Chapter Sixty-Three: Case Closed

"Do you have someone in mind?" The king asked Tim, who had taken the lead thus far in unraveling the assassination attempt.

"Well, I believe the first thing we should do is establish who would have the motive." Tim said, before turned his head, and tapping Rose on the shoulder.

Rose took a deep breath, calmed herself, and stood up.

"Everyone. My name is Rose Cultiva, and I am the illegitimate child of William Eudicot, presiding Lord of the region of Sanbo."

Hushed whispers immediately spread across the room as Rose sat back down, and Lord William sat still in his seat beside where Meg had been sat, eyes closed as he accepted what was to come next.

"William." The king said, and the room fell quiet. It was not normal for the king to address one of his lords without the use of their title, and the severity was not lost on the people within the room.

"Is this true?" He asked.

"Yes, your majesty." The lord replied, his head down, and not meeting the king's gaze.

"And you thought to kill your daughter before she made herself known and unveiled your crime?"

"No." The man looked up and defiantly stared back at the king. "I know you've no reason to believe me, but I would never have her killed!"

"I believe you." Tim said calmly, drawing the attention of the two men.

"And why's that?" The king asked.

"Simple, if he was the type of person to value his pride and status over her life, he'd have had her killed along with her mother as soon as he found out about her."

"I suppose so, although perhaps he only thought it necessary now that she had become famous in her own right?"

"Perhaps, but then, there's something else that's a little off. Don't you think?"

Everyone around Tim, without the exception of Abraea and one other woman, looked at him quizzically, and he continued,

"Who is the person that you would think would be the most upset by this revelation, yet hasn't said a single word?"

After a moment, the blank faces looking at him turned it ones of reserved shock, and then turned back to face Rose's father. Or rather, the woman sitting next to him.

"...Lady Eudicot?" The king drew her attention, as no-one else seemed willing to speak.

"Yes your majesty?" She replied, completely calm. As if the events leading to this moment had not affected her in the slightest.

"Were you the one that hired the waiter to kill Miss Cultiva?"

"That's right."

The room was almost silent as the occupants stared at the woman in shock of her open admittance of her crime.

"...Why?" Her husband asked in a moment of confusion.

"Why?" The woman repeated, and everyone in the room preemptively drew back. Even Abraea stopped to pay attention.

"Why?! Because for years after you brought that little bitch into our house, I had to live knowing that you were off skulking behind my back, fucking every little whore and brainless servant with an extra hole you laid eyes on!"

The occupants of the room stared at the shaking woman, wide-eyed with shock. Except for Tim, who was observing the incident with a bemused smile on his face. She stood up and continued to yell at her terrified husband as flecks of spit assaulted his face.

"Because I had to raise OUR children in the same house as that filth! Every room! The plates! The cutlery! The furniture! All of it tainted by her! And every one of our staff, looking at me with pity! "Oh what a poor woman, I guess it's true that the well-to-do just aren't as 'capable'. Even if we aren't rich, at least we'll never end up like her." And then the humiliation of passing her myself! Coming face to face with the evidence of your treachery! And then, after I thought I was finally rid of her, that maybe, just maybe, I could put it all in the past and forget about it, SHE becomes the most popular singer of the country, and I have to listen to our friends and associates praising her, and forcing me to go along with them to watch her! On top of that, I find out she's the honoured guest at the king's banquet? YOU THOUGHT I'D BE FINE WITH THIS?"

"...I-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

"Yes."

The room was all but silent as the woman panted, before regaining her breath, retaking her seat, and having a large gulp of her wine.

Silence pervaded the atmosphere for a moment longer, until Abraea resumed eating, now once again disinterested in the event. Brought back to reality by the sound of her cutlery clinking, the king cleared his throat, and addressed the situation.

"Lady Eudicot, you understand that I can't allow this to go unpunished?"

"Yes your highness, I will accept any punishment you decide for me." She responded graciously. However, the mask soon fell, and she turned to Rose with her disgust clear on her face.

"Are you happy now, you odious little wretch?" She snarled at Rose, who stared back at her in shock.

After a second though, Rose regained her composure, and put on the sweetest smile she could muster.

"No, I'll see you suffer a little more first. Then maybe I'll be happy."

Rage twisted her unwilling foster mother's face. "Why you-"

"Want me to kill her?" Tim asked Rose without a hint of a joke. The would-be murderer's mouth snapped shut, and everyone's eyes widened as they stared at Tim. The people who knew him doubly so, as they knew full well he was not only capable of this, but would also have no qualms with carrying it out.

Except for Abraea, who didn't seem like she could care less if she tried.

"What? No." Rose replied, shocked by Tim's question. "Why would you ask that?"

"Well, she tried to kill you, it's only fair." Tim replied, shrugging. "Plus, it's a good way of making sure she doesn't try again in the future."

"Well no, I don't want you to kill her. That'd just make me as bad as her." Rose crossed her arms and made a resolved expression. Whether this was because this was how she truly felt, or because she just wanted to be superior to her step-mother, only she knew. By her side, Meg watched her, and as the meaning of Rose's words sank in, she began to think about her own situation, and the choices she had made.

"Well, fine. Just don't blame me if it comes back to bite you." Tim said, turning away.

"Ahem." The king attempted to regain control of the situation. "Lady Eudicot, your punishment will be decided later. As for you, Lord Eudicot, your crime of infidelity can also not go unpunished."

"Let's be honest," Tim jumped into the conversation again. "The only real crime he committed here was getting caught. How many of the guys in this room are currently desperately trying to remember who, where and when that woman was, and how likely it is you might get a knock on your door?"

A number of women turned to face their husbands in an attempt to see any signs of guilt, but it was hard to tell who was truly guilty and who was merely shaken by the sudden accusation.

"And how many of the women are looking at their kids and thinking "Oh Gods, please let it be his."?"

Eyes widened, and the men now returned the same look to their wives.

"I only say this because I saw all of you nodding to yourselves when Harold said the horny idiot was getting punished too, even though many of you are just as bad. If not worse."

"Are you done?" The king asked, rather annoyed.

"Maybe."

"In any case, these two shall be punished in accordance with their crimes."

"Yeah but they won't be really though will they?" Tim asked, and the king's face turned to him with his annoyance transforming into anger.

"They'll get a slap on the wrist and an early retirement. The only person who's really gonna suffer is their kids who'll have to oversee the area without proper guidance while spending their lives trying to battle against the stigma created for them by these two. Have fun with that by the way."

Tim directed the last part at the teenage boy and girl who were sat next to the lady with looks of abject horror on their faces.

"Why do you insist on undermining everything I say?" The king asked angrily.

"Cause I know I'm not getting invited back, so I may as well air my grievances now."

"Well I can't say you're wrong." The king spat, and before Tim could respond, the king stood up and addressed the room. "My apologies for the appalling turn this night has taken. I suggest we all move to the after dinner room whilst a new meal is prepared for us."

"What's wrong with this one?" Tim asked, seemingly offended.

"It has been left to sit, and has become cold, and thus unfit for consumption." The king responded, his anger at Tim's incessant interruptions thinly veiled.

"Bullshit, it's fine. I'm not letting you waste all this food, you could feed a moderately sized village with all this!"

The king looked at Tim in anger, and his voice took on a threatening tone.

"Remember that you are my guest, and I can revoke that at any point."

"Oh if you want to throw me out you go ahead and try. Let's see what happens."

The two men glared at each other, with Rose and the priest looking between the two with a terrified expression. Meg was about to stand up and try to calm Tim down, when the sound of cutlery clinking together sounded between the two men.

"That was most enjoyable, my compliments your majesty."

"Um... Yes. Thank you." The king responded, looking down in surprise at the calm words spoken from the hitherto silent goddess.

"See." Tim said to the king, and gesturing to Abraea with his hand. "Abby ate it, are you saying what's good enough for her isn't good enough for you?"

"Tim." Abraea cut into the conversation. "Do you know why I do what I do?"

"You... Mean the whole helping people thing? It's cause you like watching people achieving hard won goals right?"

"Correct. I enjoy watching people achieve their desires against the odds, for themselves."

Abraea turned her gaze towards Tim, and the cold anger in her eyes caused him to press his mouth shut.

"Now why don't you sit down, and keep your opinions to yourself until the night is over."

Tim quietly maneuvered to his own seat and obediently sat down.

"As for the rest of you. If you're quite finished with this pathetic display, I suggest you eat your meals, and at least pretend to have some class."

A chilling air seemed to sweep through the people in the room, and they all quietly set about eating their dinners. The king sat down without a word, and Meg returned to her seat. The only people who weren't now eating were Abraea, and the woman who was still passed out, blissfully unaware of what had transpired.

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"Well that could've gone better."

"It could've also gone worse."

"Yeah, I got what I wanted after all."

"I meant that there was a good chance that a number of people could've died. But that too, I guess."

"Nah, Abraea wouldn't let him kick off like that."

"I'm right here you know." Tim butted into the two girls' conversation as they stood in the waiting room after the dinner had ended. The king, the head priest and the adult Eudicots had gone to another room in private to discuss what would happen, and everyone else awaited their return so the head families could have their usual discussion.

"Are you sure you should be talking?" Meg asked him. "Won't Abraea get upset?"

"Well she's wandered off somewhere, so it doesn't really matter does it?"

"She really wasn't happy with you though." Rose said.

"I'm aware. Though it's hard to tell how angry she is sometimes."

"Yeah... You're not wrong." Rose and Tim nodded together in mutual understanding.

"Why?" Meg asked, feeling a little left out.

"She's really bad at showing any kind of affection."

"Yeah, whenever she's pleased she tries to hide it, or use some kind of excuse why she's happy."

"And she always plays up how mad she really is."

"She's kind of fickle like that, and I can never even tell what it is that makes her happy when she does perk up."

"Is it mostly when she's eating?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"She has a sweet tooth."

"Is that so?"

"Yup. And I'm pretty sure her body never changes, so she can eat as much as she wants, and often will if you don't bring attention to it."

"...I have to try this at the wedding."

"You got her to agree to come to a wedding? Whose is it?" Tim asked, surprised that Abraea would bother attending an event like a wedding.

"M-Mine." Rose said, a little taken aback. Though not as taken aback as Tim was. "Did you forget? I know you got the letter."

"What letter?" Tim asked, confused. Then with a darkening expression, he turned to Meg, who avoided his eyes.

"What letter Meg?"

Meg looked around sheepishly.

"Oh, did I forget to tell you? Rose is getting married."

"...Congratulations!" Tim said happily to Rose, before turning back to Meg again. "This isn't over." He said in a low voice, and Meg once again avoided his gaze.

"That aside, we absolutely should see if we can get Abby to show her happy side for a change. Especially since you probably won't see her again afterwards."

"What's this about me?" Abraea asked as she appeared by the group.

"Oh hey Abby." Tim said, as if his previous compliant behaviour never happened. "We were just talking about how bad you are at showing affection."

Abraea glared at Tim. "You got rather brave awfully fast."

"Yeah but you never stay angry for long, too much hassle."

Abraea glared at him for a moment longer, before her stern expression collapsed, and she sighed.

"It's vexing how well you know me." She said, shaking her head.

"So where were you? Off hunting for dessert?"

"No." Abraea said bluntly, an annoyed expression appearing on her face.

"Really? Cause I've got cake if you want some?"

"...You don't even have any, do you?"

"No, but you were hoping weren't you?" Tim said with a smirk, as Abraea glared back at him.

"So what are you going to do now?" Meg interjected before Tim got himself into trouble. "Rose has accomplished her goal, are you going to head off?"

"I'll stick around for a while." Abraea said, turning her attention away from the large child who was still smirking. "I made a promise to attend her wedding after all, and I don't break my promises."

"That's a lie." Tim said, suddenly sulking again.

"I make an exception for you Tim, because you are an asshole."

"Rude."

"So we'll see you at the wedding then?" Meg asked.

"I will be there, yes."

"You seem to be wrapping things up pretty quickly there Meg." Tim said in a lightly accusatory tone.

"Well I thought it would be best if we left sooner rather than later, all things considered."

"That's... Probably not a bad idea actually. Especially taking into account all the prying looks we keep getting!"

As Tim rose his voice at the end of his sentence, he turned his head over his shoulder, just in time to see the people around them nervously glance away.

"One last thing." Tim said, turning back. "Who are you getting married to?"

"One of band members. We met backstage, and things just kept going from there."

"Well good for you, hopefully he can withstand the mountain of weird comments you're going to get now everyone knows your family situation."

"Oh please, I can put up with enough of that for two people. Aside from being told that I was nearly assassinated, there's not much that can catch me by surprise these days."

"Oh really?"

"Yup."

"Well then, before me and Meg go, think about this. Out of the four of us, you're the only one who's under a hundred years old."

Rose seemed to cease functioning for a second as what Tim just said sank in, and she looked at Abraea and Meg, who merely nodded back at her quietly.

"In fact." Tim added. "You're the only one under four hundred."

Rose stared off to the side as the revelation that a good number of the people she was close to were many times her own age. Whilst she was still processing that information, Tim and Meg said goodbye to the two, made their way out of the castle, and headed to the inn where they had booked to stay the night.

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The next day, they began to head back home. A lot had happened the day before, and they both looked forward to getting back to a more familiar setting.

As they were heading back, Tim had an unexpected request to make.

"Meg?"

"Yeah?"

"...Can you teach me how to read?"

"Where did this come from? I thought you didn't care about that?"

"Yeah, well. I've come to realise something."

"...What?"

"Relying on you for delivering information is a terrible idea."

"...You're still upset about Rose's wedding aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Well what if I don't want to teach you?"

"What if I decide I'm not going to cook anymore?"

"Sorry, I'll do it."

"That's what I thought."

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Author's note: I'm gonna be away next week, so chapters not going to go up here until the week after unfortunately. Wordpress allows you to schedule releases, so the chapter will be going up there 3PM GMT. 

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