I'm Closer Than You Think

The Worst Kind Of Heartbreak

Many weeks after Miyuki had been assigned to be the investigator in search for the killers of the late Wolfram Von Bielefelt, Miyuki felt like a true investigator. She had grown close - maybe too close - to her former squadron, but she really felt like she was back. That she was settled and warmly welcomed.

Of course, that feeling had taken some time to kick in as she had been dead for three months before coming back to the castle, in the hopes of becoming the demon kingdom's investigator, and growing from that nervousness had helped her a lot.

She had investigated many villages and borders, following the trails of reported fires, and also reports of strange activities. The Bielefelt squadron investigated everything that was strange, or unnerving around the kingdom.

After her early morning routines, breakfast and everything else, Miyuki went straight to the library in order to carry on with her work.

She would sometimes sit in Yuri's office, but that was on a rare occasion. When the young king had asked her why she had moved back into the library to work, Miyuki had explained that she didn't want to burden him from his work. When Yuri looked ready to protest, saying something such as, "that he really didn't mind", or "that she wasn't a burden to him", Miyuki stopped him by saying that it was really okay, and that it was better if she worked in the library as she could keep everything locked up there.

The main reason why Miyuki had given him that excuse was because she thought that it would be easier on the both of them if they didn't spend hours in the same room, working, trying to resist the urge of staring at each other whilst the other worked. She had watched him work at his desk out of the corner of her eye. And Miyuki had caught Yuri, more than once, watching her work, turning to face him and ask if there was anything wrong. He had just turned away, his face tinted with a pinkish haze.

Miyuki knew that it hurt Yuri, when he looked at her, when he spoke to her. It hurt him because he could see the face of his late fiancé. She could see the pain in his eyes, even if he was just greeting her good morning. And it hurt her to see him that way.

And so, in order to help him in the very least, she arranged to work in the library.

Shaking her head from the those thoughts, Miyuki drew herself back to the report file before her, on the desk. Placing her cheek against the heel of her hand, Miyuki reached over with her other hand to pick up the main report document, and read it over. There wasn't anything unique about this one. It was describing suspicious persons, and was addressed to Miyuki herself, which again wasn't anything new. The whole kingdom was informed of who their investigator was, so when they were addressed to her personally, it didn't shock anyone. Although, some were still addressed to their king, and then Yuri would hand them to Miyuki in order to work on.

This one was written with very neat handwriting, no ink blotches to be seen.

"Dear Lady Allcott,

There has been quite a few weeks of peace after the visit disturbance, and I don't mean to worry you or your investigative squadron, but there seems to be people walking around the town market. They were very strange men, but I am not one to judge someone by their appearance, only by their character. My youngest son however, noticed that the same men were sneaking around the town at night. I have two young sons My Lady, but my youngest is the most observant and doesn't lie. He would never lie about this sort of thing. I too have seen them lurking around the town, both in the day and the night, but they never say anything to anyone. They don't buy anything in the market.

That caught Miyuki's attention. She straightened in her seat, holding the report in both hands as she continued to read.

"The only interaction that they made with anyone, was when they assaulted a friend of mine. She was only offering them some bread from her stall when one of them pushed her away. She was unharmed, but they still walk around town. It seems to me that they might be searching for something, or even someone. But, it could just be my mind becoming paranoid.