"Where were you last night when the murder took place?" Nozel Silva asked with narrowed eyes, his arms crossed, directly at the Captain of the Black Bulls, Yami Sukehiro.
This morning, the Magic Emperor called for an emergency conference among the Captains to address the midnight murders terrorizing the capital. Another body turned up again this morning which is making the general population worry for their safety. Something has to be done. Everyone is on edge, even the Captains. Because of the dead bodies and the identity of the Midnight Murderer still unknown, the atmosphere in the meeting room is tense. However, what seems to be out of place is Yami's Sukehiro's behavior, who just got into the room. Coming late to the meeting, he seemed like he's having a blast, much to Nozel's annoyance.
"What? You talking to me?" Yami said, slumping hard on his seat beside Charlotte. "Is that today's agenda?"
"Magic Knights from my squad reported that they saw you walking alone last night at the streets of the capital market. If I remember correctly, you nor your squad have no official business loitering in that area. What do you think you're doing?"
When Yami saw everyone staring at him waiting for an answer, including Julius, he sighed and simply said, "Just out and about, patrolling."
"Patrolling?" the Captain of Silver Eagles repeated, with a hint of sharpness in his voice. Sitting beside Jack, Charlotte saw Fuegoleon discreetly clearing his throat and shifting uncomfortably in his seat.
They're really suspecting him?
"Yeah. Just here and there." The God of Destruction said dismissively. Beside Charlotte, she saw Kaiser raise his eyebrows.
They don't sound convinced. I wouldn't be if it was me.
The Briar Queen wishes she can kick Yami in the face so he can get it together. In all actuality, she's part of the reason why Yami is dealing with the current situation at hand. If he will not be able to wriggle himself out of this, he'd be forced to tell his real whereabouts last night.
No, Charlotte. Let's not go there.
The reason why Yami was late this morning is that he had a hard time getting out unseen at the Blue Rose base. That's how it's always been recently. Charlotte spent the night with Yami yesterday at her base doing god knows what, without anybody knowing except his spatial mage, Finral Roulacase, who helped him sneak in. They have been seeing each other secretly every night and have also agreed to keep their relationship low because of a LOT of reasons. Charlotte is well aware, since they are both important public figures, that she and Yami will have to disclose their relationship to the public eventually. Just thinking of it makes her want to puke briars. If the two of them weren't captains, and if she wasn't notorious for hating men and Yami, notorious for being Yami, their relationship wouldn't be such an ordeal. Thankfully, Yami seems to understand by trying to keep it a secret until Charlotte is truly ready.
If only I wasn't care less. Charlotte curled her hands into fists under the table. This is serious. Really serious.
Just then, when the situation couldn't get any worse, Jack flashed his blades from across the table. "Stupid! What kind of response is that? Tell me, Yami. Or do you want me to rip the words out of that filthy mouth of yours? What were you doing last night?"
In response, Yami slammed his hand violently at the table which made Rill yelp. The accused captain stood up quickly from his seat, the impact pushing his chair backward. "You want to take this outside, Bean Pole Monster?"
"Here we go," Dorothy said, amused at the scene happening before her.
Charlotte felt a trickle of sweat move down her spine. This is not looking good. If he's not gonna throw off the suspicions of the Captains, he'd be forced to reveal some very inappropriate information! It would bring shame to my House!
"Now, now everyone, just calm down." Julius interrupted, speaking for the first time. At the Magic Emperor's gesture, Yami and Jack sat back down childishly. "Fighting won't get us nowhere in solving this case. I think it's safe to say that all the Captains are on the same page when I say we all want the perpetrators to be put into justice?" He looked around the room to see heads slightly nodding, urging him to go on. "In that case then, Yami, can you provide a more detailed account of your activities last night so we can put the captains' minds at ease?"
"I didn't do it if that will put your minds at ease," Yami said stubbornly.
Charlotte swore she saw her spirit leave her own body. At this point, she's good as dead. Why can't this stupid meathead come up with an excuse?!
"Answer the question properly, Foreigner. I'm sure you are aware that committing a crime of murder can be punishable by death?" Nozel said.
"D-d-d-death?! We can't do that to Yami-san!" a terrified Rill said, biting his nails.
Charlotte hates to admit it but Nozel is unfairly hitting everything right in the nail. She felt angry at the fact how this silver-haired royalty can peddle injustice this easy. Sure, Yami is crude and boorish and annoying sometimes but no one's allowed to be treated like this, especially the man of her dreams. Think, Charlotte, think! There must be something you can do here!
"Yami, please take the current matter seriously," William said calmly. "I trust that this is just a minor misunderstanding you can easily clear up."
"Gosh, not you too, Mr. Serious. What a headache." Yami said, scratching his head.
As if bringing up the death penalty wasn't enough, Nozel opened his mouth again to speak the unspeakable. "I suggest we use Marx's memory magic to settle this right away because you've wasted too much of our time."
"That won't be necessary!" Charlotte blurted out instinctively at the silver-haired captain, maybe a little too loud, gaining everyone's full attention.
Marx's Memory Magic is faultless. It shows images of memories inside one's head exactly as how they took place. If they're going to access Yami's memory on the night of the murder, they'd be seeing something else entirely and Charlotte will not have that. She's ready to fight tooth and nail for the captains and Julius not to see what happened that night.
"Charlotte?" Fuegoleon said, sounding concerned.
"You saying something, Ice Prick?" Jack said, challenging her to go on.
"I can attest to Yami's innocence. He's not at the time and place where the murder was committed. There's no need to resort in extreme ways such as Marx's memory magic or the death penalty." Charlotte delivered with a strong but calm voice, never taking her eyes off Nozel.
"There ya go! Another captain is vouching for me. Told ya I'm innocent." Charlotte felt a vein on the side of her forehead throb.
Before the Black Bulls Captain can open his mouth to say something stupid, Charlotte went on, eager to quickly change the topic, "This is obviously not getting anywhere so let's just move on to more pressing matters." She prayed quietly inside her mind that they would just forget about this and move on.
My track record as Captain is better than Yami's. My credibility alone should be enough to get us out of this mess.
Just when the Ice Prick Queen thought she was victorious for not hearing any objections, Kaiser broke the silence a few moments after and stated something obvious, "Why didn't you say so right away, Lady Charlotte?"
Damn you, Pringles!
Jumping back at the topic like nothing happened, Jack spoke with a finger pointed at Charlotte, "Yeah! What was he doing then? Care to say more? Are you in cahoots with him?!"
Everyone is looking at her now. Even the Magic Emperor himself looks puzzled. She can feel all the colors from her face draining. Oh no... I screwed up! There's no way to avoid shooting myself in the foot!
"I... He..."
"Huh? Your tongue got stuck or what?" Jack said, flashing his blades threateningly.
I... I can't lie to the captains! I can't lie to Sir Julius!
"He... a-a-and I..."
Damn it! How do I get out of this?! Is it too late to run? Should I feign illness?
"You should speak up if you know something," Nozel added coldly.
"Charlotte?" William called out to her at the other end of the table, worry reflected in his voice.
Indeed, she and Yami were really in cahoots that night in a very, very hot and steamy way. And there's nothing wrong with that, right? It's totally normal for people their age. So what if they're captains? What do these trash bags know about being in a relationship anyway? Except for Kaiser of course, who's been married for a long time.
My captainship has always been important to me. The Blue Rose Squad is my life, my honor, and my legacy!
Seeing Charlotte having an internal meltdown in front of everyone, Yami decided that it's up to him to handle the situation. "Fine, guess I gotta tell y'all."
The Black Bulls Captain continued despite inaudible objections from the Ice Prick Queen. He turned to her and said, "Because it's either that or death penalty as Mr. Royalty here is saying."
"No, wait-"
"It shouldn't really be a shock to everyone when I say that Charlotte and I have been dating. I mean, I can't help it that I'm handsome."
It must have been instinct as a Magic Knight but Charlotte found herself almost prancing at Yami, several briars out aiming to knock him off, the tip of her spiky vines just inches away from the man's unalarmed face. Her objective must have been to shut him up but luckily, she was able to stop herself at the right moment.
It's like time went into slow motion. Kaiser almost got knocked off his chair from Charlotte's sudden attack, William's mouth was hanging open, even Jack and Nozel looks too stunned to speak. Fuegoleon opened his mouth as if to say something, but no words came out. And no, the Rose Captain can't bear to look at the Magic Emperor. It was the most awkward moment of her entire career as a Magic Knight. And Yami... Well, Yami looked so damn pleased with himself.
When her senses came back, Charlotte gathered herself, cleared her throat, retracted her briar magic into thin air, and sat back down with crossed arms. She sighed angrily.
He's done it. There's nothing left to do now. Just nothing.
As an esteemed captain of the Blue Rose Squad from the noble House of Roselei, she kept herself poised to salvage what's left of her reputation. If she can only turn back time.
No. This is okay, Charlotte. You survived the threat of the devils. This is nothing compared to that. Everything's fine. Breathe in, breathe out.
After what seemed like an eternity, it was Rill who brought everyone back to reality. "I don't get it, Yami-san. Should that information clear you up on all the suspicions about where you were last night?"
"Are you saying that the two of you were together last night?" Dorothy said.
"Bingo!" Yami confirmed with a finger gun.
Recovering from shock, Fuegoleon asked, "Charlotte, can you confirm if this is true?"
She can feel the heat of the world flooding her face. The weight of everyone's stares made it harder for her to speak, but she knows full well what must be done. Lying is not an option. She closed her eyes and just let Jesus take the wheel.
"I-it is..." Charlotte said forcefully.
"Wow... What's gotten into your head?" Dorothy teased.
No. It's not worth it. Don't listen to that witch.
"Now that you've mentioned it, I think some of you are in that age," Kaiser commented thoughtfully.
As if the damage done wasn't enough, Yami opened his mouth to speak more. "And if you still don't believe us, my spatial mage can attest to sneaking me in last night at the Blue Rose. I was late earlier because I had a hard time getting out undetected. Security is good, gotta hand that to you."
"For real?!" Dorothy said with wide eyes. "You know what, I'm still not convinced. Can we use Marx's memory magic? Is that still on the table? I need to see all the details-"
"That's enough, Dorothy. I think that's none of our business anymore." Fuegoleon said firmly.
"Captains, let's stop prying too much into their private lives," Julius added with his usual kind smile.
"Congratulations, Yami-san!" Rill said happily, and turning to Charlotte, he added, "but I'm not sure if I can say the same to you, Charlotte."
"So how did this happen?" Dorothy asked.
"Well, I happen to find Charlotte smart and beauti-" Yami started, but was immediately interrupted by Jack's laugh.
"Kekeke! Stupid! I can understand that. What I don't understand is what Ice Prick here saw in you! Did you hit your head or something? KEKEKE!"
Because Sir Julius was a bit far from her, he mouthed "congratulations" to Charlotte from across the table. Charlotte wanted to thank the Magic Emperor but she felt too embarrassed to speak. She wishes nothing at that moment but to disappear or just get swallowed up by the ground.
"Tch."
Nozel made a discreet, annoyed sound as everyone made fun of the two. The foreigner that he was accusing earlier is in high spirits while the Blue Rose Captain sat there awkwardly spiritless. She must have been really anxious about the whole ordeal, he thought.
While Nozel made this quiet observation, his eyes accidentally met Dorothy's.
"What? If you're jealous, you know you can always go on a date with me?" She said while resting her chin on one hand.
Coldly, the silver-haired captain responded, "No need for that kind of formality. You know you're always welcome at our household for dinners."
Dorothy sighed. "You're not romantic at all."