“I do not like that.”
Melchor leaned back against the back of the chair and tapped the handle with his fingertips. He did not like the Count, albeit the Empress’s younger brother and ten years older than him, to be treated with courtesy as an elder, especially because of his smug attitude.
Neither could Count Wiegelhofen point out Melchor’s poor bearing towards him. After all, there was no one in this Empire to whom Melchor bowed his head except for Emperor Balthazar.
“No, Grand Duke Melchor. In the first place, there is no reason for you to be involved in a mere aristocratic gambling case, right?” Wigelhofen, in a hurry, forced a smile on his lips and continued speaking with a look of impatience. “So, I want you to leave the tedious chores to us, and pay attention to the matters of governing the East, and the Empress.”
“Gambling is prohibited by the national law,” retorted Melchor. “It is a serious matter for aristocrats to gamble. It is also my job to look after the Emperor, so I do not think it is unusual for me to be involved in this case as well.”
Despite his leisurely voice, Count Wiegelhofen felt as if the sharp tip of a sword was brushing through his body at each word of Melchor. He rubbed his shoulders and arms several times with his sweaty palms as though there were cuts on his skin.
“Your Majesty has already punished the deceased Count of Crimson Rose, so this case is over,” Count Wiegelhofen said.
“If it’s over, there would be no reason for you to get involved in this case.”
“No, no! I mean, Duke Melchor doesn’t have to do anything like an interrogation. So, with Roseline Crimson Rose…”
“Roseline Crimson Rose is injured, I brought her in and I am protecting her. May I ask why are you asking for her to surrender?”
Count Wigelhofen’s face turned earthy at Melchor’s direct question. He paled and trembled, then clenched his molars and smiled again, forcing a laugh.
“Haha. I am going to take her over to the Empress. I was saying that since there is nothing more to be uncovered about this matter, don’t waste your time, and you’d be better off attending to more relevant matters.”
Wigelhofen was smiling, but the corners of his mouth were twitching. The embarrassment and anger he felt were evident in his cloudy gray eyes. Meanwhile, Melchor’s icy blue eyes remained cold, unnerved by Wigelhofen’s despair.
“There is nothing more to discover. If you think that way, this case will not benefit you,” Wigelhofen desperately said.
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“Uh, huh? It seems to me that there is still much more to be revealed,” answered Melchor.
“No, all the evidence came out–”
“All that came out was the evidence of gambling.”
Gambling is prohibited by national law, but that did not deter the citizens from committing crimes. Melchor, who ruled over half of the empire on behalf of Emperor Balthazar, has seen countless nobles rise and fall from gambling.
“The Count of Crimson Rose was running away…” muttered Wigelhofen.
“He was killed by an assassin in a wagon. Not an accident,” Melchor corrected.
“Hey, doesn’t that happen when you gamble? No, of course, I don’t know anything about gambling! I just heard it.” At this point, Wigelhofen was carelessly rambling. “Okay, I want to tell you one thing that you don’t know, but it’s usually the winner’s side that gets killed in gambling.”
It was not uncommon for the loser to lose his temper and kill the winner after losing all his stakes. But the winner never kills the loser; they don’t have to.
“So that means the Count of Crimson Rose won the gamble and was killed by the loser,” Wigelhofen added. “He must have committed murder out of rage from the shock of losing. Isn’t it expected?”
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“No, it’s strange. The Count of Crimson Rose didn’t die in a gambling house, he was killed in a wagon. They even put in the effort of hiring an assassin.” The Duke interjected.
It doesn’t take half a day to collect the dividends and ride a wagon back to his mansion. To hire an assassin to execute the Duke in that short time? More so, by a gambler who had just lost his money?
No matter which perspective, it was unnatural.
“Hey, how do you know what a gambler is thinking? They’re all impulsive psychopaths! He must have done it without thinking about the consequences!”
“I do not know. There is evidence that the Count of Crimson Rose was a gambler, but his opponent had not been revealed. It is not easy for a person who impulsively commissioned a murder to erase his traces so thoroughly.”