Demon Prince's Forsaken Bride-Chapter 61: Murder In The Inn (6)

At the innkeeper’s command, the servant had moved quickly to throw away the bowl.

The bowl swung in the air but before it could flip, it was swiftly grabbed by a hand. Rune stepped forward, not letting a single drop spill from the bowl.

’’Being so eager to destroy crucial evidence, are you not afraid to be labelled as the murderer?" Lareina spoke.

The innkeeper shivered visibly, ’’W-What evidence? There is nothing in it at all and...’’

Lareina looked at him and the man shut his mouth promptly. The woman was obviously looking at him expressionlessly but for some reason, he felt a sense of fear and intimidation in that gaze.

Rune had a very unassuming disguise. Since he was playing Azrael’s father, he looked no less than an old man and many people had not even seen how he had managed to catch the bowl with his swift reflexes so they shrugged it off as a stroke of luck even as he passed it to Lareina and disappeared within the crowd again.

Lareina glanced at the nearly empty bowl with some nail-sized chunks of raw meat floating in a brownish broth and took a sniff before passing the bowl to Azrael.

Azrael did not seem to have minded how his role had changed from her husband to attendant. Quite calmly, he accepted the bowl from her hands and while he did so, his dirtied fingers moved a bit, not making contact with her skin in the slightest.

’’Is the meat in this broth raw?" Lareina turned to the maid.

The maid immediately nodded, wiping her tears, ’’Master always had it like this.’’

That was not a surprise. Raw meat was not a rarity in the demon realm. In the royal family, different delicacies were prepared in various ways and the food was often cooked but still, it lacked any spices, and often, it also lacked the taste to appease her taste buds. For the commoners, however, raw meat was no less than a delicacy as Lareina had previously observed in the case of Rosie’s preferences, who only started eating cooked things with her once she got a taste of the spices and flavors.

’’Did your master meet anyone before having this?" Lareina pointed her finger at the bowl, ’’Or did he perhaps mention anyone?"

The maid shook her head, ’’Master had led some customers around the town so after the day, he only wanted to rest. He did not meet anyone."

’’Did your master have enemies?" Lareina frowned as she glanced at the corpse, ’’Someone who would want to poison him?"

’’How can that be possible? Esteemed guests, if I don’t remember it wrong, even you were directed to our inn by my brother so you should know that while he was not the brightest person, he had a likeable personality. He was not the kind of man to have any enemies...’’ the innkeeper who had shrunk into the crowd earlier mustered his courage to speak up again.

The maid nodded, ’’Master had no enemies at all."

"Then, perhaps a lover? Someone he trusted with closed eyes?"

The maid shook her head, ’’The only family of master is the elder master.’’

The innkeeper nodded, ’’Our parents died early and my brother was unmarried.’’

"What’s your name?" Lareina glanced at the maid.

’’Merle...’’ The maid answered softly, looking at her dead master in inconsolable grief.

’’Merle, the bird? Beautiful,’’ Lareina nodded, her expressions as serene as they had been before the chaos ensued, ’’Did your master have any grudges against anyone?"

’’Master had never harmed anyone and he had no grudges against anyone at all,’’ Speaking of that, the maid sobbed again.

’’Then why did you harm him, Merle?" Lareina glanced at the maid, completely unfazed, ’’What grudge did you hold against him that made you take his life?"

The maid froze completely and her pale face seemed to have transformed into a white sheet as she shivered. After a while, she trembled and cried harder, ’’W-What? Why would I? I can never...’’

’’She has served my brother for a long time and has never shown any malicious intentions. Did you perhaps make a mistake?" The innkeeper stepped forward.

Following his words, a few of the other workers in the inn who knew the maid also stepped forward to stand up for her.

And questioning voices grew in the crowd.

’’I am afraid His Highness would have to step up now,’’ Astra, who was hiding in the darkness, whispered to Rune who had assumed his position after saving the evidential bowl, ’’Lady Lareina is very witty. She has saved the situation so far but these people cannot be contained by her only... They are getting more and more chaotic. Shouldn’t we step in as well...?"

’’His Highness hasn’t given orders,’’ After uttering those few words, Rune quietened. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Astra was unsettled but she still stayed put, seeing as there was no movement on Azrael’s side yet.

At this moment, Lareina’s soft voice rang, ’’I have not made any mistakes.’’

Her voice was so soft that it drowned in the chaos but the people closest to her heard her words and whispered it amongst each other. Soon, the entire crowd quietened down as they looked at her quietly.

’’This man has died of food poisoning and by the time he was thrown in the well, I am afraid he was already dead,’’ Lareina said.

’’How could that be?" the innkeeper said with a frown, ’’We rushed here after hearing his voice.’’

’’How far were you? No matter how keen of a hearing you have, from such a long distance, you cannot be certain that it was your brother who screamed,’’ Lareina looked at the corpse, her brows furrowing slightly, ’’There is no water in his body, which would be strange occurrence had he truly died in water. The reason why water hasn’t entered his body for so long and he hasn’t bloated up is not merely because you discovered his body early but rather because he had his mouth close the entire time.’’

Lareina’s gaze trailed to Azrael’s hand that the man had awkwardly hung in the air and she glanced at his dirtied fingertips, ’’Had water entered his mouth, the remnants of the broth he had would have been washed off from there but as you can see, it didn’t.’’

Meanwhile, Azrael, who felt her focused gaze landing on his hand, felt his fingers tingle a bit. He shifted to his other feet and loosened his collar with his free hand.

...

Mini Theatre:

Azrael: I just wanted to mess around you a little when I said you are royal coroner’s niece but now I am doubtful... are you really?

Lareina: Imperial coroner’s niece, my foot! This princess is just born observant and smart humph!

Azrael: Wifey is right~

Lareina: *goosebumps* I ain’t your wife. Get lost already!!!

Azrael: Yes, smart wife *inches closer* *scratches chest to suppress hate poison*