The Crown's Entrapment

Aurelia arched her brows when a wolf with dark red and purplish colored fur suddenly appeared beside her, running at the same pace as her as it clearly tried to catch up. Just from his fur alone, she could already tell that this wolf was the new Justicar.

"Why is he even running alongside me when he could just go on ahead?" she scoffed with a frown before spurring on her horse to run faster. She needed to hurry before she lost all the evidence she needed inside that cell, and every second counted, especially when it came to volatile chemicals such as poison.

But just as they had arrived, she stopped and froze as the new Justiciar suddenly shifted back into his human form. He flaunted his majestic body without a care for his surroundings, standing out in his naked glory for all to see.

Shaking her head, Aurelia deftly got down from her horse. She was already used to seeing all types of naked bodies before, so this should be nothing new to her. Without bothering to look further ahead of the new Great Justiciar, she headed on her way inside the prison cell.

"Bring me to Emer's prison cell this instant," she instructed the first guard that she saw. Thankfully, he quickly followed her around as she began asking questions. "Did anyone enter his cell after the incident?"

"No one had entered his cell ever since, milady," the guard answered. "Lord Calypso had strictly forbidden anyone from entering his cell."

"What are we supposed to be looking for in that cell anyway?" Calypso casually interrupted, now walking beside her still naked and uncaring.

"What else?" she coldly scoffed. "Probably we're looking for evidence… or sightseeing?"

"Harsh," Calypso chuckled. "What kind of evidence?"

"A dead rat, for one…" Aurelia answered with a roll of her eyes. "Just leave me to my work. Maybe you'll learn something."

A few minutes later, they arrived at the prison cell. Aurelia noted the squalid atmosphere, a perfect breeding ground for pests and the like.

"We're here," the guard announced as he unlocked and opened that particular prison cell.

Seeing her chance, Aurelia immediately went inside, only to frown when she saw Calypso entering the cell with her still naked.

"Do you like walking around naked like that?" she hissed.

"Why? Are you distracted? I thought you only needed silence, and I can do that easy," he chuckled. "Also, I already asked for a coat a while ago, but the guards are taking too long. I don't want to miss this investigation, so kindly bear with my majestic body for now."

He slightly flexed his muscles as he smirked, "It's not like this is the first time you've seen a naked body but I guess I'm the only one alive so far that you've seen naked? Surely I'm better than those naked dead bodies?"

Aurelia rolled her eyes, seeing no point in participating in such a nonsense discussion. Instead, she started working as she looked around the cell. Scanning the cell, a beautiful smile curled up on her lips when she found what she was looking for. Putting on some gloves, she grabbed the dead rat, laid out her equipment, and promptly started testing for suspected poisons.

If she recalled correctly, Evernight poison was mostly used by adding it to any food or utensil. In truth, the possibility that it could be transmitted from one living thing to another was only a theory; one that she had come up with while studying the cadaver a while ago. Nowhere in any book she had read did it say that it could be transmitted between the living.

But then, if it was through animals…

"So… what are you doing right now? How would that prove that the rat carried this poison?" Calypso curiously asked. "Is that even possible? Wouldn't the rat die immediately before it could spread the poison? How would it be able to transmit the poison to Emer if that would be the case?"

"That's why I'm currently testing it right now," she murmured, her mouth twitching as she focused on her work. "Still, is it too hard for you to wait till I finish my work. It's hard to concentrate while also explaining things. Again, I don't like being disturbed while doing my work, so please kindly keep quiet before I kick you out of here myself."

She sighed as turned her attention back to the rat. If his brother Gideon would hear how much she was talking right now, acting far from being the prim and proper lady that she should be, he would definitely scold her nonstop. Aurelia could already imagine him blabbering nonstop, and the image instantly put a smile on her face without her even knowing it.

"I find it so intriguing how you can genuinely smile like that on your own while doing your work, but still always wear a frown or an expressionless face while talking to me," Calypso casually commented. "I should be offended, especially if you keep insulting me… but surprisingly, I'm not."

Aurelia tried her best not to raise her head and look at the man, especially since she was getting rather uncomfortable seeing him naked. Instead, she simply chose not to speak and focus on her work. Soon enough, another smile came to her as she beamed. "This is the carrier of the poison," she lightly smirked. "A small bite from this rat will instantly infect the victim. Maybe even a scratch would do the trick!"

Her eyes were gleaming as she looked at Calypso. 'Thank heavens, he finally covered himself up!' she mused. Regaining her composure, she enthusiastically explained, "The Evernight poison will bring nightmares to an infected creature until the creature could no longer take it and die. Sometimes, they would die thinking that they were fighting the nightmare, but in reality, they're actually already killing themselves in the process."

She had a wide smile on her face as she spoke, not even knowing that she was still looking at Calypso.

"Beautiful… You look more beautiful smiling like that," he commented with a roguish grin.

Aurelia pursed her lips. With a frown, she looked straight at Calypso and warned, "Stop flirting with me. That won't work. You're not my type, so don't bother wasting any effort to even start with me."

"That's too forward, Lia…" he cooed with a naughty smile. "I haven't even started yet."

"And I will appreciate it if you won't," she chided with knitted brows. She had a feeling that this man was walking trouble, and she really didn't want to entertain any trouble in her peaceful life.

Calypso chuckled. "Alright, enough with the bickering. Write up a formal report on this investigation, and I will relay it to His Majesty this instant," he instructed. "The culprit responsible for this is very cunning. Still, one thing is for sure, that same culprit also has spies inside this prison. Ah, what a pain in the ass…"

Indeed, it was a pain. The prison had many guards roaming around inside it, and from those numbers alone, it would be hard to tell who was the spy and who was not. Interrogating each and every one of them was never an option in the first place.

"Our only hope then is Princess Katelina…" Calypso unknowingly murmured, loud enough for Aurelia to hear.

"Princess Katelina?" she repeated with a creased forehead.

Calypso rapidly blinked, his eyes staring at her as he asked, "You know her?"

Aurelia simply nodded. "She's a friend of mine…"