“Are you crazy!?” Magnolia shrieked. 

“Ummm… are you sure about this, dear sister?” Lucas asked, just as shocked as his mother.

“I am, I’d like to compare the mark on my neck to the marks on the princess’s neck,” Irene reassured Lucas. He nodded, realizing what his sister was doing. 

“Okay, I need a volunteer,” he then called out to his men, who all looked at him like he was crazy. 

“Absolutely not! I will not let your men choke my baby!” Magnolia scolded her son. 

“Mother, it’s okay, it’s only for a few seconds,” Irene reassured her mother. 

“No, it’s not okay! It’s dangerous!” her mother argued with her. 

“Mother, just let her. She knows what she's doing,” Lucas joined in taking Irene’s side. 

“But why, why must you do something this dangerous?” Magnolia asked, growing hysterical by the second. 

“Because I’m not so sure the princess took her own life,” Irene confessed. 

Everybody with working ears nearby all looked at her completely silent from the shock by her statement. 

“What are you talking about? I saw my own sister jump to her death!” Alexander protested, his eyes filled with anger. “There was no other person in that room!” 

“Well, where were you when our dear sister jumped, Alex?” Dimitri asked his little brother, trying to remain calm and rational. 

“I told you, I needed to relieve myself in the chamber room!” Alexander reminded his elder brother. 

“What’s going on?” Irene asked Lucas, confused. 

“Well, from what I heard, Alexander was upstairs with his twin sister in her room trying to help her fix something on her dress, and left for a moment to use the chamber room,” Lucas told her. 

“That would explain what he was doing up there,” Irene thought. 

“I saw her with the rope on her neck and jumping to her death!” Alexander argued with Dimitri.

“STOP! BOTH OF YOU!” the queen shouted at her sons and both quickly shut up as ordered. “I understand you’re both upset about all this, but if there is a chance Aoife didn’t take her own life, don’t you want to find out who is responsible for taking our beloved Aoife from us?” Lorelei asked her two boys who both looked at each other and nodded in agreement. 

“I doubt the daughter of Magnolia can find anything,” Alexander scoffed a little. The queen ignored the remark and looked at Irene.

“Anabelle tells me a lot about how smart you are. If she trusts your intellect, then so do I. So do your experiment, my dear, and let's put this matter to rest. That is an order.” 

“Just be careful not to get hurt, '' King Hubert added, feeling a little uneasy about all this. Still, he was just as eager to know the truth just as much as his wife is. 

“Well, you heard their Majesties,” Lucas said to both Irene and Magnolia, but mostly to Magnolia who was still fuming at this but relented. An order is an order, after all. 

Lucas chose his strongest man, a red-haired man named Bob to choke his sister with the rope that originally hung around the princess’ neck as it was the closest rope available. He stood behind, feeling nervous about all this. 

“Uh… are you sure about this?” he asked nervously. “I mean, you're the captain’s sister, and if anything happens to you…” 

“Don’t worry, when you hear the word ‘apple’ you let go and it’s only for a few seconds, so don’t worry I’ll be fine,” Irene reassured the guard. 

“And I’ll be right here in case anything happens,” Lucas added to reassure Bob, which didn’t really work as it just didn’t feel right choking his boss' younger sister. 

“It just feels wrong, sir,” he confessed. 

“How about this? Pretend I’m the guy that your wife was having an affair with?” Irene suggested. Seconds later, she felt the rope suddenly tighten around her neck and she began finding it hard to breathe. “Ack! Apple, apple, apple!” Irene cried out, but Bob didn’t stop. Luckily, Lucas and a couple of his men yanked Bob off of Irene and got him to calm down. Once Bob has pulled away from Irene, Magnolia swooped in to catch Irene and help her catch her breath.

”That was fun,” Irene choked out sarcastically while trying to breathe. 

“Just take it easy,” Magnolia instructed while keeping her daughter steady.

Once stable, Irene asked her mother. “Look at my neck.” 

Magnolia looked and saw the marks left behind by the rope. “What a hideous mark, why in the world would you choose to ruin your pretty neck?” she asked, scolding her daughter for the dangerous stunt she pulled. 

“It’s important, now compare them to the marks on the princess’s neck, please.” 

“Why?” Magnolia asked, confused. 

“Just look, Mother, Irene knows what she’s doing” Lucas reassured his mother. 

“Fine, I’ll take a quick look,” Magnolia said reluctantly, feeling both nervous and disturbed to be near a dead body. 

“Look at the mark the one under the chin mark,” Irene instructed. Magnolia took a good look at the mark where her daughter said it was. 

“I’m looking at it,” she told Irene, having no clue what to do now. 

“Does it look like the one on my neck?” Irene asked, walking up to her mother, now fully recovered from her experiment. 

“As a matter of fact, yes!” Magnolia said, her eyes widening upon realizing that her daughter was right. 

“Well, looks like suicide wasn't the cause of death,” Irene concluded. “It was caused by strangulation.”

Everyone in the vicinity was stunned into silence at what Irene had just announced. 

Anabelle was the first to speak up 

“Who…who would want my sister dead?” the poor princess asked standing up shaking “She was the sweetest person in the whole wide world! Why would anyone want to kill her?!” the princess was practically screaming with rage. 

“Anabelle, calm down,” Dimitri said, restraining her in fear she might do something crazy. 

“Now look, you made our sister upset!” Alex scolded Irene.

“Hey, don’t blame my sister for that!” Lucas protested. “Your twin has been murdered, I think your sister has the right to be angry, I’d be too if somebody killed my sister!” 

“Both of you calm down! This is no time for useless bickering!” Zetian scolded the two men. 

“Stay out of this, ambassador!” Alexander snapped at the foreign princess. 

“Hey, don’t talk to my friend like that, jerk!” Irene snapped, coming to her friend’s defense. 

“Haven’t you caused enough problems!” Alexander snapped back at Irene. Things were getting pretty ugly, but it all halted when the king shouted at the top of his lungs. 

“That’s enough, all of you!” King Hubert walked right up to his youngest son. “I understand you're upset about all this, but it doesn't give you the right to take your frustrations out on everyone,” he scolded his son. He remained quiet looking away in shame. Something, Irene noticed he always does when Alexander is being scolded. 

“Apologies, your Highness” Lucas quickly apologized. 

“Tonight has been hard for all of us, my boy,” the king reassured the captain. “Now, we have to think rationally about all this and what to do next.” 

“We will need to properly investigate the crime scene and talk with all the staff members to see if they had seen anything,” Lucas suggested, remembering his training in the academy. 

“Irene,'' Anabelle spoke up. “I want Irene to find who did this so justice can be served,” she said, crying but also sounding more serious. “Please Irene, find the monster. Avenge Aoife!” the princess begged her best friend, who was surprised by her request. 

“Why me?” Irene asked. 

“With all due respect, your Majesty, my sister is not experienced in these things,” Lucas spoke up. “No offense,” he then added, looking at Irene. 

“None taken,” Irene agreed with her brother. 

“Because… You can see things others are blind to,” Anabelle pointed out, and she wasn't wrong. The guards didn’t notice the odd mark on the deceased princess’s body. “Please, find the person who did this and bring them to justice!'' The morning princess begged as she knelt on the ground in front of her friend, surprising everyone. Rarely had royalty bowed to anyone lower than them in ranks, and when they do this, that meant they were really serious about what they were pleading for. And to top it all off, the king and queen joined their daughter in begging Irene.

“My children often talk about how smart you are and how sharp your eyes are, and after seeing you in action today, I see they were not exaggerating,” Lorelei spoke up. 

“And we heard about how you were able to defend yourself when Adrian tried to harm you, so I know you can handle yourself,” Hubert added. “So please, help us find who did this!” the king begged. 

“Father, this is absurd!” Alexsander protested. “This woman has no experience in this, she can barely function as a human being!” That comment earned Alexander a bloody nose from Dimitri who was fuming with anger, surprising everybody. 

“Don’t you ever talk to Irene about that!” he shouted at his brother, now holding his nose. Alexander wanted to say something but the maid Loply stopped him and whispered something in his ear. The second prince just glared at both Dimitri and Irene before walking away with the bunny maid right behind him, tending to his bloody nose. 

“Dimitri, don't you think that was unnecessary?” Hubert scolded his eldest son. 

“He insulted my friend, what if someone insulted Mother or Ana like that?” the crown prince asked his father, who remained silent, which acknowledged that he would do the same thing. 

“Dimitri, are you alright?” Irene asked, walking up to the prince. 

“I'll be fine,” Dimitri reassured Irene. 

“Let me at least wipe the blood off your hands,” she offered as she got out her handkerchief. Dimitri smiled and gave her his bloody hand. Using the handkerchief Irene whipped the blood off his hand. Thank heavens it was not Dimitris's blood, still, it needed to be cleaned up otherwise cross contamination would happen. 

“Thank you, I’m sorry you had to use your good handkerchief,” Dimitri apologized. 

“I can always clean or replace it, but you're irreplaceable,” Irene smiled at the prince, she then noticed the prince blushing at her, making her smile more. He looked cute when he did that. 

Magnolia then interrupted the two. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I don’t want to keep my husband and daughters waiting on us,” she reminded her daughter. 

“Sorry about that, Mother. I was not expecting the royal family to ask me to help them,” said Irene. 

“Don’t worry dear, you don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Magnolia reassured her daughter. She had a feeling this was overwhelming to her, as a lot of things usually are. 

But to her surprise, Irene insisted, “But I want to help.” The middle-aged duchess was caught off-guard by this.

“Their daughter was just killed, and the murderer is still out there. Don’t you want him or her caught and brought to justice?” Irene asked her mother. 

“Yes, I do. But why get involved? It might be dangerous!” Magnolia asked, trying to keep it together as the idea of any of her daughters getting hurt terrified her. 

“Maybe it will, but the royal family needs me,” Irene said, turning her head towards them. “It’s our job to help when the country is in trouble is it not?” She then turned to Aoife’s dead body. “Besides, both princesses had been good friends to me ever since I first came to this world. I want to return that kindness back to them,” Irene then knelt by Anabelle's side. “I’ll help whatever I can. He or she will rule the day he ever harmed my friends” she promised the princess. 

Anabelle hugged Irene in response. “Thank you, thank you!” the princess cried repeatedly, grateful to be blessed with a wonderful friend. 

“Looks like I’m a real detective, Mom, Dad,” Irene thought as she couldn't help but smile a little as it was a little exciting for her. She’s always wanted to do this, and now this was her chance. 

So get ready, murderous scum. Detective Irene is on the case!