My Engagement was Cancelled so I will stop Pretending to be a Fool

A sweet, vanilla-like scent lingers in the princess’s room.

Just like Colin reported earlier, there was no sign of struggles inside this wide room.

There’s nothing strange inside the bathroom nor did the balcony and bed look almost too neat. However, Olivia can’t help but get a feeling of discomfort from this.

(….if the princess was sick and was resting here all day then the bed she slept in shouldn’t be this tidy.)

If someone was sleeping on it then the sheets should be all wrinkled. Certainly, it’s not completely well-kept but it’s still too neat. On top of that, only the part of the sheet at the foot of the bed was more wrinkled than the others like something heavy or someone was on it.

“It smells strangely sweet in here isn’t it. I feel like I’m getting sick.”

Said Alan as he walked to the window that is connected to the balcony to vent the room.

(sweet scent….., but the hallway also smells the same though.)

The strange sweet scent suddenly caught Olivia’s interest. The scent seems to have come from the incense burner on the shelf beside the bed. It only has some residue left inside but when she brings her nose closer, she gets slightly dizzy probably due to how excessively sweet it smells.

(Did the princess put it here? It’s too sweet so I don’t like it but maybe Princess Florencia prefers this kind of scent? But if she’s already sick then doesn’t this kind of smell make her condition even wors–……Nn?)

Olivia opens the lid and examines the burnt residue inside. What she found was fine ash that looked like burnt dry leaves instead of the remains of fragrant tree sticks.

Seeing that, Olivia immediately lifted her face up and leaped out of the princess’s room.

“Olivia?”

Surprised by her sudden movement, Cyrus and Alan hurriedly followed her.

Olivia rushed into her room and picked up the book she’s been reading and quickly flipped through its pages. It’s the book about incense that she has picked up recently.

Following her, Cyrus and Alan who entered the room cocked their heads at her.

“What happened?”

“Did you notice something?”

“Yes. I’m not sure but……, here it is.”

When Olivia finds the page she was looking for, she stops her hand and places the book on the table so that Alan and Cyrus can see.

“The scent in Princess Florencia’s room, maybe this is it?”

Cyrus and Alan looked at the page she pointed to and frowned.

The incense described on the page was the kind that’s used by the group of people called sorcerers in Karzol. It is called the Earl Wyrm, a kind of incense that gives off a scent with a strong sleeping effect which can dull your senses through smelling it alone. They weren’t affected probably because it has already burnt out so there was not much scent left but if it could make them feel sick like that, they don’t want to imagine what kind of effect it would have on the people who were subjected to it directly in a closed room.

“In other words, the maids and the escorts all collapsed because they inhaled this?”

“I think so. Can we examine the burnt residue inside the burner to confirm this? If it is indeed Earl Wyrm then there should be no doubt about it.”

“Got it. I will have someone do that right away. Can I borrow the book?”

Alan received the book from Olivia before hurriedly leaving the room.

“Good work, Olivia.”

“I just happened to start reading about it recently…….still, if that was truly Earl Wyrm then this case just got even more mysterious.”

The fact that the incense was there means that someone prepared it. After all, it wouldn’t just start burning on its own. But who was it that prepared such a thing?

(…..this kind of incense should not be available at your ordinary stores. In other words, someone knows about it and deliberately went out of their way to procure it.)

The room itself doesn’t look out of the ordinary. There was no sign of struggle either. Rather, the place was too clean and the lock wasn’t broken either.

(The incense would be less effective if not used in a closed room. To make everyone inside collapse, the room would have to be sealed when the incense was burned. Moreover, we had to unlock the room to get in and no one spotted any suspicious person at all. It’s as if……)

Only two people, Princess Florencia and Legion have disappeared. Thinking of the possibility, Olivia bites her lips.

Since such a possibility came to her, Alan and Cyrus should also realize it soon.

(…..maybe, it was Legion who kidnapped Princess Florencia.)

That’s the most reasonable explanation. But they still don’t know why. Princess Florencia seemed to have placed a lot of trust in Legion and Legion also seemed to cherish the princess very much. It’s just unimaginable for him to hurt the princess.

(I can’t jump to conclusions……..I have to find out a little more first.)

However, they can’t take their time either. If Legion truly intends to harm the princess, the situation will only worsen as time passes.

When Olivia decided to go look inside the princess’s room again, she was then informed that the princess’s maids and escorts had woken up.