"I had spent the morning interrogating most of my subordinates I deemed as suspicious, I had talked with several of my Tethereds and Cultivators alike. And the one I found the most suspicious was…" The captain had paused and lowered his head when he reached this part of his statement. "My most trusted, Yelong Xen." He gestured to the dead body with a downcast demeanor.
Judith couldn't help but grin in irony upon seeing his charade.
'This is just sad to watch.' Judith thought to herself.
Upon hearing the name, a gasp escaped Tsai, which grabbed Judith's attention so she turned to face her.
"Tsai?" Judith had called out, but her words fell on deaf ears as Tsai had been too fixated on what was unfolding before her.
"I see," Qui Lin said with a scrutinizing gaze. "Pray tell captain Qiao, what proof you have that he is the prince's killer and," she turned her gaze to the dead body she now knew was once named Xen. "Why you saw it fit to dispose of him…so I couldn't question him myself."
Judith felt a smile crescent her face by this question, but her smile didn't last long when Qiao had turned toward them.
"For proof, I unfortunately have nothing other than words, mine and that of my maids." He gestured toward the maid, then turned his sights back to Qui Lin. "My maid, saw Yelong Xen in this manor, during the time of the incident. If you like to hear it from the horse's mou…"
"That won't be necessary." Qui Lin interrupted Qiao with a raised hand. "Please answer the last question, why did you see it fit to dispose of him?" Qui Lin had asked with a tone that left everyone uneasy.
"Well…" Qiao's voice began to falter. "Lady Qui Lin, Xen…more than anything, had been a close associate of mine. I have known he had harbored some form of enmity to the crown for some time now,"
Judith had rolled her eyes upon hearing this.
"But I had always thought there was nothing more to his actions than gossip and chatter, I never knew he would…do such a thing." Qiao returned his gaze to Qui Lin. "Which is why I confronted him, asked him to tell me the truth…and, he did."
After these compilation of sentences, he had taken a pause, as though expecting someone to ask him a question. But all his pause had ended up bringing, was silence.
"After he told me the truth, he asked me to hide it from you and blame it on one of the maids…or something to that extent. But I couldn't, so…we ended up…"
"I've heard enough." Qui Lin once again interrupted him, so Judith had found her smile yet again.
Qui Lin lowered her head, so her recently disheveled hair had poured onto her face, so her eyes were now hidden.
She held onto the railings, with a great ferocity that the railings had let out an enormous crackling sound, before crumbling under her palms.
In the blink of an eye, her palm was pointed toward the Tethereds. Following that were transparent glowing rings bearing symbols on them which surrounded her arm.
Gasps had flown into the air on account of what Qui Lin was about to do. But then, relief had taken precedence when they saw a purple vortex appear underneath the dead body, so he fell in.
Once the vortex had disappeared, silence fell over everyone and everything like a thick blanket.
"We…will be leaving at dawn." Judith turned away from them and walked back to her room.
Before she had turned, the nobles which were all peeking through small gaps in their door had shut their doors so she wouldn't see them.
The Tethereds and maids below kept watch on Qui Lin as the reverberation of her footsteps had filled up everyone's ears, which gave off the impression of a mighty predator that was gravely wounded.
The sound of her footsteps left them all uneasy, until it disappeared all together when she had shut the door behind her.
Sighs of relief had filled the air, since they all knew that they were saved.
But amidst these sighs, three people in particular were not among this mute gyrations.
One was Tsai, who was lost in thought and suddenly felt some pain eating away at her. The other was the captain, who found the words 'Will be leaving at dawn' playing on loop in his head, which caused him to smile hard.
And the last was Judith, who knew what his smile meant and how the setting of the sun could mean her demise.
***
The hours rolled by with a quiet that had loomed in the air, Judith waited in the maid's quarters along with the other maids, who were all resting as they had nothing more to do for the day.
Until it was evening time when it would be time to prepare dinner.
The maids had spent their time gossiping, playing games or doing embroidery.
Except Tsai who had been numb for several hours, lying in a corner far away from the others and speaking to no one.
This odd behavior had gone unnoticed by Judith as she was preoccupied with how to exit this room and sneak into the captain's room for her impending plan/doom.
But she had finally come out of her head when one of the maids had whispered Tsai's name amongst themselves.
Which had called Judith back to reality.
"What do you think is wrong with her?" One of the maids had whispered, which made Judith finally realize after SEVERAL HOURS! That Tsai had been acting off.