Chapter 110: I'm not accusing anybody just yet.

Felix stepped closer into the middle of the room, dragging Rodrick behind him while pressing down on his shoulder. The murmuring continued amongst the crowd, nobles leaning towards each other, discussing in whispers behind their gloves the stranger who stood there. Only Hakimi stayed silent, watching from the doorway, no longer crossing his arms, completely focused only on Felix.

"Who's this guy?" one of them murmured from the back.

"Don't know him. Never saw him around before."

"Clearly rude to just barge in."

Felix ignored them, scanning the room slowly, looking for Diana, then Mirabelle, and then Osbel.

"Lady Diana," he said, giving a slight bow. "Duke Osbel, Lady Mirabelle." He looked elsewhere then, towards the maid who was standing by the wall. "Barbra. As well as everyone else." He straightened again and smiled. "I'm Felix, and I'm here today to tell you about some very interesting news about the rumors regarding Hakimi Morrow that have been floating around this city for the past month."

"Who let him barge in here." Mirabelle's voice rang sharply through the hall. "Somebody get him out of this palace right away."

The knights standing on guard on the sides of the walls moved, their boots shifting towards Felix.

"Wait." Osbel's voice lifted sharply, enough for them to stop their advance. "Let him speak first."

"Osbel," Mirabelle turned towards him, her voice lowering, but just as angry. "Do you not see an outsider interrupting an extremely important ritual? He can speak all he wishes after that."

"You are right." Osbel agreed, but his eyes remained locked on Felix. "I wish to hear what he has to say. Nobody barges into a Duke's place without a reason." His eyes returned to Felix again. "Tell me about these secrets."

"I thank you for your consideration, Duke Osbel." Felix cleared his throat, standing a little straighter. "It was just a week ago that Hakimi asked me to investigate who was behind these rumors. The way he spoke to me made it quite obvious that he already expected matters to turn uglier than mere rumors."

He let the statement linger before continuing. "Within a couple of days, I discovered some men impersonating Hakimi in the west district. I took one of them into custody and interrogated him. He had nothing much to tell me except that he had been paid gold by a woman to act in such a manner. That very night, he was found dead. His face mutilated to unrecognizability while his throat had been slashed open from end to end. I imagine most of you have heard of that one."

He let the silence grow for a moment. "Then, a couple of days later, yet another murder, in the same manner and style. It was quite clear to me why the murderer chose to do this. Hakimi was not in the palace then. Everyone was searching for him while Lady Diana, as I hear, was on the verge of breaking entirely."

His eyes darted to her quickly for half a second. "Nothing is more conducive to ruining matters, whether staged or real, than having yet another body pop up with his name on it. And that's why I advised Hakimi not to say anything. Not even to answer anyone's question. Not even Lady Diana herself."

He smiled at Diana weakly.

"Because there was someplace in this very palace that someone has been leaking information to whatever person started all of this. Watching him closely—"

"You are accusing us?" Mirabelle snapped down the hall. "That the Duke himself planned something so dishonorable?"

"Not yet. I'm not accusing anybody just yet," Felix said, lifting a hand.

A few of the guests exchanged looks. One of them whispered something from the back

.

"So with that knowledge of how the criminal's mind worked, I staged Hakimi's murder myself. All of what you guys saw a few days ago in the square was me doing it. I started spreading rumors about how Hakimi planned on coming clean about everything. That's when I found the woman who set up all of this."

"Where is this woman right now?" Osbel demanded impatiently.

"We'll get to her, I promise." Felix nodded. "I questioned her myself. She gave me very little of use, since she was only following someone else's orders too. Whoever's actually behind this slipped away from me again at that point."

He paused, letting his eyes sweep the room once more. "But I wasn't done. I went back to the beginning and found someone who knew far more than he had any business knowing."

He turned, gesturing toward Rodrick, still pale and trembling beside him. "A shop owner. Runs a stall near the west gate." Felix leaned in slightly toward him. "Tell me, Rodrick. Who gave you that information? Was it the Duke? Lady Mirabelle?"

He glanced back over his shoulder toward Hakimi, letting the pause hang a moment longer than it needed to. "Or was it Hakimi Morrow himself, feeding you details about his own name? Tell everyone here. Who was it?"

Rodrick surveyed the room, his mouth quivering, sweat trickling down the side of his face. Every eye that met his seemed to move back slightly, as if he were carrying something that could spread from him.

"Well?" Felix kept his tone steady, almost soothing. "No need to rush."

Rodrick's eyes finally found their mark, looking at Diana, at Osbel, at the line of nobles standing frozen near the middle of the room. He swallowed. "It. It was Lady Geneviève. She told me everything."

All of a sudden the crowd erupted in noise.

"Geneviève? The Delacroix?"

"I heard that she's on good terms with the businessmen in the western districts—"

"That can't be, she's almost a relative to the Duke—"

"Liar!" Geneviève shouted, her voice sharp and angry. "I have never told you anything! I don't even know this man."

"You don't know him?" Felix inclined his head in mock surprise. "It's odd since he has been working in your husband's home for almost ten years now."