Chapter 59
Chapter 59: The Crystal Palace Murder Case
Beneath the dome of the Crystal Palace, the champagne tower refracted dazzling golden light, while the orchestra played a soothing symphony.
Lina stood beside a massive crystal pillar, idly holding a glass of red wine the color of blood. Combined with her outfit, her cool gaze gave off an aura that discouraged strangers from approaching—quite convenient, as it helped ward off many eager suitors looking for an opportunity to strike up a conversation.
“That’s the person you’re looking for.” Hepburn chuckled softly beside Lina’s ear, covering the corner of her mouth with a feather fan as she gestured toward a shadowy corner. “Remember to be gentle. My teacher is very ‘shy.’”
Following her gaze, Lina saw a petite girl sitting in a corner concealed by a huge potted plant.
She wore an elaborate black Lolita dress, a large black bow atop her head, and a lace eyepatch covering half her face. A glass of red wine rested in her hand.
The girl was muttering softly to the empty air with a solemn expression, as though she were conducting some ritual to summon an evil god.
Lina raised an eyebrow and walked over.
“Um... are you Teacher ‘Scarlet Dream Beneath the Moon’?”
The girl suddenly trembled, nearly spilling the wine in her hand.
She quickly adjusted her posture, covered half her face with a lace-gloved hand, revealed one crimson eye, and spoke in a deliberately lowered yet still exceptionally cute voice:
“Mortal, to think you could see through my disguise... Indeed, I am the recorder who walks the scarlet night, weaving lies and truth within this false world—”
“Euphemia?” Lina interrupted expressionlessly.
“—Huh?!”
The chant got stuck in the girl’s throat.
Euphemia abruptly looked up. The moment her crimson eyes recognized Lina’s face, they widened into perfect circles.
“Y-You?!”
The vampire princess nearly jumped out of her chair.
“It’s me.” Lina sighed helplessly and pulled out the chair beside her to sit down. “I never expected you to be the author of the original ‘Blue Rose’ novel.”
“Cough, cough! Keep it down! This is my incarnation in the human world!” Euphemia hurriedly looked around. Only after confirming that no one was paying attention did she lean closer and whisper, “Um... Lina, your outfit today... looks really beautiful.”
At that point, Euphemia seemed to think of something. Her gaze involuntarily drifted toward the mayor in the center of the banquet hall, who was laughing loudly.
A trace of barely concealed disgust and nervousness flashed through her eyes, and her fingers unconsciously twisted the hem of her skirt.
“What’s wrong?” Lina immediately noticed the change in her demeanor.
“N-Nothing...” Euphemia withdrew her gaze like a startled rabbit and stammered, “It’s just... the mayor’s laugh is too unpleasant. It disturbed my... um, inspiration. Yes, inspiration.”
Lina narrowed her eyes but did not press further. The vampire princess was clearly hiding something, but judging from how timid she looked, it probably wasn’t anything too serious.
In the central area of the banquet hall, August and Lin Qingwan were conversing.
“Miss Lin, regarding the second-generation anti-gravity magitech keel of the ‘Kunlun-class’ floating battleship that Moshan Heavy Industries promised to deliver,” August adjusted his monocle, his tone cold and rigid, “testing has shown a 0.3% decline in mana conductivity under high-altitude extreme cold conditions. By Arcana’s standards, this is an unacceptable defect.”
“Mr. August, you’re applying the standards of a magical laboratory to heavy industrial products.” Lin Qingwan swirled the red wine in her hand, her tone calm. “Compared to that, your company’s magitech fire-control radar misidentified a wyvern as an enemy airship during testing last week. That’s the safety hazard I’m concerned about.”
“Ahem... esteemed guests,” Jean Pierre, the mayor of Gaul City, who had been left standing to the side for quite some time, finally could not resist interrupting, trying to recover a little of his dignity as host. “As for Gaul City’s municipal defense system procurement project for the next quarter, I wonder whether either of you would be interested—”
“Mr. Mayor.” Lin Qingwan tilted her head slightly, looking at him as though he were a buzzing fly. “That’s a small project handled by department managers. We are currently discussing intercontinental strategic cooperation. Please be patient.”
August ignored him even more thoroughly and continued speaking to Lin Qingwan.
“If Moshan Heavy Industries cannot resolve the keel issue, we may consider resuming our cooperation with the Royal Engineering Institute of Solennam.”
“Heh...” Lin Qingwan let out a cold laugh. “Mr. August, are you saying your company intends to cooperate with an engineering institute that can’t even build a new-generation ironclad warship? Frankly speaking, the only technology on the entire continent capable of meeting your requirements is ours...”
A mysterious gleam flashed through her eyes.
“Or perhaps... there’s some other, more ‘important’ matter you actually came to discuss with me?”
The mayor’s smile froze on his face, and the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.
But this truly was not a conversation he could participate in. After forcing a few flattering smiles, he retreated from the scene in embarrassment.
On a balcony on the other side, Sibyl finally gathered the courage to seek out her brother.
Derek Sibyl, the man who truly controlled the Sibyl Industrial Group Company, stood with his back to the banquet hall, gazing into the night outside the window. His silhouette appeared exceedingly lonely.
“Brother...” Sibyl called softly. “It’s been a long time.”
Derek turned around. There was no joy of reunion on the face that somewhat resembled Sibyl’s. Instead, it was covered by a layer of frost.
“Why are you here?” His voice was as cold as if he were speaking to a stranger. “You shouldn’t be here, Sibyl.”
“I...” Sibyl froze for a moment, and the light in her eyes dimmed slightly. “I just wanted to see you. And I’m doing very well now. My friends and I—”
“I’m not interested in hearing your adventure stories.” Derek cut her off rudely. He glanced at his watch, his brows tightly furrowed. “If you came to ask for money, go find Father. If you came to reminisce, I’m busy. I don’t have time to play house with children.”
“Brother, why are you—”
“Go back to your friends and stay away from me.” Derek turned around again, presenting his back to her. His tone left absolutely no room for negotiation. “Stop getting in my way.”
Sibyl stood where she was, bit her lip, and ultimately turned around and left the balcony in silence.
Derek's hand gripped the railing tightly. His knuckles had turned white from excessive force, and a trace of loneliness and guilt flashed through his eyes.
Having been thoroughly snubbed by the two titans of industry, the mayor, perhaps to ease his embarrassment or perhaps to vent his frustration, carried his wine glass over to Hepburn.
“Oh, dear Roland.” Jean Pierre's gaze wandered brazenly across Hepburn's pale blue evening gown, a nauseating stickiness hidden deep within his eyes. “You are breathtakingly beautiful tonight. You know, I recently built a new greenhouse, and it just happens to be missing a white tulip.”
“You flatter me, Mr. Mayor.” The smile on Hepburn's face was flawless as she lightly raised her glass. “A rose with thorns only thrives in the wild. A greenhouse... I'm afraid it couldn't keep me alive.”
“Heh, there is no flower in this world that I, Jean Pierre, cannot raise.” The mayor smiled meaningfully before turning and leaving her side.
---
The clock in the Crystal Palace pointed to exactly nine o'clock in the evening.
The atmosphere of the banquet was at its peak. Mayor Jean Pierre sat in a crimson velvet high-backed chair at the guest-of-honor table, his face flushed with excitement, preparing to boast to a passing countess about a vintage bottle of red wine he had recently acquired.
Then, without warning, disaster struck.
“BOOM——!!”
A deafening explosion erupted from the eastern side of the banquet hall without any sign beforehand!
Flames accompanied by a shockwave instantly overturned two long tables. The center of the explosion was none other than Lin Qingwan, who had just been speaking with August!
“Enemy attack! Protect President Lin!”
Moshan Heavy Industries' personal bodyguards reacted with incredible speed. Almost the instant the explosion occurred, they deployed a pale golden defensive array. The flames crashed against the barrier, producing sizzling sounds.
“Ahhh!!”
The crowd instantly descended into panic. The previously elegant gentlemen and ladies screamed and scattered in all directions. The sounds of shattering wine glasses and collapsing furniture blended into a single cacophony.
One second after the explosion occurred, all the magical lights throughout the Crystal Palace suddenly went out simultaneously.
Click.
Pitch-black darkness descended in an instant.
“What happened?! Where's the backup power?!” The furious roar of the security captain echoed through the darkness.
Amid the chaos, Lina's first reaction was to use divination to locate a safe position, then quickly retreat behind a pillar.
Someone wanted to kill Lin Qingwan?
That took some nerve.
Lina held her breath. Enhanced by the spiritual intuition granted by her active divination, her hearing and sense of smell were magnified countless times within the darkness.
She heard no chanting of spells, nor did she sense the fluctuations of high-level magical power colliding.
She only smelled a faint scent of sulfur and gunpowder.
Hidden beneath the chaotic screams, she heard another sound that sent chills down her spine.
A discontinuous series of “thud,” “thud” noises echoed through reality, like a hard object striking the ground, followed by—
Snap—shrrk.
Then came an extremely faint sound, like a thin thread being pulled taut in an instant.
Immediately afterward came the sound of something heavy being dragged across a carpet, accompanied by the soft tearing of fabric.
“Hah... hah...”
It was a short, wheezing breath, like a bellows being worked, and then—
Crack.
A crisp sound rang out quietly, like a dry branch being snapped in two.
“The backup mana source is online! Lights restored!”
About thirty seconds later, pale emergency lights flickered several times before illuminating the hall once more.
“AHHH——!!!”
A shrill scream shattered the silence.
Following the trembling finger of a noblewoman on the floor, everyone's gaze focused on the guest-of-honor seating beneath the main stage.
Mayor Jean Pierre, who had been speaking animatedly only moments ago, was now slumped in his chair in a posture that no human skeleton could possibly achieve.
He was dead.
The condition of his corpse was extraordinarily bizarre. His arms had been twisted backward by some invisible force. His legs bent unnaturally outward to either side. Most horrifying of all, his head had been rotated a full one hundred and eighty degrees, facing directly toward the back of the chair.
His entire body resembled a discarded marionette.
His expression had frozen in absolute terror. His eyes bulged outward, and bloody foam leaked from the corner of his mouth.
And upon his chest, at the center of this tableau of blood and death, sat a small object.
It was a chibi doll no larger than a basketball.
Its craftsmanship was exquisite. It had long black hair, golden eyes, and a beauty mark beneath one eye. It wore an elegant black-and-white formal outfit.
The doll's lifeless glass eyes stared coldly ahead, a mocking smile hanging from its lips.
“T-This... what kind of dark sorcery is this...”
“That doll... it looks exactly like her!”
Someone in the crowd shouted.
In the next instant, countless gazes swept across the room like spotlights and landed on Lina, who was standing beside a pillar.
Exactly the same.
The doll's appearance, even down to the beauty mark beneath its eye, was identical to that of the unfamiliar black-haired girl.
“The murderer is right here!”
The venue guards responsible for security quickly surrounded the area. The sweating security captain rushed over, looked at the doll sitting on the dead mayor's chest, then looked at Lina.
“Seize her!” The captain drew his wand and pointed it at Lina, roaring at the top of his lungs. “It's her! She's dressed exactly like that doll! She's the controller! She's the one who killed the mayor!”
“Huh?”
Lina was completely dumbfounded.
She was still holding her half-finished glass of red wine. Looking at the dark gun barrels and wands being pointed at her from all directions, her mind filled with question marks.
Wait, what? I was just watching the drama unfold. How did I end up wearing the blame?
What does this stupid-looking doll have to do with me?
I was born with this face, and Isabella gave me these clothes...
Wait, could this be a setup?
But there was no time for her to think.
“Surrender immediately!”
The security captain was clearly eager to find a scapegoat to absolve himself of responsibility for the security failure. With a wave of his hand, two tall guards stepped forward to arrest her.
Lina's eyes turned cold. Her fingers twitched slightly as she prepared to fight back.
What a joke. What does any of this have to do with me?! Go ahead and try it.
At that moment, a small figure suddenly stepped in front of her.
“What are you doing?!”
Annie spread her arms and stood in front of the heavily armed guards.
“You idiots! Which one of you actually saw Sister Lina make a move?”
“Where did this kid come from? Move aside!” The security captain impatiently reached out, intending to push Annie away. “Don't interfere with official business!”
“Stop.”
An elderly yet authoritative voice echoed throughout the banquet hall.
The security captain, who had been acting so aggressively moments ago, froze in place the instant he heard it.
The crowd automatically parted to form a path.
The general manager of the Arcana Group Company, August von Heinrich, adjusted the monocle over his right eye and walked forward expressionlessly.
He did not look at the dead mayor.
Nor did he look at the security captain.
Instead, he walked directly to Annie's side.
“Before the matter has been properly investigated, who gave you the courage to lay hands on her?”
“M-Mr. August?!”
Cold sweat instantly broke out on the security captain's forehead.
“Indeed. You have absolutely no evidence to accuse Miss Lina,” Sibyl stepped forward as well. Her cold gaze swept across the surrounding crowd as she resolutely took her place beside Lina. “If you insist on arresting Lina, then please arrest me as an accomplice and throw me into prison as well.”
“Lainie, what are you doing?!”
Derek suddenly stepped forward and glared at his sister.
“Are you going to disregard the family's honor and stand together with a murder suspect?”
“If you're here to talk about family honor, then I'm sorry.”
Lainie looked coldly at her brother, showing not the slightest intention of backing down.
She spoke word by word.
“She is exactly the ‘boring friend’ you mentioned. The Sibyl family has never had a tradition of abandoning its companions in the name of ‘honor’!”
Derek's eyelid suddenly twitched upon hearing those words.
A complicated emotion flashed through his eyes.
He slowly let out a breath, turned around with his back facing Lainie, and returned to the crowd without another word.
Lin Qingwan, seeing this, walked over with evident interest.
She glanced at August, who was standing protectively in front of Annie, then at Sibyl, who was holding Lina's hand, and finally at the utterly bewildered Lina.
A playful smile curved at the corner of her lips.
“Indeed. Convicting someone based solely on a doll is far too rash.”
Lin Qingwan spoke calmly, effectively adding more fuel to the fire.
“Nowadays, there are countless methods for framing others. You security personnel were completely useless when the incident occurred, yet you're remarkably enthusiastic when it comes to arresting people. Ah, if I remember correctly, the power system here is maintained by the Sibyl Industrial Group Company, isn't it? Could you explain the failure of the backup system just now, Mr. Derek?”