Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 217 Investigation
Soon, Olivia and Katie returned with the recorded testimonies of the maids. Levi glanced at the testimonies and then set them aside. Just then, there was a knock at the door.

"Please come in."

A moment later, the door opened again, and Li Wei saw a warrior wearing a golden helmet and holding a long spear walk in. He then stood by the door and looked outside.

"Please come in, Your Highness."

"…………………"

Then, a delicate figure walked in; it was the princess.

She also had long, brown, curly hair like the Queen, and her clothes were very elegant, but... in Li Wei's opinion, she didn't look like a princess at all.

The previous prince, though somewhat foolish, still possessed the arrogance of royalty. But this princess, to Li Wei, seemed like a stray dog ​​on the street, trembling and cowering along the corner with her tail between her legs. She pitifully raised her head, glanced at her guards, then lowered it again, not even looking at Li Wei, simply sitting on the chair like a lost soul, saying nothing.

"You can go out."

Li Wei glanced at the guard, but the latter shook his head.

"I cannot comply. I am the princess's guard, and I cannot leave Her Highness here alone."

“We do not allow unauthorized personnel to be present during questioning. Please leave.”

"What if I say no?"

"hehe."

Li Wei stared at the guard, chuckled, and then clapped his hands.

Soon, the prince walked in.

"what happened?"

“This guy is obstructing our questioning; take him out and lock him in a room.”

Li Wei spoke to the prince, who frowned and looked at the guard.

"What do you mean?"

"My duty is to protect Her Highness the Princess. If anything happens to Her Highness the Princess, I will be held responsible."

The guard repeated what he had said, while Li Wei scoffed.

"What? You're sticking to her side every step of the way? Are you going to follow her when she takes a bath or goes to bed?"

"Get out of here!"

Upon hearing Li Wei's words, the prince's expression darkened.

"Investigating the murderer of the Empress Dowager is the most important thing right now! Even if you're a member of the Imperial Guard, it doesn't matter! Guards!"

As he spoke, the prince summoned two guards.

"Take him away!"

This time, the guard didn't resist. He glared fiercely at Li Wei before being led away by two other soldiers. Once the guard was gone, Li Wei stood up, walked to the prince's side, and whispered a few words to him. Hearing Li Wei's words, the prince was somewhat surprised and turned to look at him in astonishment.

"What are you doing...?"

"In short, just do as I say."

As Li Wei spoke, he patted the prince on the shoulder, then pushed him out before the prince could react, and closed the door.

"Boom."

The sound of the door closing made the princess flinch, while Levi sat back down in his chair, silent, simply staring at the princess. Anne beside her also remained silent, and Olivia and Katie, faced with this strange situation, though wanting to speak, obediently kept their mouths shut.

Time ticked by, and Levi stood with his arms crossed, staring at the princess without saying a word. Anne remained silent as well, while the princess seemed restless, trembling and twisting her body, biting her lip tightly, looking extremely tense and in pain.

Katie also noticed that the princess was trembling uncontrollably, covered in sweat, and looked very uneasy.

After a while, the door opened again, and a tall figure walked in.

That was King Solomon.

"I heard you were looking for me?"

King Solomon was no longer as out of control as before; at least on the surface, he remained calm. Of course, as for Li Wei, he wasn't sure how long King Solomon could maintain this composure.

"You've found the murderer who killed my wife?"

"It is somewhat related to this, but before that, I have some questions I would like to ask you, King Solomon."

"what is the problem?"

“Your daughter…”

Li Wei raised his chin and nodded at the trembling princess.

Has she been taking any medication recently?

"Take medicine?"

King Solomon was somewhat surprised to hear Livy's question.

"My daughter isn't sick, why does she need to take medicine?"

"Taking medicine doesn't necessarily mean you're sick."

Li Wei smiled slightly, then his expression turned serious.

"Then, do you know of a poison that, when ingested, makes one feel euphoric and comfortable, forgetting all pain and troubles? But once the effects wear off, the user suffers excruciating pain, unbearable even for the most determined. They will abandon their dignity, honor, and everything that makes them human. They are willing to do anything to regain that feeling."

"There's such a poison?"

King Solomon was clearly surprised to hear this.

"Of course, and we will soon be able to see the reactions of people who have not taken the medication for a long time."

"Waaaaah..."

Just then, the princess began to shake violently. She hesitated for a moment, then stood up, intending to leave.

"Father, King, I want to go back, I feel very uncomfortable..."

"………………………"

King Solomon stared at his daughter with a gloomy expression. He wasn't a fool, and Li Wei was clearly not wasting his time chatting with him.

In fact, he had already understood what Li Wei meant.

"I...I want to go back. I feel terrible, Father. I want to rest!"

The princess was now practically begging, and the prince looked anxiously at his father.

"Father, she's really not feeling well..."

"I know."

King Solomon nodded, looking at his daughter, who remained standing there, blocking her way.

"Let me go back! Let me go back!!" However, at this moment, the princess, who had been trembling like a stray dog ​​on the street, suddenly erupted. She let out a piercing scream, like a dog with rabies, and raised her hands to grab at King Solomon.

"younger sister?"

The prince was shocked to see his sister suddenly attack their father like a madwoman. He rushed forward and grabbed his sister's hand, but even so, the princess continued to struggle desperately.

"Please, let me go back, let me go back... Waaaaah..."

She twisted her body violently, tearing her clothes in the process, but the princess didn't seem to care about her exposed body at all. Tears streaming down her face, she lay on the ground, sobbing and clinging tightly to the prince's leg.

"Please, brother, let me go back. I'm going to die, I'm going to die..."

"What did you do to her!?"

The prince felt a chill run down his spine as he looked at his sister, who was wailing like a female ghost. He turned around angrily and glared at Li Wei.

"What did you do to her?!"

"I did not do anything."

Li Wei shrugged and spread his hands.

"But it's simple if you want to know how she is, just let her go and let her leave."

"…………"

The prince hesitated for a moment, then released the princess's hand and stepped aside. Seeing the open door, the princess's eyes lit up, and without hesitation, she rushed out. Li Wei, meanwhile, stood up and stretched.

"Alright, let's follow them and see what happens."

Next, the guards witnessed a scene that left them speechless: their princess was almost naked, running desperately down the corridor. King Solomon and the princes followed behind her. Soon, the princess crossed the corridor and returned to her room, stumbling and falling towards her bedside table. She even lost her balance and tripped and fell to the ground.

Even so, the princess did not give up. She rushed to the cabinet with both hands and feet, like a wild beast, opened the cabinet door, and desperately reached out as if a drowning person had grasped the last straw, and took out a small bag from the cabinet.

Then, the princess opened the small bag and swallowed the pills inside.

“……………………………”

A moment later, the twisted, ferocious expression on her face transformed into a blank smile.

"Hehe, hehe, hehehe..."

"What, what's going on?"

Seeing his sister lying on the ground, her mouth agape and her body convulsing as she let out a twisted, grotesque laugh, the prince felt a chill run down his spine, and King Solomon's face turned ashen.

"Oh, it's very simple. As I just said, people who take this medicine will fall into a pleasant hallucination. Her Highness is having a sweet dream right now, and it will be over in a little while."

Livy shrugged and then looked at King Solomon.

"Alright, if you're looking for the person who poisoned the Queen, then I think you've found them."

"You're saying your sister killed Mother? That she poisoned her?"

The prince stared at Li Wei, his face deathly pale.

"What evidence do you have? Besides, why would your sister kill your mother? They always had a very good relationship!"

“I mean she was the one who poisoned the queen, but I didn’t say she intended to kill her.”

"What does it mean?"

Upon hearing Li Wei's answer, the prince was extremely puzzled. What did he mean by saying that she was the one who poisoned the queen, but that she didn't intend to kill her?
“What I mean is that in this case, Her Highness the Princess was merely a tool. Someone used her to poison the Queen.”

"Someone?"

“That’s right, you all said that the Queen has a problem: she gets extremely nervous, anxious, uneasy, and suffers from insomnia before important events, right?”

"………………………"

The prince nodded.

"I guess that's what that person told the princess: the medicine he gave the queen was the same medicine he gave the princess. Once the queen took this medicine, she would no longer feel tense and anxious. In fact, after taking this medicine, one does feel confident, lightheaded, and everything feels wonderful. The princess herself has experienced this firsthand."

Li Wei glanced at the princess who was lying on the ground, twitching, drooling, and grinning foolishly.

"So, she didn't doubt what the other person said, and the other person may have also told her that if she directly said it was medicine, the Queen might not take it, so Her Highness the Princess mixed the medicine into that... what was it called again?"

Li Wei turned to look at Annie, who gave him a helpless reminder.

"Kleikosuya".

"Yes, the dessert didn't need to be chewed; it was swallowed directly after being dipped in ice water. This way, the poison wouldn't take effect immediately—of course, I think the real culprit didn't care about that. As long as the Queen took the poison, she would surely die. As for the fact that the poison took effect later because of swallowing it, it was probably just an accident."

"How can you prove that?"

“I have the testimony of my maid.”

Li Wei waved the testimony in his hand.

"According to her description, while resting in the lounge, Her Highness fed the Queen dessert, and Anne also smelled roses on the spit-out crumbs—it's Her Highness's favorite thing to add rose petals to these desserts, you're right, aren't you, Your Highness? And you must have seen this scene in the lounge as well."

"I…………………"

The prince opened his mouth but didn't say anything; perhaps he also remembered what had happened back then.

"But how did you know?"

Olivia looked at Levi in ​​surprise.

How do you know she's taking medication?

"It's very simple, I saw it at a glance."

Li Wei shrugged.

"I've been observing her ever since she entered. The princess is pale, unusually thin, sweating profusely, restless, and unable to remain still, trembling instinctively. These are all typical symptoms of withdrawal. Considering that everyone has been strictly ordered by King Solomon not to act rashly because of this case, it's likely that the princess couldn't have taken the medication to maintain her mental state before questioning her. Speaking of which, this dosage is quite high; it seems she's been taking it for a long time."

"who is it!"

The prince roared, turning his head to glare fiercely at his surroundings.

"Who made my sister look like this?!"

"That's the guard. Didn't I tell you to knock him out and lock him up?"

"you sure?"

“I’m sure. When I came in, I noticed that the princess was looking at him pitifully, like a dog looking at its master. This doesn’t seem like a normal master-servant relationship at all. Combined with the princess’s typical characteristics, I even suspect that the princess’s initial medication came from that guard. Because he was the only one who controlled the medication, the princess had no choice but to obey him obediently, like a slave, doing whatever he said.”

"That bastard..."

"Bring him here!"

Upon hearing this, the prince clenched his fists, his veins bulging with anger, while King Solomon coldly issued the order.

(End of this chapter)