Suzette sighed again on the terrace, she put her book down and was already on her fifth cup of tea. She looked out towards the sky, the sun still blaring not yet ready to set. There was no point in denying that Theodore was still on her mind. She had hoped the investigation was going well, a little bit ago, she overheard her parents talking about hiring a therapist to go towards Cynthia's recovery.

            As she looked down from the terrace, she saw her sister attempting to go on a walk, but she was fidgeting and scared, she had many knights and maids surrounding her but that wasn't enough. Even though Suzette didn't see it happen, she suspected that Cynthia was taken from near the garden on her way to class. She was kept away from the unconscious guards during the incident so she wasn't sure about the exact location, but she could venture a guess.

            Beatrice broke her out of her daze and offered her another cup of tea, at this point, Suzette declined, "I think I've had enough tea for the time I've been out here."

            She put down her cup and shut her book as Beatrice began to clean up everything. Taking one last look at the garden below, Cynthia and her guards had already left, moving back inside.

Duke Theodore arrived outside the baronet's estate via carriage, the rest of his knights came with him in droves as they put the entire estate on lockdown, meeting up with the investigation team that was already there. Going from the ledger, he called the girls names, one by one, it wasn't clear from the ledger which girls were buried and he wanted to send them back home as soon as possible.

            There were thirty girls in this room, another ten were found buried underneath the rose bush like the man said. Once everyone was round up, the staff was arrested as accessories to kidnapping and murder--their fate being undecided as of yet, while the girls were moved to the several carriages that he brought. The hardest part would be returning all the girls and having to break the news to the families that wouldn't be able to hold them again.

            They would be relocating the remains, of course, but they needed to prepare them in caskets for the families to bury, as they didn't want any possible infections--such as the plague, to spread. The unfortunate girls looked like they had been dead at least a few months, at least those families will have closure.

            Once they had arrived into the dead center of the city, the citizens walking on the sidewalk stopped and stared, as the carriages stopped themselves. The citizens looked confused as to what was happening, when the doors to them burst open and the missing girls came flooding out. There were knights on standby, making sure that they didn't get lost or kidnapped again.

            Some of the girl's parents were in the street, running towards their children, others dropping down in relief as their daughters came to greet them. Duke Theodore and his knights heard more thank you's today than they had heard their entire career. The crowd began to disperse, leaving a few mothers and fathers who were anticipating their own children's arrival. It was then that they knew who they had to break the news to.

            Duke Theodore stepped into the center of the crowd still waiting for their children and spoke in a somber tone, "I'm glad that through my team and investigation we were able to find the missing girls, however, I am sorry to say that we were too late to save them all, the ten girls that those of you are still waiting for, will be sent to you via casket at a later time. I'm regretful and sorry for your loss."

            All he could hear was the screaming, the long-drawn out, "Noooooo!" It left such a bitter feeling in his mouth. While they didn't blame him directly, he was sure they were cursing him in their thoughts. His hands were balled into a fist and they began to shake at the utter despair before him.    

            "The one who kidnapped them and killed them will be later put on display for his execution once the emperor approves. Please save your anger for that day." Duke Theodore's somber voice continued.

            He listlessly walked back into his carriage, as he could still hear the wails of grief behind him, once he was sitting in his carriage, he slammed his fist against the wall, "Dammit!"

In their previous timeline, he was not a head of--or part of the investigation, as he was trying his best to keep Suzette calm, but he did remember that the investigation went on for a long time and the emperor lost face. If he had even asked about the case details from the previous noble who was heading it, he would've been able to crack down on this case and save the victims a lot earlier--and Cynthia would've never had to go through with it, either.

            He had noticed that most of the children looked between the ages of eight to ten, the dead victims looked to be a bit older, probably around twelve to thirteen, he would have to send for doctors to do an autopsy before sending them back. It wouldn't bring their daughters back, but he planned on compensating the grieving families by splitting the assets from the seized baronet's estate equally amongst them.  

            He gnashed his teeth and pulled on his hair roughly, as he ended up silently sobbing in his carriage. While most nobles didn't care for commoners at all, in his territory he was quite close to them and listened to their needs. He knew his territory would be nothing without them and so he kept his taxes rather low so they wouldn't leave--he had more than enough assets to compensate. However, at his estate in the capital, things were different, he wasn't close to the people here. He could see himself being blamed for letting things transpire to this state. If the commoners revolted the emperor would have no choice but to listen to them, it could be revocation of his title and assets, he could have his territory seized, or it could end up in his death--even though he was essentially the emperor's nephew.

            He needed to finish his report to the emperor before things escalated to that point, which was the first thing he did once he returned home, ignoring his want for food and a bath, but most of all, he wanted Suzette to hold him. By midnight, his butler had urged him to sleep and he only relented because he finished his long report. It was several sheets of paper that were written with a typewriter. He knew his penmanship would falter due to his utter exhaustion.

            He still had things to settle tomorrow, he had to send the report, he needed to send for some doctors and he needed to remove that man's contract stone somehow, he had hoped that perhaps a biopsy would do the trick but he wasn't a doctor and wasn't sure if that was the right method, he wasn't even sure where the contract stone was in his body. He felt a headache coming on and began massaging his forehead.

            No matter how exhausted he felt, he was awake until sunrise. His eyes were red from being open for so long, and he was beginning to form black bags under them as well. He held onto his face and groaned, no matter how exhausted he felt--there was no rest for the wicked. He sat back at his desk, only quickly eating and bathing, writing letters to the doctors he planned on summoning. It would probably take two days for them to receive the letter, ringing his bell for his butler who he handed them over to.

            He then folded and tied his report up and snuck it into his pocket, asking for one of his carriages to be prepared as his destination was the palace. He loosened his cravat slightly as it was too tight around his neck, it felt as if he still had a rope around him. Once the palace was in his sights, the knights of the palace greeted him.

            He didn't take any knights with him, as he kept Leorand in control of his estate, not to mention, he didn't really need one--he was quite skilled with a sword. However, he was an important figure, only behind the imperial family themselves and so the knights insisted upon escorting him inside.

            As he walked down the massive hallway, the maids stopped and stared at him in awe, he paid no heed to them. Eventually they made their way towards the audience chamber, the doors themselves were thick and adorned with several types of jewels--diamonds included. Once he was announced and walked in, the emperor looked down at him. He was full of dignified reverence--of course he would have to be, Theodore Chelvion was distantly related to him, after all.    

            Duke Theodore Chelvion bowed before him, "Your imperial majesty, I have come with the first half of my report." He slid his hand into his breast pocket to take it out, with the emperor's permission. As soon as the report was in the emperor's hands, he stroked his long white beard, as he read through the contents he felt the same headache that Duke Theodore Chelvion felt.

            "Thus far, good work. I look forward to the rest of your report and as for the baronet's execution that will be decided once I have the entirety of your report." His imperial majesty handed him back the contents of his report and excused him. Duke Theodore bowed before leaving. As he sat back in his carriage, he leaned his head against the wall, his exhaustion was catching up again, I want to see her...