Chapter 17

"Your Majesty! I hereby accuse Amelia Johnston, the fiancée of His Highness Prince Eldred, of the murder she committed!"

Nate's words were first met with a reaction from Amelia.

Amelia was only momentarily surprised by Nate's words. She quickly looked around, glanced up at the special guest seats where the royal family was seated, and without waiting for the king's response, she ran towards the exit. While everyone was still in shock at Nate's sudden appearance, Amelia jumped down from the middle of the stage, which was about half her height, instead of using the stairs to shake off the knights guarding the side of the stage, and ran through the audience. Thanks to her school uniform rather than a dress, Amelia was moving at an incredible speed towards the exit.

When Blay saw Amelia's knee-length skirt flip up, revealing her beautifully shaped legs, he muttered, "How seductive," and Carrie glared at him.

Melissa could observe the situation so calmly because she had known in advance that Nate would accuse Amelia of past murders. The new students and their parents, however, were completely lost and stared with wide eyes, unable to move.

"Conny was right; she really did run away."

Blay muttered this. Conny is Blay's uncle, but not just any uncle—His Highness Prince Cornelius, the king's younger brother. Six months ago, at the end of summer, when Melissa revealed her plan to become a pianist as a commoner in the empire to the three of them, Blay revealed that he was the third prince.

"Actually, I'm the third prince that Carrie was talking about. I'll sign your application for the competition as a royal, so you should enter next month's competition. You'll definitely win the Apollo Award, Mel!"

The moment Blay said this, the piano practice room turned into a scene of chaos. Carrie, who realized Blay was a man, screamed. Fortunately, the room was soundproof, or it would have been considered an incident, and someone would have rushed in if it had been a regular classroom.

Blay often hugged Carrie and Melissa, put his arm around their shoulders, and even used the same changing room as them during dance class. When Carrie angrily confronted Blay about this, and Noah and Melissa also got angry, Blay removed a magical device that changed his gender and bowed to us in a girl's uniform. When the three of us saw him bow, we doubted if he was really the third prince, but when he raised his head, he had indeed changed from a beautiful girl to a handsome boy.

However, thanks to this bow, the three of us didn't treat Blay with unnecessary respect, and our friendship continued, not as Prince Aubrey but as Blay. At least, that's how it was supposed to be. Carrie is still angry about Blay's groping, but she is grateful to Blay for securing a job at the royal castle after graduating from the magic academy, allowing her to enter the magic academy in the Kingdom of Waynwright as a commoner without becoming a commoner in the empire.

"Conny said what, exactly?"

As Melissa asked Blay this, Amelia was caught by the knights waiting near the exit. Despite being unarmed, Amelia had managed to break through one of the three knights, revealing her excellent martial arts skills.

"It's strange that Nate could make that declaration. Normally, knights would stop him before he even got on stage. If the knights didn't move when they saw Nate, it means the highest-ranking royal in the room had given prior permission. Conny said he would choose to run if he were in her shoes."

Thinking about it, that made sense. It was strange that Nate was still standing on stage in front of the royal family and distinguished guests from home and abroad. When Amelia looked up at the royal family in the guest seats, she was probably confirming who had allowed this situation. Realizing it was the king, she must have decided to run.

"Does running mean she has a guilty conscience?"

Amelia, who had been caught by the knights and brought back to the stage, ignored the king and stared at Nate, deep in thought.

When the king asked Amelia a question, she ignored him and continued to look at Nate.

"Let's hear your story."

As the king urged Nate to speak, Amelia started laughing. Although Nate was the one being asked to speak, Amelia began to talk.

"Hehehe, I've felt something off since this morning. I guess I missed it because I couldn't see his face. Hiding Nate's face with his bangs was a bad move. If he's back to being so clingy to Melissa from half a year ago, it means the person who was here until yesterday was a fake, right? And they must have switched places with him for about half a year."

Gradually, Amelia's expression faded. Despite laughing, her beautiful face, devoid of emotion, looked like a meticulously crafted doll, which was eerie. The unrealistic situation of being held by the knights added to the unsettling atmosphere.

"Since everything is the same, including his voice and the shape of his ears, it must be a magical device. I've never heard of such a device, so it must be the work of a hidden player. I know that the hidden player's hobby is making and modifying magical devices."

The king, Nate, and Melissa were confused by Amelia's sudden outburst, and those who didn't know her true nature were bewildered. No one could look away from Amelia's monologue.

"If you're going this far in front of everyone, you must have the evidence. If a hidden player is involved, it's impossible to escape with Walt's help. If I can't escape, it's pointless to try to cover it up.

I don't want to be silent and end up using a confession device. Every book I've read mentions the severe side effects, like headaches and nausea lasting over a month. I can't bear that. I don't know if they'll keep me alive for a month before execution, though.

Since someone who looks like Nate wants to condemn me, it must be someone. Maisie, Cyril, Sonia... Ah, it's Sonia."

Maisie was Melissa's former maid. Who are Cyril and Walt? Melissa didn't know. And Sonia is Nate's mother's name. Amelia must have noticed Nate's reaction to the name Sonia when he raised his bangs.

"That burn mark on your forehead, you were at the fire scene, weren't you? How did you know it was my doing?"

"You're admitting it, then?"

"Of course, I have evidence. Can you tell us the details gradually? ...There's not much else to enjoy now except figuring out how this all happened. I at least want to solve the mystery."

"Are you kidding me?!"

Nate shouted. The murderer of his mother was enjoying the situation where she was being accused. It was understandable.

"Nate is Chester and Sonia's child. Nate lived nearby and learned something from the fire, which is why he has a burn mark on his forehead. I thought he grew his bangs to hide it. That was my first mistake. I didn't even consider why he had a burn mark in the first place.

Nate went to Roton after the fire. Roton is on the way from Mills to Reeves, so it's true that he had relatives in Reeves. I mistakenly thought Nate was the illegitimate son of a border baron because of the poor handwriting in that report. That was my second mistake.

Not realizing that Nate was a fake for the past six months was my third mistake.

I can't see the connection between Nate and the hidden player. Maybe it was a move from Melissa's side. That unnatural burn mark on the forehead. The rest of the body was healed by Melissa's light magic. If the burn mark made him look like me, even Melissa would have noticed. I don't think Melissa would have told the hidden player directly, so it must be the third prince. The third prince was in the empire, wasn't he?

...Now that I think about it, kicking Melissa out of her home was a big mistake, wasn't it?"

Chester is Nate and Amelia's father, Viscount Mills. Melissa learned this from a letter to Blay from the king's younger brother, but Amelia had apparently mistaken Nate for Noah. The illegitimate son of the border baron was Noah, and Nate, Amelia, and Noah were second cousins. Melissa was surprised by this unexpected connection.

In this hall, only those who knew about the accusation in advance, like Melissa and Nate, would understand the meaning of Amelia's words. The new students and their parents, though confused, remained silent, sensing the tension and the king's silence.

"Are you talking about me when you say 'hidden player'?"

Amelia glared at the king's younger brother, who had appeared from the side of the stage.

"Nate, don't let the poison woman take control. It's meaningless if you don't explain it clearly to everyone."

The king's younger brother urged Nate, who then began to speak the prearranged lines to the king.

"My mother, Sonia, worked as a maid at the viscount's residence in the Mills territory. Amelia's parents died in a fire, but another victim of that fire was my mother, Sonia.

I saw the burning viscount's residence and rushed in to save my mother.

In the midst of the intense flames, one room was burning with blue flames. When I entered that room, I found the viscount and viscountess unconscious without any burns, and my mother, whose upper body was charred black. There was a fireball on the back of my mother's head, which didn't burn out despite the surrounding area being consumed by flames. When I grabbed and extinguished the fireball, a small magical device appeared.

My mother always wore a hair clip in the position where the burning device was found. On the day of the fire, before going to work, my mother's hair clip had a large blue glass bead, and she said that Amelia had given it to her and begged her to always wear it.

I consulted the king's younger brother about the strange feeling I had about the fire, and he investigated it for me."

Amelia looked bored as Nate spoke. Her beautiful face, devoid of expression, gave a cold and merciless impression. Normally, Amelia always wore an expression.

"The fire-starting magical device that Nate extinguished by holding it showed traces of Amelia's magic."

The king's younger brother continued, and a servant behind him held up a bag containing the small magical device for everyone to see.

"The analysis revealed that this was a simple fire-starting magical device, modified to be remotely activated and to continue igniting after activation. Since the magic traces were only from Amelia, it is believed that she both activated and modified it.

Traces of the fire-starting magical device were also found in Sonia's remains, proving that she was killed by the modified device.

A detailed investigation of the scene where Sonia and the viscount's remains were found revealed traces of alcohol that had caught fire. Since alcohol burns at a higher temperature than normal red flames, turning blue, this matches Nate's testimony of seeing blue flames.

This is a bottle of brandy found in a nearby room. It was a lower-quality brandy than what the viscount's residence usually purchased, and there was no record of its purchase. Due to being left out in the open for six years after the fire, no traces were left, but it was discovered that only one liquor store in the Mills territory sold this brandy. We visited the store to inquire.

Amelia, do you remember this ribbon?"

The servant who had been holding up the magical device and bottle now held up a bag containing a red ribbon.

"Oh, that unnecessary decoration. I found it bothersome and threw it away, but I threw it away too close to home."

"Is that so? The liquor store owner noticed the ribbon and a bonus chocolate being thrown away at a vegetable stand during a delivery. I thought it was quite persistent of him to remember something from six years ago, but it was your fault for being ungrateful. Refusing the store owner's kindness was a big mistake."

Amelia didn't seem particularly regretful and was having a light conversation with the king's younger brother. If you couldn't hear their voices, you might think they were talking about the weather.

"My subordinate asked the liquor store owner, and he remembered selling this brandy only once during the period of the fire, to a young girl. He also remembered the ribbon he kindly tied and the bonus chocolate he gave, which were found thrown away nearby. The ribbon was stored away to be reused and forgotten.

Thanks to this, we found the ribbon in good condition, and it contained fingerprints from the liquor store employees and Amelia.

Based on this evidence, we conclude that six years ago, Amelia planned and set the fire at the viscount's residence, and at least Sonia was directly murdered by Amelia.

The viscount and viscountess, who were charred to death, showed no signs of external injuries but had traces of sleeping pills in their systems. Your Highness, I request the use of a confession device to confirm if Amelia used the sleeping pills."

Amelia looked bored at the king's younger brother. She probably expected the confession device to be used despite her initial reluctance.

"We conclude that Amelia Johnston set the fire at the viscount's residence in the past and murdered a maid. Amelia, you are to be restrained."

As the king ordered, the knight holding Amelia's hands moved them to the front and put handcuffs on her, preventing her from using magic.

Amelia was led away. The confession device will be used in the knights' interrogation room under the supervision of the king's younger brother.

"Why did you kill your own parents?"

Nate asked Amelia as he was about to leave the stage. He probably wanted to hear from her why his mother was killed. Melissa thought Amelia would ignore him, but surprisingly, she stopped and turned to Nate.

"Because Berinda said, 'If the duchess hadn't found out about the hair color-changing magical device, I would have been the duchess by now,' and 'If the duchess hadn't banned me from the duchy, I could have handed you over to her.'"

Berinda is Vanessa's sister, Amelia's mother, and Melissa's aunt.

"When I investigated, I found out that my maternal grandmother, Daria, and my aunt, Vanessa, who married into the duchy, had the same golden hair and red eyes. When I learned that the duchess, Ada, who was obsessed with Daria, had arranged the marriage of her son, Elias, and Vanessa, and that Vanessa had already died, and that Vanessa's daughter, Melissa, had brown hair and blue eyes, I had an idea.

If Chester and Berinda died, I would attend their funeral as a relative. If Ada, who was obsessed with golden hair and red eyes, saw me, she would like me more than Melissa.

I thought that at the time, but in the end, no one from the duchy came to the funeral. A nine-year-old's thoughts are limited. It took some time, but when I told my relatives to inform Ada about my appearance, she immediately came to fetch me."

With that, Amelia seemed to lose interest in Nate and was led out of the hall by the knights.

Looking at the seats next to where Amelia had been sitting, her father and grandmother were still in shock, staring at the exit where Amelia had been taken.