亚洲综合另类网

Chapter 59- A Crime Of Shadows (Part 1)

Elise just kept staring blankly at the place where the shadow was laying. She didn\'t know what her face looked like at that moment as the horrible truth weighed down on her consciousness.

Taking deep breaths, she tried to grasp her composure again and try to think rationally but the sheer shock of what happened was just too much even for the cold and rather aloof girl that was Elise. The sheer implications of what happened were big enough to basically ruin any possible plan she created with Rin.

Her mind raced around as she imagined what will happen in the future. First and foremost, the plot might as well be considered fully destroyed. There is no possibility where the plot will go normally after this.

The king was an important character in the TOI since the start and could even be considered a supporting character that will help the player in future quests and ordeals. Not only that, but without the king, many late-game events will never happen at all. Elise was relying on those events to gain strength quickly but now, it all went to ruins.

The second problem and the most important one was the possible cause of the king\'s death. As much as she wanted to deny it, the possibility that someone or something in this world could use Shadow Manipulation other than Rin weighed on her mind.

She had seen with her own eyes how stupidly strong that skill is and how massive its potential is. It was to the point where she believed that even her gravity manipulation skill won\'t stand a candle in front of a fully developed Shadow Manipulation.

The vast possibilities that skill possessed were just frightening, to say the least. But she was glad it was in the hands of Rin as she more or less trusted him with it. Now that there is a possible second existence with the affinity, that ease vanished and a dreadful feeling filled her heart.

That\'s why, to kill off any potential problems, for now, she had to find the cause of death and hope it won\'t be the worst-case scenario.

"D-Dad…" A girl suddenly spoke behind Elise and made her wake up from her daze. She looked back and expectedly, she saw a shocked Maria standing there.

A small frown flashed across her face before vanishing, she had already imagined this reaction from that girl. The fact that she lost her mother and also her father.

"NOOO!!" She then screeched and tried to run toward him as fast as she could, her eyes were already streaked with tears.

However, before she could reach him, Elise had already grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"Stop, Maria."

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!! LET ME GO! Dad is in danger, I need to save him. He will die!!"

"Don\'t you already see? He\'s dead, Maria."

"No, no, no, no!! Shut up, shut up, shut up! He needs help now!!"

Sighing, Elise had no other choice but to do such a thing. With a swift move of her arm, she hit Maria on her nape. Maria instantly widened her eyes in shock and then closed them as she fell unconscious.

Elise then supported her and carried her to one of the maids and said coldly.

"Take her to her room and keep an eye on her. She won\'t wake up for a few hours."

The maid quickly nodded and carried Maria out of the room. After that, Elise looked at her siblings that were standing there with varying looks of shock plastered on their faces.

"No one is to leave this place for now. Our father has been killed by someone and we must find them." She said with a domineering voice filled with authority.

At that moment, Elise looked like royalty through and through. Even her brothers and sisters felt as if they needed to follow her orders or they will regret it.

However, that moment of shock quickly vanished and some of them clicked their tongues in frustration.

One of the girls stepped up and glared at Elise with a clearly pissed-off look. That girl was her other sister, Charlotte. (A//N: Check chapter 19 for reference. Charlotte is the one that threatened her before.)

"Who gave you the right to order us? Huh? Our father is dead and you still act as cold as ever. I\'m amazed, Elise."

The others secretly nodded their heads at her words. They didn\'t think Elise had the right to say anything at this moment to them or order them around as she pleased.

"Don\'t you see how horrible the situation is?! Don\'t try to-"

"Listen here, Charlotte." Elise cut her off.

"It\'s true that our father died. But, even more, important is the fact that the king of this country is dead! You think it\'s time to whine like babies while looking at the whole kingdom collapse, huh?"

After that, she unleashed a little bit of her aura. Charlotte\'s face paled slightly.

"I\'m the crown princess and the sole successor for the king and I shall take this to my hand and see to it as I see fit. You only listen and do what I say. No one is to leave this place until I tell them to do so. Where are the guards?"

She asked her maid Maya.

"They are on their way. The doctors will also arrive soon."

"Good. Tell them to close any possible exits from the castle. No one is allowed to leave the castle either."

Elise had no idea what to do at the moment but one thing for certain is that she must close this place before the culprit runs away… if he wasn\'t already out of the castle, that is.

"This fucking bitch…" Murmured Charlotte under her breath with a furious look.

The others had already cowered back in fear of Elise. Hating Elise was a thing and insulting her publicly is a whole different thing. If things continue like this, she will soon be crowned as the empress and that will mean she will have clear authority over them.

Making her an enemy was the stupidest idea possible at that moment. So, swallowing their anger, they stayed silent and watched her work.

As Elise waited for the guards and doctors to arrive, she approached the most important detail of the crime scene to inspect it.

She needed to understand what or how this mysterious killer did this crime before trying to expose them.

\'I need to also get in contact with Rin before he leaves. I can\'t do it without him.\' She thought to herself.

Rin was the most knowledgeable about this element so it was the only right thing to ask him about it. What Elise didn\'t notice at that exact moment was the fact that she wanted to rely on Rin.

Hell, she even thought that without that black-haired boy present, she can\'t solve this mystery which was a first for Elise who never wanted to rely on or trust anyone other than herself.

However, that wasn\'t the time to think about such things so she totally ignored that detail as it didn\'t even cross her mind at all.

\'It doesn\'t look any different than Rin\'s shadow.\' She thought as she recalled how Rin\'s powers worked.

However, after looking at it for a long time, she recognized a crucial detail that could not be missed. When Rin uses his powers, his shadow and the shadow of the things that he controls become way darker than before.

It was a detail she ignored for now as it didn\'t seem to be that important. However, in front of her, the shadow of her father looked… faint. It was as if someone had used an eraser and tried to delete his shadow rather than controlling it but instead could only wipe a little bit of its color away.

\'What does that mean? What did the killer use to finish him off?\'

Another crucial detail in the shadows was the writing near it.

\'The brighter the light, the darker the shadow? What does that mean? What does the killer want to imply?\'

Her brows creased slightly as she fell into thought. That\'s when the door opened and the guards finally came here along with a group of old men wearing formal clothes and carrying huge bags in their hands.

Their expressions turned sour when they saw the dead body but since they were extremely professional, they understood what happened and went to work.

Reaching the king, they tried to pull him out of the wall and get rid of the sword that pierced his abdomen.

"Wait! Don\'t touch the sword." Elise instructed.

\'It\'s the only possible way I could get some kind of lead on this person. Dammit! I don\'t even know whether their fingerprints will be useful or not.\'

(A//N: Fun fact: Maria\'s mother that died isn\'t actually her real mother. Her real mother is alive. The deceased one is actually Elise\'s biological mother but because Maria was very close to her, she called her \'Mother\'. I hope that clears things up for those asking.)

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