The interrogations went on like that for an hour or two with Irene hyper-focused on jotting down everything the servants did and saw that day, even if it was useless everyday accounts to turn the tides on this mystery. But she was so focused on her work that she forgot to eat when noon came around. Lilith had to drag Irene to the kitchen and lock her in there to get her to eat to replenish her energy. Cruel but effective, since Irene eventually ate some sandwiches the cooks happily provided for her. After thanking the cooks, Irene returned to the room to resume her interrogations. Lilith was still in the drawing room, reviewing the notes while Irene took a lunch break. Once she returned, Lilith got up to greet the young lady.

“I trust you have eaten,” the Luciferian asked

“Thanks to your cruel methods,” Irene jokingly replied. Once on the couch, Irene continued, “But still, thank you for making sure I ate. I tend to forget the bare necessities whenever I’m hyper-focus on something.”

“Perhaps one of those mechanical alarm clocks could help?” Lilith suggested.

Irene thought for a moment, “I can see that working, but I hate the loud noise it makes.” She cringed at the bad memories of hearing one of those loud clocks. That was when an idea came to her. “Say, do you think they can make one that plays nice music, like a music box?” she asked.

“As interesting of an idea it is, we do have a murder to solve” Lilith responded.

“You're right,” Irene agreed, getting her notes out, “let’s continue.”

One by one, the two ladies interviewed more staff members working that night, but every story was the same, working in the ballroom, or getting caught by Jessica. Irene was getting bored as she couldn’t seem to find another clue. But this didn’t last long when the servant Irene wanted to talk to the most came in. It was the Usagi, Loply Fluffyton, that Irene was eager to talk to as there was a possibility that she was a key witness. 

Irene got up and bowed to the Usagi, no curtsy but a bow with hands down to her sides as she said, “Good afternoon Miss Fluffyton.”

Loply stared at the blond lady, a little surprised, and asked, “You know how my people greet each other?”

Irene smiled as she stood up straight, “I do a lot of reading and studying about this world and read a bit about the country of Edo and your country’s customs.”

Though nervous, the Usagi bowed the same way and said “Thank you,” before she sat down. 

The country of Edo was an island nation east of Jin Long and home to various beast races including the rabbit people the Usagis. They were quite known for growing a rare type of rice

known as moon rice as it can only be grown under the moonlight with the right conditions, and only they know how to grow it and make delicious dishes from it.

“Name and occupation for the record,” Lilith asked.

“L…Loply Fluffyton,” the Usagi nervously answered, “I work as the personal maid to 2nd princess Aoife, or…used to” 

The poor rabbit maid looked very tense when she said that. Irene made a note of it in her notebook.

“Can you tell us what you did that night,” she asked.

The Usagi maid fidgeted with her fingers and her eyes for some reason. She took a deep breath and began “I was mostly in the back room,” her voice sounding nervous.

“What were you doing back there?” Irene asked. The maid remained quite nervous about talking about that.

“You can tell her,” Lilith spoke up, “she’s trustworthy.”

“I was crying,” Loply blurted out, “my boyfriend told me he never loved me and only used me for stress relief” A few tears fell from the maid’s face. Irene took out a handkerchief and gave it to the maid. She looked at Irene and asked “You sure? It’s a nice handkerchief.”

“You need it more than me right now,” Irene said as she placed the handkerchief in Loply’s hand.

The Usagi maid took the handkerchief and dried her eyes.

“Thank you.” After drying her eyes, Loply continued. “I was so upset about the breakup, that I didn’t feel like doing anything. Then Miss Nightingale came into the back room to see what was going on and after telling her what happened she… went into soldier mode and made me shout ‘I deserve better’ for a good few minutes” 

Irene looked at Lilith, surprised she did something like that. It almost sounded like something out of those movies she used to watch with her birth parents.  “Why did you do that?” she asked.

“Miss Fluffyton needed to see how short-sighted her ex was for using her like that,” Lilith replied, “as well as to focus on the party. We were on the clock, after all.”

“It did help me feel better at the time,” Loply said gratefully, “so thank you, Miss Nightingale.”

“Just doing my job to make sure all employees are mentally okay,” Lilith humbly responded, “Now back to that night.”

“Yes…” Loply grew nervous again, “I was told to go and check on Princess Aoife, she and her brother were taking a long time”

“Can you tell me exactly what you saw in that room?” Irene asked with pen and notebook in her hand. Loply however went silent and started to tumble with her fingers. Her eyes even stared at the door behind Irene and Lilith for some reason. 

“I…I knocked on the door asking the princess if everything was ok…” she eventually spoke up, “when I got no answer I opened the door… and…” Loply clammed up suddenly. Irene initially thought the Usagi maid was traumatized by what she saw, but her mannerisms said otherwise. Her eyes kept darting towards the door more, her hands kept tumbling, and her ears were down. This was a habit Usagis do whenever they were sad or scared. The blond noble decided to sit next to her to give comfort but never got the chance to even get up from her seat as Loply quickly blurted out “Isawtheprincessjumpoffandtheprincerunninguptothebalcanytostopher” all in one breath and quickly shutting up once again avoiding eye contact.

Both Irene and Lilith were a little taken aback by that outburst and stared at each other silently asking what was about. 

“Could you repeat that, please? And slower this time?” Lilith asked.

“I saw the princess…” Loply nervously responded, “jumping from the balcony and the prince… rushing to try to stop her.” The Usagi maid avoided eye contact the whole time.

“Are you sure you saw the princess jump from the balcony?” Irene asked.

Loply nodded, once again avoiding eye contact. Avoiding eye contact and fidgeting could be signs that someone was lying, so Irene was having a hard time believing in the maid's words. But Loply’s scared expression as her eyes averted both her and Lilith and constantly staring at the door behind them was making Irene think there might have been more going on. 

Thinking quickly, Irene stood up, “Excuse me for just a moment I need to fix my face,” she said. 

“There’s a powder room right through that door, my lady,” Lilith said, pointing to a door on the other side of the room.

Irene simply smiled and said while reaching into her handheld purse “No need I have a pocket version,” Irene said with a smile as she reached into her handheld purse and got out her pocket powder, “It comes with a mirror, quite convenient don’t you agree?”

Lilith remained quiet as Irene walked to the side, opened her pocket powder, and powdered her face. While looking into her mirror she could see the back door behind her through her pocket powder and mirror. Standing there was a muscular tiger beast from the country of Harappan known as Sheres. Much like the predatory feline they were strong, very stealthy, and infamously known to be vengeful if you messed with them. Irene remembers seeing this Shere a few times in the palace doing guard duties. But why was he there, eyeing the Usagi maid? Quietly Irene closed her pocked face powder, slipped it back into her purse, and returned to the couch across from Loply. 

“Are you sure you saw the princess jump to her death?” she then asked the Usagi maid.

Loply nodded quickly, “Yes, yes, I am certain of what I saw.”

Irene then nodded, opening her notebook to jot a few things down, “I think we are done for today, Miss Nightingale,” she told Lilith, “I need to speak with my brother about his findings.”

Lilith simply nodded her head, quickly got up, and bowed to Loply before both ladies left the room together passing by the Shere that kept eyeing the two women. Irene did not like how the tiger man kept eyeing them, as if they were thieves or something. 

“Oof!” Irene shouted as she accidentally ran into someone and fell on her bottom.

“My Lady, are you alright?” asked a male voice in a panic. Irene looked up to see Prince Alexander right in front of her looking like he ran over someone’s cat, “I’m so sorry! I didn’t look where I was going!” he apologized as he and Lilith helped Irene up.

“I’m the one who should apologize,” Irene replied with an embarrassed smile, “I tend to get distracted easily and forget my surroundings.” The poor woman felt guilty about her little habit whenever she hyper-focused on something, ubiquitous for people with a condition like hers. 

“I trust you’re alright, Lady Irene? no bruise?” Lilith interrupted, wanting to make sure the lady wasn’t hurt.

“Only my pride Miss Nightingale” Irene replied, causing the three to chuckle a little.

After that little laugh fest, Lilith composed herself and asked the prince “What brings you over here Prince Alexander?”

“I’d like to see how the investigation is going,” he answered, turning to Irene.

“I gathered some interesting evidence,” Irene spoke up, straightening her dress, “ unfortunately, not enough to determine who killed your sister. I will need more time.”

“Nothing is easy in life, as my mother once told me,” Alexander sighed.

Irene smiled as it was just like the queen as she was always a fan of good quotes from wise people. 

“Look I know I said some awful things to you last night,” the prince continued, “but I want to make it up to you. You let me know if there's anything you need help with and I will help as best as I can.”

“I appreciate the kind gesture,” Irene thanked him, bowing in gratitude, “and don’t worry about it. I’ve accepted I’ll never be normal, but then again, life would be boring if everyone was normal”

“You're not wrong there,” Alex admitted with a slight chuckle. 

“I don't believe I’ve never seen that Shere before,” Irene said, turning to the tiger man watching her, “who is he?” 

“Oh, that’s Hira Abdula, a recent hire in the royal guard,” Alex explained, “Quite an impressive resumé, from what I’ve been hearing among the guards. I figured he’d be perfect ensuring no one gets in, in case the culprit makes a move.”

Lilith looked at the Shere just standing guard menacingly over the two ladies, giving the Luciferian a bad feeling. Like he was ready to pounce on them at any moment like a regular old tiger. 

“He certainly looks formidable, Your Highness,” she commented, not wanting to sound rude, “I pity whoever faces him.”  She then curtsied to the prince, “Thank you for the kind jester.”

Irene did the same thanking the prince as well. As they both got up, Loply the maid came by with the handkerchief from earlier. 

“You…forgot this!” she said nervously as she handed it to Irene, her eyes kept darting everywhere. Quickly, the rabbit maid bowed her head, “Thank you once again!” she said as she darted away like she had one too many cups of coffee or something. 

“Is that maid going to be okay?” Irene asked with concern.

“I would not worry, Lady Irene,” Alex answered, casually waving his hand in the air, “she probably has a lot of tasks to complete.”

Irene shrugged in response, figuring that was it. “Excuse me but I must speak with my brother,” she said as she bowed to the prince. 

“Shall I escort you?” Lilith offered, “I too need to speak with Lord Lucas.”

“Of course,” Irene said with a smile, accepting the offer.

“Good luck with your investigation,” Alex said, bidding them farewell.

The two ladies walked away from Alex as he walked right up to the Shere guard. 

“Any idea who that Shere is?” Irene whispered to Lilith.

“I’ve done many background checks on that man and I can’t find anything on him,” Lilith whispered back, “not even a resumé to list his past jobs.”

“That is suspicious,” Irene pondered, “but one mystery at a time, I need to talk to Lucas quickly.”

“Why the hurry, my lady?” Lilith asked curiously.

Irene held her handkerchief still in her hand and after making sure no one was listening revealed a small note hidden inside the cloth, surprising the Luciferian while saying

“I think that maid has more to say to us.”