Disclaimer: I have to say, I wished that I owned KWMS and/or P&P, but sadly, I do not...

And here I present...

Chapter 19


The sky was getting dark as Misaki was a few miles away from Elmswood. She was in a different carriage; she instructed the coachman from Usui's that he should go home, for she had some business to attend that would consume much time. She thought it would be of inconvenience for him, and after that she gave her regards and left. By the time she left Merrington Square (the name of the town at Kensington), it was at noon; lucky for her it was Mr. Brown's day off, and the shop was to close the whole day.

As she was on her way to Elmswood, she was in her deepest thoughts of her encounter with Mr. Charles Brown, the prime suspect of the police of Ms. Angelique's murder, as well as his assistant, a young woman of her age.

-Flashback-

"Well, welcome, young lady, what can I do for you? Is there you wanted to buy?"

"No, but I have some business with you, Mr. Charles Brown," Misaki said.

Mr. Brown was startled; Misaki noticed that he was sweating very much, indeed, a sign of nervousness, and, that of someone carrying a deep secret.

Then, Misaki heard a sweet voice of a young woman, who came rushing from the stairs to their location.

"Mr. Brown, I decided that we go to..." the young woman said, and then she noticed that the atmosphere was a bit intense, looked at the floor instead.

Then, Misaki smiled brightly, as if her serious aura faded, and said, "I was just kidding around, Mr. Brown. Actually, I was looking for a gift for my sister."

"Your sister?" Mr. Brown repeated, though he tried to remain calm, but in vain.

"Oh, yes; she's spending some time with me at home before returning to London. She was studying there," Misaki said. Then, turning to the young woman, she said, "Well, do you have a sister, Miss..?"

"Marilyn. My name is Marilyn," she said.

"Ah, a lovely name. Can I call you Marie instead? By the by, I am Misaki Ayuzawa of Elmswood village," Misaki said, as she approach Marie to shake hands. She, then, looked around the shop, which is, by the way, a pawn shop.

"My, what beautiful jewels you have, Mr. Brown," she said, as she looked at the displayed items.

"Ahhh... thank you, Ms. Ayuzawa," Mr. Brown said.

"Ms. Marie, can you help me pick something for my sister? I wanted to buy a ring for her," Misaki said.

Then, with brightened expression, Maire said, "Certainly, Ms. Ayuzawa, what is your sister's preference?"

"Truth be told, she told me anything is alright for her, so I decided that, since she is a bit mysterious, well, in a good way, that she wants to achieve the impossible, so..." Misaki said, and then she noticed a fancy little brown box, carved exquisitely with gold outline. "What is in here, Mr. Brown? New arrivals?"

"No, that box houses some uninterested things which I plan to throw out," Mr. Brown said, then lifting the box, he said, "Marie, show our customer our best rings while I throw this box."

"No, rather, let me look at it, Mr. Brown. I have this unusual liking to anything uninteresting," Misaki said, "I am a bit curious, say, like my sister."

"No, I assure you..."

"I insist"

Mr. Brown hesitated, until Misaki said something which startled Mr. Brown even more, "Unless it houses a deep secret from Ms. Marie,"

Mr. Brown's voice was heightened, "No! Why would I... I mean, who are you to interfere with my business? Who are you too...?"

"I am just a customer, Mr. Brown, and as they say, a customer is always right, am I right?" Misaki said with a smile.

Marilyn approached Mr. Brown and whispered, "Well, I think, Mr. Brown, you should handle the box to the pestering customer so that she can leave immediately, and you're not really keeping a secret from me like she said, right?"

'Pestering, huh?' Misaki thought.

Quietly, Mr. Brown placed the box at a table, which Misaki opened as Mr. Brown and Marie were standing at her side. She opened it slowly, as she wished to increase the tension between the two, especially Mr. Brown; she observed that Mr. Brown was sweating very much, and Marilyn's brows almost met, for she, too, was curious.

But then again, both of them changed as Misaki finally opened the box; Marilyn was startled extremely, and Mr. Brown felt very guilty of everything.

"This is what I was looking for," Misaki said as she held what was kept inside the box.

It was a golden ring with a blue gem shaped like a rose.

-End of Flashback-

Because of her deep thinking, she didn't notice that they have arrived town until the carriage jolted. It was now evening, and she was now in front of her little house, quiet and now open. Someone was already there, and she assumed it to be her sister, Suzuna. She has a spare key of the house so that, if ever she arrived and Misaki was not there, she can have no reason to stay in the neighbour.

She entered the house, and she found two people; Suzuna and her friend, Emile, was sitting close each other.

"Misaki, you're home at last," Emile greeted with his brightest smile.

Misaki smiled back, and she turned to Suzuna and asked how she was in London, "I am fine," Suzuna said, "but..."

Emile looked at Suzuna with inquiry, but Suzuna held her mouth shut.

Misaki broke the silence and said, "I know that the militia arrived days ago, but may I ask why you're here with my sister?"

"Is that the gratitude I receive for welcoming you?" Emile laughed, but the sisters were not laughing.

"The truth is I wanted to see you, Misa" Emile said. Misaki was still silent.

"I... wanted to ask something from you..."

-0-

Around the time of Misaki's arrival, back at Mr. Brown's place, someone was knocking at the shop, even though it was seen clearly that it was close. Mr. Brown and Marilyn was sitting down by the fire, and were contemplating of what Misaki said to them. They tried to ignore the knocking, but the person was persistent. Finally, Mr. Brown rose, along with Marilyn, and said, "You probably should go back to your governess and ask her to teach her again how to read the sign..."

Then, he opened the door and saw a tall man in dark overcoat.

-0-

Late that night, Misaki rushed to the staff room of the restaurant. She passed at the dark alley, and found light from the said room. Inside, she found Ms. Satsuki, Erika, Subaru, Honoka , Aoi and Inspector Norris.

"Misaki, I was a bit surprised, with the news spreading around the village," Subaru said.

"That's true; I thought you were, well, with Mr. Usui..." Erika said, but was interrupted by Honoka's dark aura.

"Well, you never understand Misa, ladies. Hiding behind that innocent face is a sly fox," Honoka said.

"But then again, what was that all about, Misaki? What has gotten into you," Aoi said.

"Aside these, ladies," Inspector Norris said, "What is this all about, Misaki? Calling us at this hour is too preposterous!"

"Might I ask you if you'll regard this as preposterous if I said this is all about the case you given me?" Misaki said.

"Why? Did you solve it?" Inspector Norris said with a heightened tone.

"Yes"

Silence overcame the group, and finally, Aoi asked, "Then, what is your next move, Misaki?"

Misaki smiled and said, "I need you to help me gather the casts, as well as some things. The stage is set; the play is about to begin."

-0-

Morning came to Château de Chamomiles, and the master of the house was having his breakfast for he and his brother had some business to attend to. Eloise was not yet awake, and Gerard was now in Lady Everglott's mansion near Kensington, and as he arrived there, he was greeted by Gerard with a tap on his back.

"Upon my word, Takumi, I am staying at the same roof as yours and you didn't tell me this spectacular news," Gerard said as they walk into the parlour.

"What news?" Usui asked.

"Do not keep it a secret from me, your brother, Takumi," Gerard said, "It will just eventually come out."

"I tell you, Gerard, that I do not know what you are talking about," Usui remarked.

They arrived at the door of the parlour, and Gerard, finally giving up insisting Usui to tell his "news" or "secret" whatsoever, until he heard his aunt said to Lady Chevalier, "I say, Inspector Norris sent me a telegram concerning the young lady whom he had in company from our party, that Ms. Misaki Ayuzawa."

"What about her?" asked Lady Chevalier.

"A wondrous news, my friend; she is now engaged," said Lady Everglott. Gerard whispered to Usui, "See? I told you that your engagement will be revealed, though I wonder why our aunt was actually happy."

"You might be mistaken. I had not yet offered Ms. Ayuzawa of marriage," Usui said, though he remembered that he did ask for her hand, but was rejected, but he didn't consider it.

"What? Then who...?" a shocked Gerard said, then they heard Lady Chevalier asked, "By the by, Madelaine, who was that man again, whom this Ms. Ayuzawa is engaged?"

"Oh, that would be her long time friend, though I do not really agree with the man, but I respect Ms. Ayuzawa'a decision and that it is not my concern now. I actually knew him, that Mr. Emile Garner."

_END_


And here comes chapter 19... By the way, I may not update this next week because my family will be out of town and sorry for the delay and if it was confusing, just PM me if you had questions... (looking at the number of words, this has got to be one of my shortest chapter... whoah...)

Thank you for those who read and reviewed the previous chapter, and those who added my stories to their favourites, story alerts, and me as their favourite author... :D

Happy Easter everyone!

~otaku911