C06: Second Suspect (1)

Day 3 - Daytime - Afternoon

24th Second autumn, 1152

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Meanwhile

Investigator Hannah, Jeanne's daughter, now is walking around the palace. She's looking for mom. Unfortunately, her mother left without leaving a note, the girl just doesn't know about this.

Hours earlier, Hannah came to the jail room basement and searched for new clues. For some reason, nothing was found there too. Everything about the case starts becoming much more distant from her reach. No eyewitnesses, no bodies, no crime scenes on the side of missing people.

The case is bizarre. Not knowing if her mom had ever experienced something similar, the daughter is just new to something like this. Hannah wants to operate the investigation without her mother, but she doesn't know if that would be a worth-to-try experience.

Hannah snaps back to reality when she heard chatting sounds on the left side. She turns her eyes in that direction, it shows her a scene where a group of maids are sitting together at a stoned waterfall.

The area over there seems to be a small garden, full of bushes, plants and trees. A stoned waterfall is set in the middle, now is being sat on. The maids, for some reason, seem cheerful and relaxed. Every one of them is holding a small round cake.

"Hi". - Hannah approaches the maids with her right hand waving

The maids wave back although they don't speak. For some reason, two maids ran away, followed by laughter of sisters behind them.

"What's so funny?". - Hannah asks

"Well, they were in their shifts but dropped to be here". - A maid replies, she later swallows the tiny round cake thing

"Welcome, welcome. Please sit". - Some maids invite Hannah to join.  "Here, have some bite too". - One of them gives her the cake thing

Hannah is a bit empty in her stomach at the moment. She remembers what her mom told her. She remembers every word, such as do not leave the palace with strangers or do not eat things strangers give her. Importantly, her mom also asked her to be aware of her surroundings for safety.

Mom told her that the Palace Killer doesn't work alone. Although her reminders weren't said in detail, Hannah is intelligent enough to know what kind of people she should avoid when she lives here. With the suspects on the list, Hannah senses the maids might have some involvement in the murders and missings. However, she still takes the cake as a polite way to show before people.

"Were you looking for mom?". - One maid asks Hannah

"You can say so".

"She's with Selena now. They may be in some tavern at the time, will surely go crazy when they return". - Some maids laugh together when their co-worker finished

"She's always normal until she gets drunk". - One maid speaks up

Hannah looks away. She is a bit frustrated since her mother left. Hannah wants to get drunk at least once to understand what drinking feels like. But she puts her frustration aside, she wants to leave without causing trouble.

"Thanks for the cake, I'm going". - Hannah waves as she leaves the garden area

"Eat fast before His Majesty comes back, everyone!". - As she is leaving, she heard a voice ordering the maids

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Hannah ate the cake anyway because she wanted to fill her grumbling stomach. Everything appears to be alright after that. Now she's inside a bathroom, washing her hands. She knows nowhere else is more right enough than this place to wash herself.

By casting a small waterball floating in the air, putting her hands in there and rubbing. Everything's done just like that, all she needs to do the rest is cast a fireball to dry and warm up her soaked hands.

"Excuse me. You may be using the wrong room, miss". - All of a sudden, someone's voice comes to Hannah's right side ear

The girl freaks out a little. She turns around to look at the person and realizes that's a real person. However, for some reason, Hannah didn't realize this. She remembers entering the bathroom and saw herself alone, she didn't even hear any footsteps coming to her when she was washing her hands.

The earlier moment was a chilling experience. But Hannah decides to brush it off and returns to normal.

"I'm sorry, I don't know. I just... picked it in a hurry".

"This bathroom is used for the nobles, you aren't allowed to use it. I'm sorry if I'm too serious but please remember this, a bathroom for servants is here not so far, that's where you can use". - The woman bows slightly as she finished for some reason

Hannah hates being reminded. However, she understands the woman before her. She is just doing her duty, nothing more.

A while later both of them walk out of the bathroom. Hannah notices the woman she is walking together with is somewhat very familiar. "That's her". The words come across her mind when she was walking with the woman.

That's the suspect Braun Frieden.

"Hey, miss", - For some reason, the female guard opens her words.  "I guess I know your mother. Are you two the investigators sent by His Highness to solve the case?".

"You can say so, yeah".

"I'm sorry when I can't introduce myself to you in the proper way right now. I am Braun Frieden, from the Frieden family, I'm a guard". - Braun still tries her best to give Hannah a proper introduction.  "There'll be me whenever you need my presence. If you need me to help you with the case, I'm willing to join although I don't know much about what I can do, but I'll try".

"I appreciate that, thank you". - Hannah looks away.  "She's more extreme than her, talks too much". - She murmurs 

"Please call me Hannah, I'm just an apprentice who's with my mom".

All of a sudden, Hannah realizes the woman named Braun isn't with her anymore. She soon notices the woman is rushing towards a maid who is carrying a small infant.

"Oh, thank you. You can leave now, thanks again". - Braun takes the baby, the maid then leaves

"Oh, you here again. I'm sorry for not saying goodbye, very sorry". - The woman apologizes as she was carrying the baby

"Is that your child?". - Hannah starts being confused

"Yes, she's my child". - Braun slowly raises the baby towards Hannah.  "Reimi, c'mon. Say sister, she'll be your friendly sister, say hi to her".

"Mama... Papa...". - The baby utters some cute simple words

"She's your sister. Sister, you know. Sister, sister, follow what I tell you". - Braun holds the baby in front of her, trying to ask her to follow her mouth movement.  "My apologies, I guess my baby needs to learn more, she loves seeing people". - Braun smiles at her baby

"May I hold her?".

"Ummm... yeah".

"Wait, I need to catch a breath". - Hannah wants to prepare herself

"Take your time, miss". - Braun gently pats her daughter's head.  "By the way, don't you have anything to do right now?".

"I guess so... my mom isn't here and I've finished my things".

"I hope there's nothing serious if you take some breaks". 

All of a sudden, Braun gives her baby to Hannah. The girl holds the baby gently, feeling a bit nervous. She doesn't want this little angle to fall because of her mistakes for being careless. Hannah follows the female guard as she noticed the mother started walking away.

"Hello, big girl". - Hannah gets her face closer to the baby, expecting her to stretch her cheeks

"Would you like to come over my place, miss? I hate being alone". - Braun suggests

"Me too. I'm free anyway, so yeah".

"How old is she?". - Hannah pats the baby's head

"Ummm... she's about to get 2... one year and 8 months old".

Hannah notices she has arrived at the woman's room. Braun unlocks the door and enters, Hannah follows while carrying the baby. Braun closes the door, her hands reach for her baby. Hannah slowly gets on the bed and sits there.

She breathes out with relief. She loves the softness and warmness of the bed, which she rarely feels since she always moves away. Hannah and her mother never stay in a place forever. Being able to feel this comfort makes her want to enjoy it more and make it last.

"Stay here, mom will come to you soon". - Braun puts her daughter in a green crib located beside the bed.  "Miss, please look after my baby for me. I'll be back". - Done saying, Braun rushes inside her bedroom.  "Oh, sorry sorry sorry". - She rushes back, filling a tea cup and giving it to Hannah

Hannah holds the cup, she remembers her mom's reminders. But she shrugs. She glances at the baby and waves a little, but she soon focuses on Braun's bedroom. Hannah takes a sip, she drinks up the tea. Her mind wondering why her mom would put a woman like Braun on the suspect list.

According to the profile, Braun Frieden is 24 years old. This mother is the same age as Hannah. However, Hannah still looks much younger than Braun. The woman now has a husband, before that she used to be the prince's concubine. The Frieden family, according to the profile, is an aristocratic family which has a long history of knights and serving the rulers.

Hannah is a bit confused. Because in the files that her mother researched, there's no record of Braun Frieden having a child. Something like this confuses the young investigator. She decides to conclude this could be a mistake due to the lack of information.

Now back to Hannah. She keeps wondering why her mother would put Braun on the suspect list. Theories start to pop up, she thinks this could be because most of the missings are involved with the prince's concubines so that's why her mom listed it. Otherwise, something else could possibly be about revenge for not being able to be with the prince, she assumes.

"I'm sorry, I'm back".

Hannah notices Braun has come to her when she was getting lost in her thoughts. The mother comes to her baby and picks her up gently. Hannah looks at the scene, she only sees a growing family.

"Hmmmm... where's her dad?".

"He's with His Majesty. He's... a very busy man, not always here". - Braun pats her head while she approaches Hannah

Hannah now focuses on Braun Frieden. She notices Braun is wearing a brown leather armor, unlike the iron armor this mother wore previously in the bathroom. Braun appears to be a woman in short brown hair, her hair is tidied but a bit messy. Just like Hannah's mother, but she's blonde.

Hannah looks carefully at the brown eyes of Hannah, knowing she is a caring mother.

"Let me do it". - Braun puts her baby down as she saw Hannah coming to the teapot to fill her empty cup

"No, I'm fine".

Filling up the cup, Hannah returns to the bed. "Her overprotective is really beyond my imagination". Hannah murmurs. She sips some tea while she looks at Braun.

"Mom will get along with you very fast. You two have similarities".

"I don't know if I should take it as a compliment or something else...". - Braun smiles a little.  "Oh, sorry". - For some reason, she returns to hold the baby and keeps a serious face

"Why are you wearing the armor?".

"I'm a knight, miss. I got dismissed from the hunt so I returned early. Otherwise, I'd need the maids to keep Reimi for a while more".

"I mean... why are you still wearing?".

"It's because I'm a Royal guard. When it comes to my shift, I have to hand my child to the maids, it happens at any time". - Braun holds her baby with her gentle hands.  "Well... I got dismissed so I don't know the next order I would take for my duty. I have to wait until His Majesty and everyone return".

"I heard that too, what are you hunting exactly?".

"Boars, deers... sometimes bears. His Majesty would sometimes hire the adventurers to guide us in dungeons, to hunt goblins or orcs".

"It sounds fun".

"It's the way we nobles enjoy our lives when there's something boring. But it's also tiring".

"I can take care of your baby if you need me".

"Really?".

"Yeah... money money". - Hannah raises her hand, grinning a little

"I understand money is important. Alright, I'll make sure to let you take care of my daughter".

"I thought people like you would give birth much sooner".

"Oh... well... it's complicated".

"I heard you used to be a wife of His Highness".

"It happened three years ago or so. It was just a random choosing, women who were brought in here to become his wives would be a great honor". - Braun explaining.  "Your family can live here when you're chosen. It's very convenient, I was lucky to be chosen, that's all".

"But how did you end up with someone else?".

"His Highness is a nice man, he's not some kind of possessive guy. As long as we give him loyalty, he gives us freedom". - Reimi keeps patting her daughter's head.  "There's another reason... I'm not worthy to be with him. That's someone else, and I owe her too".

"Who?".

"My best friend". - All of a sudden, Braun stops talking for no reason.  "It's her birthday tomorrow, right?". - She talks to herself

"Oh, sorry. Please wait for me a bit. I think I forgot something". - Braun holds her daughter and gets up, she heads inside the bedroom

Hannah later comfortably lies on the bed, she feels very soothed after drinking the tea.

All of a sudden... something unusual gets detected.

A strange intense scent catches Hannah's nose. For some reason, that smell is very near her position.

As if it comes under the bed...

That smell... is familiar...

Hannah knows what it is...

But, Hannah has been focusing too much on the soothing feelings the tea brought to her. She wants to have some wonderful sleep...

Just like that... she closes her eyes, holding tightly, snuggling her face to a warm pillow.

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