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Chapter 63
After successfully finishing her conversation with Charles, Emily returned home safely.
“Did anything happen today?”
Everyone in the Star estate had been waiting at the entrance, worried about her safe return.
“No, nothing happened.”
She purposely didn’t mention Charles, thinking it would only cause unnecessary concern.
“Really, no one recognized you, Madam?”
“Hm? Oh, no.”
At her reply, Cézanne and Johann high-fived each other, their faces proud as if to say, See? Our disguises are the best.
“Have you eaten?”
“Yes, I even had dinner, so you don’t have to worry.”
“That’s a relief. By the way, did you manage to find out anything?”
Johann asked while taking her bag from her.
“There were too many suspicious things, so I wrote them down for us to discuss.”
“Knew it!” Johann said with excitement.
As soon as Emily settled on the sofa, everyone crowded around her.
“These are photos from the autopsy report. I secretly brought them, but I have to return them tomorrow.”
Though the corpse photos were graphic, no one blinked an eye—after all, they were all mafiosi.
“The killer was right-handed.”
As expected, Johann noticed it immediately.
“They must have acted in a rush. If they’d known Lord Killian was left-handed, they would have used a left-handed killer.”
Emily agreed with Alvin’s remark.
“That’s what I thought while going through the investigation log. The plan wasn’t meticulous—more like something thrown together in haste.”
“Then the culprit must’ve had powerful backing to not worry about sloppiness.”
Johann’s observation was sharp.
“And when was the body said to be discovered?”
“The day after Foundation Day.”
Johann studied the photos from different angles with intense focus.
“This person actually died on that day—not the day after.”
“Eh? How do you know that?” Alvin asked in awe.
“Look. No flies or maggots on the face or body.”
Emily added an explanation.
“It’s summer. Within just a day, insects appear. There’s no way the corpse would be this clean unless it was found almost immediately.”
“So, the body was discovered right away.”
Ivan, the most hot-blooded of the group, raised his voice in agitation.
“Then they must have deliberately falsified the date to Foundation Day—so it’d be harder to prove Lord Killian’s alibi!”
“Exactly. With Count Blois’s testimony backing it up, that date would’ve been most convenient.”
“And most telling of all, look at these livor mortis marks.”
Johann pointed at the corpse photos.
“After 10 hours, the skin should be stained a dark reddish-brown, but in these photos it isn’t. Meaning, when these were taken, only a few hours had passed since the murder.”
Cézanne, who had been studying the case files, spoke up.
“It was a remote area, yet the guards arrived immediately after the killing… Someone from the guards must have colluded with the killer.”
Emily and Alvin secretly exchanged glances.
That someone is the Crown Prince.
Still, just with the details Emily had gathered, Killian had already been pulled far away from suspicion. Johann asked hopefully:
“If this is revealed at trial, won’t it prove Uncle isn’t the culprit?”
“Hmm…”
Alvin stroked his chin, pessimistic.
If it were the Crown Prince, he would’ve already filled the court and jury with his own men.
“Why not?”
“I just don’t think this alone will satisfy the jury.”
Johann’s face fell into gloom again.
“When’s the next re-examination?”
“In two days.”
“This time, you should focus on defense wounds. You still remember how to identify them, right?”
Emily nodded at Johann’s words.
“Yes. If it was one of Giuliano’s men who killed him, then there might not be any defense wounds.”
“Exactly.”
At those words, everyone in the Star household turned to stare at her in shock.
“Madam, how can you examine the body yourself?”
“That’s right, Madam. It’s too much.”
But Emily spoke lightly, as if it were nothing.
“Johann gave me autopsy lessons. I’ve seen over a hundred corpse photos already. I think I’ll manage fine in person.”
“But seeing pictures is not the same as seeing the real thing.”
Even Cézanne looked worried.
“I’ll just think of it as a creepy doll.”
Johann recalled their first autopsy lesson—how Emily had calmly looked at the corpse photos without flinching.
“Mm. Emily’s braver than you’d think.”
Even so, the others still didn’t look convinced.
“It’s true,” Emily said firmly, forcing them to drop the subject.
Meanwhile, Chili raised her hand cautiously.
“What exactly was the item of Lord Killian’s that they said was found at the scene?”
“I don’t know. Information about witnesses and evidence is being kept by Nick Moore. Supposedly, it’ll be revealed in court.”
“Tch, how stingy.”
Ivan pouted.
“Once the trial ends, I’ll grind that Nick Moore into dust from head to toe.”
He’d already cursed him hundreds of times while cleaning the mansion Nick had turned upside down.
“Of course. I’ll rip out that cursed tongue of his too,” Roxy added fiercely.
“Haah… I just hope Lord Killian gets out safely.”
At Chili’s words, everyone in the Star estate let out a sigh, resting their chins in their hands. Without Killian, the mansion remained gloomy.
Meanwhile, Killian, whom everyone worried about, was actually adapting quite well to prison life.
“Lord Killian, should I go get you another fried egg?”
The so-called “Dmitri’s little brothers” were absurdly friendly.
“No, I don’t need it.”
So friendly, in fact, that sometimes it was downright annoying.
“Lord Killian, after lunch, would you care to join us for some exercise in the yard?”
“Not really.”
Killian glanced at Dmitri, silently telling him to send them away. Dmitri smiled and shooed them off gently.
To Killian, in this ugly place, Dmitri was almost the only tolerable sight.
The “little brothers” reluctantly tore their eyes from Killian and shuffled out.
“Please be patient with my brothers.”
“I try, but the way they look at me makes my skin crawl.”
“No way.”
Dmitri thought Killian was just being overly sensitive as he cleared the trays.
“The trial is soon.”
He checked the calendar.
“If things go badly and I’m released before you, I’ll see if there’s a way to reduce your sentence.”
“Why would you do that?”
Killian looked puzzled. Dmitri laughed.
“Because I live and die by loyalty. You’re someone our boss cares about, and I’ve grown fond of you too. If I can help, I should.”
That explanation only confused Killian more. Fond of me? After just a few days? Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he eyed Dmitri and the door his “brothers” had exited through.
Wait… don’t tell me they…
“Dmitri, do you know I’m married?”
Dmitri frowned.
“Why ask that out of nowhere?”
“I’m just wondering if you know I’m living with a wife.”
“Are you rubbing it in a bachelor’s face? Yes, I know very well—you married the most beautiful woman in the Empire!”
“So, you do know.”
“Of course!” Dmitri said, clearly offended, standing up abruptly.
“Once I get out of here, I’ll get a girlfriend too.”
“Not a boyfriend?”
Dmitri snapped his head around to glare at him.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“…Nothing. I must’ve misunderstood.”
Dmitri didn’t even want to know what Killian thought he’d “misunderstood.”
“Just to be clear, my brothers are all straight too.”
“That’s a relief.”
Killian decided that, as expected, handsome men were always irritating. Dmitri, still frowning, tidied up.
“Killian Star.”
The guard’s voice called him for the first time in a while.
“Visitor.”
Dmitri immediately looked at him enviously.
“Is it the Marchioness again, like last time?”
Until he reached the visiting room, Killian didn’t know who it was. He shrugged and followed the guard with a calm face. But inside, he was tense.
“Regulations are stricter now. Visiting time cannot exceed five minutes.”
The guard said this, then quietly shut the door.
A slender woman in a hat sat with her back turned.
Killian, thinking it was Emily, almost called out in relief—but stopped.
“Lord Killian.”
This time, the visitor was not Emily.
