The Count's Request

Lyft reappeared just as a wash of red light began to seep through the window. After a full day trapped in that room, my thoughts circling through every possibility I could invent, I was more than a little irritated by the time he arrived.

"Just what is it you think you're doing? You tell me to cooperate, then lock a person up all day—what exactly am I supposed to make of that?"

I sprang up from the sofa to confront him, but Lyft offered no answer. He simply lowered himself onto the sofa across from mine, and then, to my surprise, addressed me in a tone of impeccable courtesy.

"Please have a seat, Lady Dvorden."

It was not only his manner of speaking that had changed. Unlike the previous dawn, when he had appeared with two buttons of his shirt undone, he was now dressed in a crisp white uniform. Gold braid ornamented the jacket, and an array of patches was affixed to it—among them the imperial flag and the crest of the Imperial Household.

"The Imperial Direct... Police Bureau?"

I sank awkwardly onto the sofa as I repeated the words. Lyft swept his dark bangs back from his brow and nodded.

"I apologize for last night's discourtesy. And I now formally request Lady Teredoa Dvorden's cooperation in this investigation."

The amber eyes fixed on mine were utterly serious. That did not mean every suspicion I held toward him had vanished. I studied his expression at length, then asked without bothering to conceal my doubt.

"And how am I supposed to believe that you're Count Cayder—let alone that you belong to the Imperial Direct Police Bureau?"

"If you cannot trust me, we shall consider the request withdrawn, and I will have you escorted back to your lodgings."

"That's not—I'm not refusing..."

"If there is no other way, then you will simply have to believe me."

His speech had grown polite, but the high-handed manner remained unchanged. What a wretched man. He was doing this because he knew I had no other choice.

I swallowed a sigh and, reluctantly, nodded. With no certainty that I would even be able to meet Viscount Cecilia, the first thing to do was seize the rope hanging in front of me.

"All right. I'll cooperate. I will cooperate. What am I supposed to do?"

"Do as you wish."

"As I wish?"

"You came here to look into your sister's death, did you not? Then do so. I will furnish whatever resources you require."

"I'm asking because I have no idea how to look into anything. The only people I know in the capital are Viscount Cecilia and Countess Heinrich."

I had spent the entire day turning it over, and the only plan I had managed to produce was to meet those two. I muttered it out of sheer frustration, and Lyft answered without a flicker of change in his expression.

"Then meet them. Stir up the Dorothy Cecilla case enough, and there will be those who come to you of their own accord."

The word case, tagged onto my sister's name, set my teeth on edge. It meant the Bureau was already certain Dorothy had been murdered. Suicide or murder—I could not say which was the more terrible. For now, as Lyft had said, I could only do what was in my power. I set my resolve.

"Who is it you think will approach me?"

"Those who would prefer Dorothy Cecilla's death remain buried, I should think."

"Then you're saying they—that Dorothy was..."

The rest would not come. I could not bring myself to ask whether he meant they had murdered her. My words trailed away, and Lyft nodded.

"They will have been involved, one way or another."

His answer sent a chill through every drop of blood in my body. At the same time, something like a lump of charcoal settled behind my eyes and burned. If Lyft was right—if Dorothy had truly been murdered—then I would see to it that they paid for what they had done. The anger rose in me like a flame.

When I nodded, Lyft continued with the same indifferent face.

"For the duration of your stay in Caliwood, you will reside in this house. The servants will see to whatever you need. From this point on, you may come and go as you please."

"Will you—no. Will Count Cayder be staying here as well?"

"I will not."

"Then what am I to do if something comes up that I need to discuss? If I should encounter those people, for instance?"

"Ask the butler to send for me."

He had asked for my cooperation in the investigation, only to draw a line the moment I reached for more. Concluding I could expect no further help from him, I answered that I understood, and Lyft left the room after a perfunctory farewell.

Not long after, the maid who had given me nothing but I don't know entered with a man who looked to be in his late twenties. Neatly dressed, he bowed with impeccable courtesy and introduced himself.

"Good evening, Lady Dvorden. I am Noel, butler of this house. And this is Marianne, whom I believe you have already met. She will be attending you from now on."

"I don't know how long I'll be staying, but I look forward to working with you, Noel. Marianne."

"We've been instructed to provide every convenience during your stay. If there is anything you need, you have only to say the word."

Noel gave himself a pair of hearty thumps on the chest as he said it, radiating confidence. It was a touch too breezy for the butler of a proper household—and yet, for that very reason, I found myself relaxing.

I hesitated a moment, then asked about Lyft.

"That man—I mean, is he truly Count Cayder?"

"You mean Lord Lyft Cayder? Yes, my lady. He is the head of House Cayder, and Chief of the Imperial Direct Police Bureau."

"And that Imperial Direct Police Bureau—what is it, exactly? I've heard of the Police Department, but this is the first I've heard of a Bureau."

"That's understandable, my lady. The Bureau does not handle ordinary cases."

Noel's eyes lit up as he launched into an explanation. The agency responsible for public order and safety in Caliwood was the Police Department. The Bureau was a separate detachment that performed similar work—except that its cases typically involved members of the imperial family or the high nobility. The current head of the Bureau, he added, was His Highness the Crown Prince himself. It was a detail that made the meaning of Imperial Direct abundantly clear.

I had taken him for a ruffian who went around kidnapping innocent women in the dead of night. It turned out Lyft was a rather formidable figure after all.

Noel was still reciting the Bureau's exploits when Marianne drove an elbow into his ribs, and only then did he fall silent. Even so, he seemed reluctant to let the subject drop. His eyes went round.

"Is there anything else you wished to know, my lady?"

"Where is this place?"

"This is one of the private villas belonging to the Marchioness of Derian. It is called Daisy House."

Noel looked faintly disappointed, as though he had hoped to go on about the Bureau, but he answered my question with genuine care. He was so ready with his replies that I nearly asked him about Dorothy as well—then thought better of it.

The words Lyft had left me were still lodged in my heart. The thought that I might hear the same thing from people who barely knew Dorothy at all was enough to frighten me into changing the subject.

"Would you prepare some stationery and a pen? I need to send a letter to Countess Heinrich."

"At once, my lady."

"I'd appreciate it."

The young butler named Noel bowed with an easy, open smile. It was the first smiling face I had seen since coming up to Caliwood. I had been anxious about staying in a strange place, but his manner put me somewhat at ease.

After the two of them had taken their leave, Marianne brought me a pen, stationery, and an envelope. It was fine cotton paper, the first I had ever used. The sealing stamp, engraved with flowers and a stag, was an equally exquisite piece of work.

Come to think of it, they had said this was a villa of the Marchioness of Derian.

The Marchioness of Derian was a name even a rural baronial house living far from Caliwood could not help but know. She was the younger sister of the late Empress, the Crown Prince's most steadfast patron, and—together with the present Empress—one of the pillars of Caliwood society.

I remembered how, three years ago, when Dorothy first entered Caliwood society, we had tried so hard to find a connection to her. We had had no connections at all then; we had not even managed to pay our respects. And now I was staying in that woman's house. No wonder the wallpaper and the furniture had struck me as anything but ordinary.

Caliwood, it seemed, was nothing but one surprise after another.

I wrote a letter requesting an audience and asked that it be sent to Countess Heinrich. Afterward I took dinner in the dining room, then made a light turn about the grounds. The house was a modest two-story building, and it appeared that only I and a handful of servants were staying in it.

After my walk, I wrote a letter of thanks to the Marchioness of Derian as well—the woman to whom I now owed a debt without having even been able to introduce myself.

Morning broke on my third day in Caliwood.

I finished my preparations early and went straight to Viscount Cecilia's manor. When I arrived by the carriage Noel had provided, the butler of House Cecilia looked distinctly surprised. That did not mean their manner toward me had changed. I was left waiting in the drawing room again, and the maid who brought the tea was as ungracious as ever.

I sat there the entire morning with my patience under siege, until at last I shoved back my chair and went in search of the butler.