Hagen looked out through the window at the clouds drifting away far above, still wondering how it had all come to this. After so many restless nights planning, so much hard work... it was all over.

The news of Edgarth’s murder reached him before sunrise. Stabbed to death in a brothel room with Seimon’s honour dagger. Hagen didn’t believe for even a second that Vasilis would ever order such a thing, especially now that he was so close to achieving his goal.

But, given the circumstances, Hagen had no choice other than summoning the man to the castle for interrogation. He gave the order three hours ago. An hour later, he received the news that Vasilis had already disappeared with his family and followers, leaving behind five guards wounded in its wake and surely cementing other people’s opinions on his guilt.

“Here you go,” said Athalia, presenting him with a steaming teacup. “Barley mixed with valerian root. It’ll help calm your mind.”

He took it more out of consideration than anything else. Nothing could make him feel better after today. Slowly but surely, the clouds continued drifting towards the horizon. It all looked so fleeting...

Athalia grabbed him by the shoulders. “Hagen, snap out of it. You need to stay focused.”

Hagen opened his mouth to speak, his voice coming much hoarser than he expected. “I just… I worked so hard…”

“I know my love, and it’s not your fault. No one could’ve foreseen something like this happening. But now is not to the time to brood. Now is the time to act. It’s time to find the real killer, bring them to justice, and try to salvage what we can from the situation. Now compose yourself, Alon will soon be back from the crime scene.”

As if on cue, there came a knock on the door.

“You’re right.” Hagen took a deep breath, sat in his chair, and drank the tea in a single gulp, the steaming liquid feeling warm to his Paladin body. “Let him in.”

Athalia nodded and leaned closer to kiss him. “Don’t worry. Whatever happens, I’ll be here with you.” She then stood up and circled the desk to open the door for the old chamberlain.

“My lord, my lady, I’ve finished the preliminary questioning.” He settled a rolled-up parchment over the table. “These are my findings. I’ve also brought the brothel madam, Jacke Tascer, as well as the two prostitutes who were with him in case you’d like to question them yourself. As for the rest of the workers and customers, they’ve all been detained for the time being.”

“Thank you, Alon.” Hagen quickly skimmed through the parchment’s contents. First, it gave an account of all possible suspects, with more than thirty prostitutes, five kitchen workers, four guards, four children related to the prostitutes, and close to twenty customers present at the time, including two of his city guards.

Next came a summary of their testimonies, with all of those present at the lobby agreeing that Edgarth arrived in the middle of the night looking for his grandson. The brothel madam guided him upstairs towards the room where Jacke was located. A few minutes later, she came back downstairs. Not soon after, the two prostitutes also came down, one of them bleeding. Finally, Jacke descended the stairs, wrapped in bedsheets, and heading straight for the exit. Edgarth never came down.

Other than that, the witnesses also spoke of a tall, cloaked figure seen coming down the stairs sometime after Jacke did. At the time, no one really paid it any mind as it wasn’t uncommon for customers to want to hide their identities. Now, though, they all agreed to not seeing this person arrive. Whoever they were, Hagen needed to find this person.

“Jacke, the madam, and the prostitutes. You brought them all here, correct?” Hagen asked Alon, and the old man nodded in agreement. “After coming down to the main lobby, did any of them talk to one another?”

“The two prostitutes came down together and headed straight to the back of the building. They both claimed that it was to treat the bleeding one. The madam followed went to check on them. The three were only seen again once the body was found, so they had ample time to talk to one another. As for Jacke, he remained inside the carriage the whole time.”

“And you kept them all apart after that?”

Alon nodded again. “Of course, my lord.”

“All right then, let’s start from the last one to see Edgarth alive. Bring Jacke here.”