KIAN
The room is as well-kept as it should be. There is no sign of blood or any other suspicious thing. But it smells like every single thing in this room has been dipped inside a pool of blood. The stench is so strong that it is capable of making an ugly reappearance of anyone's breakfast. Anyone but me. My eyes flicker down to see Lain's expression.
He is standing tall, scrunching his nose up in pure disdain. But that is it. There is no other reaction while Mr. and Mrs. Haverstone's face is changing colors like a rainbow. Fred is as unaffected as ever. It is good that he has mastered his poker face. Not surprising after all. Lain is not an ordinary man. It should be clear the moment he showed me a glimpse of his observation. He is way more than a normal adventurer. I just need to know what he actually is. But I doubt Lain will let me know that one specific piece of information easily.
I can still feel the hostility for me radiating from him. And believe me when I say, everything about the man is adorable. His nonchalance, his sarcasm, the way he talks, and walks, and even his hostility. It only fuels the amazement of playing with him.
I approach the bed where Luan, my fiance, is lying. Half of her body is covered with pink sheets, she is still wearing her nightgown. And she is horribly pale with a hint of blue. There is nothing left of her skeleton aside from her skin. There is no hint of flesh in her whole body not to mention blood. She has been sucked dry.
"This is amusing." Lian's soft voice speaks from behind, "This is an amusing way to kill someone." Lain's green eyes are dancing in amusement as he scrutinizes the dead body, his hand on his chin. Lain then spins around and faces the Haverstone, "When was the last time you guys saw here? Alive."
Guess I should just leave this case to Lain.
"L-Last night." Mrs. Haverstone sobs, "She was very happy because she was supposed to go on a date with, Kian today."
Lain looks over his shoulder, his eyebrow raised and his green eyes asking, "Really?"
I purse my lips and reply to him in the same manner, "Oops, forgot."
Lain rolls his eyes and then turns to the couple again, "And when did you find her dead?"
"This morning." Mr. Haverstone replies, "I informed Eryx about it instantly with a detailed letter."
Lain cringes as Mr. Haverstone spells out my last name as if someone has just shoved a needle in his ear, "You never mentioned you got a letter." He whispers to me.
I lean in so that I can whisper directly in his ear, "You never asked." I chuckle, "Other than that, how do you think I knew that this case is intriguing?"
"Next time, you drag me into a shit hole, let me know whether I am going to die in there or not." Lain offers me a snarky smile which I return with my get-under-your-skin smile.
"Noted, Your Highness." I can visibly see Lain's face drain color. However, he quickly returns to himself, making me doubt my eyes.
Your Highness, huh?
"Can I look around the scene a bit more?" He asks, wearing an unreadable expression, guess this tiny man can be unaffected sometimes as well.
"Sure, go ahead." I straighten up.
Lain starts to look around the area, his eyes sharp, "Did anyone touch anything here?" This question is not for me, everyone knows that.
"We did not let anyone enter the room." Mr. Haverstone replies stoically, he is looking like he can't stand being around here for another moment.
Lain reads on that as well, "You can leave this to him,"— He points at me—"he will handle it."
"I am taking it from here." I smile in assert, "You guys can leave this to me."
The couple nods and leaves, Mrs. Haverstone is still sodding uncontrollably. Fred is standing in the doorframe like a statue. I shrug and turn to my new attraction. Lain is standing beside the bed, boring a hole through Luna's body.
"Did you find anything?" I stand beside him, I can clearly see what Lain is seeing. Her eyes, there is something wrong with her eyes.
Lain reaches out and opens Luna's eyes with a gentle tug. Just as I thought. There is no eyeball in her socket. It's all hollow. Lain retreats his hand.
"She was murdered by a ghost," I state.
"Seemingly." Lains strolls off to the bookshelf lining the side of the room, "But what is the motive?" He takes out a book from the shelf and opens it.
The room is instantly hit by another layer of the smell of blood. Every page of the book is painted with blood. Not even a word can be read. I frown and signle Fred to come in as Lain shuts the book off and goes for other books that are in the same state.
"You know what you have to do." I toss to Fred before joining Lain in his little book venture.
Fred acknowledges with a tight nod and picks up a bloody book from the red-carpeted floor. He smells the blood and then takes Luan's hand and sniffs it as well, "It's her blood, commander."
Lain wrinkles his nose, "What did he just do?"
"He has an incredible nose." I grin.
Lain gives me a weirded-out look and focuses back on his task, "Did something like this happen before around here?"
"I don't really know." I answer, "I am not really involved with the intelligence department. I just keep a tab on what they do. I don't really look into any case personally unless I am required to."
"Then look into them." Lain says, turning to me, "But most possibly this is the first case your kingdom is seeing. Because if something like this happened before then you would have noticed—knowing."
I smirk and turn to him as well. I take a step closer to him and lean in slightly. "Don't you think, you know me too well for someone who met me just a day ago in the borderlines?"
"That is because you are easy to read?" He tilts his head slightly and returns with sass.
I snort and straighten up. "I will look into it." I nod at Fred who immediately takes the hint and trudges out of the room, "So, do you have something else you want to see or we can get out of here? This kind of smelly place is not too good of a place for my launch. I might need to shower first."
"I am done looking around. We can go now, I suppose." Lain sweeps another glance over the room. "Oh, there is something else that I want to know. Did no one hear anything?"
"They would have told me if they did," I reply, already walking to the door.
Lain almost runs to keep up with me, "You sure?" There is a hint of disbelief in his tone, "because I think couple A is hiding something."
And every word of his sentences disappears aside from his 'couple A'. I snort and look over him, "Couple A?"
"I don't know their names." He replies.
"You saw the nameplate." My eyes are observing him like he is some kind of fascinating toy.
"So, what?" He shrugs, "I don't like to remember what is not needed."
"Right." I snort again then shake my head.
"Commander," Fred appears out of no where, making Lain flinch, "I have informed the intelligence department. They will drop all the needed documents at your fortress before the nightfall. Do you have anything else that you need me to do?"
"Not really. Drop us to my place and you are free to go." I anwer.
"As you wish." Fred acknowledges and starts to follow me out with Lain.
I have a feeling that I will start to hate Lain when I will at least get to know his true identity. But until then, let me play with him some more. He is an amusing toy to have. I know he hates me from his bones, I can see it in hie eyes. He wants to kill me. But he won't untill he has a good opportunity to do it. I will wait until he strikes and when he does, I will crush him.