After she left, we finally finished our dinner. Just as we were about to leave, another voice called out from behind us.
"Mr. Darcy! Wait!"
We turned around. An old man was rushing towards us, stumbling over his own feet.
"Wait, Wait," he gasped, as he tried to catch his breath.
"Calm down, sir. What's wrong ? How can I help you ?" I asked professionally.
"Please, take a seat," Joey said as he and Jack pulled out a chair at our table.
Once the old man sat down, we took our seats across from him.
" Mr. Darcy, is it true that you help people without expecting anything in return ?"
"Kind of. I mean yeah, I do help people without expecting anything in return. It's a principle of mine." I said.
I'm about to get dragged into some kind of mess, ain't I ? All I'm doing is going to see the property that I want to buy… Why the hell do people want me to fix their problems? Who do they think I am ? First of all, I'm wearing a mask. How can they even trust a masked man ?
"So, how can I help you sir ?" I asked, looking at the sorry state of the old man.
"My name is Robert Chase, my wife…was murdered 40 years ago. The case was only investigated for 7 years, and then it was closed on the grounds of not enough evidence…" the old man said after taking a deep breath.
".. I'm sorry to hear that. So how can I help you with this ?" I asked after realising it was something serious and there was probably nothing I could do about it.
"We are sorry that something so cruel happened to you, sir," the steroid bros said, feeling emotional.
The old man took a deep breath. "Have you met the Duke yet ?"
"Well, he had a cosmetic accident, so I'm not sure if he will try to meet me. But the way the guards were saying it, he wanted to before he got into the accident,"
Hearing that, the old man leaned back on the chair with closed eyes and exhaled, putting both his palms on his face.
"If you meet him, can you tell him to open the case again, please?" the old man pleaded after leaning on the table.
"Of course! But how will I… like, how should I talk about your case?"
"I have written a formal letter… I've been doing it for decades, but every time, neither a reply comes nor does the investigation begin. So, I came to Raymond every month with the chance of directly giving it to him, but I never get a chance to meet him. And now, it looks like he won't be meeting anyone for a while," The old man said, looking distressed and completely lost.
If I were to describe his demeanor, it would be like a man who had lost all hope and meaning in life but still refused to give up.
After that he gave me the letter.
The old man was about to leave then suddenly a thought struck him. "I think I should give you an extra latter"
"Extra letter? Why?" Joey and Jack asked.
"In case the Duke dismissed the letter and you were to meet someone of higher authority in future."
"Okay, So where is the second letter?" I asked.
"I don't have one right now, but I will write one right now," the old man said.
"Okay, let's go to my room first. There, you can write. Here, people are staring a little too hard," I requested the old man, as I don't like being stared at.
Aahh!! Why do I keep getting into unnecessary mess? I mean, I grt it your wife died….fuck!!
"Yeah, we don't like getting stared at either," the Steroid Bros agreed.
We headed up to my room.
The old man pulled a paper and started writing with a pen and an ink bottle. Goddamn, I hate that ink bottle mechanism. It irritates me so much.
After writing it, he gave it to me and left, so did the steroid bois.
I closed the door after everyone left and collapsed on my bed. It was already night now.
finally some alone time!! Now what do I do with these two letters ? We are leaving tomorrow morning, so I will never get the chance to meet the Duke. And knowing what happened to the Duke, he won't be seeing me.
Guess the poor man and his wife aren't getting any justice because of me.
And now that I think about it, that old man looked quite poor. How did he get in ? Did he rent a room? His clothes were dirty and worn
As I was about to finally sleep, someone knocked on my door again.
Goddamn it!! Let me rest !!
In anger I rushed over and opened the door. On the outside was a man guarded by two mean-looking knights.The man was wearing heavily decorated clothes with jewels and gems and was hiding his head.
"...Hello ?" I asked in confusion.
"Darcy Sinclair ?" the man asked.
"..Yes."
"A pleasure to meet you. I am Hersey Raymond, Duke of this territory. We finally meet"
Fuck, he's actually here?! Right now?! Okay, play it cool.
"Ah, the honour is all mine, your grace! please. Come in, take a seat! my companions are also here, let me bring them too–"
As I was about to leave, they both came to my room. The Duke had already met them and told them to come to my room.
Alright so now all of us are in the room. The Duke is now seated on my bed, using the pillow as extra comfort for his butt, like, pay some respect !!! How am I going to sleep now ?
The three of us stood awkwardly. There was a sofa and a pair of wooden chairs nearby. Noticing our hesitation, the Duke finally left my bed and pillow and took a seat on one of the chairs. The steroid boys sat on the sofa, and I sat on the opposite chair facing the Duke.
The atmosphere was now tense.
The Duke opened his mouth, " first, allow me to apologise for failing to personally visit Dunford and honor the heroes who saved the town. At the time, my wife was in labour, and I felt my place was by her side."
"Please don't worry about it, sir. You had a completely valid reason," I said politely.
Ahh, I don't know how to address these high class people!
"Mr. Darcy is absolutely right!" Joey agreed. "The crisis was handled, so prioritising your wife was the right call."
"indeed. That is what any gentleman and devoted husband would do," Jack added.
"I appreciate your understanding," the Duke said, nodding smoothly. I want to express my deepest gratitude for saving the people of Dunford. Though the safety of this territory ultimately falls upon my shoulders, I'm deeply ashamed that I failed to notice the brewing crisis before things went downhill. Should you ever require my assistance, my door is opened to you."
"Thank you for the generous offer, your grace. I will be sure to call upon your aid if the need arises."
... Wait, that's it ? No reward money ? Don't be cheap, man.
Thinking about the money, I remembered the woman I met while we were having dinner, and thinking about the woman reminded me of the old man.
"Oh your grace, before you go there is one more thing," I said, retrieving the letter from my pocket.
" An elderly gentleman asked me to deliver this to you. It's an urgent matter. The poor man has been seeking justice for forty years. The official investigation was closed thirty three years ago. And he's been fighting desperately to have the case reopened ever since."
I extended the letter toward him.
"Yes, your Grace, the man looked completely broken," Jack supported.
"Please reconsider the case, sir," Joey urged.
The Duke took the envelope between two fingers. "So… you are telling me it has been forty years since the murder took place?"
"Yes." We three answered together.
"Not happening."
His voice went dead cold.
Without breaking eye contact he snapped his fingers. A spark of magic ignited, and the letter burned to ash.
He burned the letter without even taking a glimpse at it.
We three were caught off guard.
"Wh-why did you do this?!" Jack asked, clenching his fist. Joey's jaw clenched so hard his neck muscles bulged. And I was trying to comprehend what had just happened.
Seeing the brothers, the knights drew their swords towards them.
"Relax," the Duke ordered quietly. The knights eased back, re-sheathing their swords.
"I know exactly who you are referring to," the Duke said flatly, brushing the grey flakes of burnt paper off his fingers.
"Robert Chase. correct? That nuisance has been pestering me for the five years I've held this title, and before that, he harassed my father. He travels all the way here once a month just to loiter outside our estate and stake out the places we frequent. And the rest of the time, he floods our mail with at least a letter a week from wherever he crawls out of. He is an insufferable pest."
"With all due respect, sir," I said, breaking my silence. " His wife was murdered, and he never received closure. It's only natural he'd do anything in his power to ensure the killer is brought to justice."
"Exactly!!" Joey and Jack echoed.
"If seven years of dedicated investigation yielded nothing when the trail was fresh, how do you expect anyone to find the culprit after thirty-three years?" The Duke countered, his tone dripping with dismissive logic.
…
"We cannot permit investigations to drag on indefinitely," the Duke continued, dusting off his robes. "It's just an utter waste of time and public resources. A ruler must focus on the problems of today, not the ghosts of four decades past."
I swear, if Carl was in this room right now, this Duke would be already dead.
" In any case, I must take my leave," the Duke said, rising from the chair. Regrettably, I can not offer you a tour of the city given the late hour, and I understand you depart at dawn. Safe travels. "
With a curt nod, he swept out into the corridor, flanked by his guards, muttering a hollow " Take care" as the door swung shut.
I exhaled in relief. "Motherfucker didn't even reward us with any money or re-opened that poor man's case."
I looked at the steroid bros. "Hey, Joey, Jack you know what ? That bastard doesn't deserve to just go bald. He deserves to be skinned alive." I paused, glancing nervously at the door.
"I really hope he didn't hear that through the door."
It broke the tension. Both of them giggled.
Still… fuck Duke Hersey Raymond!! Even though I kinda agree that wasting time and resources on such an old case isn't practical.