[Back to the present]

“This is Ken, he is in charge of all the servant’s meals.” Martin politely states while grabbing the young boy’s arm. “He may be young but is quite the cook.”

“You praise me too much Sir...” His cheeks turned flushed from embarrassment before noticing the servants behind me. “I’m sorry milady, I have been extremely rude!”

“It is quite alright.” I commented with a charming smile, making the boy, who appeared to be one year older than me, captivated like a child. “I seem to be a bit hungry... Could you perhaps do me something to eat?”

“I wouldn’t dare to...! This is the servant’s kitchen, I don’t have the ingredients that would fit your palate milady...” He lowers his head, unsure of the outcome of the situation.

“Please, I insist.” I reassured him before seeing his eyes glimmer with excitement.

“Then it will be my honor! Do you prefer sweet or salty milady?” Ken’s attention was already on the ingredients that he was so carefully choosing. His eyes traveled to find the best specimens between the servant’s ingredients right before changing to the several pans he was going to use.

‘It seems he is truly a cook...’ For a couple of moments, I questioned his integrity and thus I considered if he really was working here without any ulterior motives but it seems as if my concerns were wrong.

“Did anyone come to the kitchen yesterday morning?” I questioned him while his skilled hands cracked some eggs.

“Not that I recall milady... Well, the head maid dropped by.”

‘The head maid...?’ I glanced over at Millicia who undoubtedly read my mind.

“What did she want?” As Ken’s attention was focused on cooking he was completely honest, not realizing the importance or weight of his own words.

“Some trivial stuff... She asked if I was enjoying things here in the annex and if I wanted to move to the main house.” He sighs. “It’s not like I don’t want to touch all those amazing ingredients but then who would cook healthy meals for them?”

Ken continued to speak without a filter. He said how poor the servants and the guards ate before he came since the previous kitchen staff embezzled the funds given by the Duke to spend in their leisure.

“Martin was the one who found out and reported it to his grace you see? Then he suggested me to the Duke and here I am!” He chuckled while plating the dish. “This was several months ago, maybe a year I think?”

‘What would the head maid gain by removing Ken...?’ I glanced over at the appetizing food. The eggs had been whisked and placed in a rectangular shape while some red and green peppers rested on them. Then, a strange sauce was placed on top, taking a shape I had never seen.

“I did something light since it is the middle of the evening but I hope it will be to your liking milady!” A wide smile appeared on his lips while Martin in an extremely gentlemanly way pushed the chair away, allowing me to sit on it comfortably. 

“It is delicious!” As my lips taste the marvelous dish an overwhelming amount of flavors flow into my mouth.

‘The sweetness of the egg denies the spiciness of the peppers... And this sauce is just...!’ I continued eating it until I finished the whole plate. ‘If he can do this with these ingredients then I can only imagine what he can do with the fresher ones...’

I began to wonder why the head maid intended to make him leave this position. His food was filled with flavors and colors, making it seem as if it were a noble’s food, however, she was willing to let this treatment go?

‘Why...?’ It just didn’t make sense.

“I am truly glad you enjoyed it!” His innocent smile made me feel a pang of slight guilt for doubting him in the first place.

Millicia who had been roaming around the medium-sized kitchen while I ate shook her head, letting me know that the search wasn’t able to find anything.

“Ken, thank you so much for the meal, you are very talented.” I praised him while getting up and heading towards the exit. “Don’t forget that.”

“Thank you milady!” His cheeks were blushed from ear to ear as we left the kitchen annex.

 

‘Dammit... Where could it be...?’ Somehow my gut was telling me that I was missing something important. ‘Think Ophelia think...!’

The servants couldn’t enter the guard's annex and none of the men working with Dan would sell him out, that much I already knew. According to Martin, that man didn’t have any visitors either except when his wife saw him, a couple of days after the incident.

‘Most likely to tell him the bad news...’ Unconsciously, I started biting my fingers aggressively as I felt a large sense o frustration fill my body.

“Don’t hurt yourself.’ Jade placed his hand on top of mine, removing it softly.

“That’s it! How could I be so foolish!?” Without explaining anything else I head back towards Dan’s room in a rush.

 

✽✼✽✼✽✼✽

 

[Earlier that day]

“Haven’t you heard?” A male guard in his thirties commented while eating his lunch.

“No, I heard nothing of the sorts.” Another man stood in front of him, however, his age was considerably lower.

“I still don’t know how it could’ve happened like this... We were all watching him and now he just disappeared!”The first man spoke again before grabbing the bread and digging it inside the water, allowing it to become softer and easier to consume.

“What are you two talking about?” Curious about the conversation, Winston approached them. For several hours now he had noticed the intense instability among the guards and thus, mimicking the noble people, gossips flew through the air. The problem remained that the majority of these rumors were cut in half, not explaining anything properly.

“Dan disappeared from his room. Sir Martin is trying to find some leads before telling the Duke but I don’t know man... It seems too strange.” He continued speaking. “Maybe he tried to find his ex-wife but why would he do it now? He was always complaining of the pain...”

“Do you think he’s dead?” The younger man spoke before chugging down the whole water cup. “I mean, with that wound... There’s no way he can survive without the doc’s help.”

“...” While the two-man talked, Winston just stood around, observing them carefully while retaining information.

‘Dan’s missing?’ His eyebrows furrowed down as he began to consider every possible scenario for these unreasonable actions. ‘I should check his quarters, maybe I’ll be able to find something useful.’

“Hey! Where are you going, Winston?” Without caring to reply to the two talkative men, he simply walked towards the door, heading to the room that Dan was currently using.

 

Much to his surprise, his little trip is prevented by an overwhelming amount of guards who were following something around, just like wolves surrounding their prey. After squeezing through he managed to reach the front and he finally saw it.

‘Ophelia...!’ The young maiden was walking gracefully behind Martin, the head of the guards as they both headed towards Dan’s chambers. ‘What is she doing here?’

Winston couldn’t understand why she was doing such a thing in the first place. That woman wouldn’t do anything without a proper reason. She had to win something with this. The question that remained was: What could she possibly win with this?

“I never imagined that you had to educate little boys who haven’t left their mother’s care Sir Martin...” Her voice was loud making all the gossiping guards shut up on the spot.

“Who does she think she is?” Even then, the ones who resented her deeply still spoke but they were too far away from being heard.

The head of the guards was attempting to turn a blind eye to the guard's unrespectful behavior, however, with Ophelia’s interaction, he could no longer remain ignorant. His eyes glared down at us right before a loud yet authoritarian voice is heard.

“Who gave you permission to leave your posts!?” He yelled, annoyed at how this situation had turned out. “This is not a show! Go back to your duties!”

Displaying his true power ended up being the right move since, with just a couple of words, the majority of the guards left, worried about the repercussions that would follow if they disobeyed Martin’s commands any further.

“Tsk. Lapdog.” One of the guards commented, displeased with the decision of his superior.

‘The hierarchy is failing...’ Winston glances over at Ophelia who smirked once their eyes connected. ‘And she is the cause...’

It was clear that this woman was much more than he had originally expected. Deep down his resolve was beginning to get shaken up as he could see how much Ophelia influenced the tides of power.

‘Let’s watch for now...’ Without making a sound, he moved behind a tree close to Dan’s quarters and stood there, patiently listening to their discoveries.

 

✽✼✽✼✽✼✽

 

[Back to the present]

“It has to be here!” I burst the door open and quickly walked towards some of the used bandages before beginning to straighten them up, one by one.

“Master I can...” Jade immediately grew quiet once he saw how focused I was.

“Found it!” After five long minutes, I was finally able to find the small paper.

It was in the only place that made sense: next to its kin. At first, I thought he would read the paper and leave it in the tray since his reasoning was quite fuzzy from the drugs but since he was sane enough to write a diary, he was sane enough to hide it properly. The paper never went to the kitchen, it was here, all along, mixed up with the rest of this half bloody – half clean bandages.

“I know what you want. I want her dead too. Meet me in the front gate at sunset.” I read the note before getting up from the dirty floor. “It seems he was lured out with the pretext of my death... Someone must’ve known about his hatred.”

“Dan... You truly...!” Martin was disappointed since he never thought that he would be able to stand so low. “But how did that get here?”

“Isn’t it obvious? The kitchen. That’s the only common place between the guards and the servants.” Jade declared and Millicia who stood behind him nodded in agreement.

‘It is true... None of the guards seem to have been replaced...’ I needed to consider this situation carefully.

“Are you saying one of my men did it!?” Martin quickly put up his barrier against the man who was coldly glaring at him, without a single shred of compassion.

“No. Someone from the main house placed the note on his tray and one of your guards unconsciously took it to him.” I declared carefully. “That’s all there is to it.”

“Then that means the servant can read and write! We can just find all the servants that have that knowledge and interrogate them!” His eyes sparkled as he foolishly thought he was near to the conclusion of the case.

“Are you seriously that dumb?” Jade looked at the guard in shock at his naiveness. “They could’ve received the note from someone else and placed it there.”

“It is as he says, Sir Martin. Anyone could’ve done it.” A sigh escaped my body and I headed towards the door. “Millicia take us to where you last saw Dan.”