Hello readers! Chapter 152 is finally here! This week Link begins to look into the mysterious murders of the infamous killer known as the Widowmaker, but just what shocking truths will he undercover in doing so? Read and find out!


Link first met Darling back when he was ten. He saw her spinning in place in the center of Hyrule Market Town embraced with her lover known as Honey.

He had asked them what they were doing and they totally disregarded him as they were too busy exchanging weird flirtatious words to each other that he didn't understand. After he moved to Gerudo Town, he didn't see them again until a chance encounter at the Happy Goron Hot Springs at Death Mountain, where their spinning caused a whirlpool in the water that almost got everyone swept away.

Back then, Link would have never thought he'd find himself so heavily involved in their lives. He would have never thought he'd find himself kissing Darling in a freak accident while chasing a thieving kid, or that she'd become so smitten with him as a result. He would have never thought he'd seriously consider pursuing a relationship with Darling after a close dance they shared together at a tavern while he had been out with Zelda one night...

And he never would have thought he'd end up visiting Darling in the jail cells of the Hyrule Market Town Knight's Station, where she was being held on the charge of murder.

"Hey Darling, are you holding up okay?"

"To think I'd end up in this dreary tomb of judgment..." Darling sniffled, holding the bars of her prison cell, "And for such a heinous crime..." she looked up to the young king with pleading eyes, "I swear to you... I didn't take that poor man's life! You believe me, don't you King Link?"

"I..." Link stared at Darling, namely at the blood stains on her dress, "I mean, yeah I find it hard to believe you'd do something like that, but..."

"So even you suspect me...?" she spoke sadly, "First that infernal man, now you?"

"I didn't say that." Link tried to assure her, but she looked skeptic.

"I don't blame my dear friend for being skeptic Ms. Darling." spoke another voice, it was that of Prince Darius, sitting against the wall in deep thought, "The evidence they have against you is rather damning after all..."


Flashback: Earlier that night

"The victim's name is Welsom Rochchild, age 52, a nobleman of the east providence of Hyrule."

A man stood over the body of a dead body in an alleyway of Hyrule Market Town. He wore a long brown trench coat, a matching brown bowler hat on his head, and sporting a curled mustache. His mouth was covered by the mustache, but it shifted up and down with each word he spoke. Despite not wearing any armor, his coat's lapel had a knight's badge pinned on it.

"Any loved ones he's leaving behind?" the man asked.

"Yes Inspector Turroll; a wife and two children, the eldest an adult and the youngest a child." saluted a nearby knight, "According to most recent records the eldest has already moved from their house."

"Hm, what a pity." frowned Inspector Turroll, "See to it they're all sent condolences for their loss."

The inspector knelt down at the body, inspecting the weapon lodged in the chest. There was a great amount of dried blood that had been seeping out from the wound.

"Just like all the others. So the Widowmaker strikes yet again."

He stood and turned to four people standing at the scene as well, consisting of Link, Darius, Honey and Darling. Darling in particular was being restrained by the knights.

"Never would have thought we'd actually have a suspect now, or that it would be you of all people." Turroll told Darling, looking at the blood on her dress. He turned to Link, Darius and Honey, "And it was not only her former boyfriend who witnessed the crime, but the new Gerudo King and the Fargent prince themselves who would be out here at this time of night to report it."

"I apologize again for rousing you awake from your desk Inspector." Darius spoke, "But me and my dear friend King Link needed to report this as soon as possible."

"Next time, just promise me you won't use a cold glass of water." Turroll groaned.

Link meanwhile just stood silently, looking over at Darling with pitiful eyes.

"I still can't believe it." spoke Honey shaking his head, he was propping himself up on a crutch with his left arm while his right arm was bound in a cast. His left leg was in a cast as well, "But my eyes could not be blinded from the truth of what I had seen! To think it was you this whole time, Darling!"

"..." Darling didn't so much as speak, her head was merely lowered sadly.

Turrell spoke up, "You two had a reputation as the 'Twirling Twosome' of Hyrule Market Town for ten years, all the way up until just a couple weeks ago when you broke up over an affair, from what I heard."

'Twirling twosome?' Link thought sweatdropping.

The inspector stuck a finger into his mustache and twirled it a little, stretching it out on one side, before letting go as it snapped back into place, "Heard a lot of talk about where the two of you have ended up in the past month. Shortly after that breakup, Mr. Honey became the victim of a brutal assault by an unknown assailant, and now Ms. Darling is under suspension of being the infamous 'Widowmaker' serial killer."

"Quite a grisly affair, is it not?" Darius spoke.

"Got that right." Turroll spoke, "The culprit has been at large for two years now. The twenty fourth victim was killed less than a week ago, and now number twenty five has already turned up." he spoke looking back down at the body, "After evading us for so long, the culprit seems to have gotten careless and let herself be seen. The irony that it was her ex-boyfriend who caught her in the act."

He looked up to Darling and narrowed his eyes.

"There's even accounts that you were sighted on the night of the twenty fourth murder dancing with a nobleman at the local tavern. Scouting for your next target perhaps?"

"What?!" Link exclaimed, realizing that was him the inspector was talking about. He had been disguised as a nobleman to accompany Zelda out into town that night, and Darling has proposed a dance with him.

"..." Darling didn't say a word and just looked down, it was clear she was absolutely shocked and terrified of the accusations against her.

"Well for now I think it's best to put you in custody. Take her away, boys."

The knights led Darling off to the prison. Link could only watch, and then stared down at the victim's body, and the weapon lodged in his chest.

End Flashback


"...I suppose I did put myself into that horrible situation..." Darling admitted hanging her head down, "I can't blame you for assuming it."

"How about you start from the beginning?" Link suggested, "Tell us what it is you saw that night."

"V-Very well..." Darling spoke, "It was still rather early in the night, and I was in the middle of making dinner when I realized I was out of sweet potatoes. I was on my way to the store and took a shortcut at that one street, when I heard something in a nearby alleyway. I ran over to find that man laying on the ground with a weapon lodged in his chest, and I screamed out."

"No wonder. That must have been horrible to see." Link spoke in a compassionate tone, "So how did you get the blood on you?"

"I thought I might be able to save his life by pulling out the weapon, but try as I might I couldn't remove it..." Darling explained, "As I was doing that some blood got on my dress."

"And I presume that's when that bandaged witness came in?" Darius asked.

"That's right, Honey showed up right at that moment and saw me trying to pull the knife out." Darling spoke, "It makes sense he'd think I did it after seeing that..." she sighed, "...and especially after I broke up with him."

"What do you mean?" Link asked.

"The knights think I'm the Widowmaker, and that all the days I've spent dancing with Honey were being used to monitor the people and pick my targets."

"Strange, I wonder what would lead them to believe she was responsible for each and every killing?" Darius pondered, "Link, what say you on this matter?"

"... …" Link stared at Darling for a moment, then cast his gaze downwards in thought, before nodding to himself. He then reached through the bars and took Darling's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze, surprising her.

"Listen, I may have only just started getting acquainted with you Darling, but I can tell you aren't a killer." Link spoke, "I'm going to do what I can to prove your innocence."

"Wha- but..." Darling gasped out, her cheeks flushed red from Link holding her hand so tightly, "T-This is the infamous Widowmaker we're talking about, they've been responsible for so many killings! Please don't risk yourself to confront such a horrible fiend for my sake!" she pleaded.

Link smirked lightly, "Honestly, hearing you say that makes me want to help you even more now. Don't sweat it, I've dealt with bad guys way worse than this." he bore a serious gaze, "I swear I'm going to save you from these charges."

"And he has me by his side as well." Darius stepped up, doing a graceful poise, "We'll see to it true justice is brought to this case!"

"Link, I..." Darling whispered, as tears started to form in her eyes, "Th-Thank you so much, my virtuous king."

Link blushed a little himself as he squeezed her hand a little more, "And maybe when this is all over, we can talk more about... you know, us."

"...very well." Darling spoke with a sincere smile, "Good luck, to both of you."

"Well now, shall we head off to the crime scene and investigate for ourselves?" Darius suggested.

"Yeah, let's go." Link nodded.


Link and Darius soon arrived back at the alleyway where the body was found. There they saw Inspector Turroll and the knights still doing their investigation. Turroll himself was busy eating a cheese danish as the knights were looking around for clues. The body was already gone, but there was a chalk outline of where it had been.

"Um, Inspector?" Link spoke up.

"Ah, it's you." Turroll spoke, taking another munch of his pastry, "Thanks again for your cooperation, anything I can help you boys with?"

"Actually we were hoping if we could ask you a few questions about this incident." Link said.

"Huh? Why? Are you under orders from His Majesty or something?" Turroll asked as his mustache bounced up and down.

"If you ask me the one who's the most suspicious here is that damned Gerudo King." one knight muttered to another, "He outta be locked up before-"

Suddenly that knight was sent flying backyards by a strong punch from Inspector Turroll.

"Hmph, I won't be having you making those kinds of accusations, rookie!" the inspector fumed angerly at the knight, his mustache shifting up and down as he was waving his danish at him,"Don't forget the Gerudo King is the one who ensured the scene remained untouched before we arrived! Both the witness and the accused collaborated on that!"

"S-Sorry..." groaned the knight as he laid back twitching.

"Listen Inspector..." Link spoke up, feeling somewhat thankful to the man for snapping to his defense, "Despite what we saw, I have a hard time believing Darling is the killer."

"I can understand your doubt. She is well known throughout Hyrule Market Town, generally quite kind to others when she's not doting over her former lover. Unfortunately, it's hard to ignore the facts as we have them." Turroll spoke finishing off his cheese danish.

"If that's the case,would you mind indulging us on some of those facts?" Darius asked, "Perhaps we can assist your investigation?"

"Well... typically we don't discuss these matters with the public, but since you're both royalty I suppose I can make an exception." Turroll nodded, reaching into his coat and pulling out a raspberry danish, which he started eating, "Ask away."

"To start, what makes you believe the 'Widowmaker' is involved here?" Link asked.

"This case falls right into the pattern of the Widowmaker's past killings." Turroll explained, bringing up three fingers, "Each victim they target shares three particular traits. They're all wealthy noblemen who are all married," he glanced down at the outline, "The most distinct trait about them though is that they're all left-handed."

"Left-handed?" Link exclaimed.

"It's said only one out of every seven people are left-handed," Darius spoke, "The fact every victim is like that can't be chalked up to mere coincidence."

"Righto." Turroll nodded, "There is one more important trait that all the victims share though, the method of how they're killed."

"Huh? What about it?" Link asked, looking down at the chalk outline himself.

"Each victim is killed the same way, a stab wound to the chest with a short dagger." Turroll said, he held up a cloth with a gold plated jagged dagger on it, "This is the murder weapon. The coroner manged to remove it from the body so we could use it in the investigation."

"That's a dangerous looking blade." Link spoke, "Not even the daggers the Gerudo use are like that."

"Indeed. This isn't normally a weapon that just anyone could get their hands on," Turroll nodded, "With it's design, by impaling the victim and then twisting the handle, it can mutilate the point of entry and make it nearly impossible to just pull back out. In fact, it's considered outlawed here in Hyrule."

"If removing the dagger is so hard, how could the killer stab each victim with the same one?" Darius pointed out.

"Because it's not the same dagger." Turroll spoke, "Each victim was impaled with a different dagger, but it's the same model each time. The dagger is left in the body, and we see it as a sort of 'calling card' of the Widowmaker." he took a bite of his danish, "According to our intel, these daggers can only be obtained in a box set on the black market. The set doesn't come cheap either."

'The black market... those are the same people who were keeping the Soulbinder sword Commander Imono uses.' Link thought to himself, 'I find it hard to believe that Darling would have connections to people like them...'

"And what of the witness, Mr. Honey?" Darius spoke.

"Due to his injures, after we got his report of what he saw, he was sent right home." Turroll said, "He looked pretty shaken, can't blame him considering all that happened."

'Maybe we should talk to him later and get his own account of what happened.' Link thought.

"So, how goes the investigation Inspector?" spoke up a new voice. It belonged to a woman with a sophisticated tone to her words, and Link vaguely recognized it from a few weeks ago when he first came to the castle.

Strolling up to the group with some guards was Countess Roesia, the head of public relations in Hyrule Town, as well as one of the members of the Hylian Parliament. She had long red hair with a thick strand hanging down over her right eye. She wore a form fitting red dress that showed off her feminine curves, with a split on the side that showed her long legs. She was twirling a martini glasses in her hand. Accompanied with her was some of her private knights.

"Countess, pleasure to see you..." Turroll tipped his hat, though Link noticed an annoyance in his tone.

"The pleasure is mine Inspector, especially with how diligent you were about solving the Widowmaker killings. To think you'd finally find the culprit." Roesia spoke with her full lips.

Taking another drink of her martini, she glanced over to Link and Darius, "Fine to see you two gentlemen here as well..." she batted her eyelashes a little at Link, "Especially you, Gerudo King."

Link gulped a little, taken aback by her flirtatious nature, "Good to see you as well Countess. What brings you out here?"

"I had an investment in the Widowmaker's capture myself. The public was whipped into a frenzy for years thanks to this criminal..." Roesia spoke somewhat distantly, "But maybe they can finally be calmed now that the culprit has been captured."

"Wait a minute, we don't necessarily know it was her." Link said.

"Really?" Roesia took a long drink of her martini and spoke with a sharp tongue, "And what do you mean by that, Gerudo King?"

"What I mean is," Link gulped a bit, not wanting to spark conflict with her before the meeting, "There's a lot we still don't know about this case, namely why the killer picks these targets. Up until this month, Darling was in a long-term relationship with Honey. I can't see why she'd be wanting to kill married men."

"Are you referencing to her name as the 'Widowmaker'?" Roesia asked, "That isn't the killer's official identity, it was an idiotic gimmick thought up by the local tabloid newspapers to grab the public's attention. By the time I tried to stamp that out it was too late and the people were using the name everywhere. Frankly I'm rather disgusted by it."

"So you don't know for certain if the killer is picking targets because they're married?" Link asked.

"That's right. The nickname has been quite a bother." Turrell nodded, "We keep getting requests from married couples for protection, and even marriage rates have lowered due to fear of the killer claiming the life of the husband."

"There was even rumors for a while that Honey and Darling were going to be wed, but called it off because of the killer." Roesia spoke, "Though now it seems as though she merely used that as an alibi."

"Well, I..." Link spoke. He hesitated for a moment, before looking back up at Roesia, "Listen, even if what we know places her under suspicion, I think Darling is innocent, and I'm going to do what I can to help her."

"Really?" the woman in red spoke, she took one more long drink of her martini, "Hmph, very well. Do as you must."

"But when it's clear that Ms. Darling is the killer..." Countess Roesia narrowed her eyes as she then smashed the martini glass in her hand, not even flinching from the glass shards bursting, and speaking in a cold voice, "I shall see to it she pays the ultimate price for her crimes..."

Roesia then turned and left, her hips swaying left and right as she walked, with her knights all following closely after.

"Ugh, that woman certainly is something else." Darius sighed.

"You're telling me. With her being the head of public relations here in Hyrule Market Town, I have to deal with her on a number of my cases." Turroll spoke wiping his head with a handkerchief, "...yet at the same time I can't help but feel sorry for her in this case. It seems it still hurts her to this day."

"What do you mean by that?" Link asked.

"She wouldn't want me to tell you this..." Turrell spoke distantly, "...but her late husband, the former head of public relations, was one of the victims of the Widowmaker."

"What?" Link asked.

"He was drugged by a sedative and one of the Widowmaker's trademark daggers was found in his chest. Some time after that she took over her husband's position within the Hylian Parliament." Turrell said, "Though she insisted that the murder be treated as death by poisoning initially, so as not to alarm the public that the killer had gotten to a member of the Parliament."

"I see. I had a feeling there was more to his death than what we were told." Darius spoke.

Turrell saw them off and left to go work on the investigation, leaving Link and Darius to think of their next move.

"Hey Darius," Link whispered, "I think we should go meet with Honey next, and hear his side of the story."

"Good thinking, my friend." Darius nodded with a smirk, "Fortunately, before we went to meet Ms. Darling, I overheard the knights speak his address. Shall we pay him a visit?"

"Yeah." Link nodded.


"Mr. Honey, are you available?" spoke up Darius from outside of Honey's address. He knocked on the door vigorously, not even seeming to care about the noise he was making.

"No I'm not available, in fact I'm not even here right now!" they heard a mans voice shout from inside.

"Oooh-kay." Link spoke sweatdropping, "What do you think we should do Darius?"

"This could be tricky..." Darius pondered, "Please sir, we just have a few questions about what you experienced tonight."

"Well forget it!" the man shouted from within,"Who are you folks to dare harass me on this bloodcurdling night of horror?"

"Why the great Prince Darius Leofrick Terricus Salvador Dragonhand Fargent dares!" Darius spoke with bravado, "As well as his wayward companion Gerudo King Link, the young desert ruler who stole your girlfriend away!" he added afterwards.

"Hey, I didn't-!" Link exclaimed in his defense, but was cut off by the door bursting open to show a very irate Honey, though he was clearly losing balance from trying to support himself on his crutch.

"It's you?!" Honey spoke fiercely, "You dare show your face here, Gerudo King?"

"Ah-ha, thought that would get him to come out!" Darius said proudly.

"You damned adulterer, you''l rue the day you-!" Honey shouted to Link, but then lost his balance and fell right over, and the two were treated to a sickening scream of pain, "MY LEG!"

Link and Darius both stood silently for a moment, before the young desert king sighed,

"Let''s... help him."

Even after getting Honey onto a chair to rest himself, the man seemed to still not be in the mood to talk.

Link rubbed the back of his head, "Um, sorry about this Mr. Honey, but we just wanted to talk about what you witnessed in that alley."

"I already spoke to the Inspector of everything I saw that night." Honey said turning his head away, "I heard someone scream, went into the alley, and found the woman of whom I once embraced for many years, kneeling over a dead body caked in a vile orgy of gore, and her delicate hands holding an instrument of golden death!"

'He sounds pretty certain of what he saw...' Link pondered.

"Oh my dear Darling, to think that was the true you..." sobbed Honey, "Now I understand why she fell into your arms, Gerudo King... Her concealed bloodlust made her see herself as a vicious killer like your malicious Gerudo marauders! That can be the only explanation!"

Link narrowed his eyes coldly at the remark Honey made about his people, as he cracked his knuckles, "You want me to break that other arm and leg of yours, buddy...?"

"Geep!" Honey realized what he had just said and flinched back in fear of Link, almost falling backwards in his chair.

"My friend, if you please." Darius brought up his hand to calm Link, before looking to Honey, "We only wish to understand what happened. If Darling truly is the culprit, then I'll see to it she's given swift justice for her crime. But we'd like you to divulge in any further information you might have."

"What makes you even think she could be innocent? She was holding the knife, and had blood all over her! What else is there?" Honey asked, turning his head away, "Unless you can shed some light of proof on me that she might be an innocent pawn, I won't speak another word of this!"

"... ...well, let me at least ask you this then," Link started regaining his composure, "You said you saw her trying to pull out the dagger, correct?"

"Exactly! It's the same weapon I read about in the papers, the same one she used to pull off the other murders, so obviously she wanted to take it with her!" Honey said.

"Except that's not possible." Link shook his head, "I don't know how much information you heard, but that dagger isn't the only one the Widowmaker uses. Each victim had been killed with a different dagger, it's part of a set that can only be obtained on the black market."

"What...?" Honey spoke in confusion.

"Furthermore, it would had been impossible for her to simply pull out the dagger." Link continued, "The way its designed, if you twist it while lodged in a body, it makes it nearly impossible to remove."

"Wait, then why would she...?" Honey's eyes widened, as he faulted back in his chair, "GAAAH!"

"So you understand now?" Darius spoke with a smirk, "According to Ms. Darling's testimony, she was trying to remove the knife. If she was truly was the one behind this murder, she wouldn't have been trying to pull a knife out of a body it couldn't be removed from!"

"By the goddesses..." Honey spoke in shock, hanging his head down, "Oh Darling... if what you say is truly right... then I might have condemned her for a crime she didn't commit... How could I...?"

"It's not your fault, you only told the knights what you saw." Link assured him, "You were with Darling for ten years, right? You should know her better than anyone that she isn't a killer."

"...and yet you were right to fully trust her..." Honey spoke sadly, "I can't deny I hated her for breaking up with me... I thought there had to be some other reason, so I followed Darling that night to observe her... though I was quite slow due to my broken leg."

'So that's how he became a witness in the incident.' Link thought.

"When I heard the scream I went running as fast I could, and saw her over that body." Honey spoke, "I convinced myself if she truly was a killer, that would clear all doubt in my mind of her true vile colors..."

He hung his head down to Link and Darius, "I'm sorry. I'm such a fool... Darling must truly hate me for what I've done to her..."

"It seems in the end you've seen the light Mr. Honey." Darius smirked, "Now if you'll indulge us, we'd like to know anything else you saw that night."

"Anything you can think of would be helpful." Link said.

"Well... it may not be much..." Honey spoke, "But there was something odd about Darling's potatoes."

"Her... potatoes?" Darius asked in confusion, "My man, this hardly seems like the time to be discussing her bust, as potato-like as you think they are!"

"Huh?" Honey asked in genuine confusion.

"Pretty sure Honey means real potatoes. Darling said she had just gone out shopping when she found the body." Link said sweatdropping, he turned to Honey, "So what about the potatoes?"

"Well when I was following her, she had been carrying a basket of them. But now that I think back, when I got to the crime scene, I recall the basket was missing." Honey spoke.

"That's really weird." Link said, "Why would the killer take a basket of potatoes with them?"

"Hm, so a murderer, and a potato thief at that..." Darius pondered, "Seems as though this case might be more complicated than we thought. Thank you for this information Mr. Honey."

"...listen, Gerudo King..." Honey spoke, "While our relationship may have crumbled like a house of flaming cards, I can't stand the thought of Darling being treated as a killer..." he looked up at Link with pleading eyes, "Please, you must clear her sweet name!"

"I'll do whatever I can." Link said with a nod,

"Listen, about Daring... I know things are bad now, but when everything's over, even if you can't rekindle your relationship together, maybe the two of you can at least go back to being friends?"

"That... sounds quite nice." Honey said with a light smile, "Thank you Gerudo King, perhaps I understand more now why she fell for you. You're a truly kind person after all."

Honey bowed his head to Link, "I beg you please... make Darling happy."

"...Don't worry I promise." Link nodded.

Then after a moment of thought Link spoke, "But before we go though, there's something that's been on my mind... how did you end up in a arm and leg cast anyway?"

"Ah yes..." Honey said with a fond look in his eyes, "It was back after Darling had left me... I had been cast into the brink of despair, and left in isolation..."

Honey then brought his broken arm to his chest and reached his intact arm into the air, "But then in that moment a grand goddess descended upon me; a divine deity with the might of the strongest Hinox, but the compassion of a nurturing mother of fertility! These injuries are but a mere sacrifice for my devotion to that behemoth of a beauty who mended my torn heart!"

Link paused at his words, finding himself thinking about a certain muscular fiance of his all of a sudden.

Honey didn't seem to say anything more beyond that, but just remained frozen in that pose, gazing upwards with sparkling eyes.

"...maybe we should go." Darius whispered to Link.

"Good idea." Link whispered back.


"Well we didn't get too much information than I would have liked..." Darius muttered as he and Link were back to walking down the streets of town, "But every little bit helps I suppose."

"Hm..." meanwhile Link's gaze was cast downwards, thinking about Honey's bitterness towards himself and Darling. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small emerald leaf-shaped key, it was to unlock something he bought a long time ago for a friend of his. He stared at it for a moment, then glanced over at his companion, "Hey, Darius?"

"Something the matter Link? I'm all ears." Darius spoke, after a moment he said, "Well, not literally 'all ears', I imagine people would be running away screaming at the sight of me."

Link chuckled lightly, "Well I was just wondering... does it bother you at all about the fact Darling has fallen in love with me?"

"How do you mean?" Darius asked curiously.

"Well, for so long I've met all kinds of wonderful women that have formed bonds with me, and for the longest time I always thought it was just friendship or comradery between them..." Link glanced over and saw a young couple walk by laughing together, "It wasn't until I truly understood what love was that I started to realize how many of those wonderful women were in love with me."

"You certainly have a charisma that draws such lovely beauties to you." nodded Darius.

"And while I've lived in Gerudo Town, Nabooru opened my mind to the idea of having multiple women to be my brides, and for the longest time it's been great..."

Link let out a mellow sigh,

"...though at times I feel like I've gotten too carried away with it. For the most part it's been fine, as they've all been single women, and as the Gerudo King I'll have all the resources and help I'll need to have them as my wives and mothers of my children..."

He then thought about the dance he had with Darling,

"But now I've actually driven a couple apart, two people that have been in love for years and years. I'm even seriously taking to the idea of having a relationship with Darling someday."

"Ah, I see what you mean." Darius nodded.

"I hate to sound narcissistic, but I'm beginning to worry if that charisma you say I have would hurt more people like Honey."

Link glanced at Darius, then down at the leaf key. He also found himself thinking about his royal childbearer Esolu and her distant past with Foluma,

"...especially those who I've grown to admire and care for."

"I suppose that's quite a difficult issue for you Link." Darius nodded, "Most men I imagine would kill for your charming charisma, but it would seem your gift can be both a blessing and a curse."

"So what do you think I should do?" Link asked.

"Unfortunately that's something I don't think I can relate to, for my heart only belongs to one woman." Darius spoke with a fond smile, "I've had others try to appeal to me in the past, but I turned each and every one down."

"Ha ha, good point." Link laughed.

The young prince turned and noticed a smoothie stand some distance away, "Ah, after all the talking tonight I could use a break to quench my throat, did you want something Link? My treat!"

"I'm in the mood for a peach and cream smoothie if you don't mind." Link nodded.

"Then I shall make haste, please wait for me!" Darius said, running off to stand in line.

"Alright, alright." Link nodded.

As Link hung out against a building waiting for Darius to get their orders, he saw a familiar face going down the street. It was Jovie, the Bombchu Bowling Alley operator.

She was now wearing a long brown coat over her usual parlor outfit. He couldn't help but notice that she was looking around somewhat distressed as she quickly turned a street corner. Link glanced over at Darius who was still waiting on his order, so he decided to step off briefly to see what was going on.

As Link approached the corner, he heard a gruff man's voice speak,

"Heeey, there you are babe!"

Curious, he peeked around the corner that led to an empty street, where he saw Jovie had her back against a building as a large muscular man with a crew-cut hairdo was standing over her, with his hand against the wall just over her right shoulder.

"What'd ya want Dungo...?" Jovie asked.

"Been looking around everywhere for you Jovie!" the man named Dungo spoke with a grin, "I was real worried about you!"

"It's... no big deal." Jovie said, "Just got off work, and I'm goin' straight home."

"You know it's pretty dangerous 'round here with those murders going on. Maybe you outta come home with me tonight instead to stay safe?" Dungo suggested.

"Thanks, but I can take care of myself." Jovie said in annoyance, "Besides, what about that other girl I saw hanging offa you last week?"

"Oh her? That was just a misunderstanding. I complimented her hat and she thought I was flirting. I already told her I wasn't interested." he shrugged, "You know you're the only one for me, babe!"

Link stared at the two. He was getting a somewhat bad vibe from the man, recalling what Jovie's boss told him earlier about men hitting on her at work. But then he recalled what had happened with Darling and Honey, and worried about if he was going to muscle into the way of yet another couple. He was about to leave when he heard Jovie speak,

"Funny, you didn't act that way when you stood me up last time." she said in an angrier tone, she ducked under Dungo's arm and began walking away, "Now back off, I'm goin' home. And don't follow me!"

But before she could get a good distance away, Dungo lunged out and grabbed at her wrist forcefully.

"Hey, leggo!" Jovie said, struggling to break free.

"What's the matter, I ain't good enough for you anymore?!" Dungo asked angerly, "Don't tell me, this is about that Eroh guy ain't it? Why I outta-!"

But then the man felt a hand come down on his shoulder from behind. He began to turn to confront whoever grabbed him, ready to clobber them for interrupting.

"What do you want you stupid-?"

Dungo saw it was a unfamiliar young man with tan skin and bleach blonde hair sporting a pleasant smile, who Jovie quickly recognized as Link.

Despite the pleasant smile on Link's face though, Dungo realized how much his shoulder suddenly hurt from the young man's increasingly powerful grip,

"Uh..."


A few minutes later Dungo was left alone upside down in a trash can with his legs sticking out, and he was covered from toe to head in multiple bruises and bumps.

Link and Jovie left him awhile ago and were going down the street, the parlor girl let out a heavy sigh as she walked alongside the young king.

"Thanks for the hand back there Linky." Jovie said, "That guy was gettin' way too rough."

"I take it he was an old boyfriend?" Link asked.

"Broke up with him a few weeks ago." Jovie nodded, "Though this ain't the first time..."

"Ah, I get it..." Link spoke, "In that case I'll walk you to your home."

"I appreciate that." said Jovie with a light smile, "I swear those guys don't know when to take a hint. Assholes." she sighed in annoyance, "Sometimes they even come at me while I'm tryin' to work. Dunno what I'd do without the boss scaring them off."

"Mr. Burbok? Sounds like he really looks out for you." Link commented.

"That's right." Jovie nodded with a small smile, "He can be a bit mean sometimes, but I see him as... well... a father of sorts."

"What about your actual father?" Link asked.

"Me and him..." Jovie glanced to the side, "We don't really see eye-to-eye these days..."

They soon arrived at a three story building, while the second and third stories looked normal, the ground level was a pasta restaurant where Link could smell the rich scent of tomato sauce and garlic. He found himself getting hungry all of a sudden.

"Here we are, this is my place." Jovie said.

"You live at this restaurant?" Link asked.

"Right above it actually." snickered Jovie. "This is an apartment building, but the ground floor was made into a pasta joint. It's pretty convenient to have, but I gotta be careful with it so I don't end up havin' to get Goron-sized clothes." she half-joked.

"You going to be okay alone tonight?" Link asked.

"Yeah, I'll be good." nodded Jovie. The purple-haired girl stood up on her tiptoes and gave Link a small peck on the cheek, making him blush a little, "Well, thanks for seeing me back here Linky."

"Ah heh... you too." Link chuckled as the girl went off on her way. His gaze focused on her rear which stood out pretty well from under the coat, but then she turned around to give a friendly wave to him, to which he waved back, before she went up the stairs to her place.

"Ees, there I go again." sighed Link, "Still, it felt good to help her, she's always been a friendly girl since I was a kid."

He paused for a moment, before shaking his head and going back to the street where Darius was getting their smoothies, knowing he had to get back to helping Darling.


When Link returned to the street he had been at though, he saw a very annoyed Darius.

"There you are Link! Why'd you disappear like that, I was worried about you!" the prince scolded him like a fussy mother, "I had no choice but to drink down your smoothie before it got cold!"

"Aren't smoothies already cold?" Link asked as the two went back to walking down the street.

"T-That's besides the point!" Darius said, before making a small burp, "Something could have happened to you while you were gone!"

Link was a little surprised that Darius was being so assertive with his safety like that, "Sorry about that. I was just helping a friend out of a bind."

"Ah I see, another lady friend perhaps?" Darius spoke, now looking more relaxed.

"That's besides the point..." Link muttered, annoyed that Darius walked him into that.

"Well I don't know what do about your Ms. Darling situation." Darius spoke, "Well, it would seem no matter how much you try to avoid or ignore it, you can't help but assist someone in peril, especially a lovely maiden."

The prince hoped onto a fence and started walking along it, keeping himself balanced as he did,

"And as a result, those women are drawn to you. Remember my friend that their feelings are their own, you can't make them not fall for you. The important thing for you is how to answer to those feelings."

"Yeah, guess you're right..." Link said. He found himself bringing up a hand to his cheek, thinking about Jovie kissing him, "Thanks for that, sorry I made you worry about me."

"Not a problem!" laughed Darius, "A true warrior would do whatever it takes to protect those that are important to them."

Link nodded, but then suddenly something dawned on the young king.

"Hey, I was just wondering, did you really originally just want to go out to the bowling alley tonight?"

"That's quite a change of topic. Whatever do you mean, my friend?" Darius asked.

"Well, I was just thinking, each of the Widowmaker's victims are noblemen, ones who are married, and are left-handed..." Link pondered, he brought up his sword arm and stared at it, "I only just learned about that information tonight..."

"Ah, I see where you're going with this." smirked Darius, "I suppose I've been found out." he jumped back down to the ground and stood straight and tall, sporting a serious expression,

"I had already learned a while back the similarities between the victims. When I saw you were left-handed in our duel, I worried you may end up a target for this fiend."

"You really think the killer would go after me?" Link asked.

"Call it a mere hunch, but I was worried regardless." Darius spoke, he looked away for a moment, "If Countess Roesia's husband could be killed despite being a Parliament member, it wouldn't surprise me if they had a way to go after you." he cast his gaze downwards,

"...and I couldn't forgive myself if you were to be hurt by this murderous bastard."

Link was surprised by this news,

"...I appreciate that." the Gerudo King said with a smile, "But you don't have to worry about me. I want to take down the killer as much as you do. Not just for Darling's sake, but for all the people of the town as well, so they can walk the streets safely."

"That pleases me to hear." smiled Darius, "Just don't go too far saving this town that all the women fall for you!" the young prince broke out laughing, slapping his hand against his forehead, before hunching over in uncontrollable laughter.

"Har har." Link said rolling his eyes as the two went on their way.

Unknown to them though, a certain mysterious figure was in-hiding nearby, their eyes focused on the emerald leaf key in Link's possession...


And that ends things for now. Next time the investigation continues, but a sudden dangerous situation occurs, which will force Link to bring about a great strength from within...

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