Every emotion had flooded into Qui Lin in this moment, but the most prevalent was pain and anger.
Judith found herself staring into Qui Lin's purple eyes, which had turned red from grief.
She couldn't hold Qui Lin's gaze for more than a heartbeat, before looking away.
"What do you want?" Qui Lin asked, fury and pain present in her small voice.
"I..." Judith began to stutter, as her body was seemingly reacting to the threat that was an enraged Qui Lin. She took a quick breath, then forced the words out of her mouth like a bullet shot out of a gun. "The prince's killer is captain Qiao!"
Judith had said this so fast, she didn't realise it was so loud.
A different kind of fear etched onto her being, as she was now afraid someone overheard.
Qui Lin on the other hand stood frozen in place.
Once Judith had returned her sights to Qui Lin, she noticed a sudden shift in her that felt unhinged. Before that shift had suddenly disappeared, so Qui Lin had dawned her calculated calm once more.
"What evidence do you have that proves he's the killer?" Qui Lin had asked.
"I...I saw him." Judith had said, suddenly finding her plan fall apart before her very eyes.
She had expected Qui Lin to be so engulfed by rage, that she would jump at the first person who was called out.
Instead, there was this methodical calculation to her.
Judith had thought she knew everything about this character, so how did she misfire so badly?
"That's not enough." Qui Lin took a step forward so Judith had taken one backwards. "If you or anyone else thinks they can just throw a name in my face, and that would be the end of it, you're all sorely mistaken."
She took several more steps closer to Judith, so Judith had continued to take several steps backwards, till she was stopped by the railings that prevented her from falling onto the lower floor.
"I won't leave this outpost till his killer is found. And if not, then I'll do everything in my power to ensure the killer is dead, even if it means killing each and every single one of you."
Having her tongue tied wouldn't even begin to describe the muteness that had gotten a hold of Judith.
But in this moment, Judith knew her plan had failed spectacularly.
***
Captain Qiao followed Tsai all the way to the maid's quarters, before they had finally stopped in front of the door leading to their sleeping room.
"I heard the scream from in there." Tsai said, more fearful than a mouse cornered by a cat.
"Step aside." Captain Qiao had said before making his way forward.
He first placed an ear on the door, and when he was sure no sound could be heard from the other side, he grabbed onto the door's handle and gently pushed the door open
With a mild creak, the door swung open, revealing on the other side....nothing.
Captain Qiao took a step forward, leaving Xen to follow behind.
They carefully made their way in, whilst being fully aware of their surroundings.
But the further in they walked, the more they felt nothing out of place.
The last place to check was the maids' bathroom.
Once more caution was taken in their way to the bathroom, but with their subtle entrance and observation of the surrounding, they found nothing out of the ordinary.
The minute this fact had sunk in, captain Qiao turned to Tsai, who had avoided his gaze.
"There's no sign of anyone here!" Captain Qiao said with a more aggressive tone than was required for such a situation.
"I...I don't know how, I saw... heard." Tsai said, stuttering every word.
"Do you know how valuable my tim..."
"That's odd." Xen had interrupted Qiao while lost in his own thought.
Qiao turned to face Xen, who was placing a hand on his chin while thinking.
"What do you mean?" Qiao had asked.
"It's strange that there's no trace of anyone here." Xen added.
"And why is that?" Qiao inquired.
"Because," Xen turned to meet Qiao's gaze. "I felt some kind of presence in this manor." Qiao's eyes had widened upon hearing this from Xen.
"You felt a presence?" Qiao had asked.
"It was something strange, I honestly thought it was nothing. But when your maid over there had said she saw someone, I feared my suspicions had been confirmed." Xen said.
Out of everything that was being said to the captain, the only thing he grasped from it all was that 'Xen was in the manor when the prince died'.
"I see." The captain had said, completely ignoring the talk of someone's presence and suspicions.
He turned to the maid, who fell her gaze upon seeing him.
"Tell the others to be alert, if you see or hear anything out of the ordinary, be sure to inform me." As soon as he said this, he exited the bathroom without waiting for a response or even Xen, as his thoughts was completely consumed by a way out.
A perfect way out.
"Captain Qiao?" Xen called out, before racing to his side. "Are you okay captain?" Xen had asked Qiao, who was still lost in thought.
Upon exiting the maid's room, captain Qiao had finally deemed it necessary to speak.
"Let me ask you something Xen." Captain Qiao said with a neutral tone, which didn't sit right with Xen.
"Yes captain?" Xen had responded.
"Were you...here when the prince was killed?" Qiao had asked, leaving Xen slightly numb.