Episode 27 Finale - Her Butler, Knowing the Culprit
“Sebastian, are you almost done?” I said as he lightly picked up the last article of clothing from his victims.
“Indeed, this is the last of it,” he said then, lightly tossing it in the air and hovering his hand up.
The clothing caught fire, disintegrating in seconds, not even leaving ash behind.
He then lowered his hand, dusting them off before stepping over to me.
“Your gloves are still off,” I stated then. “The seal and your nails are showing.”
“I know, master,” he said gently. “I told you; I soiled them.”
I felt my cheeks burn, and I just sipped my tea to hide it.
“So,” I said then, lowering my tea as Madam Beham looked toward the corner casually, “are you going to stand there the whole time? Or are you going to move?”
Madam Claudia remained in the corner, face still hidden in the shadows.
“You’ve been standing there for twenty minutes now,” I said then, Sebastian smiling as he lightly poured more tea into my cup. “You are very good at pretending, aren’t you? Really, you’d be a good actress.” I smiled up. “Overtaker, right?”
Claudia immediately looked up, eyes darkening immediately at my stare.
She just smiled and set a hand against her face.
She then tipped her head back, tearing off her mask immediately and ripping her fake face to shreds.
“My, my,” Sebastian said then, “master, you were right. He was hiding among the guests.”
“I’m always right, Sebastian,” I stated honestly.
The Overtaker just gazed up, setting his finger against his chin as he winked at me. “My lord, how could you tell?”
“Claudia kept switching personalities,” I said then, sighing as I set my cheek in my hand. “And Edward wasn’t acting like himself, either.”
The Overtaker just smiled. “You knew he was a fake, too?”
“There were twenty people entering the ship immediately when it was docked,” I said then, lashes lowering. “And there were twenty people in the dining room. Four were actually murdered and confirmed to be dead, two were faked and roaming around, leaving only my family members, my servants… and… you were the only guest left. I just connected the pieces. Having Edward roaming around the ship without adding count to the guests was simple. And also,” I gestured to Sebastian, “he can sense things. He sensed no demons, just a reaper.”
The Overtaker just smiled. “How very bright you are.”
I sipped my tea. “What do you want?”
“Oh, I was looking through one of my friend’s ‘to die’ list and I saw a bunch of murders happening on this ship! And then I saw you centered around it. I just couldn’t resist. I am an immortal man; I deserve some entertainment every once and a while. And boy, oh, boy, should I do this more often.”
I just gave him a bored look. “What happened to the real Claudia?”
“Oh, don’t worry about her,” he shook his hand, “she’s asleep in her bed. She never even got the invitation, she’s quite alright.”
“And the father?” I continued. “He’s not mad that you’re missing?”
Overtaker scoffed. “I’m his buyer, he doesn’t care.”
Sebastian poured more tea into my cup again, remaining silent, but amused.
I drank from it, setting it down.
“Well,” Overtaker said then, winking at me, “I must go now. It was a pleasure witnessing this play with you, my lord. But there are other matters to attend to.” He then danced around a bit. “Toodles!”
And he hopped backwards like some acrobat, out the window and into the sea.
“He’s going to swim to shore?” I said, half-annoyed.
“Well, we’re only ten minutes out now, my lord,” Sebastian said.
I sighed then. “Good. There’s some shopping I need to do.”
I then looked over at my grandmother. “You’ve been very quiet, Madam Beham. Why is that?”
She just smiled and set her tea aside. “There’s a reason why I chose you as heir, Yumi. A very good reason, indeed. You don’t let your personal matters get in the way of your physical preparations of war.” She gazed up. “I assessed every situation and your reactions. You knew that the first murder was from Denver himself immediately. That’s why you were so calm and unafraid of me. You also helped Sebastian plan Scarlet’s show, didn’t you?”
My lashes lowered.
“Deneise’s is what really took you off guard,” Madam Beham said then. “Because it wasn’t planned. And you genuinely thought Sebastian died, didn’t you?”
I was silent.
“Now… my real question.” She shuffled in her seat. “Why did you invite us on this ship? You knew she was planning this, didn’t you?”
I sighed. “I did, indeed.”
“Why didn’t you stop her?” Madam Beham said then.
“I chose my crowd for a reason,” I stated, sipping my tea.
She stared for a moment, before smiling. “You wanted them to die, didn’t you? This was an order from the king?”
I gazed over at her, smiling slightly. “You are very insightful. I think that’s where I get it from.” I then sighed and set my head against the chair. “Alas, yes, I wanted them to die… most of them. Sebastian explained to me before my invitations were sent, that Madam Beth was planning my demise. So I sought fit to use her as a pawn.”
Cammie just blinked. “Wow, master, really? You planned all this?”
I nodded. “In all honesty, Deneise was the only one I didn’t want to die. She was supposed to be my witness. I actually thought Denver was her only victim, which was why Scarlet’s faked death was premeditated beforehand. But she freaked out and killed Deneise, the only one I was weary about ridding of.” I gazed up. “Everyone else, I cared less of.
“Denver rolled in drugs and weapons illegally through the states for money. Sir Jeffery committed multiple acts of felonies and harassed teenage girls—to put it lightly. And Madam Savage murdered her boss to get in her job place. Beth murdered Jeffery and Savage because she thought they were my bodyguards, in reality, they were planning my demise, as well.”
“My, everyone’s plotting, aren’t they?” Beham just smiled, drinking her tea again. “And was Claudia supposed to die, too?”
I nodded. “Yes, she was another one of my targets, yes. She’s part of a trafficking ring, who isn’t?” I rolled my eyes. “But I will get to her later.”
Sebastian just adjusted my tie in place and then poured me the last of the tea.
“You were planning to kill your aunt and your cousins the whole time,” Beham said then. “Which was why you invited them.”
I gazed up, smile sharpening. “She thought I was doing it out of kindness and thought she premeditated everything. She was planning to kill me, and I had the right to protect myself. Let alone all the bullying that my cousins displayed on me. They were kind and sappy, but once Sebastian ‘died’ they switched back to normal. Proved me right, they never changed. They were just afraid of him.” I sighed. “Madam Beth might be smart,” I sipped my tea, “I’m smarter.”
Beham just closed her eyes and smiled. “Indeed, you are. Your intellect scares me just a bit.”
“A very clever girl,” Sebastian added, bowing, “master.”
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