One ordinary morning, terrible news spread throughout the imperial palace about the death of the crown princess.
The first person to discover the suddenly deceased crown princess was a maid from her palace.
As always, the maid Zoe prepared warm water for the princess in the morning and, as usual, called her from outside the door. When the crown princess did not answer, the servant called her again after a while. But Aveline Nevita Ashelot still did not answer. Considering the princess's busy schedule for the day, the maid had to wake her up, so she opened the door herself.
The maid, who decided on her own to enter the princess's room that day, was confronted with a horrific sight. Standing in front of the huge four-poster bed, she was covered in sweat.
On the floor in front of the bed, she saw the corpse of the empire's crown princess. Her face was pale blue, and her entire body was covered in terrible abrasions and bruises, as if she had been brutally beaten. The maid screamed, and other servants, hearing the scream, rushed into the room. The palace of the crown princess was suddenly turned upside down. A doctor rushed in, but it was too late. According to the final conclusion of the imperial physician, the princess's cold body had been dead for at least several hours.
The empress fainted upon hearing the news.
In the end, this terrible news shook the entire imperial capital.
The doctor, who had been examining the body all day, finally concluded that the princess had died from injuries incompatible with life. But who would dare to commit such a terrible crime?
There were not many suspects, as Princess Aveline was almost always accompanied by guards and servants, so such an attack would have been impossible in broad daylight. Thus, those investigating the case would have to work hard before finding any leads. However... Help in investigating this crime came unexpectedly from outside.
Zoe, the princess's personal maid, was the first to discover the princess's body that day. Hesitantly, she confessed to the inspector:
— I think I saw something strange in the princess's chambers that day...
— What exactly did you see? — asked the imperial inspector.
— It's... I'm not sure, but it seems that a few hours before I found the princess, I accidentally overheard her arguing with someone.
— Who was this person?
— It was... a stable boy from the imperial stables. I think his name is Fred Harper.
In the end, the prime suspect in the murder of the crown princess turned out to be an ordinary stable boy who, as it unexpectedly turned out, had been a long-time friend of the princess. Perhaps this news was as shocking as the news of the crown princess's death itself.
How could an insignificant servant dare to raise his hand against the heir to the imperial dynasty?!
Then, hesitating, the maid added to her story details she had overheard from the conversation:
— If I'm not mistaken, they were arguing about privileges that Her Highness refused to grant him.
— Privileges? — the inspector asked.
— This man demanded that the princess appoint him chief equerry of the court, even though he did not meet the requirements for the position. Her Highness refused to do so, and then a heated argument ensued between them. At that moment, I thought about intervening, but the princess sent me away early, saying she needed to rest. But if only I had known that something like this could happen, I would never have left her alone!
As if to confirm her words, other servants who worked in the crown princess's palace also confirmed that they had seen the stable boy on the princess's palace grounds on several occasions and that they had spent time together. However, fearing that this might reflect badly on the crown princess's reputation, they had kept quiet about it all this time.
As a result, Fred Harper, once an ordinary imperial stableman, found himself at the centre of this whirlwind.
As soon as the empress came to her senses and learned of this, she exclaimed, 'That bastard killed my daughter!' Although there was still no clear evidence, anyone could see that he was the likely culprit, so by order of the empress, the stableman was temporarily imprisoned. He was to remain in custody until the announced date of the trial, which, however, did not matter much. In any case, there could only be one punishment for a crime of this kind: death.
So now, with the life of the stable boy accused of a grave sin hanging in the balance, the imperial court was in turmoil.
Due to the fact that until recently, Aveline Nevita Ashelot was the only direct heir to the current emperor, the future of the imperial dynasty was now extremely uncertain. Ultimately, in the blink of an eye, the empire found itself without an heir, and it was now unclear who exactly would ascend to the throne in the future.
And at this time, when the imperial court was in turmoil due to the uncertain situation with the future of the imperial dynasty, the empress's palace was also in turmoil.
Julia Ravelia Ashelot was so devastated by the death of her daughter that she did not even have the strength to leave the palace after what had happened. As a result, the empress was unable to attend the princess's funeral.
The heiress was buried in the royal family's mausoleum. It was the twentieth day since her death.
Two days later, the empress finally came to her senses. When the empress learned that she had been unable to properly attend her daughter's funeral, she wept and was ready to sink back into oblivion. If only the woman's peace had not been disturbed that day.
While the empress was in a terrible state of mind and unable to even get out of bed, the palace was visited by an inspector investigating the death of the royal princess. It was the head of the imperial palace inspection department, Gevel Korsun.
— Your Majesty, I apologise for disturbing you today. But could you answer a few questions?
— What do you want to know from me?
— Since the circumstances of what happened are not yet fully clear, do you know more about what exactly happened to the princess that day?
'......'
The Empress, who was so weak that she could not even hold her back properly, struggled to give her testimony to the inspector.
With a trembling hand, she grabbed the armrest of the chair as if she were about to lose consciousness again.
The personal maid who had accompanied the Empress to the meeting noticed her condition and rushed to protect her.
— What are you talking about? — the maid exclaimed indignantly. — Hasn't the main culprit already been found? Then why are you asking these questions now and reopening Her Majesty's wounds?
The inspector from the department hastily bowed his head.
— Your Majesty, please do not misunderstand me, but there are still enough gaps in the investigation of this case that we must fill before the trial begins. Basically, I cannot understand how an ordinary stable boy could have committed such a crime on the grounds of the princess's palace and remain unnoticed. Did none of the guards protecting the palace hear the princess's screams?
— Why are you asking Her Majesty such questions? This mainly concerns the competence of the servants who were guarding the princess's palace that day!
Hesitating, Gevil Korsun said:
— We have already questioned all the witnesses we could find, but on that day, none of the guards noticed any disturbances in the princess's palace. I just want to say, doesn't that seem strange?
Hearing these words, the empress shuddered but said nothing. Meanwhile, her personal maid continued to speak for her:
— Even if that is the case, what does Her Majesty the Empress have to do with it?
— As far as I know, Her Majesty and the crown princess met a few hours before the incident. I would like to ask how long the meeting lasted and at what time it ended? Did Her Majesty notice anything unusual in the princess's behaviour?
Then the empress finally replied in a trembling voice:
— No, I didn't notice anything.
— Perhaps the princess said something to you? You were close, so you must have known if the princess was in conflict with anyone, or perhaps you heard about her relationship with this stable boy?
As the inspector continued to bombard her with questions, the empress's face grew paler and paler. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore and coughed loudly. A few drops of blood even fell on her clothes.
The maid who witnessed this scene turned pale and angry.
— Enough! — she exclaimed. — Can't you see that your questions are only making Her Majesty worse?
— I beg your pardon! I really did not mean to make you feel worse, Your Majesty!
Holding her mistress up to prevent her from falling, the maid said dryly:
— If you are truly sorry, then stop tormenting Her Majesty and leave her alone. She has lost her only child and is still in mourning.
The inspector hesitated, but then stepped back and sighed.
— I... understand. In that case, I will leave.
'......'
— Your Majesty, but if you do happen to remember anything, I would be very grateful if you would visit the inspection department at any time!
— .....
After the imperial inspector finally left them, the empress sighed heavily. She let go of the maid's hand and straightened up.
Meanwhile, the worried maid asked:
— Your Majesty, everything will be all right, won't it...?
— It will be, only if that fool doesn't blab, — the empress muttered reluctantly.
— You mean the crown princess's personal maid? Wouldn't it be easier to just get rid of her?
— Not yet, — Julia objected categorically. — If we do it right now, we'll only arouse unnecessary suspicion. We need to wait for the right moment and do everything discreetly.
— Yes, Your Majesty.
The servant bowed her head submissively.
«Now that I've lost my trump card, what should I do...?»
Julia Ravelia Ashelot, who was now lamenting how to keep power in her hands under the current circumstances, was full of agonising thoughts.
«In any case, I must resolve all this before that bastard comes to his senses.»
The empress, thinking thus, thought of the emperor, who was currently still in a coma. The ruler of the empire, Nadal, who had not regained consciousness for a long time due to his illness, was still unaware of the death of the crown princess.