The Baron's body has been placed in an underground ice cellar, and it won't decay for now. You can at least wait until it clears up."
"You're right, I should be more patient." She sighed and sat back in her seat.
Andrei finally found his chance. He sat down next to Winston and said in a low voice, "Last night, I found some clues..."
Vivian waved to Jiangyou and said, "Skeleton Chef, come and sit here."
Jiangyou walked over cheerfully and sat down in the seat next to the pink-haired Marquis's daughter. Vivian was holding a plate of crystal shrimp dumplings, eating while listening to the historian's stories. "Although this historian is a bit jumpy, his stories are quite interesting and go perfectly with the meal."
Jiangyou nodded. She also liked to play a short video while making electronic pickled mustard greens while eating. Now that there were no short videos to watch, it would be nice to watch a real-life science lecture.
Gently coughed and glanced resentfully at Vivian, who treated him like a mealtime treat. But as a historian who desperately needed the attention and even investment of the nobility in his research, he ultimately swallowed his anger and continued recounting a piece of unofficial history that he considered quite amusing: "...Speaking of the Delman/Huntington-Rusman Federation route, there's actually a rather interesting unofficial legend. Legend has it that nearly thirty years ago, Maybury Huntington, who at the time had no claim to the throne, secretly sailed from the port at the end of Grand Duke Huntington's territory to the Rusman Federation."
Royal gossip has a natural appeal to people. As soon as the king's name came out, the nobles who were just chatting immediately looked over.
Seeing this, Gently was very proud and talked about royal gossip even more enthusiastically: "It is said that when the old Duke Huntington was seriously injured in the battle against the Rock Iron Giant, Maybury, who was about to succeed the Grand Duke of Huntington, did not want his father to die so easily. So he asked his confidant to disguise himself as him, creating the illusion that he was still in the territory. In fact, he concealed his identity and quietly sailed to the Rusman Federation to purchase a secret medicine from the Potion Master.
"Everything went smoothly at first. He successfully found the Potions Master and obtained the precious secret medicine. Unfortunately, he encountered a shipwreck on his return journey. The ship he was on was hit by a violent storm not far from the city of Melori and unfortunately sank. No one on board survived except His Majesty the King.
"Historians have different opinions about this shipwreck. Some say His Majesty wasn't even on the ship; others say his whereabouts were exposed during his return voyage, and the shipwreck was an assassination attempt on the Huntington family by his political enemies; still others say he was simply unlucky enough to be caught in a storm and luckily survived... In short, His Highness Maybury, son of our then Grand Duke of Huntington, disappeared for over a year. When he reappeared, he was at the old Duke's funeral, receiving the title from His Majesty Rudolf Delman."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
