ELND Chapter 75

Chapter 75

It Wasn’t Me Who Killed Him!

“Ah, Your Highness Bee, you’ve finally arrived!”

Devon, who had been chatting with the guests, spotted me and hurried over at once.

Unlike when I’d seen him in Grayzon Village, he was now dressed in an impeccably tailored suit.

“It’s good to see you, Village Chief Devon. No… I suppose now I should call you…”

I shook his hand with a bright smile.

“Director Devon, right?”

A smile spread across the corners of his wrinkled mouth.

“It’s all thanks to you, Your Highness Bee. You created such a precious opportunity for me and the people of my village.”

Devon glanced around at the entrance of the welfare foundation, lined with congratulatory flower wreaths, before continuing.

“Every guest attending this celebration has done nothing but praise you, Your Highness. To establish a welfare foundation for mixed-blood demons right in the center of the North—and in such a magnificent building at that…”

He paused briefly, clearly overwhelmed with emotion.

Then he raised his voice proudly.

“I guarantee this place will become the greatest landmark in the Western Empire—a symbol of coexistence between humans and demons.”

I nodded happily and looked back up at the foundation building.

A three-story structure with red brick walls and a stylish gray roof.

I had signed the contract for this building long ago, and before leaving for the capital, I had already set the opening ceremony date.

And so, exactly one week after returning to the North—today—the grand opening ceremony for the Mixed-Blood Demon Welfare Foundation was being held in the garden outside the building.

“Oh my, our Lady Bee is here! Everyone, greet her properly!”

At Jacqueline’s booming voice, the faces of the Grayzon villagers instantly lit up.

“Your Highness Bee!”

“We don’t even know how to express our gratitude…”

“We never imagined you’d be this sincere about helping mixed-blood demons.”

“That’s right! Sniff… we’re truly touched, Your Highness Bee…”

The people of Grayzon Village, along with the servants of the Mansion of Light and Darkness—

Everyone stepped forward one after another to express their gratitude.

It really was worth emptying my entire fortune to establish this foundation!

Mina watched them with a look just as satisfied as mine before suddenly pointing toward one side of the garden.

“Your Highness Bee, over there. The local nobles have already arrived too.”

Following Mina’s gesture, I spotted several familiar faces I’d previously seen at Count Dmitri’s banquet and at the imperial banquet.

I slowly approached them, exchanging polite greetings one by one.

I sent invitations out of courtesy, but there’s no way Camilla or Robelia would actually come, right?

After all, Henry Bart—their greatest connection—had vanished from this world in an instant.

As I thought that, I frowned slightly.

Still, even if Robelia wouldn’t come, Camilla should’ve forced herself to attend just to appease her husband. So why isn’t she here?

Just then, someone’s shadow fell across my feet.

“Ah, Lord Dmitri.”

It was Count Dmitri, Camilla’s husband.

He lightly tapped his champagne glass against mine and smiled politely.

“Congratulations on the foundation’s opening, Your Highness Bee.”

“Thank you for coming all the way here.”

I smiled in return, though my attention was entirely fixed on the empty spot beside him.

Realizing what my gaze meant, Count Dmitri’s smile gradually stiffened.

“I’m truly sorry, Lord Dmitri.”

Bitterness crossed his face as he slowly nodded.

“So… you’ve really separated?”

The count gently shook his head.

“Once the documents bearing Camilla’s signature return from the capital, I’ll formally visit His Majesty and His Holiness to begin the divorce proceedings.”

“The capital? Didn’t you return to the North together?”

“Yes… we did.”

A long sigh followed.

“That is, until a few days later, when Camilla was taken away again by the capital police.”

Meanwhile, at the Capital Police Department Investigation Room

Bang! Bang!

“How many times do I have to tell you?! I’m saying I didn’t kill him!”

Camilla’s voice thundered through the interrogation room as she slammed the table.

After spending several days in prison, she looked far too exhausted and disheveled to resemble a noblewoman anymore.

The detective in charge looked just as tired.

Rubbing his eyes a few times, he let out a long sigh.

“Lady Dmitri, why do you think you were dragged all the way here instead of being investigated in your own northern territory?”

“What kind of nonsense are you spouting now?”

Bang! Bang!

This time, the detective slammed the table harshly.

“You’re the one who needs to stop talking nonsense and wake up! This is a murder case personally overseen by His Imperial Majesty!”

Camilla’s golden eyes shook violently.

“You already know we uncovered your affair with Henry Bart. We also know the two of you were financially entangled through illegal dealings involving demon realm goods—and in the end, you alone were left carrying all the debt.”

“What better motive for murder could there possibly be?”

A strange gleam flashed in the detective’s eyes.

“It would be in your best interest to confess now, Lady Dmitri.”

Camilla’s trembling gaze darted around wildly.

“T-that’s ridiculous. Then what about Robelia? If that’s your logic, Robelia had motive too! Maybe she found out about our relationship and wanted to kill Henry! Right! Around that time, Henry even said she’d suddenly become cold toward him!”

The detective irritably snapped the folder shut.

“We already brought Countess Bart in as well.”

“Robelia too…?”

“Yes. She certainly had motive as well, but we consider you the more likely suspect. You two weren’t only tangled in an affair—you were connected through enormous financial problems too.”

As the detective looked back through the report, he glared sideways at Camilla.

“Honestly… don’t you feel even a little sorry for the lawful wife? Shameless to the very end…”

Yet strangely enough, Camilla’s face brightened instead.

“That’s right—our alibi! Robelia and I have alibis for each other! We were together at the exact time Henry died!”

Just then, the interrogation room door opened, and a lower-ranking officer entered.

He leaned over and whispered something into the detective’s ear.

“…What? Then the possibility that they planned the crime together? Haah… So there’s absolutely no record of contact between the two women recently either?”

The two officers whispered while repeatedly glancing toward Camilla.

“What did he say? I was right, wasn’t I? Robelia confirmed she was with me at that time, didn’t she?”

Even if that woman hated me over my affair with Henry, she’d still have no choice but to say so.

At that hour, the only person who could prove Camilla’s alibi was Robelia—and the only person who could prove Robelia’s alibi was Camilla.

That day—

Camilla had been luring Robelia toward the top floor of the banquet hall.

Just one more floor. Just one more.

And once they reached the very top—

She intended to shove this woman, who had clung to her entire life like a mosquito on a humid summer night, straight over the railing.

They had reached the final staircase leading upward when suddenly—

“Camilla, how do you know Henry is up there?”

Robelia, who asked the question, refused to move another step.

It was as if she had followed Camilla this far solely to ask that one question.

Soon, Robelia’s eyes sharpened unlike ever before.

“I actually knew what kind of relationship you and Henry had.”

“W-what are you talking about, Robelia?”

“You two were having an affair.”

“…An affair?”

It felt like being struck violently on the back of the head.

And then—more than anything else—Camilla became uncontrollably furious that Robelia of all people had defined her relationship with Henry as an “affair.”

“Hey, you crazy bitch, who the hell are you to say something like that? What makes trash like you think you can judge me?!”

The vulgar speech she had carefully hidden beneath the elegant mask of a countess burst out instinctively.

It was language she had learned back when she’d been the daughter of a minor baron family—hanging around witty but uneducated children near the red-light district.

Naturally, memories of those days surfaced.

Those children laughing together with her.

They were probably all still living in those brothels now.

Suffering from syphilis spread by obese priests… and tuberculosis spread by worthless poets.

At this rate, maybe I’ll fall back into a life like that too.

The thought jolted her senses awake.

Right. It didn’t have to happen at the rooftop.

She wanted to kill Robelia immediately.

“W-what are you doing right now, Camilla?! Let go!”

Camilla grabbed the front of Robelia’s dress and violently shoved her toward the railing.

There were no other thoughts in her head.

Only one desperate conviction:

I have to kill Robelia.

“Just die already! Die! If you disappear, I’ll finally be able to live happily without any obstacles!”

As they struggled with Robelia hanging dangerously over the railing, straw suddenly drifted down from above.

The moment Camilla looked up—

Something came crashing downward.

Only afterward did she realize what it was.

Henry’s corpse.

Remembering the scene, Camilla frowned and exhaled deeply.

If only I’d succeeded back then… you could’ve been together with the Robelia you loved so much by now. Isn’t that a shame, Henry?

…Ah, right.

You can’t hear me anymore, can you?

Heh.

She bit her lip, suppressing laughter.

At that moment—

Click.

The sound of the handcuffs binding her wrists finally being removed echoed through the room.

“As for threatening Lady Bart, the victim herself declined to press charges.”

Disappointment was thick in the detective’s voice.

“You’re free to go now. Both your alibis have been confirmed, and we have no evidence you acted together.”

Camilla calmly left the interrogation room.

The moment she stepped outside the police headquarters, dazzling sunlight greeted her for the first time in days.

“Haah… damn it.”

Squinting, Camilla raised a hand over her forehead to shield herself from the sun.

Once her eyes adjusted, she slowly opened them again and thought:

Even if she returned north, all that awaited her was her husband—buried in debt because of her.

There was no reason to return to that poor man.

The divorce papers should’ve arrived at the inn by now. I’ll sign them immediately and then hide in another region for a while to avoid the debt collectors.

Of course, before fleeing, there was still one thing she needed to do.

Before Robelia could get her hands on the Bart family fortune Henry had secretly hidden away—Camilla would steal it first and disappear.

With that money, reclaiming her old position would be easy.

Morality was nothing more than a tedious concept found in books.

Humans were instinctively drawn to wealth, power, and beauty in the end.

It won’t be me living a miserable gutter life without a husband or fortune, Robel—it’ll be you.

As revenge against her lifelong rival Robelia, that was more than satisfying enough.

Heh… hehehe…

Camilla lowered her head and laughed for a long time.

Then suddenly, as though remembering something, she wiped the tears from her eyes and looked up.

“Ah… right.”

“There’s still one person left.”

The corner of Camilla’s swollen lips curled upward slowly.

“Rebecca Twins.”