The Duke's Eccentric Lady

The Red Herring

The next few days were like a fever dream to her. Fiona wasn't allowed to go out, so she spent her time either in the library to learn more about the kingdom, or comforting her dear mother. After reading several history and geography books, she concluded that she was indeed reincarnated to another universe.

Everything that showed up in the books were things she was unfamiliar with. Names of kingdoms and empires she never heard of before, historical figures that she cannot recognize, and events that sounded like they came out of a fantasy novel for her. There was no mention of things from her Earth that she recognized. This was an entirely different world.

She sighed and put down the book she had just finished on top of her lap. As Fiona leaned back to the chair she was using, she tried to recollect what she had studied about this kingdom.

The Kingdom of Rhois resembled what looked like 18th or 19th Century European kingdoms in her world. But with magic. The citizens worshipped a Goddess named Rho and a God named Isaiah who were believed as two deities who helped the first king to build this kingdom.

The kingdom is ruled by a king and a queen. Four factions are considered important in the kingdom. The Royal Family, the Noble Parliament, the Knights, and something called the Magic Tower where people who are gifted in magic studied there to be mages or sorcerers. Although the highest power is held by the Royal Family, the Noble Parliament's decisions are still very influential as well. Though, she couldn't really understand the political dynamics between the two. Meanwhile, the Magic Tower seemed mostly neutral, their inhabitants only focused on studying and inventing magical items for the people to use.

Fiona's father holds the title of a Count, which means her family is part of high society and the Noble Parliament. She was very grateful that the memories she received included the lessons on etiquette she used to study as young Lady Coventry. She can just tap into that memory and use them if needed. Re-learning them would be a pain in the rear.

But from hearing what her mother would sometimes lament to her, it seems that their family's status over the County is hanging on a thin thread ever since her father died. He had no sons, only a daughter. It was safe to assume that she wasn't considered an heir despite her age of 23.

Her daydream popped when she saw a knight approaching her from her peripheral view. She quickly straightened her posture to look prim and proper as the knight said, "Lady Coventry, Captain Gunther wanted to speak to you again regarding the incident. Please, come with me."

Fiona internally groaned, but she followed the knight since she had no choice. Their tone might still be respectful towards her, yet she knew that if she reacted bitterly or in anger, their treatment might change. Knights are stationed in almost every corner of her mansion, to keep an eye on every move she makes.

She sat down in front of the Captain in one of the mansion's drawing rooms.

Ever since the murder incident, this was her everyday routine. She would be questioned about the same thing every day; where she was, what was the thing she last remembered, did she bring the murder weapon, et cetera, et cetera. For her, who had seen firsthand how homicide detectives conduct their interrogations, these questions seemed mundane. She doesn't know whether the Captain is testing her or trying to see whether she is consistent about her statement.

Her answer is always the same. She never brought the dagger to the hall, she doesn't recognize the dagger. The last thing she remembered was following Lady Davenport who was walking with her fiance, Lord Anderton. She never remembered going into the salon with Lady Davenport.

Repeating her answers enabled her to analyze her last memory as well. It was odd. After she followed Lady Davenport and Lord Anderton, she couldn't remember anything else at all. It was a huge blank in her memories, all pitch black until the moment when she woke up and found the blonde woman's corpse next to her. Did she actually kill the lady? Or did someone make her unconscious in order to frame her?

"Very well, thank you for your answers, Lady Coventry. You may leave," the Captain finally said.

As Fiona left and walked in the direction of her room, she mused about how the Captain conducted himself. Maybe it was because she was one of the noble's daughters, all of the knights still tried to be as courteous as possible to her. But it was obvious that the Captain gazed at her with disdain, which made her shiver.

The black-haired woman stopped near a glass window by the hallway. She looked to the sky outside, the time she spent in her library and being interrogated passed so quickly that day had turned into night. She gently pressed a hand against the windowpane, her eyes focused to wonder at the night sky.

No matter how many times she saw this scenery, she never had enough of it. Unlike the city where she lived in her previous life, here, the stars shone so brightly at night. They twinkled beautifully against the beautiful shade of the dark blue sky, as if someone poured glitter on the curtains of the night. Their lights aren't defeated by electricity, so the stars were able to radiate accompanied by the soft glow of the moon.

It was what she had always dreamt to see.

If only she wasn't kept under house arrest, Fiona would be adventuring this new world already. Or, at least, venturing nooks and crannies of the capital city.

"Lady Fiona," a gentle voice called to her. She turned to see an elderly woman wearing long maid clothes. Fiona recognized her as Mrs. Schwarz, the head maid of the estate that had served her family for many years. She had always been kind to her since she was a little girl, and Fiona was grateful that Mrs. Schwarz is still very warmhearted to her even amidst the murder accusations.

"My Lady, you must be tired," Mrs. Schwarz continued. "I had asked some of the younger maids to draw you a warm bath. Come, follow me, My Lady."

"Thank you, Mrs. Schwarz," Fiona said as she smiled at the elder woman. The latter let her walk first as she is the young lady of the mansion.

They entered Fiona's room and a maid with freckles swiftly attended to her. The maid is a young girl from the countryside, Margot is her name. She is still young, but competent and friendly. Even when the other servants changed their perspective toward Fiona after the murder incident, Margot stayed by her side, retaining her bubbly personality.

"Mrs. Schwarz told me to pour the lemon-scented soap into your bath, My Lady," Margot said cheerfully. Ah yes, Fiona is very grateful that this world has recognized toiletries and plumbing thanks to the Magic Tower's inventions, unlike her previous world's version of the Regency era. All that is missing is the invention of the smartphone and internet that she longed for the most.

"Oh, I can already smell the vapors from here," Fiona retorted, enjoying the citrus scent as they went inside the bathroom. "It smells very refreshing."

"My Lady must've had a long day, so, Mrs. Schwarz figured we should give you an invigorating bath!"

Fiona chuckled lightly, "I am glad that I have both you and Mrs. Schwarz who always took care of me so well."

Margot blushed in embarrassment over the compliment. Not every day that a commoner like her can receive praise from a noble lady.

The maid helped her take off her jewelry and dress. Even though she was wearing a comparably simpler design than the dress she wore on that ball several evenings ago, it still consisted of layers. Since the knights were loitering around the mansion, Mrs. Schwarz argued that Fiona should still stay as well-dressed as possible even if she was put under house arrest.

But once Margot had helped her undress until her corset and knickers remained, the maid gasped in shock.

"What is wrong, Margot?" Fiona asked worriedly.

"M-My Lady… Please, look in the mirror."

The black-haired woman hurriedly went to the nearest mirror and saw her reflection. She was perplexed. Her left arm and the underside of her neck were full of dark bruises, hints of yellow accompanied them. She had indeed felt sore in those areas but didn't know that they would form a bruise later on.

Fiona was lost in her thoughts. Judging from the patterns of the bruising, it looks like it was inflicted by someone who was gripping both her arm and neck too hard instead of being inflicted by a blow. Bruises usually form this bad color in one to three days. She didn't remember anyone rough-housing her ever since she came home, the knights didn't hold her that tightly. So perhaps, these might have been inflicted during the time when she was at the ball.

"Could it be that this has something to do with the chunk of memories that I lost…?" Fiona murmured to herself.

"Oh, my poor Lady… Were the knights being overly harsh on you?" Margot asked.

"No, never. They restrained me at one point, but I don't think their grip is hard enough to form bruises. I think it was caused by something else. Alas, I do not know what."

Margot looked at her worriedly, but in the end, tended to her without another word and allowed Fiona to take off the corset and knickers by herself as the maid excused herself out, "I will be just outside, My Lady. Please, just call me or Mrs. Schwarz's name if you need anything."

Once Margot had closed the door, Fiona took off her undergarments and dipped her whole body inside the warm bath. She had to be careful. Now that she is aware of the bruises, somehow they became more painful. She scrubbed her body and hair with the toiletries that were put beside her tub, inhaling the fresh lemon scent. Once she had rinsed the lather off, the black-haired woman decided to linger for a bit inside the warm water while she leaned her head against the bathtub.

"If this is one of the mystery novels that I wrote, who would be the actual culprit…?" She mumbled. Fiona knows that real life isn't the same as fiction, but comparing it to her novels is the only thing gearing her head right now.

If this whole incident was a murder-mystery novel, Fiona would be the Red Herring. A Red Herring is the wrongly accused suspect at whom circumstantial evidence points at the beginning of many mystery fictions. A Red Herring is misleading, and, oftentimes, innocent. They were framed by the true villain.

But who else would have the motives to kill Lady Davenport? She doesn't know the people around Lady Davenport that much. Heck, she barely even noticed the blonde lady before the whole act she made to steal Fiona's fiance. And yet, she can't conduct her own investigations either due to the house arrest.

All of her musings had made her stay in the water for too long, any more and her skin would shrivel like a prune. She decided to climb out of the tub and grabbed a towel to cover her figure before calling for Mrs. Schwarz and Margot, letting both of the maids enter her bathroom. This time, Mrs. Schwarz was the one who helped her dry her body and helped her wear her sleeping gown, meanwhile, Margot drained the bathwater and organized back the toiletries.

They returned to Fiona's room shortly after. Mrs. Schwarz was about to comb Fiona's hair when they heard a knock on the door. Margot went and opened it, finding a knight standing outside the room.

"Good evening, is Lady Coventry inside?" The knight asked.

"Yes, but—"

"Then, I would like to have a word with the Lady. It is urgent, something to do with the investigations."

Both Fiona and Mrs. Schwarz also heard it. The head maid put her hands on her hips and her expression was vexed towards the knight, "Excuse you, Good Sir! How rude of you! It is already night time and the Lady is preparing to sleep! Please, take your matters tomorrow when the Lady is awake and refreshed for the day."

"Please, I know it is unbecoming of me to disturb the Lady at this hour, but there is something I urgently needed to talk with her about."

Hearing how dire the knight's tone was, Fiona sighed.

"Just let him in, Margot," she said. "We'll hear what this Sir knight had to say to me."

The knight nodded gratefully to Margot and Fiona who let him in. He marched around for a brief while, searching the room. Fiona wondered if he was ordered to conduct a search in her room to find Goddess knows what. But since he didn't ransack any of her belongings, she breathed out in relief realizing that doesn't seem to be the case.

"Lady Coventry, I am Leon Rousseau, Second Lieutenant of the knights' squad who is investigating Lady Davenport's case. There is something I needed to ask you," the knight declared as he took off the hat he was wearing and clutched it against his chest in respect towards Fiona, barring his auburn hair. "But I must ask for us to be left alone, just the two of us."

Leon glanced towards the two maids, hinting for Fiona to order them out. The black-haired woman scrunched her brows hearing this.

"No, I will not," Fiona replied firmly. "Sir Rousseau, you are a man who is asking for us to be left alone in a bedroom. Moreover, I am currently in my nightgown, Sir. It is highly improper. Please understand that I do not feel particularly safe with the circumstances you proposed. Whatever you need to say to me, you can say it in front of my maids as well."

Leon's face became almost as red as his hair when he realized the implications of what he just asked. It wasn't what he meant, but now he can see why the Lady would refuse.

"I deeply apologize, Lady Coventry," Leon said in a flustered tone. He cleared his throat to regain his composure. "But are your maids trustworthy? What I am about to say is the utmost secrecy and it involves your safety and well-being."

Fiona glanced at both Mrs. Schwarz and Margot. Margot was the one who spoke out, "Sir Rousseau, we are loyal to the Lady. If it concerns the Lady's safety, then we will ensure that none of tonight's conversation will be leaked outside this room."

Leon nodded, accepting the promise Margot made. He gave Fiona a solid gaze before opening his lips again.

"Lady Coventry, I may have found something that indicates your innocence regarding the murder of Lady Davenport."

Fiona blinked several times over the knight's words.

'About damn time these knights finally believed that I'm innocent.'