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“Augustine…”
As Matilda whispered softly, the girl standing by her side raised her hand and spoke.
“Ariel Augustine, 14 years old. Yesterday at 5:43 pm a request to search for a missing person was released on her behalf. Her whereabouts were declared unknown on the campus of Wexford Academy.”
“Thank you, Elizabeth.”
Matilda nodded without any expression, clicking her tongue.
“Also, here is a depiction of Ariel Augustine.”
The girl called Elizabeth pulled out a small book from beneath the clothes covering her chest and opened it.
As she did so, a small version of “me” appeared.
Amazing…
Who knew the notebook of a Magic Supervision Police officer could do something like that.
While thinking this, I stared at the small “me” in front of me.
Nearly transparent skin- on orders from my mother I avoided getting tanned- , golden hair shaped with long, loose waves, deep green eyes. Long eyelashes. A tall nose-bridge and pink, well-formed lips.
“How beautiful.”
Matilda looked at the figure and let out a pure sigh of admiration.
It’s true, I was thankful that I was born such a beauty.
My mother always said with excitement “With these looks you’ll surely catch a fine husband!”, encouraging me to develop my skills to become a bride. However, my father often retorted with “You don’t have to be so forceful about marriage,” always reluctant.
As for me, marriage was a thing of the future, so I only casually prepared for it.
“All of the girls who have gone missing up until now have been beautiful.”
Matilda continued and my attention came back to the situation at hand.
“Girls” who had gone missing. My eyes shifted over to the “dolls” placed in the corners of the room.
At the same time, a number of officers appeared. Similarly to Matilda, they showed themselves suddenly and without warning.
“For safety, did you make sure he can’t escape?”
One of the officers, a man, said this and looked at me, who was pathetically pressed to the floor.
Edgar, remember this day!
There was no reason for me to be in a situation like this!
I had so much I wanted to say to them, but because of the great pressure pushing me down, moving my body was impossible, let alone speaking.
“We already confirmed the body.”
Matilda put her head to her forehead, looking down with exhaustion.
“We’ll have to examine the personality. For now, we’ll perform an arrest.”
Arrest?!
Wait a second!
I’m completely innocent!
Even when I frantically twisted myself and tried to resist, I couldn’t move at all.
Beside me, Matilda approached the “doll”, and stared at it, then went towards the other cloth-covered objects.
She pulled off another cloth, revealing more “dolls”.
A red haired beauty, a green-eyed beauty. Both of them were around the same age as I was.
“Disgusting.”
Matilda whispered this, turning her glittering dark eyes towards me. “If you really are Ariel Augustine I’m sorry about this, but it’s a rule. We need to keep a hold on perpetrators.”
Perpetrators…
I was dumbfounded.
The pressure holding down my body disappeared. However, for some reason I still couldn’t really move. Edgar handled me roughly, looking at me with eyes of suspicion.
His hair was brown, slightly tinted red. Dark brown eyes. With clear disdain he stared at me, sighing.
“You said perpetrator.”
I raised my voice slightly.
“The perpetrator of a series of murders.”
Matilda spoke without expression. “Your body is, anyway.”
Why did something like this have to happen?
Did my luck just suddenly plummet?
The morning of that day, I had woken up early, feeling antsy. It was finally the day of the school festival I had been looking forward to so much.
Wexford Academy was famous across the country for being a prestigious school. My cousin, Rachel Harris, was a student there.
I was to start attending Wexford the next year, and I was interested in seeing what sort of school it was, so I went to my father. I told him I wanted to see Rachel on the day of the school’s open house.
He immediately granted me permission.
My mother seemed a bit cautious, because Wexford had mostly students from n.o.ble families, who had stellar grades and promising futures. It was no mistake that he gave me permission. With that being true, my mother complied simply.
That morning, my servant, Claire, seemed a bit anxious.
To be honest, my mother had some overprotective qualities. She wasn’t fond of me going out very often, and wanted to choose who I a.s.sociated with.
That’s why I sometimes felt the urge to defy her.
Before, there were times when I snuck out of the house and got a huge scolding. However, recently I had been behaving better.
“Miss, you’re not planning something, are you?”
Claire said.
What are you worried about?
“I’m not going to do anything.”
I snorted. “My main goal this time is to see Rachel’s play. Wexford’s theater club seems really serious. Also, did you hear? Rachel’s going to be playing a boy.”
“Yes, I heard. If that’s true, let’s not make a fuss and bother her. You are a daughter of the Augustine household, so you must behave…”
“I will, I will.”
Claire had been with me since I was a young child. She was the only daughter of the Augustine family’s head servant, Jessica Collins, and had always been working while living with us.
When I was little, Claire was raised as both my playmate and peer, so rather than a master-servant relationship, she felt more like a friend.
Only recently, however, she had started to become thoughtful of her position, and I wasn’t fond of her adoption of a more formal att.i.tude.
“By the way, Claire, you’re coming with me, aren’t you?”
“Huh? But I’m a servant.”
“I don’t need you to watch over me. I just don’t really understand school festivals.”
“Even I cannot comply with that. Also, it would be better to get someone better qualified.”
“Better qualified? No thank you, I wouldn’t want to walk with an awful guard or something like that.”
I groaned. Claire glared at me with an expression of disapproval.
“Miss, please have a sense of caution. The Augustine family is-”
“Yes, yes, for now I’ll just walk with my father.”
As I waved my hand, leaving the room, I heard Claire let out a deep sigh behind me.