CH 32

Chapter 32 – Things That No Way Could Exist With a Child Detective



Emma was remembering last night’s bath as she kept standing still absentmindedly.



Because it’s the long-awaited sleepover, the three siblings were allowed to enter the hot spring. It’s a natural hot spring that flows freely from the spring source that is rare in the country. It’s also one of Valerie territory’s pride.



The hot spring water for beautiful skin certified by Rose-sama is transparent and smooth, and the skin becomes moist, soft, and glossy.



Even when Rose, Jadwiga, and Emma stretched out their legs in this private spring, the tub is large and gives a pleasant feeling of freedom.



And then, Minato’s beauty sensor reverberates during the bath.



That part and this part that you can’t tell over the dress, now I can see it as much as I want as the only thing that hinders my sight is the steam. Let’s say it.



Rose-sama… just as I’d expected!!



Her stomach is so pretty! Her navel is vertical! Her bottom is also perfectly trained! At any rate, that huge breasts! Huge! Breasts! What? That shape’s greatness! What about gravity? Why doesn’t it droop?



The men’s bath is right next to us, separated by a wall, and because Prince Edward, George, and William are also bathing, I praise Rose’s beauty in a small voice.



“Ro-chan‘s body has no blemish at all. 360° perfect!”



I’m can’t even feel jealous impudently. I just want to earnestly say thank you very much.



*splash* Rose moves through the water and approaches Emma. With a slightly mischievous smile, she asks.



“Want to try touch it?”



Where… such an obvious thing.



“C-can I!?”



As soon as I look at Rose, who laughs bewitchingly and nods, unconsciously(?) no, instinctively, my right hand extends to the huge breasts on its own.



“Fuffuohhh”



*grope* *boing*



It’s soft but has the flexibility… What’s this? What’s this? I don’t know. I don’t know this sensation.



The sadness rushes in despite being engrossed in this voluminous feeling that I’ve never experienced in my previous life. God’s favoritism is unfair.



“Jadwiga also wants to play~!”



Jadwiga comes clinging from behind.



*squeeze* After she put strength into the hug once, she mumbles, “Hm?” then touches Emma’s body.



“Wait- Jadwi! It’s ticklish!”



“Okaa-shama!! Emma-chan, smooth!”



“Eh? Let me touch a little!”



Jadwiga and Rose together bring down and touch Emma.



“Wai- there! Don’t!”



My weak flank is attacked concentratedly and writhes. *Kyaaー Kyaaー* Jadwiga is playful, but I notice that Rose’s eyes are serious.



“Emma-chan. What is this smoothness!? I’ve wanted to touch it all this time, even after thinking about the hot spring… What is this smoothness!?”



“Ro-chan! Let’s keep our voice down a little! Hyaa!! Wait, that spot… Stop, hiin, don’t!”



Even my feet’s soles are touched. Isn’t it too early to do a young lady’s heel check? It seems like the one who has a beauty sensor is not just Minato.



“Please tell me the secret of this smoothness.”



I get a little fright at that sudden commanding tone.



Do your greed has no bounds to even seriously ask a beauty secret to an 11-year-old girl, Rose-sama!? But pressure is pressure, so I seriously think about what it is. Only one thing comes to mind.



“When you take silk threads from a cocoon, you soak it in water. But since water is valuable in Palace, we reuse the soaked water for bathing. Maybe it’s because of that…”



Palace’s daily water is mainly supplied from underground water. It’s a land with few larger rivers and ponds. Since water has to be drawn from wells, it is used carefully.



The water used in Emma’s shed is good quality water originally bought from other territories. As the price is considerable and to not be wasteful, the water is reused in the mansion. It is also favorable to the servants since drawing new water from the well needs a lot of labor.



The protein or something that dissolves from the cocoon has good efficacy towards beautiful skin(?) is something good to realize. But there’s no positive proof as composition analysis is hard to do in this world.



“Is silk good for the skin?”



Rose, who is wholly devoted to pursuing beauty, is really into this. I can’t stand the pressure from some time ago and ended up speaking with honorifics.



“Yes. I also recommend going to bed wearing silk sleep-wears! I made one and brought it today. If it is to your liking, I will deliver some more to the royal capital.”



“Emma-chan is really the best!”



Silk is an expensive material, so it’s not usually used for other than party dresses. But the Stuart house has made Emma Silk, and other trial manufacture silks are in excess, so it’s also helpful to us to make effective use of it. Besides, Rose-sama‘s eyes towards beauty are guaranteed. So she is more than qualified to fulfill the role of a monitor. Truthfully, it’s a win-win relationship.



・・・



……chan……! ……Emma-chan……!



“Emma-chan!”



Called by Jadwiga, I snap back.



“Sorry, Jadwiga, I got lost in my thoughts. Ah, you found me.”



I had been hiding just fine during hide-and-seek, but it seemed I got found by Jadwiga while I was thinking about the huge breasts.



“Emma-chan is the last! George-shama, William-kun*, and okaa-shama are already in the garden~! What about next? What will we play next?”



(*T/N: -kun is an honorific for young males or men you are close to.)



Jadwiga has been playing the whole time since morning, but she frolics around happily without looking any tired. When we come out to the garden holding hands, a tutor came in the morning, and Prince Edward, who has never shown his face, is having a friendly chat with George and William.



They have been getting along well without me noticing. I have always admired my brothers’ communication skills.



“Onii-shama!”



Jadwiga runs over to Edward. Because we are still holding hands, I also quicken her steps. When I arrive at the prince’s side, I want to bow my head to give greetings.



“No need to bow. Please treat me the same as my mother and younger sister.”



So far, even when I came to play many times, I’ve rarely met the prince. I sensed that he seemed to be avoiding us, but maybe it’s just my imagination.



Maybe everyone’s older brother, George, and the caring William have made the prince fallen.



“Understood. That, um, Your Highness? How are you feeling?”



Last night, the prince came out of the hot spring boiling red. ‘It’s easy to get flushed during puberty, so he needs to be careful…’ When I’m thinking so, the prince’s face once again becomes red.



“Your Highness–! Are you alright?”



I approach the prince spontaneously and reach out my hand, intending to support him.



“I-I’m alright. D-don’t touch… beyond this!”



Somehow his face is getting redder, and he draws back. It’s great if he’s alright, but could it be he has an unusual chronic disease? It seems he has relaxed his guard around George and William, but not around me. I’m a bit shocked. Indeed, we haven’t talked very much, so I guess it can’t be helped.



” “………” “



George and William gaze at the prince as if looking at a pitiful person.



Rose is grinning towards this bittersweet scene.



“Let’s play house next! The father is Edward onii-shama, and the mother is Emma-chan~! It’s a pair of newlywed~!”



Jadwiga is a 5-year-old child who can read the mood.



“Wha!!”



The prince’s face becomes even redder. Can a person turn this red?



“Then! George-kun and I will play as the married couple next door. William-kun and Jadwiga will play as our child!”



Rose gets it on amusingly.



“Will Your Highness play together with us?”



‘What a rare thing,’ when I look at the prince, he is crouching and trembling for some reason.



“N-newlyweds… with Emma!? Emma as my wife!?”



He is murmuring something, but I can’t hear it clearly.



“Your Highness? Are you alright?”



“Emma-chan!!! Playing house has already started!”



Jadwiga, who puts her whole energy into playing and is especially strict in playing house, warns me.



I have to play house seriously. Because my husband looks unwell, as the wife, I look after him. This is supposed to be correct.



“Husband? Let’s lay down a little.”



With that said, I lay down the prince on the lawn. My heart throbs, thinking whether I will be caught for lese majeste for this. It’s playing house, but a perfect score for the thrill.



So that at least his head doesn’t touch the ground, let’s give him a lap pillow.



“Uwooo!!!!”



When I put his head on my lap, he lets out a strange voice, then becomes stiff and frozen.



He stopped moving even a twitch.



“Oh my, oh my.”



Rose peeps at his son’s appearance like looking at something amusing.



George and William somehow hold their heads.



“Emmaaa… This oblivious angel!”



“Older brother… That is a devil. A devil that drops people into the hell called heaven without them being aware.”



In the middle of that, Jadwiga approaches the prince and Emma in wonder.



“The husband next door… Are you dead?”



With that single word, a dangerous playing house has started.



“Th-this! The smell of almond, potassium cyanide!?”



George joins the hype. The sound of a firetruck seems to be heard.



He directed a suspicious gaze towards Emma, a newlywed, or so we thought, she will be a widow soon.



“N-no way– Are you saying that I killed my beloved husband?”



The prince twitches once at the word ‘my beloved husband~,’ but he is supposed to play dead now, so he is ignored.



“But the one who can serve him poison is only Emma-chan! You must have mixed it in some dinner’s side dish!”



Even Rose-sama suspects me.



“Edward has a large amount of insurance money. The cheapskate Mina… no, Emma is quite likely to do it.”



George’s pursuit has no mercy. Did I provoke some resentment in our previous life?



“No way– Does it mean that Emma-chan doesn’t love Edward?”



Rose’s play is also getting hot. The prince twitches again, but everyone ignores it.



“Please wait!”



William and Jadwiga intervene.



“We will solve this case!”



After the sudden incident that broke out during playing house, the child detectives made their appearance.



“The reason is! The body is of a young boy, the head is of a…” **



” “NEET?” “



George and Emma throw a signature phrase.



**T/N: A signature line from Detective Conan, ‘The body is of a child, the head is of an adult.’



“So mean!!!”



William loses his vigor in an instant.



‘What’s a NEET?’ Jadwiga gives a final blow question to William.



“Now, now, I don’t really get it, but what William-kun and Jadwiga want to say is that there are other culprits, right.”



Rose helps to get everyone back on track.



“Yes. The culprit is… in here!”



William declares in a cliche line with a posed look.



“Cou…could it be! Locked-room murder!?”



Getting into the mood, George adds another cliche line.



Would it be better to find a cliff? Emma looks all around the surrounding, but there’s no way there’s one.



“George nii-sha… no, Father, why did you think that this is murder by poison?”



It’s because it’s that sort of setting. While everyone forgets, the strict in playing Jadwiga asks.



“There’s an almond smell from Edward. There’s no doubt that potassium cyanide is used! Emma mixed it into his meal!”



George concludes. It can’t escape from the cliche development.



“Ho… Bro… Father seems to be mistaken.”



William’s eyes light up.



“The almond smell of potassium cyanide… It is often used in suspense, but it is only for almonds before・harvest. You have never smelled almond before harvest, right?”



“Eh? Is that so?”



“Moreover, even if you put a lethal amount of potassium cyanide to the meal, your mouth will be sore, and it’s impossible to finish eating it!”



“N-no, Edward loves Emma!”



At George’s words, the prince’s body twitches once again, but nobody sees it.



“No matter how bad the food his wife gave him tasted, he would eat it with the power of love!”



Wait a sec, what’s with that way of saying as if I can’t cook.



“That’s right, that’s right, because Edward likes Emma-chan very much, even if his mouth was burned, he would finish eating it all.”



“…I don’t need that kind of heavy love.”



I feel sorry for Rose-sama, but please spare me from such love.



Also, the prince’s twitching happens so often to a level that can’t be ignored.



“See, Emma doesn’t love Edward! There’s a motive for murder!”



George’s behavior becomes suspicious till I want to say. ‘Eh, isn’t this guy the culprit?’



“Father George… It’s about time for you to tell the truth. You killed him, didn’t you?”



William led to the solution.



“Wh-what are you! I don’t have any motive!”



“That’s right, he’s just a neighbor.”



Rose-sama follows up with George.



“Father, aren’t you Emma’s adultery accomplice?”



I cheated without my husband knowing? Me?



“That’s right. It’s about your close friend. You are the one who also introduced your best friend to Emma-san, right.”



“H-how do you!”



To begin with, who are you talking about?



“Aren’t you told by your rich best friend? If you introduced him to Emma-san, he would forget your debt…”



“H-how do you!”



“Besides that, you know that Mina… Emma-san is a cheapskate. If your rich friend goes well with Emma, certainly, you were hoping for a reward.”



“Kuhh”



Do these brothers have a grudge about money to Minato…? No occasion comes to my mind, but are these two trying to make it even right now?



“It’s true that Edward-san is also rich. He also has a large amount of insurance money. However, since my father’s best friend is super-rich, it is more attractive for Emma to cheat with him rather than receiving insurance money. It’s not a matter of killing intentionally.”



What’s with that? I’m the worst then.



“W-wait, you don’t have any evidence! I don’t have such a rich friend…!”



“You have, right? Brown-haired, freckled…”



Just wait. The prince’s twitching is at the same level as convulsion, though. It’s about time for everyone to stop ignoring him, right? Right?



“A-are you talking about Joshuaaa!”



George nii-sama, you don’t have to yell it like ‘Are you talking about Kri***n’…



(T/N: The famous line from Dragon Ball, ‘Are you talking about Krillin’)



“Wait a minute! Who is Joshua!”



The corpse… no, the prince suddenly gets up.



“Onii-shama, you’re supposed to play dead,” Jadwiga warns him calmly.



Jadwiga is as strict at playing as ever. She won’t allow any compromise.



Towards the ending, should I try to find a cliff once again after all?



Thinking so, I look around excitedly. Let’s try to find something impossible to be here.



“George nii-sama!!!”



“Emma-chan, too, according to the setting…!!”



I call out my older brother without thinking. Jadwiga rebukes me, but halfway to her words, I stand up and hide her behind my back.



Right behind George, a 3-centimeter-big hole opened.



It gradually floats midair, then from what I can only call a hole, liquid started to flow tricklingly.



I have never seen it…



But maybe this… is a local barrier hazard.



____________________________



T/N: I’m sorry for all Detective Conan’s fans out there if I didn’t translate the catchphrases accurately.