"What is going on here?"
As news of the Golden Princess's death spread, everyone staying in the Dual Towers who could come, came. Byron, head of the Izaluma family, arrived at the scene and looked at the Golden Princess's body lying on the bed, his expression dark and cold. Then his eyes turned to Lainis, glaring.
"No... why are her clothes like this?"
In the crowd, a male magus with a head full of thin braids collapsed to the ground upon seeing the corpse—not out of grief for the princess, but because her outfit had been ruined.
More than the Golden Princess's death, this man cared about the clothing he had designed. He was the magus responsible for creating the outfits for the Twin Princesses. As the saying goes, "Clothes make the man." To bring out the Twin Princesses' beauty to the fullest, the attire had to be not just carefully chosen, but tailor-made.
"That's a magus for you," Daniel Davis thought to himself, finding the reaction absurd.
"Sister Tyadra, how could this happen?" The Silver Princess had arrived as well, and she stood there trembling as she looked at her sister's body.
"Oh my, what a commotion." Touko Aozaki appeared, her voice cold and indifferent. After scanning the room, she continued, "From the looks of it, everyone here could be a suspect. I don't dislike detective stories, but if I had to choose, I'd rather be the victim than a suspect."
"If you were the victim, the killer would be getting a raw deal."
Daniel couldn't help but laugh inwardly at Touko's words. In her case, dying would just mean the destruction of a puppet body.
"But really, what a tasteless act. Doing something like this in front of so many magi—what's the point?"
Indeed, the Golden Princess's corpse was ghastly, yet there was a strange beauty in it. For normal people, it would be deeply shocking. But to magi, it was hardly a big deal.
Among the many magi present, only Gray and Rin Tohsaka, who arrived shortly after, looked visibly disturbed and upset. The others, including Luvia, showed little concern.
"I heard you were the first to discover the body. According to detective novel tropes, the first person to find a corpse is always suspicious. Looking at the wounds, your Mystic Code could've easily done this."
With Touko's words, everyone's attention turned to Lainis. Judging by the circumstances, she was indeed a major suspect. For magi, suspicion alone was enough—unlike the police, they didn't need evidence. There were countless ways for magi to kill without leaving a trace.
Despite Touko's words and the suspicious glares, Lainis's expression remained calm. She had expected this the moment she asked Gray to fetch everyone. Now that suspicion had landed squarely on her, there was no escaping it.
"Miss Lainis, may I ask why you went to see Tyadra so early this morning?"
Byron asked. Lainis had gone to meet the Golden Princess at dawn to avoid being seen. Her plan had been to speak with her and then leave the Dual Towers immediately.
Faced with Byron's question, Lainis fell silent. She was beginning to suspect she had walked right into a trap—everything was too coincidental. And she couldn't explain why she had gone to see the Golden Princess so early. If she said the princess wanted to defect to the El-Melloi family, things would only escalate.
"Karina." Byron immediately called for the Golden Princess's maid.
"Lady Tyadra wanted to defect to the El-Melloi family."
That one sentence threw the entire room into an uproar. No one had expected that the Golden Princess, who had just made her public debut last night, was planning to escape.
"Miss Lainis, is this true?"
"I did speak with Lady Tyadra, but I swear I did not kill her. After all, killing someone who wanted to come to our side would do me no good."
"That's not necessarily true. Maybe your negotiations fell through."
A dark-skinned male magus chimed in.
"Apologies, Miss Lainis, but it seems you'll need to submit to an investigation."
"I expect to be treated fairly. And I wish to assist in the investigation." Seeing the looks around her, Lainis knew refusing was no longer an option. As for fleeing, that was the worst possible choice. All she could do now was buy time—until the Second arrived.
After the Golden Princess said she wanted to defect, Lainis had immediately informed the Second via text. Within the Clock Tower, she and the Second were among the few who used mobile phones.
"Hold on. This is getting interesting."
Just as Byron was about to confiscate Lainis's Moon Essence Automaton, Daniel Davis suddenly spoke up, stopping him. While Lainis and Byron were speaking, Daniel had examined the Golden Princess's corpse out of curiosity.
And the moment he did, he noticed something was off. As a world-renowned doctor, he had seen many bodies before. Using the power of the Surgical Fruit, he confirmed what he suspected.
"I'd like to ask—are you sure this is the Golden Princess?"
All eyes turned to him.
"What are you implying?" Byron's face darkened, but a trace of panic flickered in his eyes if one looked closely.
"Interesting. Are you saying this isn't the Golden Princess?" Touko Aozaki's interest was clearly piqued. A smirk formed on her lips.
"Impossible! She's Tyadra!" a male magus suddenly shouted. Daniel recognized him from Lainis's earlier introductions—a pharmacist who served the Twin Princesses.
"I can confirm this is not the same person we saw yesterday. From my examination, she has been dead for over a week. If she had died recently, her blood and organs wouldn't look like this, even with magic preservation. Don't believe me? Go check for yourself."
"Oh ho, indeed. Now this is fascinating." Touko walked over to the corpse and began inspecting it. Then, remembering something, she suddenly chuckled.
Most of the other magi were still hesitant to investigate with Byron present, but Touko feared no one.
"Then who was the Golden Princess we saw last night?" Gray asked the question on everyone's mind.
Lainis immediately looked at the Silver Princess. If anyone could impersonate the Golden Princess without being noticed, it would be her—after all, they were twins, just like that pair of twin maids.
But even then, there was a problem. Perhaps the one Lainis met this morning was the Silver Princess in disguise—but at the banquet last night, the Golden Princess had appeared in public. And that level of beauty couldn't simply be faked with a stand-in.
"Byron, are you trying to start a war with the El-Melloi family?"
As she spoke, Lainis's Moon Essence Automaton stepped to her side. Though the El-Melloi family had fallen from grace, Lainis had always acted cautiously to avoid conflict. But that didn't mean she would tolerate endless provocation.
Constant retreat only invites further aggression. Sometimes, showing your fangs is necessary.
Given that the Golden Princess had been dead for many days, there was no way the Izaluma head didn't know. That made this whole affair a trap—one set to lure the El-Melloi family in.
If the truth hadn't been discovered, it would've been a flawless plan. But since it was, the El-Melloi family held the moral high ground.
If it had just been Daniel speaking, Byron could've dismissed it as bias. But with Touko Aozaki also confirming it, that excuse no longer worked.
"Lainis, are you certain you met the Golden Princess yesterday?" Touko suddenly asked.
"Yes." Lainis nodded.
"Did she have any issues with her eyes?"
"No," Lainis said after thinking for a moment.
"Then it couldn't have been the Silver Princess. She has a problem with her eyes—she can't see. This familiar sense of déjà vu... things are getting very interesting."
"What?"
Hearing that the Silver Princess was blind left Lainis stunned. That meant the woman she saw yesterday couldn't have been the Silver Princess in disguise.
For normal people, being blind is a major obstacle. But for magi, there are many ways to compensate.
Just like how the Golden Princess couldn't hear, but it never stopped her from speaking. Her voice was flawless. These issues could all be solved through thaumaturgy.
"Lainis, would you like me to handle this?" As Byron struggled to respond, Baruelay suddenly spoke up.
"I'll leave it to you, sir." Since a lord was offering to step in, Lainis naturally agreed. Given the situation, things had already turned out better than expected.
"You silly apprentice, come along too."
Before leaving with Byron, Baruelay called out to Touko. Touko Aozaki was her apprentice.
"Who would've thought it'd come to this? So who do you think the Golden Princess last night really was?"
While Baruelay conducted her investigation, Lainis and the others returned to the Yang Tower and gathered in her room to discuss the princess's true identity.
"Maybe she was a doll? From what I know, Touko Aozaki is a master of dollcraft."
"A doll? Could one be that realistic?"
Luvia was the first to voice her doubts. If doll thaumaturgy could achieve that level of beauty, then the Izaluma family's generations of efforts in pursuing beautiful magic would be a joke.
Hundreds of years of striving—defeated by a single puppet.
"Nothing's impossible. Sometimes the gap between people is wider than that between humans and pigs."
Daniel's words left everyone silent.
"Of course, that's just my guess. I've never studied beauty magic in depth. If you want real answers, perhaps the Second could provide them."
When it came to analyzing thaumaturgical systems, the Second was the undisputed best at the Clock Tower—hence his title as "Mystic Breaker." To Daniel, magic was just a tool. In that sense, he was a Magician, not a magus.
"Looks like we won't be getting any answers today. Let's leave this place."
By evening, no one had come to give Lainis a proper explanation. She didn't want to wait any longer. She decided to leave and return to the Clock Tower. The rest could be discussed there. The Izaluma family would have to give an account for this incident.
"Let's go, then."
No one objected to Lainis's decision. They all agreed quickly. Luvia happened to be there too, and they could catch a ride with her.
"Sorry, little lady of the El-Melloi family. You're not leaving just yet."
Just as the group left the Yang Tower and reached the nearby grove, a woman with short red hair blocked their path. It was Touko Aozaki.
"Lady Aozaki, what is the meaning of this?"
Lainis looked at her in confusion. She never expected a Grand Magus to stop her. After all, she had no connection to Touko.
"Sorry. I'm just following someone's request. Back in the day, I knew the former head of El-Melloi too. A shame he never made it back from Fuyuki."
"You knew my brother Kenneth?" Lainis was shocked. She never imagined Kenneth knew Touko Aozaki.
"That was long ago. Now, please stay."
"Apologies, even if you are a Grand Magus, I must leave."
Though she didn't know why Touko wanted her to stay, the more the other party insisted, the less Lainis could agree. If Daniel hadn't uncovered the truth about the Golden Princess, it would've been a huge problem for her. Now that even a Grand Magus was involved, it spelled even more trouble.
"Gray."
"Yes, Lady Lainis."
As she spoke, Lainis's Moon Essence Automaton transformed—its arms turning into blades. Her Automaton, unlike Kenneth's, wasn't liquid but humanoid. She had named it Trimmaw. Normally, it appeared as a maid, but in battle mode, its entire body became a weapon.
In that regard, Lainis had already surpassed Kenneth.
Once Trimmaw was ready, Gray also activated Add. The Death Scythe appeared in her hands.
"This really is surprising." Even Touko was astonished to see the Death Scythe in Gray's hands. She had sensed something odd about Gray before, but hadn't expected it to be of this magnitude.
"Well then, if you're up for it, I'll play along."
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