Chapter 58
---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------
Chapter 58
"Perhaps I can help you find the form you saw, Your Highness. This morning, Aunt Elicia revealed a remarkable secret about me."
As Charlotte spoke with her brown eyes gleaming with sincerity, Leopold slowly lowered her to the ground.
Shortly after, Charlotte sat on the bed and relayed everything she had heard from Elicia that morning. The fact that both Elicia and she were mediums, and that contrary to Mrs. Smith's belief, Charlotte could use her abilities to allow Leopold's soul to return to his physical body.
Of course, she did not mention that Leopold would forget all the memories he had shared with her as a spirit once he reclaimed his body.
"When Your Highness first opened your eyes and saw me, it may have been because of Mrs. Smith's curse. When you took the sleeping draught and fell into deep slumber, your soul briefly left your body, and that's when the curse activated, drawing you near my spirit."
Charlotte spoke while organizing a handful of papers. The sheets, filled with dense notes, contained information about Leopold's disappearance that she had compiled whenever she had spare time.
"But the reason Your Highness can speak with me and hold me like this is because I am a medium who bridges the gap between spirit and flesh."
Charlotte pulled out a paper titled "The Day His Highness Leopold First Appeared to Me" from the stack and overlaid it directly behind another paper labeled "The Day Mrs. Smith and Jane Cast Their Curse on His Highness" as she spoke.
Leopold, who had been listening silently to Charlotte's explanation, furrowed his brow slightly. Having only guessed at the conversation between Charlotte and Mrs. Smith yesterday, he thought that even knowing Charlotte was a medium would not change the circumstances of a spiritless soul and a despondent Charlotte.
"But yesterday, your appearance was...."
As Leopold began to speak slowly, Charlotte's earlobes flushed red and she quickly responded.
"That's right. The reason I appeared so sorrowful yesterday was because of what Mrs. Smith said—that ordinary people can only see spirits who have departed this world. But Your Highness, Aunt Elicia has always told me to listen to the voice of my heart."
Charlotte spoke with her eyes gently closed. Only then could she understand why Elicia had continually emphasized that what one sees is not all there is to perceive.
"I have always felt a vibrant vitality beside you, Your Highness. When your spirit draws near, there is the soft fragrance of sandalwood, eternally verdant—sometimes it becomes as lush as the forest of Brentwood where we walk together, and sometimes it is as fresh as new spring shoots."
Charlotte recited softly as she gently opened her eyes.
"You may find it unbelievable, but perhaps that is why I have always been able to believe that you are alive somewhere. Even in this very moment, I am certain that you will yet reclaim your body and return to your true form."
Leopold seemed to glimpse a faint tenderness in Charlotte's eyes, which held such conviction in his return. But before he could confirm her expression again, Charlotte swiftly retrieved another stack of papers scattered across the table.
"And look at this. The letter I received from Armand today contains exactly what I suspected—that Homang's daughter could very well be the fifth porter. Now I can finally see a thread leading to His Highness's disappearance."
Having finished speaking in an excited voice, I cleared my throat with a soft hum and began reading through Armand's letter.
To Miss Charlotte, or rather, Miss Oriole.
As you requested, I visited Homang's residence again to speak with his daughter.
But it seems your deduction had merit—Homang's daughter had already found new employment and left home. This happened less than a week after she experienced that bizarre and terrifying incident where most of her family was murdered.
I paused mid-letter and looked up at Leopold.
"Tiffany Martin's mother—Homang's wife—was already in poor health, but she's grown quite frail since losing her husband and sons. Yet Tiffany left home without even telling her mother where her new position is. And that's not the only suspicious thing."
I murmured to myself, skipping ahead through several sections of Armand's letter until I found the passage I was searching for and continued reading.
...Homang's wife told me she doesn't know where her daughter went to work, but she mentioned that Tiffany sends her medicine. I've enclosed the return address from the last letter Tiffany Martin sent and the envelope containing the medicine, just in case.
"Look at this, Your Highness. The address Armand wrote down was none other than the Post Office in Romford. Do you remember? That's where we went together to see the midnight concert."
I spoke with renewed enthusiasm, my cheeks flushed.
"In fact, after Philip Oslo visited today, I went to Romford alone. Thanks to having gone there with you before, I was able to find my way there relatively easily."
At the mention of "Philip Oslo," Leopold's eyes seemed to flicker slightly, but they clearly sharpened at Charlotte's words about going to Romford alone. Leopold spoke in a deliberately angry tone.
"Charlotte, are you telling me you went to Romford alone to search for the fifth porter?"
"Ah, well, you see..."
Caught up in my deductions, I flinched and glanced at Leopold nervously. I suddenly remembered how many times he had warned me never to do anything "reckless" that would threaten my safety.
Observing Leopold's darkening expression, I quickly hid my face behind Armand's letter and continued speaking.
"So, upon arriving at the Post Office in Romford, I asked the staff there about Tiffany Martin. In case she was using an alias, I also asked if they had seen a young woman matching the description Armand had investigated and provided—'black hair, a distinctive pale expressionless face, and a height somewhat taller than most ladies but shorter than most gentlemen.'"
To divert Leopold's concern for me, I pointed to a section of Armand's letter with my finger and showed it to him.
"Ha..."
Leopold's sharp gaze softened with a faint sigh as he watched Charlotte's frantic efforts to redirect his attention back to the case's deduction.
After gauging Leopold's reaction, I began speaking, tapping my chin thoughtfully with my index finger like a seasoned detective lost in contemplation.
"Ah yes, well, one of the staff members remembered a girl with a similar appearance visiting the Post Office last week. Apparently, she pleaded with an employee who was just closing the door to accept her letter."
Leopold responded to my detective act with a soft chuckle of agreement.
"If Romford is only thirty minutes away, it's hardly far from London. Yet she lives separately from her ailing mother and sends her medicine... there's definitely something peculiar about this."
"I had the same thought! And finally, there's one more piece of evidence that Armand uncovered."
I unfolded the final page of Armand's letter and began reading in a small, clear voice.
"Unfortunately, there are few known facts about Miss Tiffany Martin beyond this. She did not grow up with her siblings in Homang's household. Rather, from childhood, she worked as a day laborer maid, moving about London."
"A day laborer maid, you say... Does that mean Tiffany Martin worked at Harrison Manor?"
Leopold asked the moment I finished reading.
"Philip Oslo said His Highness investigated everyone who worked at the Manor on the day he disappeared. Since Tiffany Martin wasn't among them, it's safe to assume she didn't formally work at Harrison Manor that day."
I added with a slight nod.
"However, I suspect she could have entered the Manor as the fifth porter and naturally blended in among the other day laborer maids. After all, since they all worked short-term, they wouldn't have known each other well."
I recalled Harrison Manor's circumstances—how they couldn't afford to employ permanent servants. Then I approached the cluttered table and unfolded the floor plan of Harrison Manor that I'd obtained from Terrence days ago.
"But what comes after remains unclear. Even if Tiffany Martin hid among the maids and put a sleeping draught in the cider... how could she have moved His Highness's body from this floor?"
I murmured, alternating my gaze between the bedroom on this floor, the gallery on the first floor, and the kitchen on the ground floor marked on the map. Then, with the elegant fragrance of sandalwood, I felt Leopold's presence directly behind me.
(*Following European architectural conventions, the floor containing the entrance hall is called the ground floor, with numbering beginning at 1 for the floor above.)
"Charlotte, you said the porters parked the carriage at the kitchen's back entrance. Then, to move me while I slept from the bedroom..."
Leopold gently enclosed my right hand and slowly moved it across the map toward a space in the corner of the bedroom on this floor.
"There's a lift connecting the bedroom and the kitchen here. It's typically used to serve breakfast in the guest's bedroom without waking them, but it appears the elderly Mrs. Harrison had it expanded considerably for her own use."
Leopold's large, warm hand gently guided Charlotte's hand across the floor plan—from the bedroom to the gallery, then to the kitchen.
Regardless of the gravity and importance of their conversation, Charlotte found her heart racing as she felt the cool, rough texture of paper brushing her fingertips, Leopold's hair tickling the nape of her neck, and the unhurried cadence of his voice.
"Um, well, so... I suppose I should inform Mr. Armand about this."
Charlotte spoke with flushed cheeks and great effort, trying not to acknowledge Leopold's body pressed firmly against her back while simultaneously committing all the newly discovered information about today's incident to memory.
"Ah, Your Highness, there's one more thing I should tell you. In Mr. Armand's letter, he mentioned that... um, Prince Frederick will be visiting London this coming Sabbath, so..."
But before Charlotte could finish her sentence, Leopold's firm lips came to rest against the nape of her neck.
"We've already discussed the investigation at considerable length, it seems."
Still keeping his lips pressed against Charlotte's skin, Leopold spoke in a voice tinged with a sigh.
"How much longer must I listen to other men's names falling from your lips?"
"Oh, well, Your Highness..."
Was this dignified, noble prince actually pouting? Jealous of her? Charlotte stumbled over her words upon realizing this absurd truth.
In that moment, Leopold—still holding her hand—turned her to face him.
"Look at me now, Charlotte."
With Leopold's low murmur, Charlotte's eyes beheld his roguish face silhouetted against the midnight sky and moonlight streaming through the window.
"This night granted to me is woefully brief, and I wish to gaze upon your face far longer..."
Beneath his dark brows, raised at a dangerous angle, Leopold whispered as he regarded her with perilous intensity.
"And spend it kissing you."
---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------