The name's Edmund. Edmund Smiths. I am just a normal country boy turned rich man through peddling. And now, on my sales trip in the Royal Capital of Tido, I managed to meet the love of my life.

Ahhh... The absolute beauty of Isabella. I really want to bury my face in her ample bosom and--No. I shouldn't be thinking these things. A gentleman would never think of these things.

Calm down.

Caaaalm down.

I'm just going to casually invite her to that park at night to see the rumoured ghost, and then I'll spring a surprise on her with a proposal of marriage.

She will be delighted. She will definitely think I am a man amongst men, and fall for me completely. We will marry, and have many children. Although it is expensive living here in Tido, It will be worth it.

She will definitely love it.

With those thoughts, I invited Isabella for another date when we met again. She agreed. YES!

I can't wait for the night!

                                                             * * *

Oh my god...She...

She accepted it! Yes!!

I embrace Isabella tightly, smelling her unique fragrance. She smells like a flower tonight, just as always. Although I can feel her ample bosoms on my chest, now is not the time to think about that.

I am going to marry Isabella! Words cannot describe how happy I feel right now.

I pulled away from her hug a little bit, just enough that our faces can meet.

It's time to lean forward for the kiss!

The kiss that will seal the deal!

Isabella probably noticed this, because she closed her eyes and pouted her lips a bit.

I, Edmund Smiths, has managed to get a wife! Father, mother, your son has become a man!

I leaned forward for the kiss.

...

Instead of the normal warm feeling of her lips, some type of warm liquid has sprayed onto my face, and some even dripped onto my hands.

Was it a prank by Isabella perhaps?

Opening my eyes hurriedly, the scene in front of my eyes is horrid.

My lovely Isabella has a deep cut through her throat.

So that means the warm liquid on my face is...

I think some of it has gotten into my mouth!!

Argh!!!!

Pulling away, I noticed the figure clad in black behind her.

Wait... Isn't that...?!

I turned around to run. I'm sorry Isabella!

But it was too late.

I felt a sharp pain on my neck, and my strength left me almost instantly.

This... wasn't supposed to happen...

I can't let this person get away...for Isabella...

"Hmph. What easy kills. Thought you could be all lovey dovey in the night and no one will notice eh?"

With the last remaining strength left in my body, I used the blood on my hands to write out what I know.

"....what's this?! You wrote something?! HOW DARE YOU?! JUST...STAY...DEAD!!"

The black figure got mad. I feel many sharp pains in my back. I want to scream, but I can no longer do so.

Turning to see Isabella one last time, I saw...

No way.

You monster!!

                                                             * * *

Loud banging. A sharp voice.

"Tris, waaaaaaaakeeeee uuuuuuuuuuuuuuup!"

Argh. Why does this happen every time...

"Alright alright... gimme a minute..."

After freshening up and changing out of my sleepwear, I opened the door.

"About time you opened up! We got a case Tris! A big one!"

Not another one...

"Oh really? Why not you come inside and we talk about it?"

The woman in front of me rolled her eyes and pulled me out of my door by my ears. Ow ow ow...

"We've got no time detective! Come with me to the headquarters now!"

The woman proclaimed, still dragging me by my ears. It hurts you know... Can you just release your hand? Also, what about my breakfast? Nooooo....

                                                             * * *

The Royal Police Headquarters. A majestic building in the middle of the noble's living area. With a crest of 2 griffins holding up swords, it symbolises ultimate justice.

Currently, I am inside taking a briefing with my partner Eta.

Or rather, Third Princess Eta.

Well, either way, she's my partner, and she also happens to be the one to rudely awaken my sweet dreams every morning. Even though I was eating so much good food...

Anyway, back to the situation at hand.

We are both sitting in one of the meeting rooms, listening to a burly man give us a briefing on the most recent case.

Who is he? Well, he is the Chief Constable of the Royal Police Force, my direct superior you would say. Fourth prince Aven.

Why am I surrounded by royalty? To be completely honest, I don't know myself. I saved Eta during one of my cases and she stuck with me ever since, and she even got her brother, Aven to come to the Royal Police Force with her.

Geez, if I were any other detective, I would have fainted by now from the overwhelming presence in this one room.

Good thing I'm me.

Oh, you don't know who I am?

Well, I'm Tris Asher, the future King of the Kingdom of Glauvania! Ha~ha~ha~ha--nah. I'm just a detective in the Royal Police Force. Although I'm pretty well known due to having solved several hard to crack cases before, I'm not exactly famous either. My name is pretty much only known by those in the police force, of course.

About the current case I am called up for, it seems that there was yet another murder in Lovers' Park. There is currently a serial killer on the loose who seems to be murdering couples as well as assaulting them, and we believe that this current case is also related.

Either way, Aven handed this case to me and asked me to get to the bottom of it, fast.

Despite being royalty, since he is the 4th prince and therefore out of the line of succession, His Highness Aven was a pretty down to earth person. He might look burly on the outside and have a handsome face that doesn't really match his physique, however deep inside, there is a burning desire to eradicate all crime.

After confirming some details and signing some paperwork handed down to me(standard protocol), I headed out to the crime scene with Eta.

Well, its more like Eta dragging me there since she grabbed my hand roughly and pulled me along, but I guess it's the same thing.

                                                             * * *

"Good morning to you, Detective Tris! Good morning to you too, Your Highness!"

The constables stationed near the entrance of the park greeted both of us as we approached.

"Good work gentlemen. Can someone bring us over to the crime scene?"

Getting right to work, I decided to start off by getting to the crime scene and knowing more about the exact details.

One of the constables answered and starting leading us towards the inside of the park.

Lovers' Park's scenery was really nice, with a romantic atmosphere befitting of its name. Well, not that it matters anyway, I'm here for a date with the dead.

"Tris... I've got a bad feeling about this... The last few cases in this park, the victim was..."

Suddenly, Eta spoke in a worried tone.

I know what she was talking about. After all, this series of murders have been covered up pretty nicely by the power of the Crown so far, but as the Royal Police Force, we all know about the freak killings this place went through.

"It's fine Eta. There's always a first for everything."

I assured her in the best way I know how.

The constable leading us stopped.

"We are here."

It was a normal walkway, with some rose bushes as well as some trees nearby. It would probably make a pretty good spot for a proposal.

Right now, however, it was covered with blood, and inside the yucky pool of blood, there are two corpses.

Not exactly the prettiest sight.

Eta covered her mouth with her hand as she gasped.

"Oh no... so what the others said was true...what kind of a monster would do this...?"

Apart from being extremely bloody overall, the corpses were mutilated. The woman apparently had her breasts cut out and the man's privates are also brutally cut off. Truly a gruesome sight.

I would say it's a miracle that Eta didn't scream.

"So uh... What are the details of the victims?"

Forcing myself to continue staring at the crime scene for clues, I asked the constable who respectfully stood behind us.

"The man was Edmund Smiths, pedlar for living. The woman was Isabella Ann, who is the shopkeeper of a groceries shop. Both of them were rumoured to be dating and recently Edmund seemed to be preparing to propose to her. Both of them have cuts to their throats, which were probably the lethal wounds, while the man also received multiple stab wounds to the back. And as you can see, their genitalia were both mutilated, similar to the other murders that have occurred here so far."

Another couple. More genital mutilation.

Definitely more victims to the serial killer.

Hm? What's that? There seems to be extra blood in a spot that wasn't near the puddle of blood.

The man's hand seems to have been there. Perhaps he tried to write a message in blood?

It seems that the murderer noticed though, as the blood is all mixed together and messy now.

Perhaps they knew each other?

"Tris, there doesn't seem to be much clues here, let's go search nearby instead."

With one hand still covering her mouth, Eta pulled on my sleeve and suggested for us to change places.

Well, I guess there's not much else to be seen here, unless you really like bloody corpses that much.

"Alright, let's head out."

"...oh, and I also don't like all this bloo-"

Quickly covering her mouth with both hands, she went to a nearby bush for a bit.

Knowing what is happening, I waited for her return before heading out with her.

                                                             * * *

"Uh hum... You will forget what you just saw, you hear me?"

While blushing a bit, Eta lightly punched my back.

"Your every wish is my command, Your Highness."

I did a knights kneel and joked. Of course, all that earned me was an extra hard chop to my head. Ouch.

Noticing the constable still following behind us, I figured I should give them something to do while we go out searching for more clues.

"Can you go round up the potential suspects and witnesses? Bring them to the headquarters afterwards, I'll interrogate them personally later."

"Yes, detective! Good luck with finding clues! On a side note, have you not been sleeping well? You always seem to have these black eyebags."

Oh...my eyebags. They've been around since as long as I remember. I feel like I've been sleeping well though.

"I have no idea either. Good work so far, keep it up!"

Waving goodbye to the constables, we went around searching for clues.

                                                             * * *

"Alright. So here's what we have so far:

A knife we found by the river with blood on it. Definitely the murder weapon we were looking for.

A bloodied black coat that seems to have been worn by the murderer. We can use that information to sieve out some suspects later, although black coats are in fashion so that won't really help.

Annnnnd that's pretty much it. Darn, there really seems to be no leads on this."

After confirming the evidence that we managed to find, we both came up pretty much empty.

There really isn't much to be said about this case so far. Evidence that doesn't exactly point to anyone, and no eye witnesses to the crime so far. We can't use this to find the murderer, let alone convict the person.

I have one thing I know so far, but it wouldn't exactly be good enough to judge on for now. I'll just hold on to my thoughts.

"Eta, let's head back to headquarters to see if they found anyone so far."

"Alright... Also, can you hold this evidence for me? I don't really like the smell coming out of the evidence bag."

A princess will always be a princess... I guess.

Oops, I said that out loud. Ouch.

                                                             * * *

"So I take it that these are our suspects and witnesses?"

Looking at the people seated in the room, I asked the constable beside me.

"Yes, detective. Including the janitor who spotted all these people, we've rounded up all of them."

The constable answered me, then proceeded to introduce the people here to us.

The janitor is a frail old man who look as if he could be blown away by the wind. There's no way he is the murderer.

Beside him was the other witnesses who came forward after seeing the constables looking for information, Clarence Power.

A young man in his twenties with a handsome face. Wearing a top hat and a black coat while holding a cane in his right hand. Pretty stylish if you ask me.

He worked as a paperboy in the mornings and a waiter at night.

His attire was pretty suspicious to me, but I don't really know fashion so I can't judge. From the way people looked at him though, it seems as if it was nothing too unusual.

When introduced, he stood up and bowed to us.

"Clarence Power, at your service. I-"

"We can save your explanations for later. Now sit down."

Eta was quick to shut him down. Did he offend her somehow?

Sitting opposite them were the suspects. These people were spotted near the park that particular night.

First would be a husband and wife couple. The man was pretty normal looking and he had a smile on while flirting with his wife, a beautiful looking woman. They were the Eld family.

Sein Eld would be the husband while Fealty Eld was the wife. Sein worked as a merchant while Fealty was a genuine housewife.

After their introduction, they simply smiled and nodded at us while remaining seated, then went right back to their flirting.

I feel pinching on my arm. I guess Eta is annoyed at them. I won't blame her, this kind of attitude is unforgivable in front of the Crown.

Next to them is another man in his thirties, Birwyn Bleu. Pedlar for living, he opens a shop next to the female victim's.

He stood up and greeted us when he was introduced, then sat back down. Seems like he was a man of little words.

And our last suspect, a middle aged woman.

"The name's Lihal. Lihal Roth. Make this quick, I still have to go back to my shop."

She stood up and introduced herself before the constable could, and quickly sat back down, staring at me.

I'm no good at staring competitions.

Turning to face everyone, I thanked them for coming.

Explaining that we have a murder case on our hands, I asked them to come with me one by one to have their interrogation.

"Alright, I'll go first, make it snappy detective."

Lihal instantly stood up and walked towards me.

I lead her to my office, with Eta following close behind.

Is it just me or is Eta staring at Lihal very intensely?

The interrogations will now start.

                                                             * * *