Chapter 1
[This village is perfect. I am happy!]
This was all that Nathan Labouff, a doctor heading to a rural village to investigate a suspicious death, had written in his letter after a month.
No matter how optimistic one might be, it would be impossible to deny that something had happened to Nathan.
Of course, the loudest voice raised in concern was that of Nathan’s fiancée.
In their cramped shared apartment, the voice of Countess Marie echoed.
“I think he has lost his mind! He’s too young to go crazy!”
“Calm down, Marie.”
“Calm down? On the day I accepted his proposal, all he said was ‘I’m really happy.’ Those villagers filled with witches, murderers, and fanatics must have driven him insane!”
“Do you really believe in sorcery in this day and age?”
In an era where trains run to the ends of the earth, the idea of witchcraft seemed absurd.
However, Marie paid no mind to Alice’s lack of empathy.
“Oh, Nathan… How could your sense of duty as a doctor lead to such a tragedy? Surely, even God is being too cruel! Please save your faithful servant from the devil’s grasp—”
“I’ll get you some coffee.”
Unable to endure the noise any longer, Alice stepped into the kitchen. It was only a few meters from her bed to the stove, after all.
‘Do we even have coffee?’
Fortunately, she remembered that there were ground beans left in the cupboard from last year’s restaurant visit. Alice brushed away the cobwebs with her sleeve before opening the lid.
Marie didn’t follow her into the kitchen but seemed to awkwardly gather their shared connections as if trying to offset her sudden rudeness.
“Is this a blood syringe on the desk? Nathan would have been pleased to see it. His former student is still researching in the same field as him.”
“…It’s not really research.”
“Oh my, there’s something inside the syringe. Did I interrupt your experiment?”
She knows well.
Alice glared at the kettle on the stove. Hurry up and boil! Just let her have a cup of coffee, then I can kick her out and get back to what I was doing!
Soon, the kettle let out a beep, and Marie received a drink that smelled more of dust than coffee, yet she smiled politely.
“Thank you for welcoming me. It’s just that no one seems willing to help me anywhere…”
“Get to the point. Professor Nathan went to investigate a suspicious death and has gone missing? But why is a medical school professor involved in a suspicious death instead of the police?”
“Well… it’s a long and quite horrific story. Are you okay with that?”
“If it involves human bodies, I won’t be surprised no matter how many pieces they are in or how many liters of blood are spilled.”
What worries me more is Lady Marie. After taking a few deep breaths with a tense expression, she slowly began to speak.
“I’ll tell you. Two months ago, the fifth son of the Marquis of Nassau was found dead while on vacation.”
“Yes.”
“And… they say there was a bouquet inside the corpse.”
Alice’s teacup shook for a moment.
Is this about a pleasure killer who decorates corpses? Well, this isn’t even surprising anymore. Stories about people putting insects or accessories in mouths occasionally make the news.
Marie’s trembling voice continued.
“They found it in his stomach… They took out his stomach and intestines, washed them, filled them with flowers, then put them back in and sewed him up…”
Coffee spilled down Alice’s chin.
Embarrassment and irritation were momentary. Her rational mind kept throwing questions at her.
How did they do it? Where did the incision start and end? What about the sutures? How did a high-ranking noble become a victim?
Seeing Alice’s serious expression, Marie must have realized that she would not be kicked out now. She cleared her throat and began to speak.
“Then let me start from the beginning. Two months ago, the fourth son of the Marquis of Nassau…”
***
The wayward son of the Marquis of Nassau was found dead in a remote village.
The youngest, who had been enjoying a vacation away from home, went hunting alone and met with a tragic fate. The body discovered by the forest keeper was so mangled that it looked as if many beasts had taken a bite out of it.
If that had been all, the Marquis would have simply lamented, ‘I should have broken that boy’s legs to keep him at home.’
However, before the funeral, the mortician washing the body and stitching up the gaping wounds noticed something strange.
The internal organs seemed too pristine for someone who had been hunted by carnivores; yet, there were stitching marks in one corner of the intestines.
With a sense of foreboding, the mortician gathered the servants who would serve as witnesses and began to unravel the threads. To their horror, a bundle of marigolds sprang out from the intestines.
The funeral was immediately halted.
Renowned doctors from the capital were called to investigate the body once more.
“The eyeballs were not taken by beasts. There are traces of being pulled from the orbital cavity…”
“It is also presumed that there is no brain.”
“The bouquet was found in the stomach as well.”
The marquise fainted.
The marquis was not in his right mind either. It was only natural; no matter how much of a troublemaker he was, a child is still a child. He clung to whatever he could possibly recover.
“What do you mean there’s no brain? If it’s gone, it’s gone!”
The marquis would soon regret asking that question.
“Based on the traces, it is presumed that he was… through the nasal cavity and… removed. If you would like confirmation, we would need to incise the skull. Is that alright with you?”
The doctor mumbled a few words, but it was enough for the marquis to imagine what had happened to his son. He sank down, beginning to curse everything.
The retainers hoped that the marquis would finally grant his youngest son some peace. Even if he was a troublemaker, wasn’t this horrific death punishment enough for his past behavior? There was no need to go so far as to cut open his head.
However, the marquis ordered them to bring a saw.
…The doctor was right.
In a way, the marquis’s choice wasn’t wrong either. A bouquet sprang out from the cranial cavity. Unlike the flowers found in his stomach, no one from the marquis’s household knew the name of this final flower.
The marquis sought out botanists from across the country and summoned them to his estate. The scholars shared their knowledge without knowing where the bouquet had come from until one of them found a clue.
“It seems to be a wildflower that grows in the southwestern coastal area of Dehib, where your son was vacationing. It doesn’t even have a name.”
Enraged, the marquis demanded that the lord of Dehib scour the southwestern coastline to find the whereabouts of the criminal. Of course, this was an embarrassing request for the lord. What lord could possibly know every criminal in their territory?
Moreover, only those who had received permission from the lord were allowed to hunt within his domain. What had the marquis’s son been doing when he went missing?
Now, the lord of Dehib had much to say as well.
While the two men raised their voices, the marquise held her son’s funeral.
Meanwhile, the marquis fell silent upon receiving reports of multiple assaults and property damage committed by his son during his vacation period.
At this point, even a suspicious death could be seen as an honorable end and a final act of filial piety from his youngest son.
The marquis’s estate fell into a swampy silence—on the surface at least.
The marquis did not cease his inquiries and finally confirmed that there was only one village in the area where that wildflower grew, seeking someone to send there.
However, it was crucial to avoid drawing the attention of the lord of Dehib, so a seemingly harmless expert was needed—someone like a curious botanist or a doctor volunteering for service.
Nathan Labouff, a professor from the medical school, accepted that proposal.
It had been a month since he left with a few colleagues for a village called ‘Reki.’ No one had returned.
***
Alice frowned.
“Are you saying the professor accepted such a proposal? Why would someone who was always safety-first do something so dangerous?”
“It seems my father pressured him. Even if the world has changed, to marry into nobility, you need at least a dean’s position.”
In trying to build connections with high-ranking nobles, it seems he accepted an excessive request. How foolish. If Nathan had no value from the start, the count wouldn’t have allowed the engagement.
Marie wiped her tears.
“My father regrets it too. If we had been just a little more honest with each other, we could have become a family sooner…”
“If you’re done with the preamble, get to the main point.”
“What? Are you treating this tragedy as just an introduction?”
“If you need someone to cry with, go find a friend now.”
With her nose turning bright red, Marie glared at Alice. But Alice’s indifferent gaze remained completely unfazed.
Marie’s petal-like lips parted.
“…Please, Dr. Alice Boucher. Find Professor Nathan for me.”
The main point was exactly as expected. To say it was a village filled with fanatics, witches, and murderers and then to brazenly suggest “You should go there too” was laughable.
“Ha, and should I write to you next month saying ‘I am happy’?”
“I’ll assign you a guard! Even if something happens, they won’t be ruthless to a delicate woman. All those who have gone missing were men!”
“Have you ever sent a woman?”
“Anyway, please, I have enough money!”
Marie fumbled in her pocket and pulled out a checkbook. The varying amounts written on the checks suggested that she had gone through several people, raising the stakes before coming to Alice.
Damn, the culmination of this ridiculous game of chance has led here.
What was even more annoying was that Alice’s heart was already reacting to that amount of money.
With that money, she could pay a year’s rent, rush to a café for a coffee loaded with cream, and buy real meat instead of the dried, salted stuff…
No, calm down.
“This isn’t something that can be solved with money. Honestly, I’m not sure if I have any reason to take risks for a mentor I haven’t been in contact with for years.”
“What? Wait a minute. You became a doctor thanks to him!”
“…Yes, it’s true that he helped me become the first female medical student.”
Alice gritted her teeth internally.
“But it’s already been three years since we lost contact after graduation. I might send him a birthday card, but I don’t want to risk my life.”
Marie’s eyes widened.
It seemed she wasn’t used to being outright rejected. Her lovely eyes began to glisten with tears.
And she interpreted Alice’s refusal through her own standards.
“Alice… Are you refusing because you hate me for taking Nathan away?”
In the end, Alice dropped her teacup.
