The Duke's Eccentric Lady

The Duke of Crime

Fiona was trembling as she continued to stare at the bloodied corpse intensely. She had shadowed homicide detectives and interviewed coroners to research how they worked their cases for her novels. But this was the first time she saw an actual murder crime scene. A grotesque one, to top that off.

She kept gazing at the ladies in dresses that were still gathering by the doorway, wondering when they were going to call the authorities. The women merely gossiped around, staring at her and the corpse of this "Lady Davenport" as if they were watching a freak show.

Perhaps the universe wanted to torture her further, because not long after, Fiona suddenly groaned in pain as she clutched her head. A sharp pain jolted inside her head as if it was splitting her skull. Memories that she had never seen before overwhelmed her mind like a tsunami. She heard voices she never heard before, faces she had never seen before.

A young boy smiled at her mischievously. His trousers were dirty from the mud, as well as the hems of her dress. And yet, they were laughing so earnestly.

"Oscar! My parents will be angry at me for dirtying my new dress!" She scolded, and yet the smile never left her lips.

"Since when are you such a scaredy-cat, Fiona?" The boy answered, splashing more mud at her.

The scene shifted. A couple smiled at her. A man extended his hand and gently said to her, "We love you, Fiona. Our beloved daughter."

A funeral in the rain. A casket is being lowered down to the ground. A memorial stone slab. The man's portrait was carried by a weeping woman. A sea of people wearing black garments, extending their condolences to the weeping woman and her. The woman stared at her with bloodshot eyes.

"We have to be strong, Fiona."

A ball. Men wearing their best tail-suits and cravats. Women flaunt their silk dresses and glittering jewelry. She curtsied towards a regal-looking couple who were sitting on thrones, "Fiona de la Coventry greets the great King and Queen of the Rhois Kingdom. Glory to our everlasting monarchs."

The King and Queen smiled in contentment towards her, "Congratulations on your debut, Lady Coventry. May you serve the kingdom everlastingly, just as your father before you."

It shifted again. An outdoor party in a magnificent flower garden. The previous boy had grown into a handsome young man, kneeling with one knee against the ground while everyone's eyes were staring. Yet, there seemed to be no happiness in his facade.

"Lady Fiona de la Coventry, will you marry me?"

"... Yes, Lord Oscar du Anderton."

Splashed wine dripping from a blonde woman's hair. It was the very woman who died next to her, yet in this memory, she was very much alive. The woman stared at her while crying, "How could you do this, Lady Coventry…? Just because our fathers were rivals in the past… Why couldn't we bury the animosity between our families?"

She was about to answer when the previous man suddenly approached them both, holding the weeping woman in his arms, "Lady Fiona! Do you have no shame in acting like this?! You are the daughter of a Count, are you trying to tarnish the reputation of your late father?!"

She pursed her lips as the blonde woman smirked in content briefly at her before continuing her act. The people around them whispered in a hushed voice. She wanted to scream, exposing the blonde woman's lies and deceit. She wanted to ask her fiance why he is doing this to her, and why is he blatantly being unfaithful to her before their marriage.

But her words stopped at the tip of her tongue—no one would believe her.

Another ball. Another venue. She saw her fiance with the blonde woman, again. And so, she decided to follow them…

Fiona was dumbfounded and utterly confused over the memories she had received. They felt so vivid and real, but they were unfamiliar to her. What does all of this mean?

A combination of the splitting headache, the sudden surge of these foreign memories, the chatter of the women nearby, and the sickening stench of blood made her stomach churn heavily. She vomited, retching the contents of her stomach onto the marble floor. It didn't make her feel better either, if anything she felt even more miserable. The action made the ladies disgusted and stepped back.

Finally, several gentlemen wearing fancy tail-coats came to try and check what happened. They were equally shocked once they saw the scene, yet they quickly composed themselves and dispersed the ladies, calming the ones who were shaken by the unsightly event.

One of the men dared to come closer towards Fiona and the corpse. It was the man who she remembered as Lord Oscar du Anderton, the man who proposed to the Fiona in her newfound memories. His face was pale in dismay as he stared at Lady Davenport in disbelief, somehow Fiona felt a pang of pain in her chest seeing how heartbroken he seemed. Though, the sympathy she had for him popped when he glared at her in rage.

"How could you do this, Fiona?!" Oscar roared towards her, making her startled and flinched. "I understand you didn't have an amicable relationship with the lady, but to resort to murder?! What a cruel woman you are…"

"I…" Fiona started. She was gathering her thoughts to think of a reply. Did she murder this blonde woman? She raked her head. No matter which memories she tapped into, she can't remember anything about that.

The original memory she had only remembered Marie's face when she was being strangled as the last thing she saw. While in these new memories, she remembered following Lady Davenport and Oscar with a drink in her hand. Yeah, she was carrying a drink in a champagne flute, not a freaking dagger. In both memories, she never brought a dagger at all.

"I-it's not me! I didn't do it!" Fiona tried to cry out. Though, naturally, it wasn't enough to prove her innocence. Neither Oscar's expressions nor the other people showed that they believed her.

"Who else could it be?! The other ladies said they found you alone in the salon with Lady Davenport!"

"T-that is correct…" One of the ladies spoke out timidly. "We wanted to sit down in the salon because we felt a little faint from the wine. But we were greeted with… t-this…"

Fiona glanced at the corpse again. Did she do this? The black-haired woman analyzed the conditions of Lady Davenport's body. The sprawled position, the shocked face, and the dagger sticking into her chest…

'Huh? Wait, something is not right here…' She mused as she gradually regained her composure. Unfortunately, her train of thoughts was stopped upon the arrivals of men clad in Period-style military uniforms instead of the tail-coat the other gentlemen were wearing. The swords strapped to their sides intimidated Fiona. Royal knights, as the people around her, murmured to each other.

Leading the knights was a tall and handsome man with a bright platinum hair. His sharp gaze was directed toward her. Fiona couldn't help but gape at the man in front of her.

A handsome face that looked like it was chiseled by the gods themselves. Eyes so intimidating, it felt like his gaze pierced her. Fiona can notice hints of fatigue on his face, but it still didn't diminish his overwhelming presence. His figure was domineering and tall, with broad shoulders and a confident posture. His suit looked like it was made from the finest fabric, a jeweled brooch and silver cufflinks completed his look.

'If this was one of my novels, I could've spent paragraphs after paragraphs just to describe his looks,' Fiona thought inside her head. The people around them gaped at the man's appearance as well, and in a hushed voice said the name, "The Duke of Crime."

Duke of Crime? That was a peculiar name. Though, it unnerved her as the Duke kept staring at her with cold eyes.

At this point, she wondered if someone threw her inside a stupid escape room game with Regency themes. They all looked like they were cosplaying, but her new memories begged to differ and screamed this is real.

"What happened here?" He sighed, Fiona was taken aback on hearing how deep his voice was. "I was trying to enjoy a ball, and yet, destiny just loved to dump me with another case, huh?"

"Your Grace, from the witnesses' statements, they had found Lady Victorique de la Davenport's dead body along with Lady Fiona de la Coventry right next to her," a knight answered.

"Take her under custody, then. For now, Lady Coventry is the prime suspect until further investigations."

"Yes, your Grace."

"Wait, wait!!" She exclaimed to the Duke. "I'm not the one who killed her, I swear!"

Fiona flinched seeing those sharp eyes glanced at her again. But she maintained her stance.

"Then, would you care to explain what happened here, Lady Coventry?" The Duke inquired.

When that question was thrown at her, she tried to remember everything. Anything at all. Yet, it was no use, her mind was blank. The last thing she remembered was that she saw Lady Davenport being escorted by Lord Anderton as a… blatant gesture to cheat and mock her. She glared at Oscar, but the man was so distraught by the death of his side lover that she knew no one would believe her if she started pointing fingers at him.

The Duke sighed, "As I thought. Take her away, I'll entrust the Royal Knights to question her while I do further investigations."

The knights nodded before forcefully hoisting Fiona up, "Lady Fiona de la Coventry, in the King's name, we shall be taking you under custody for the murder of Lady Victorique de la Davenport. Do not try to resist, or we will be forced to take necessary actions. Due to your status as an aristocrat, you are granted the grace of being put under house arrest until the investigations have been fully concluded."

Two knights seized both of her arms before she could say anything and dragged her away. Even through their gloves, she can feel how strong their grip is, it would be futile for her to try and struggle away. She wondered if she should ask for a lawyer, but seeing as the Duke and the knights didn't even read her rights, she doubted if that was even an option.

As she was dragged out into a large, glamorous ballroom, she was met by the gazes of more people who looked like they belonged to high society. Most were confused by the sudden turn of events. Some were throwing her dirty looks, perhaps words of what happened in the salon already spread around well.

Though, she didn't expect that there was a certain circle of ladies who were staring at her worriedly as if they were going to cry.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize to inform you of this, but the Crystal Hall will be closed due to an unfortunate incident until further notice," one of the knights loudly announced. People murmured worriedly in disappointment, but none of them wanted to go against the knights. "I implore all of you to kindly return to your estates as the hall will become our object of investigation. Expect the knights to be visiting you if we feel the need to ask for your statements."

Fiona was forced into a carriage bearing a shield and sword insignia. They didn't bind her hands, but two guards accompanied her closely inside. Probably to make sure she didn't attempt to run away.

As the carriage moved, she peeked outside the window. It was getting harder and harder to believe this was all merely a freaky escape room game as she scanned the view. The buildings' architectures were unfamiliar to her and vintage. She can't spot any signs of electricity, oil street lamps illuminated the streets. All of the people coming and fro were wearing clothes she recognized from the Regency era, from aristocrats to merchants, and even the commoners.

There was no way anyone would be this dedicated just for an escape room.

The carriage stopped in front of a mansion. The gatekeeper was flustered upon seeing knights ordering him to open the gates. Once they entered and arrived in front of the door, Fiona was ushered to get out and enter the mansion. As she entered the foyer, servants wearing butler and maid clothing gazed at her in shock, while an elderly woman hurriedly climbed down the grand staircase.

"Fiona? Oh dear Goddess, what happened…?" The woman asked worriedly as she held both of Fiona's hands. Her new memories recognized this mansion as her home, and this woman as her mother, even though she had never seen both before.

"Countess Coventry, at this moment the Lady is becoming the prime suspect in the murder of Lady Davenport," the knight who escorted her answered before she even could. The Countess gasped in shock as her complexion paled, somehow it made Fiona feel guilty. "We will be restraining the Lady in house arrest. She is not allowed to be out of the mansion until the investigations have concluded. My deepest apologies, Madam, but we will be stationing knights at your estate to ensure Lady Coventry's compliance."

"Oh, my daughter… My little daughter would never do that…" The Countess suddenly pulled Fiona into her embrace. No one was willing to say anything seeing the older woman suddenly burst into tears. Fiona awkwardly extended her hands to hug the Countess as well, rubbing her back, comforting her.

Though, her eyes were distracted somewhere else. She was gazing at the mirror in the foyer and bit her lips to hold down her startled cry.

Fiona didn't recognize the figure looking at her back from the mirror. And yet, no matter what she did, the reflection followed all of her actions. Her face was a stranger. More delicate than what she remembered. Softer, dignified. Expensive jewels decorated her earlobes and neck, her dress was intricately designed. The only thing she could recognize was her black hair.

At this point, she had accepted that she was no longer Fiona Campbell—she is now Fiona de La Coventry. The sole daughter of Count and Countess Coventry. Suspect of murder against another noble.

'... s**t. I think I just became a living proof that both reincarnation and multidimensional theories are real.'