19 Surprise (2)

"The ballroom again?" Queen asked. They were now inside the ballroom once more. Nothing much has changed from the last time as people still gawk in awe at them and whisper among themselves. The only difference was that some people were now dancing on the dance floor.

"Yes." Quince replied, his arms crossed as he stood in the same corner of the room, with his usual signature non expression.

"But why? Why do you think the culprit is here?"Queen asked curiously. It's not like she can't guess but she would like to know what her cat thinks.

Quince glanced at her slightly, seeing that she was back to her usual devil may care attitude, he felt a bit strange. He was glad that she wasn't feeling down anymore, yet at the same time he's not. The conflicting emotion left him feeling really confuse.

"The first person that walked in the room had leisurely paces. That means he knew what he was about to see. Yet even though he knew, he wept for the dead body and said,"Rest in peace my friend, it is for the best." " Quince explained.

"Yeah and?" Queen asked.

"He composed himself and walked out of the room. Now, considering the fact that we are on a cruise with a party going on, where do you think he would go to avoid suspicion?" Quince answered.

Queen blinked twice at Quince. 'Is this cat being sarcastic? The way he phrased his words....it's as if he's mocking my intelligence so he had to explain it step by step.'

Contrary to Queen's beliefs, that was definitely not what Quince was trying to do. Quince is unaware of it himself, but ever since she clung to him when she was startled a while ago, he truly began thinking of her as a little girl that needs his protection.

Not that he has ever cared about little girls or about offering them protection but this case seems to be a little special somehow. Hence, he was merely trying his best to simplify the events that happened so she could follow along easily.

Now if Queen knew what he was thinking, she would definitely spit fire and demonstrate her strength as an adult through physical violence. For now, this beautiful misunderstanding shall remain.

"Well ok what about the second suspect?" Queen asked.

"He said he would go find him, assuming the first person that entered the room is the culprit, the second person would definitely be here as well." Quince replied.

"Hmm Alright then. By the way, did you find out anything about std?" Queen continued asking.

Quince merely glanced at her. His gaze became frosty probably trying to physically freeze her with his stare. Of course, Queen was completely oblivious to his look. She merely waited patiently for him to give her the information.

Even though it was supposed to be a bet between them, and thus all information are not supposed to be shared with her, somehow Quince simply shoved those thoughts to the back of his mind.

At this point, the whole issue has turned into a teamwork instead of a bet for Quince. Even though he was still suspicious of her identity, for now he decided to let it go.

Hence with a helpless look in his eyes, he started sharing the information he got from One, ending with"....Thus, we still do not know why Airon was found in the drink."

"I know why actually." Queen said, surprising Quince. After all, it was supposed to be a highly secretive information and very few people are supposed to be aware of the drug.

"Do you know what Airon stands for? Even though it's poisonous as it is not something to be consumed, but at the same time it is considered to be a miraculous medicine as well." Queen had a smile on her face as she said those words.

Her smile was so serene as if she was merely talking about the weather or some other general issues instead of classified information that people would kill to get their hands on.

"Airon stands for Advanced Iron. The properties of Airon is the same as Iron except for its mightier sturdiness. As a matter of fact, it could even be used instead of iron. After all its properties are much better than iron. Even if you mix only 5% of Airon into a building structure, it would still be able to withstand an earthquake of 6 richter. So you can imagine how very advanced and sturdy it is." Queen explained.

"If I'm not mistaken, Miss Meilleure, you said that you are aware of it because your family knows everything about food and beverage. So how is it that you know about engineers' highly advanced chemical?" Quince asked, suspicious once more about her identity. If what she said is true, then humans would kill to have this chemical for their own disposal.

"About that...hmmm because an engineer consumed it before. Mind you, the amount consumed was so small, no one could determine how much it was." Queen answered with a shrug.

"Why would he consume it?" Quince narrowed his eyes as he questioned her.

"Hmmm...it was an accident on his part. But the results he got....was unbelievable." Queen muttered darkly.

Quince didn't say a thing as he waited for her to continue. But she didn't though.

Instead, she simply said,"Let's drop this boring topic Master Quince. I would like to go dance now. If you would excuse me." She then proceeded to walk away with a bright smile on her face, ready to enjoy the party.