That book was very precious to her as it was the only thing Irene had with her when she came to the other world. It also carried a picture of her and her parents with all the ladies dressed as fictional princesses, which is now standing in a nice picture frame on her writing desk. She wasn’t sure how it got in her book as she swore her dad had it in his hands, so she figured her parents’ spirits snuck it in there when she was sent to her new home so she would never forget their faces. Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. 

“Come in,” Irene called out thinking it was her maid Felecia bringing over some food and tea she ordered her to get as she didn’t get the chance to eat at the ball, but to her surprise, it was her mother Magnolia bringing in the tray of foods and tea.

 “Mother, what are you doing here?” Irene asked. 

“Sorry, dear, I asked Felecia to let me handle it as I wanted to talk to you alone,” Magnolia explained as she shut the door behind her and walked right up to where her daughter was sitting, placing the tray down.

“I see you got me a grilled cheese sandwich, creamy tomato soup, and some chocolate chip cookies,” Irene said, noticing the food on her plate.

“And some lavender tea as well, I know they’re your favorites,” Magnolia smiled. 

“I remembered when you asked the chefs to make some of these foods and no one knew how to make them,” Magnolia smiled upon that interesting memory.

“I remember that, too. I decided to just make those on my own” Irene smiled, remembering that incident. 

“Poor Mrs. Crocombe, it took days for her, the kitchen maids, and the scullery maids to fix that kitchen you messed up.

“Hey, how was I supposed to know some of those things were enchanted?” Irene joked, causing Magnolia to laugh. “Mrs. Crocombe is still weary of me whenever I want to make something myself. I feel bad about that.”

“Don’t worry about that, my dear. The servants figured out how to make those foods from your world, it’s a popular snack among the servants in this house even,” Magnolia reassured her daughter. 

“I am grateful for that,” Irene smiled. This was one food from her world that she was able to share with her family and servants, some nobles even asked for the recipe for the soup. No one from her world has ever thought of making soup out of tomatoes as it’s more common to eat them raw or as a sauce.

“Besides, a kitchen is no place for a duchess.”

“Mother, I’m not a duchess yet,” Irene reminded Magnolia. 

“Well, you should be after what you did for the church,” Magnolia huffed. “I remembered it like it was yesterday,” Magnolia said as she began to cry like a baby. 

“Mother, please calm down,” Irene said, hugging her mother. 

"I can't help it! That sisterhood organization idea you came up with really helped lift the burden of the nuns, friars, priests, and priestesses was genius," Magnolia praised in between tears. 

"This was just something common in my home world. The church my birth parents went to had an organization of women that looked after one another and organized charity events,” Irene explained, feeling a little embarrassed about all this.

Eventually Magnolia stopped crying thanks to Irene making her drink some lavender tea. 

“I’m sorry, I always do this when thinking of my children,” she apologized. 

“I think it’s just a mother thing to miss the days when their children were little, so don’t worry about it” Irene reassured her mother before asking. “So what is it you want to talk about?” 

“Oh right,” Magnolia straightened up her back. “Well… it’s about what happened at the ball.” 

“...You're still uneasy with me helping to figure out who killed the princess?” Irene asked. 

“Of course I am! What parent in her right mind would send off their child to perform such a dangerous task? The killer could still be in there lurking around ready to strike again!” Magnolia exclaimed in an exaggerated manner. 

“The royal family asked for my help, Mother. You and Father always said we must do what our monarch commands us to do,” Irene explained calmly. 

“I never thought those words would bite me in the rear,” Magnolia grumbled. “But surely there are exceptions to the rule. You’ve never done this before. This isn’t like one of those puzzle games that you’re very fond of.”

“You think I don’t know that, Mother? You think this doesn’t scare me out of my mind?” Irene argued back, her fists tightening in both fear and frustration.

“Then why did you accept the assignment?” Magnolia asked. “I want to understand why!”

“Because what if it was me?!”

Magnolia blinked, stunned by what she just heard. “I’m sorry?”

“What if it was me who was murdered? Or Jessbelle? Or Ella? Or Violet? Or even Matthew? Wouldn’t you want to find who did it so you can throw them behind bars?” Irene asked her mother. “I know it scares you, Mother, but I can’t just let the culprit roam free and claim another victim. I need to give Aoife the justice that she deserves!”

Magnolia was surprised by her daughter’s resolve. But the more she thought about it the more she realized she too would want justice to anyone who harms her family. Although her version of justice might just involve every existing monster on the planet in a deep pit and throwing the culprit down said pit and letting the monsters tear them apart… 

“I understand now why this is important to you,” Magnolia said in a calm, yet serious voice. “But this will be dangerous, so I need you to promise me you’ll be careful,” she held onto Irene’s hands. “I don’t want to lose you.”

Irene felt bad seeing Magnolia worry so much. But the danger does come with being a detective, as she’s seen with Sherlock Holmes. And again, a promise is a promise, especially when made with the royal family. 

“I’ll try my best, Mother,” she promised. She was once again dragged into her mother’s embrace, content to have received Magnolia’s blessing.