Leo is Dead
The Fourth Princess stepped forward and circled the body, but she came up blank. "Is that right? He looks familiar, but I can't place him."
Peach, her maid, frowned in concentration. Her eyes darted around for a moment before she clapped her hands together. "I remember now! He's the one who offended you, Princess."
The Fourth Princess's eyebrows shot up. "He offended *me*?" Something about that felt wrong. If this man had crossed her, she'd remember. She never forgot a slight.
"At the Dowager Marchioness of Stonehaven's birthday party," Peach explained quickly.
"This man rushed past and bumped right into you, then just ran off without a word of apology. I made a point to ask around about him afterward. His name is Leo, and he's a servant for the heir of the Duke of Crestfall."
"What was that name?" Cassidy shot to her feet and stalked over to the body. "Is this really a servant from Crestfall Manor?"
Startled by her outburst, Peach stammered, "Y-yes, that's right."
Now that she mentioned it, the Fourth Princess had a vague memory of the incident. "I think someone *did* bump into me. Peach, did we ever get even with him?" That was the important part.
Peach shook her head.
The Fourth Princess's eyes widened. "No way." How could she, a princess, let some servant get away with disrespecting her?
Peach glanced nervously between the Fourth Princess and Cassidy, hesitating.
"Just spit it out!" the Fourth Princess snapped, growing anxious. "Why are you looking at her? You're *my* maid. Are you planning on switching sides?"
"Of course not!" Peach shook her head frantically.
"I looked into him, but at the time, Heir Vance was competing in a poetry slam at The Argent Quill. When you heard Princess Solana was there to cheer him on, you dropped everything to go, too. You were afraid of being upstaged,
so you took everyone from Verity Manor to go support Heir Vance yourself."
Cassidy and the Fourth Princess were stunned into silence.
"That can't be true," they said in unison, finding it genuinely difficult to understand their past selves.
Beside Cassidy, her maids, Auspicious and As-Desired, nodded grimly. "Princess, you really did go to The Argent Quill for Heir Vance back then."
Cassidy shot them a glare. "Don't spread rumors. I'm a princess with important things to do. Why would I have time to go support some guy I barely know?"
Auspicious and As-Desired exchanged a look, thinking of all the "important business" that used to involve chasing after Heir Vance.
If he'd pointed east, she would have never dreamed of going west.
If he so much as sighed about the wind, she'd have sent people running to try and catch it for him.
Their princess's complete devotion to the Vance family had made them feel small and insignificant, forced to put up with all sorts of disrespect.
Thank God for that horse, Maserati. A good, solid kick to the head had finally knocked some sense into her. Otherwise, they'd still be living at the beck and call of the Vances.
Seeing how defensive she was getting, the maids wisely kept their mouths shut.
If they said anything else, she'd probably accuse *them* of being the ones with a crush on Heir Vance.
They just made a mental note to give Maserati an extra treat when they got back, a small thank you for saving their princess from herself.
The Fourth Princess and Cassidy both made a silent pact to never again bring up their shared history of fawning over Heir Vance.
Cassidy pointed at the body on the floor. "Are you sure this is your brother?" she asked the burly man.
He just nodded, his face a blank mask of grief.
Cassidy waved a dismissive hand. "He's an accomplice in the plot to frame the Marquis of Stonehaven for treason. Arrest him and throw him in the dungeons."
The man's composure shattered. He dropped to the floor and began slamming his forehead against the ground in terror. "Princess, please, you have to believe me! I've been wronged! What accomplice? What Marquis? I swear, I don't know anything!"
Cassidy snorted. "We'll see about that after a proper questioning. Besides, your brother is a suspect. Whether you're an accomplice or not, as his relative, you're implicated by association. Guards, take him away!"
"No! Princess, have mercy!" The man looked as if he'd been struck by lightning.
He shook uncontrollably, banging his head against the floor even harder.
"Princess, I lied! He's not my brother! We're just from the same village. He came home from Argent a while back with a lot of money, and I got greedy. When I saw he was heading back, I followed him, hoping to get a piece of the action. I swear I didn't know he was involved in something like this!
I'm begging you, Princess, please have mercy!"
Hearing this, Cassidy reached back and smoothly drew The Cloudpiercer Bow. In one fluid motion, she nocked an arrow and aimed it right at the man's forehead.
"A minute ago, you swore he was your brother. Now you're changing your story? You dare lie to *me*?"
Staring at the sharp point of the arrow, the man froze.
Cold sweat dripped down his face, and his teeth chattered as he stammered, "Princess, have mercy! I'm telling the truth this time, I swear! He's just a guy from my village."
His eyes were glued to the cold steel, terrified she'd lose patience and let the arrow fly.
"I saw he was poisoned by that duck pie and I just... I got greedy. I figured I could pretend to be his brother, raise a stink with the restaurant, and squeeze some money out of them. This time, I'm telling you the absolute truth. Please, you have to believe me!"
Cassidy swung the bow toward the shopkeeper. "Did you poison him?"
The man's knees gave out, and he hit the floor with a thud. "I've been framed! I swear I didn't do it!"
Cassidy stared him down. "Then explain the poisoned pie."
"Tell the truth, or your entire family will be executed!" the Fourth Princess added, glaring at him. If this were just some ordinary restaurant dispute, she could use her status to smooth things over. But this was treason. Even her own uncle would have to see the investigation through to the end.
The shopkeeper scrambled to defend himself.
"Princesses, please, you have to see the truth! It's true he bought one of our famous duck pies, but they're all made the same way. The ingredients are prepared together, the seasoning is measured from a standard recipe, and we have staff watching the entire process.
It's impossible for someone to poison just one!"
He turned to the watching crowd, his voice pleading.
"We sold over a hundred duck pies today, and every other customer is perfectly fine. Why is he the only one who had a problem? It doesn't make any sense! We're just an honest business. We've never even seen that man before. Why would we poison a customer for no reason, ruin our own reputation,
and risk a death sentence?"
Cassidy aimed her arrow back at the burly man. "You said he's from your village and that he came home with a lot of money?"
The man shuddered, nodding so hard it looked like his head might fly off, terrified that if he was too slow, the arrow would finally find its mark.