When the Serial Killer Next Door Gained Harem System

Chapter 157: Twisted Trophy

The balcony itself was much larger than the others I had seen. Polished stone tiles covered the floor, carved railings overlooked the sea, and several flower pots lined the edges. A pair of elegant chairs surrounded a small wooden table, making it the perfect place to sit and watch the sunset.

Once my breathing settled, I got back to my feet, brushed the dust from my clothes, and walked to the balcony door.

The handle turned without resistance.

I slipped inside and quietly closed the door behind me.

Cadence’s bedroom was easily twice the size of the guest rooms.

A massive bed stood in the center, its curtains tied neatly with embroidered silk ribbons. Shelves filled with expensive books and ornaments lined one wall, while paintings in ornate golden frames covered the others. A thick crimson carpet stretched across the polished floor, and the faint scent of expensive perfume lingered in the air.

"Damn," I whispered, slowly looking around the room. "Look at this place."

My eyes settled on the writing desk near the window.

"Alright," I muttered as I walked toward it. "Let’s start there."

I walked over to the writing desk and carefully pulled the chair back, making sure it didn’t scrape against the wooden floor.

The desk itself was spotless. An ink bottle rested neatly beside several fresh quills, and a stack of documents had been arranged with almost obsessive precision. Cadence clearly liked keeping everything organized.

I opened the first drawer and quickly skimmed through its contents. Most of it consisted of financial records, receipts, payments made to servants, invitations from noble families, and letters thanking the Merygold family for donations. None of it looked useful, so I closed the drawer and opened the next one.

This one contained more paperwork. Property deeds, tax records, hunting permits, and a notebook filled with appointments and schedules. I flipped through several pages, hoping to find something suspicious, but everything looked painfully ordinary.

"There has to be something..." I muttered.

Leaving the desk behind, I moved to the bookshelf beside the window. Most of the shelves were filled with expensive books about politics, history, noble etiquette, and economics, while decorative statues and family portraits filled the empty spaces between them. As I searched, I noticed several folders tucked behind a row of books.

I carefully pulled them out one by one.

The first contained correspondence with merchants. The second held records of wine shipments. The third was filled with invitations to noble gatherings.

Just as I was about to put them back, my fingers brushed against an envelope hidden beneath the stack.

As I picked it up to examine it, I heard footsteps approaching from outside.

Someone stopped right in front of the room. A key slid into the lock. The mechanism clicked open.

I instinctively looked toward the balcony, already preparing to make a run for it if the door opened, but whoever had unlocked it never came inside. Instead, the footsteps continued down the corridor and gradually faded away.

I frowned for a moment before quietly slipping the letter into my pocket.

"Guess someone just unlocked it for him."

Not wanting to waste the opportunity, I returned to searching.

The bottom drawer caught my attention. I slid it open and found a small leather pouch tucked neatly into the corner.

Curious, I loosened the strings and looked inside.

A lock of blue hair rested at the bottom.

Several strands had dried blood stuck to them.

My grip tightened around the pouch.

"Jelda..."

There was no way this was a coincidence.

I immediately closed the pouch, willed both it and its contents into my inventory, then carefully returned every folder, document, and book to exactly where I had found them. By the time I finished, the room looked untouched.

After giving the bedroom one last glance, I walked to the door and looked through the keyhole.

The corridor was empty.

I quietly opened the door, slipped outside, and closed it again without making a sound before starting back toward my own room.

The walk back felt much longer than before. Every intersection made me expect a guard to appear, yet the fifth floor remained strangely empty. I didn’t pass a single servant or maid on my way, which only made the silence feel even stranger.

A few minutes later, I reached my room. Weirdly enough, the corridor outside was completely deserted.

I unlocked the door, stepped inside, and shut it behind me before finally letting out a long breath.

Walking over to the bed, I sat down and summoned both pieces of evidence from my inventory. A faint golden glow appeared over the blanket as the folded letter and the small leather pouch materialized in front of me.

"Okay," I muttered, reaching toward them. "Let’s see what they are."

I walked over to the bed, grabbed the folded letter, and carefully opened it.

The handwriting was clean and elegant, exactly what I’d expect from a noble.

As I read the contents, my expression slowly hardened.

"To the men of the Circle. A reward of two hundred and fifty gold shall be paid for the death of Ace Walker. Payment will only be made upon undeniable proof of his death. This matter is to remain within the Circle and is not to be spoken of beyond it."

I lowered the page slightly and looked at the bottom.

There it was.

Cadence Merygold.

The family crest had been pressed beneath his signature.

I stared at it for a few seconds before letting out a disbelieving laugh.

"What kind of idiot signs an assassination order with his own name?"

Shaking my head, I tossed the letter onto the bed and reached for the leather pouch. I loosened the strings and pulled out the lock of blue hair once more. The dried blood clinging to several strands was impossible to ignore, and just looking at it made my stomach twist.

"So it really was you..." I muttered quietly.

I clenched my jaw, dropped the hair back onto the bed, and rubbed a hand across my face.

"Fucking monster."

Just then, the bedroom door slowly opened.

I immediately turned around.

The Queen stepped inside first, her hands linked neatly in front of her as always. General Tornhawk followed a step behind, closing the door before taking his usual position near the entrance. Neither of them spoke as the Queen calmly walked deeper into the room.

I instinctively moved aside to let her pass.

Her attention immediately settled on the bed. She looked first at the folded letter, then at the lock of blue hair resting beside it. Without asking permission, she picked up the letter and unfolded it.

The room fell completely silent while she read.

Her expression barely changed as her eyes moved from line to line, though I noticed the slightest tightening around them when she reached the signature at the bottom. After reading it a second time, she folded the paper neatly and placed it back where she had found it.

Only then did she reach for the lock of hair.

She held it between her fingers, examining the dried blood caught between the blue strands with the same composed expression she wore for everything else. She didn’t flinch, didn’t look surprised, and didn’t say a single word while studying it.

When she had seen enough, she lowered her hand and slowly turned to face me.

"Care to explain, Ace?"

I let out a quiet breath.

"Well... this wasn’t exactly how I imagined tonight ending."

ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎

The Queen remained seated on the edge of the bed, her legs crossed and her back perfectly straight. After listening to everything I had to say, she gave a slow nod, almost more to herself than to me. It seemed she finally believed there had been a third suspect all along, and that suspect was Cadence.

"You hid this from me," the Queen said.

"I had to, Your Majesty," I replied. "You wouldn’t have let me investigate him."

She remained silent for a moment.

General Tornhawk stood beside me, directly across from the Queen. For once, he wasn’t glaring at me like he wanted to remove my head. His arms were folded across his chest, and although his expression remained stern, he seemed more focused on the evidence than on me.

After a long pause, the Queen spoke again. "Why?"

"Like I said, Your Majesty, you would’ve..."

She gently shook her head. "No. Why would Cadence do something like this?"

I let out a quiet breath. "I think he became obsessed with Jelda, Your Majesty."

"And because of that, he killed her?" Tornhawk asked.

I nodded. "Yes. After having her assaulted, he had her murdered and kept a lock of her hair as some kind of twisted trophy."

The Queen lowered her gaze to the bloodstained hair resting on the bed.

"Cadence..." she murmured. "He never appeared capable of something so vile."

"Most psychopaths don’t, Your Majesty."

Her eyes met mine, and the faintest smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

"I suppose you would know that, Ace."

I rubbed the back of my neck.

"Hmm..."

Tornhawk broke the silence.

"What should we do, Your Majesty? The ceremony is still underway. We can’t make a move tonight without throwing the entire estate into chaos."

The Queen slowly rose from the bed. "What a mess."