Every one of them looked at the maid in confusion, wondering where she had come from. Hadn't she been missing this whole time? Because of how insignificant she was, the queen had even forgotten to add her to the list of people Alicia was suspected of getting rid of, even though Alicia had been in the dungeon at the time. They had concluded that she had an accomplice so it didn't matter if she was locked up or not.
"I have brought in the witness." Sir Oscar announced as he bowed and stepped to the side, leaving the girl standing beside Alicia and Tyra.
Alicia's gaze has been on the frightened girl since she entered. The witness? Didn't they say she was already dead? How come she's here now? She looked at Harold, who was giving the maid a pointed look, and guessed he had a hand in this. Why hadn't he mentioned this to her last night?
The more Alicia looked at the girl, the more unpleasant she felt within her, and her head began to ache. It seemed like a memory was coming to her, but something was pushing it back.
She sucked in air and touched her forehead, looking away from the girl and facing Tyra, who was on her other side.
She noticed how sweaty Tyra was as she kept clasping her dress beside her. Alicia could not tell if it was because she was sick or because of something else, but that was the least of her problems as she felt unsettled about this girl.
"W-Water..." Alicia heard her voice in her head, and the memory came back to her. She was having a bad headache and dry throat as she staggered to the door weakly, looking for help.
She opened her bedroom door, and the face of the person she had found standing there that night was this maid.
Her eyes widened as she turned to face the girl.
She had been there.
What was she doing outside her room at that time?
The queen was having a bad feeling in her gut seeing how this maid showed up from nowhere. She had planned to go straight to the point and ask Tyra to tell them who had stabbed her and have Princess Amber punished for it. But with this interruption, she could not focus on Tyra when the maid was the main witness to everything.
Angry, she asked, "Where have you been all this while?" The queen asked her in a harsh tone.
"I... have been ill, my queen."
"You have been ill?" The queen asked in disbelief. "You ran away from the palace without permission and vanished into thin air!"
The maid quickly fell to the floor, pleading, "I'm sorry, my queen. I... could not move for days. That... was why I did not show up. But... I knew I had to come today."
"Just go straight to questioning her," Damon said in an irritated tone, causing the queen to glare at him.
But from the look in the eyes of any noblemen, they felt the same way. They were tired and starving and did not want to waste their time.
"Introduce yourself to the house." The queen ordered.
She raised her head in fear as she stammered, "My... name is Agnes. I... am a ...k-kitchen maid."
"You were in the palace on the night Beth was murdered and Princess Tyra was almost killed, correct?"
Agnes nodded. "I... was in the palace."
Alicia looked at the girl closely and turned to look at Tyra again, noting how tense she was. It was as though she could sense it, and it was coming quite strongly from Tyra. She looked at Harold, who had been staring at her, giving her a concerned look.
"What did you see that night? Tell the house what happened." The queen demanded.
Tyra reached out, distracting all of them, who turned to face her.
"I... am sorry... but I... do not feel well," Tyra said with teary eyes as she tried to vomit again but used her hand to cover her mouth.
The queen eyed her in displeasure before turning her gaze back to Agnes, while Tyra looked at Harold with misty eyes, but he looked away from her and instead looked at Alicia, who was intensely staring at Tyra.
"Go ahead!" The queen snapped at Agnes, who flinched as she began to speak.
"That... night... I stayed back to serve Princess Tyra."
The queen nodded and looked at Tyra, asking, "Do you recognize her? Was she the maid that stayed with you that night?"
Tyra looked around nervously as she slowly nodded. "She... it... it was her." She spoke weakly.
The queen nodded, asking, "Tell the house what happened that night." The queen almost sounded excited as she asked her. This time, they were getting somewhere.
"I..." Agnes looked around her, obviously scared, as she said, "...didn't... see anything else."
"WHAT?"
The house went into an uproar as words began to fly everywhere, showing their displeasure. As expected, the queen was not taking it likely as she stepped down from the podium.
"HOW DARE YOU LIE TO THE HOUSE?" The queen bellowed at her.
"You already said it was Am—Princess Amber. Why are you lying now?"
"I... only said that because I was asked to. I... didn't see Princess Amber kill anyone. I swear on my life."
The queen's eyes lit up when she heard that. There was only one option here. If the maid admits she didn't witness Princess Amber kill Beth and stab Princess Tyra but someone asked her to, then that person was most likely the person messing with her and all of them. She didn't mind that she would be found innocent of Beth's murder. But there was still Tyra's stabbing to handle. And Tyra had said Princess Amber was responsible. They would have to come back to that. For now, they were all curious about the person who had told her to lie.
"Who is the person that asked you to lie?" The queen asked as she approached the girl, who was still shaking on the floor and was even crying now.
"My... queen... I... dare not say—"
"SPEAK!" The queen demanded fiercely.
Agnes looked up with misty eyes and burst into tears.
"It... it is you, my queen. I... am sorry but I can no longer lie." Agnes cried, stunning every single soul in the hall except one.
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