房客(糙汉)何璐程曜坤

Kierul shrugged her shoulders sounding a bit disappointed that she could not finish her monologue and Aku agreed with her in an amused voice.

After that exchange, Kierul unsealed the vial and took out the pill, and... ground it between her fingers, making sure that most of the powder stays on her hand while only a tiny bit ends up back in the vial.

When she did that, she leaned down and pushed the vial into one of Noelletta\'s twisted hands.

Without straightening her back, the red-haired girl then put her finger into her dead cousin\'s mouth and rubbed some of the powered pill onto her molars, and left just a speck on her lips.

"...it\'s such a waste of money... Enflame."

*WHOOO*

Kierul stood up and sighed, watching her hand burst into flames that swallowed all the remaining poisonous powder in her hand, getting rid of all the evidence.

"It is, but it was already extremely risky to even purchase it. Keeping it around as an asset for the future and risking being discovered would not be worth the possible benefit."

Aku assured his master in a comforting voice.

"I know, I know. But the money..."

Kierul breathed out with dissatisfaction as she walked towards the vanity table and left the vial\'s cork on top of it.

"Ah, right."

The red-haired girl rolled her eyes and returned to the corpse.

She picked up the letter and the envelope and while she was at it, she grabbed the delicate golden ring and put it into Noelletta\'s other hand.

Then, she put the letter back into the envelope and sealed it shut, leaving it right by the vial\'s cork.

As Aku was waiting for Kierul by the door, tea seat in hand, ready to leave.

"Aku~"

"But of course. Gemini"

Kierul passed him and hummed making him lower his head and... an exact copy of him stepped out from behind his back and took the key from the door.

*click*

As the original Aku and his master left the room, the copy closed and locked the door behind their backs, dissipating into a thin silver mist after his task was completed, leaving no trace and completing the closed-room murder mystery scenario.

"How\'s the situation outside?"

Kierul turned around and faced the locked door, leaned her head towards her masked attendant, and asked.

"Our less than trustworthy coachman is too busy trembling and worrying about himself and his family to pay attention to any noises coming from the house, and Noelletta\'s nanny is almost done with the shopping, she is admirably fast and efficient."

Aku answered her politely, to which she nodded with a soft smile.

"That said, my lady, I want to confirm something if you don\'t mind."

"What is it?"

The masked boy said while patiently holding the tea set, making his master glance at him curiously and give her permission.

"Do you really think I am competent enough to brag about me being your friend?"

Aku wondered in a hesitant voice.

"...?"

Him saying that made Kierul slowly look over at him with a face full of disbelief.

"Whoa... we need to work on your low self-esteem. I had no idea it was this bad."

The red-haired girl breathed out, shaking her head with a worried expression.

"I just... My lady, the nanny is at the door already."

Aku fidgetted, a bit embarrassed over the confidence that Kierul had in him, but all of the hesitations disappeared the moment he heard the old woman returning.

"Time to make the show, eh?"

Kierul expression turned serious and she stepped towards the door, raising her fist and...

*BAM* *BAM* *BAM*

"BIG SISTER NOELLETTA?! ATE YOU THERE? IS EVERYTHING ALRIGHT?!"

...she started pointing at the door with all her might and shouted loud enough to be heard outside...

"Y-young lady Kierul...?! What\'s the matter?!"

The old lady basically barged inside the house, dropping the bag and letting all the ingredients she got a spill on the floor as she made her way to the pair of children.

"Granny...! Big sister Noelletta isn\'t responding to me at all! She said something about a broken heart and then I heard a loud noise as if something fell down and...! And she stopped responding!"

Kirul burst into tears and fell into the old woman\'s arms, explaining as her voice trembled in desperation.

"?!?!"

*CRASH*

The old woman\'s face turned ghastly pale and without saying anything she moved the red-haired girl aside and pushed past the masked attendant, knocking the tray out of his hands and causing the tea set to shatter on the floor.

*WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM*

"YOUNG LADY?! YOUNG LADY, PLEASE RESPOND!"

The granny shouted in panic, slamming on the door and shouting in basically a manic episode.

The old woman dropped to the floor, pressing her face to the space under it trying to catch even a glimpse of the young aristocrat in her care...

...and she did catch a glimpse – a pale twisted hand holding a small glass vile...

"LADY NOELLETTA?!"

The woman backed off as if the door scalded her and let out a harrowing scream, trembling as if struck by a sudden illness.

"AKU! GO GET HELP!"

"At once!"

Kierul played along and ordered her attendant, making the boy run out of the house to get more witnesses to the suicide and cementing their innocence~

The cover-up plan went out without a hitch. The group of commoners that Aku led back entered the locked room through the window to the fresh corpse of the only daughter of the second oldest brother of the current head of the Helterose family.

Every piece of evidence placed by the Kierul was discovered, the vial with the remains of the poison, the suicide note...

The fact that the dead girl was clenching her engagement ring made it so much more heartwrenching...!

The very same day Noelletta\'s father arrived at the summer house questioning everyone who happened to be at the sight - he might have suspected something but had literally no valid reason to start throwing out accusations.

Hence, the poor, traumatized children - that being Kierul and Aku, were sent back to Kierul\'s parents\' residence with words of compassion...

...and one less rival to the family head position in the red-haired girl\'s way...