<CHAPTER 2>
“Does it suit me?”
She blinked shyly as she smiled, and Alexis looked at Alosha with an expression that practically screamed, She’s so adorable I could die.
Yep. There was no doubt about it.
Alexis was completely obsessed with his little sister.
“My little sister is beautiful. There’s still some time before dinner is ready. How about we have some tea and chat for a while? I’ve been so busy lately that we haven’t really talked.”
“Hm? Ah… okay.”
Wait… Didn’t he say he was bringing a friend?
Alosha craned her neck toward the front entrance.
Alexis instinctively turned his head in the same direction.
Noticing that she seemed to be searching for someone, he smiled knowingly.
“Looking for something?”
“Huh? Oh… I could’ve sworn Masha said someone else was coming too…”
“Well, what a shame. That guy our dear little sister is so interested in had something come up and left before arriving.”
Minus fifty points!
The disappointment and regret that washed over her clearly weren’t Hyoju’s emotions.
They belonged to Alosha.
He dared to leave without seeing me? Without seeing someone as gorgeous as me? The audacity.
That jerk…
Unless his parents were on the verge of death, there was absolutely no way he deserved the chance to make this beautiful me his wife.
“Haha. Don’t look so disappointed. Next time, your big brother will make sure to bring him along.”
As Alexis offered his arm like a proper escort, Alosha slipped hers through it with an elegant little pout.
—
The two of them sat facing each other in a room of the western annex, where a massive window overlooked a breathtaking sunset painting the sky crimson.
For a while, they simply sipped their tea in silence.
Talking with family… What do siblings usually talk about?
If Hyoju had grown up with an older brother—or if she truly were the real Alosha, complete with all of her memories—things would have been different.
But in her current situation, she had no choice but to tread carefully.
Maybe I should just say something and see where it goes.
Setting down her teacup, she asked casually,
“So… is that thing you’ve been working on going well? You mentioned before that it was giving you a headache.”
“Hm? Did I ever tell you that?”
“I think you did.”
Of course he hadn’t.
And she’d certainly never heard it.
But what employee actually enjoyed work?
Besides, close families usually shared everyday conversations. Surely he’d complained at least once in passing.
Alexis scratched the back of his neck with a low groan.
“You’re right. Lately I’ve been dealing with the serial murders happening throughout the city. That’s what’s been giving me headaches.”
Wait… serial murders?
She had assumed, based on his rather scholarly appearance, that he worked in administration.
Apparently he was actually some kind of knight who worked in the field.
Seriously?
The romance is already lacking, and now they decided to throw in a serial murder mystery?
There certainly was an audience for romantic fantasy mixed with thrillers.
But combining romance with suspense required exceptional writing.
Otherwise, neither genre would shine.
Now I understand why hearing the name Alosha didn’t help me remember the title.
The author of the novel she’d transmigrated into had chosen the lonely, unforgiving road of niche fiction.
Even someone like Hyoju, who devoured almost every romance novel she could find, knew that mystery-thrillers mixed into romance were as divisive as cucumbers.
Some readers loved them.
Others couldn’t stand them.
She personally enjoyed one every now and then.
Still, when she wrote romance novels, the only frustrating obstacles she tolerated were misunderstandings between the male and female leads—not grim murder cases.
I’ll help solve this ugly incident as quickly as possible.
That way, the male and female leads of this mystery novel whose title she couldn’t remember could finally get back to their sweet romantic moments.
“If you don’t mind… could you tell me about it? Maybe I can help.”
Unless the author had completely ruined the story by piling twist upon twist until it collapsed under its own weight, the structure couldn’t be that different from an ordinary mystery.
If she was lucky, perhaps she could identify a clue or two.
Alexis sighed.
“If it’s you, I suppose it’s fine. Six young women have already been murdered over the past two months. The problem is that we still can’t narrow down the suspect.”
“Other than them all being young women… wasn’t there anything else they had in common?”
“Something in common…?”
Ha!
Just as I thought.
If this had been a full-fledged detective novel, that would be one thing.
But if mystery was only a side ingredient in a romance story…
Authors who weren’t truly passionate about the genre often simplified everyone’s thinking to make writing easier.
Readers naturally wondered, How could they overlook something so obvious?
But writers always had practical reasons behind those choices.
“Serial killers usually follow patterns. Maybe they only target women with a certain hair color. Or victims around the same age. Sometimes they leave behind a signature. Or maybe the murders always happen on the same day of the week…”
Alexis frowned thoughtfully.
“Other than the victims all being between eighteen and twenty-four… I can’t think of anything. Ah! They all had red hair, too.”
“That’s a pattern!”
“If you’ve hit a dead end, why not focus on the very first murder? You’d be surprised how much evidence is often hidden there.”
She was quoting something she’d once heard in a crime investigation documentary.
Alexis narrowed his eyes in deep thought.
“The first murder holds the most evidence…?”
“Every serial killer makes mistakes during their first kill. Follow those mistakes, and when you finally catch them, everyone in town ends up saying, ‘I never imagined someone like that could do such a thing.’”
“…”
Alexis stared at her in silence.
His intense gaze made Alosha realize her mistake.
Oops.
If Alexis wasn’t supposed to be particularly brilliant…
Then neither should Alosha be.
“…That’s what I read recently in one of the books in the library.”
“You’ve reminded me of something.”
He stood up abruptly.
“I need to investigate something immediately. I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to have dinner with you tonight.”
“It’s fine. Go.”
Alexis leaned down and kissed her lightly on the forehead before dashing out of the drawing room.
The spot where his lips had touched tingled pleasantly.
Alosha rubbed her forehead with her fingertips.
—
After eating dinner alone and soaking in a hot bath prepared for her, Alosha fell asleep.
The next morning, she woke earlier than usual.
“Where’s my brother?”
“The Count did not return home last night, my lady. It appears he stayed with the Order of Knights.”
“He must be exhausted.”
So even this era has all-night shifts…
Seeing the sympathy on her face, the butler smiled warmly.
“Shall I prepare breakfast for you to take to the Order?”
“Me?”
Do I really have to?
“Yes. I believe the Count would be greatly encouraged if his beloved sister brought it personally.”
She honestly couldn’t be bothered.
Still, this might be a chance to learn more about the story.
If she got lucky, she might even meet one of the novel’s important characters.
And if she finally remembered the title…
She could take a much more active role in steering the plot.
“Then please prepare it.”
—
An hour later…
With one knight escort and one maid accompanying her, Alosha climbed down from the unbelievably uncomfortable carriage.
If the author had already invented magic stones or something, couldn’t they have at least created decent transportation?
The fantasy setting could have allowed it so easily.
Instead, the author had stubbornly insisted on preserving the discomfort of the era.
By the time they arrived, her tailbone ached terribly, and the motion sickness nearly brought tears to her eyes.
Taking a deep breath after stepping out of the carriage, she gathered herself.
Don’t chicken out.
Head high. Chin up.
I’m a noble.
I’m a noble.
Apparently her self-hypnosis worked.
Standing perfectly straight, Alosha walked forward with graceful confidence.
The knights, however, reacted very differently.
The moment they noticed her, several suddenly ripped off their shirts and started doing push-ups.
Others shouted as they enthusiastically swung their swords through the air.
They’re kind of adorable…
In a place overflowing with sweaty men, the arrival of a young woman had clearly energized every unmarried knight present.
She almost smiled.
She considered greeting them…
But this was her brother’s workplace.
She shouldn’t behave without dignity.
Instead, she simply enjoyed the scenery using the full one hundred fifty degrees of human peripheral vision.
Nice view… but none of them look like they’re protagonist material.
If even background characters were this handsome, she couldn’t wait to see the actual main cast.
“Alosha! What brings you here?”
Alexis came running toward her from the distance, dark circles hanging beneath his exhausted eyes.
He looked so worn out that she almost felt sorry for him.
“I heard from the butler that you never came home, so I got worried.”
“You were that worried? Normally you won’t even come near the Order because the knights make you uncomfortable…”
Alosha glanced at the knight standing beside her.
He immediately handed the basket he was carrying to Alexis.
“There’s a change of clothes… and breakfast.”
“You didn’t have to go to all this trouble. Thank you.”
“So? Did you discover anything?”
Judging from the dark shadows under his eyes, things hadn’t gone smoothly.
She didn’t have any nostalgic memories to bring up with him either.
So she settled for making polite conversation about the gloomy case she wasn’t actually interested in, hoping to gather more information.
“Following your advice, we reviewed everything again. We uncovered far more clues than expected. Since the investigation is still ongoing, I can’t tell you the details… but we’ve narrowed it down to about five people connected to the case.”
Alexis pulled a sheet of paper from inside his coat.
On it were several portrait sketches.
Though she had absolutely no desire to get involved…
For the sake of ending this detective subplot as quickly as possible, Alosha casually lowered her eyes to examine the faces on the page.
