Detective Watson's Investigation

Iver did not leave the Silver and Tin Palace in the middle of the night, but instead stayed there.

Isabel had prepared a room for Iver long ago. And the things that Iver had burned while reading the "Morning Crow Grimoire" had all been replaced.

After all, there will likely be many people coming to mourn outside the Griffin Bridge tonight. Some from the Round Table Hall will surely try to ambush him here.

Iver didn't want to run into anyone outside, so it was best not to cause trouble for himself.

The next day, the national morning newspapers published the news of Her Majesty the Queen's death.

There are over three hundred newspapers in Avalon with names and publications. Some are legitimate, while others are less so. But regardless of their original reporting style, today they must all dutifully report the news of Queen Sophia's death and Queen Isabel's accession to the throne.

Among these largely similar announcements, some newspapers also featured the magical painting drawn by Yanis.

Although in Avalon, the only newspaper that could display the magical drawings was the * Glass Staircase Newspaper *, Master Agnes's drawing skills were more than sufficient to serve as photographs. Therefore, these magical drawings were transcribed onto film by specialists and distributed to various newspapers on the Glass Island.

As for newspapers in remote areas, they will have to wait another two days. Or they can simply wait until the Day of National Funeral a week later to publish them all at once.

At this moment, on a street near Garden City in the Metropolitan District, a young man wearing a yellow trench coat and a brown beret is intently looking at the newspapers spread out on the table in his "Detective Watson Agency"—some of which are old newspapers, including the Glass Staircase Newspaper, which he bought at a high price today.

Andre Watson, biting his pen, stared into thought at the newspapers spread out in front of him, his pupils gleaming with Deep Blue light.

He is a detective.

Of course, he's not as famous as Sherlock. But he's still quite good.

The Metropolitan District is the most bustling and densely populated part of Glass Island. It's not as dangerous as Lloyd District, nor is it like the Red White Queen District, where almost every case could involve important figures.

It's simply busy here—busy because there are so many people.

For this reason, Mr. Watson was often asked by the local Bureau of Supervision to help solve some difficult cases. As a Path of Wisdom monk, his mind was far more capable than that of the Law Mage and inspectors.

After all, there's only one Sherlock. But the Glass Island case is too big for him to solve alone.

But at the same time, Andre Watson has another identity... or rather, two other identities.

In fact, he was a spy from Star Antimony. He came from the Stibium Army First Special Operations Unit.

This unit also has another name. "The Secret Room." It is mainly responsible for intelligence gathering and processing.

It's called that because before it was officially designated and formalized, it was originally an Nameless secret room where early members of the "Twelve Keys" exchanged intelligence and plotted. Now, it serves as the spy and counter-espionage department of Star Antimony.

But besides that, Andre has another identity.

He is the child of a high-ranking mage from the Narcissus Principality and the Child of the Moon.

Although the high-ranking mages of the Narcissus Principality have sworn allegiance to King Stibium, the seeds of restorationism still lie hidden among them. And he was one of them.

From this perspective, Andre can be considered a double agent—on the one hand, he serves the Stibnite Person, hiding inside Avalon; on the other hand, he serves the Narcissus People, stealing Star Antimony intelligence and sending it to the Mage Tower.

The Stibnite Person might not be unaware of his treacherous intentions. Or rather, it would be strange if those mages truly pledged allegiance to Star Antimony without any resistance. But in the face of the greater good, their attitudes themselves are unimportant. As long as Star Antimony can continue to exist peacefully, this kind of thinking will naturally lose its foundation after a few generations.

Perhaps that's why he was sent to Glass Island.

A remote, enemy-occupied area far from both Star Antimony and the Narcissus Principality, teeming with Law Mage possessing lie-detection abilities. As a member of the "Secret Chamber," he was actually unaware of any crucial intelligence that could be traced back to headquarters—a unique secret of the "Secret Chamber." Each person's secrets were fragmented; only by deciphering and piecing them together could the truth be revealed.

It was already incredibly difficult for him to even survive in Avalon.

The fact that he was born into the Star Antimony clan couldn't be hidden at all; someone who appeared out of nowhere was more likely to be exposed. And as the relationship between Avalon and the Star Antimony clan deteriorated year by year, the pressure he faced here also increased.

He had spent a great deal of time and effort gaining the Bureau of Supervision's trust. But recently, he had begun to feel the weight of suspicion. Even after the arrest of former Minister of Trade Drost, he was investigated by the Inspectorate.

At the time, he thought he was about to be discovered.

Fortunately, the spell his father cast on him was reliable enough.

He was able to sneak into the "secret room" because of his parents' protection—he was also certain that he hadn't been discovered, otherwise he would have been executed or imprisoned long ago.

Andre was deeply moved when he learned about the story of "Miss Crowley".

He was, of course, unaware of his colleague's identity and mission. This was to prevent anyone from betraying their comrade.

But that intelligence was just too convincing.

Although he had lived in Avalon for many years and could no longer recall whether the Crowley family had such a third daughter, upon closer reflection, that vague memory seemed to tell him, "It seems so."

He felt great sympathy and resonance for "Miss Crowley".

In a sense, he and Miss Crowley were in the same predicament.

He is now one of Star Antimony's most important spies and must obtain important intelligence for Star Antimony. However, as a Narcissus, he is also thinking about how to betray Star Antimony. Miss Crowley is a pure-blooded Stibnite Person, but she also wants to betray Star Antimony because of that forbidden love.

As a member of the "Secret Chamber," he knew the obstacles and crises Miss Crowley would face back home. Although Star Antimony would certainly try to exchange her for a spy after her capture... her parents and her family would suffer immense pressure as a result! Even as the daughter of an earl, she would have to pay the price.

Her family will soon pay the price, and she will have to pay that price for her family.

It is precisely because of their similar stances that they resonate with each other. On the one hand, Andre feels hostility towards the story's protagonist, "Iver Moriarty," but on the other hand, he is also curious about his charm.

Out of curiosity, he decided to investigate.

—It turned out that Iver was a complete playboy! He was a womanizer in high school, even causing girls to fight and argue over him; he changed girlfriends every week, from his own thirty-something female teacher to his classmate's elementary school-aged sister, all of whom displayed unusual enthusiasm for him in public; even the two girls who fought were eventually appeased by him, becoming friends and working together to dispel rumors and try to mitigate the damage caused by them.

After graduating from high school, his leg was apparently broken by the brother of one of his girlfriends, and he ended up in a wheelchair. Afterwards, he had intimate relationships with everyone from the university student council president and a female bishop to even Princess Isabel.

"...Such a philandering man is no good match for you, Miss Crowley!"

Just as Andre was worrying about his colleague whom he had never met, he received news of the Queen's death.

After reading his regular newspaper and seeing the photo of Iver and Queen Isabel, he immediately bought the Glass Staircase Newspaper, which featured magical illustrations! Then he took out all the newspapers and information related to Iver and conducted a joint analysis.

Andre examined the magic painting hundreds of times and extracted crucial information from it—

When Iver placed his hand on Isabel's shoulder, the young Queen showed no resistance or objection. She turned and looked up at Iver, her eyes filled with obvious joy.

After Iver lowered his hand, Queen Isabel even stepped aside.

An ordinary person might have thought this was an attempt to maintain distance. But Andre observed Isabel's shoulders and arms and confirmed that her arm had slightly moved back when Iver lowered his hand.

What does that mean? It means she touched Iver's hand on her own initiative! And only after that did Iver put his hands behind his back—perhaps this was a sign of "avoidance"?

Isabel's half-step back made it less noticeable that Iver was behind her.

It looks more like the two are standing shoulder to shoulder. They don't resemble a ruler and his subject, but rather a couple in a photograph.

Based on his previous analysis of Isabel's aggressive tendencies, Andre boldly concluded that Isabel chose to have only Iver accompany her for the photoshoot when the rumors of Iver and Aleister's affair were rampant, precisely because she wanted to snatch Iver away from Miss Crowley!