The little fight was witnessed by all the commoners and a few clergy members from the monastery. It was given that the words would reach far and wide, even to the county across.

Sylvester expected Felix was going to be received warmly when he reached Raftel county. But, he thankfully sent Sir Dolorem along because sometimes Felix lacked critical thinking in the heat of the moment. It was not his fault, however, he was just too young and inexperienced.

‘Alright, let’s move on with my investigation.’

With Gabriel, he reached the Count’s castle again. As for Lady Aurora, he had no idea where she even was. Nor did he bother as she was strong enough to care for herself. Even if someone strong attacked her—someone stronger than her, she’d still be able to send signals, at the very least.

Sylvester looked around at the castle’s training fields and found the Count’s brothers and their kid’s training, along with a few knights in neat shining armour.

Milton, Count’s third brother, walked up to him and greeted him. “Good morning, Lord bard. Is there anything I can help you with?”

Sylvester took out a parchment and handed it to the man. “Here is the list. I shall await for people to come and give me their statements as per the list and timings. This is to officially clear the names of the close family members and focus on the culprit outside.”

Milton, who was merely a Knight, looked left and right and got closer to Sylvester. “My lord, are you sure about this? I remember my elder brother having a loud argument with his wife—it was bout some debauchery. My brother accused her of lying with a knight from the capital.”

Sylvester didn’t take the man’s words seriously. He was the second in life to take the mantle of the Count since the Count’s son was too young. So he had too much to win if the Count was found guilty. Not to mention, the scent also gave him mixed signals.

“Then why does he accuse Count Raftel?”

Milton whispered again. “This is a family secret… I hope you don’t reveal it to others. Lady Marcella and Count Raftel used to be lovers. But then our father set the eldest brother, Jartel’s marriage with Lady Marcella, as she was the only daughter of the most respected Baron of our County. This is one of the reasons why father divided the lands to keep the two brothers away from each other.”

‘Okay, this part is not a lie.’ Sylvester didn’t smell any aroma this time. But, this was a clue that was only useful as gossip.

“Did Count Jartel love Lady Marcella?” He inquired.

“Of course! Even I loved Lady Marcella… I mean, akin to a big sister—mother. She was a woman devoted to Solis and her husband. Her days would start thinking about the family and would end with it too. She would never participate in an affair. So that only leaves Raftell, who may still be angry.”

Sylvester rubbed his face in annoyance. ‘This is such a strange situation. But the truth will only come out if I also interrogate Count Raftel.’

“Thank you for the well-needed clues, Sir Milton. Please inform the family members to appear in the monastery according to this list. This in itself will take us a long time. So the sooner it’s done, the earlier we can finish the case.” Sylvester warned.

“You better finish it by the end of the week, lord bard. My brother has said he will only wait seven days for you to progress. If he sees nothing, he will attack Raftel.”

‘Fuck!’ Sylvester internally cursed. ‘There goes my sleep.’

“Understood. Do as I say, for now. Thank you for the cooperation, Sir Milton.” Sylvester left the man to prepare to speak with Felix later that night.

…

Raftel County

“Welcome, God’s Favoured. I heard you’d be arriving soon to investigate.” Count Raftel greeted Felix and Sir Dolorem.

The man appeared the polar opposite of his brother. He was tall and so thin it seemed the wind would blow him away. His robes seemed like curtains. The only similarity was in the facial features and colour of the hair. And, of course, there was a mean-looking dog beside him, akin to a bull dog but tall.

“This is my dog, Jartel. Boy, say hello.”

“Woof!” The dog tried to jump and bite Felix with its dangerously sharp jaws.

Felix tried to keep himself as gathered as Sylvester. “Thank you for receiving me, Count Raftel. Let’s go inside and talk about this case. I’m sure you also wish to get this mess over with if you’re truly innocent.”

Count Raftel scoffed. “Of course, I am innocent. That buffoon is making things up because his wife cheated on him, for which I won’t blame her. Nobody in their right mind would wish to be under that fat toad. He likely killed her and now blames me.”

Felix nodded. “That is for the faith to decide now since both of you have agreed to an independent investigation. Can you tell me more about this debauchery allegation?”

The Count nodded. “Just follow me in, please. Let’s sit in my solar and spark in calm.”

As they started walking behind the Count. Sir Dolorem tapped on Felix’s shoulder strongly and whispered. “You’re doing well, but you’re letting him steer the conversation. Don’t take anything he says at face value. Expect he’s lying about everything.”

Felix nodded and gazed at the old man thankfully. He knew he was new to this, but it wasn’t his fault that Sylvester was just too good at this stuff. “I will try to keep this act going and make him speak. He needs to become comfortable with me.”

Soon they arrived at the Solar of the Count. Similar to Jartel, Raftel was also rich as his lands were incredibly fertile and connected with the river trading routes, which were much cheaper.

But, unlike Count Jartel, it appeared that Count Rafel didn’t have the support of the family. It was just him in his county.

“Count, what are your thoughts about the murder of Lady Marcella? The way she was killed, her chest was cut apart, and her genitalia was violated.”

Count Raftel’s face instantly turned dark in sorrow, and soon anger rose. “Must be a **ing animal whoever did it! She was so kind… Marcella.”

Felix and Sir Dolorem looked at each other’s faces at this scene. It became clear that there was something deeper going on. This was not a man defending himself but a man grieving.

“Do you have anyone in mind who’d wish to harm Lady Marcella?” Felix inquired.

“No! Not that I know of. She had no enemies, and the people loved her. I myself have placed a bounty of five thousand Gold Graces for whoever brings me her killer. I will not kill that person… I will let them rot slowly with open wounds on which I shall throw salt every day… Ah! Forgive me, Priest. I was out of line.”

Felix had a hunch that Raftel was likely not the man. But, he still didn’t wish to cross his name just yet. But, he had enough for now. “May I also meet the Archbishop of your county?”

“Archbishop Gunar? He’s not here, I’m afraid. Just yesterday, he left to meet the Cardinal Suprima to discuss the end of hostilities. I don’t really want a war, Priest. I may have problems with my brother, but I am no kinslayer,” Count Raftel said, with confident eyes and a severe voice.

‘That’s a very suspicious timing to be leaving behind the county. I need to talk to Max.’

“Thank you for giving us your time, respected Count. We shall stay at the monastery and work to solve this issue.”

“Why? You can stay in the castle. It’s big enough for a hundred more men and women, and only my dog and wife live here.” Count Raftel offered them.

Felix was not dumb enough to stay in the den of the wolf he had come to hunt. “Thank you, but we are obliged to stay in the monastery. I will meet you later then.”

Sir Dolorem escorted Felix out as if he was the bodyguard, not speaking a single word. But after they had left the castle, he spoke. “I presume you also wish to speak with Archpriest Sylvester?”

“I do. This whole case is too confusing. A man who has no reason to kill her seems like a killer, and who has all the reasons to kill seems innocent. Not to mention, everyone speaks so highly of Lady Marcella, then why would anyone harm her? And what’s with chopping breasts?” Felix had a hundred questions in mind.

“Maybe it’s religious?” Sir Dolorem added.

Felix’s face paled suddenly. Of course, he knew the messed up rituals the more one goes north and west. The cultures were different even though they followed the same faith. “I hope it’s not. Human harm in religious work has been outlawed since the previous Pope’s rule.” 𝘰𝑣𝘭.𝗇𝓔t

“As is demon-possessed and witch-burning, yet Archpriest Sylvester was nearly burnt alive at his birth.”

Felix scoffed. “That was on Max. He may be dumb back them, but even I’d scream demon if a baby started speaking.”

“A baby who also shines?”

“Yeah… correction there. I’d have licked his feet if I had seen a shining baby who spoke.” Felix jokingly said. “Anyway, how are we going to talk to him? He said he taught you something?”

“He did. You will understand everything in the night.”

…

A few hours later, the sun had set, and the darkness embraced the lands. The people went to sleep, but Sir Dolorem and Felix went to the edge of Raftel County and made a small platform for themselves to stand on using earth manipulation, this way, they could look above the treeline.

Sir Dolorem sat down with a parchment and charcoal pencil in hand.

“What’s that?” Felix exclaimed as he noticed a blinking light in the distance.

But confusing him even more, Sir Dolorem started writing something on the parchment. He looked down and frowned. “What are these dots and dashes? Is that Sylvester?”

“He calls this morse code. Please let me focus now, Priest Felix.”

_______________________

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