Yashin & Jiyu's Ultimate Adventure!

The Baker's Best Friend [17]

KNOCK KNOCK. KNOCK KNO-

''Jiyu! You don't need to knock so harshly on the Princess' door.'' Linette exclaimed to Jiyu as they were all standing outside of Princess Alexandra's office. What? Did you think royalty just sat on a throne all day talking to commonfolk? After all, we have a princess on the squad.

''Come in.'' A familiar stern yet still posh voice rang out from the door. As the doors swung open, Princess Alexandra was seen with glasses and homely clothing, looking down at stacks of paper with a pen.  ''Ah, Well if it isn't my favourite detective squad, plus Mr Knight.'', the Princess said after looking up and smiling.  ''Princess, We have the evidence needed for what happened and who did it!'' Pico said, showing her the list he made of each piece of evidence they found. ''I see. 'Used to own a Bakery'? I don't see how that's relevant but I suppose you'll tell me in the courthouse. 'Charlie Longfaol used to work with Itazura, the current ruler of Kwamslak' now that's valid information.'' Alexandra took off her glasses after skimming through the list. ''So when's Charlie's trial gonna be?'' Seiko asked as Princess Alexandra stood up, dusting off her hands and said, ''Charlie murdered his own mother. Surely you don't think we've already sent out a search party for him? It appears he's already fled Cloverton, back to the one he was working for all along, which thanks to your investigation, is Itazura. Ruler of Kwamslak and the one attempting to inbalance the world.'' The princess spoke with anger in her tone, as she finally realises the impact Charlie's actions had on her kingdom. ''Apologies if we angered you, Your Majesty but this does mean that Itazura now has 3 gems,'' Linette informs as Akarui gives her a flash of confusion, ''What do you mean 3?'' as Linette answers, ''Oh! I forgot to tell you guys. During the Kwam Imperial attack, someone stole the Crystopian gem. Sorry, I was so wrapped up in my mother's death and sisters coronation that it slipt my mind.'', ''Don't worry about it.'' Yashin brushed it off as she kept rereading the evidence list. The squad left the Princess to her work and they hung around thinking of what to do next until the murder trial came by. 

The trial room was just as fancy as all of the other rooms, as all of the staff and nobles who were accused had sat on one side of the room and the other royals, innocent nobles and with-alibi staff on the other. In the middle was of course Princess Alexandra as the judge. The squad and Earl were allowed to sit near the front with the Princess. 

''Order in the court. I call upon Earl of Cupcakes to share his alibi with the detective unit.'' The Princess shouted to the large room as Earl stood up and spoke. ''During the night of the murder, I was packing away my cupcake making equipment from yesterdays dinner desserts,'' Earl spoke with confidence as the chef in one of the seating blocks raised his hand. ''Yes, Chef?'' the Princess called him as he spoke too, ''Earl has an alibi. I was in the kitchen when he made those cupcakes and he cleaned his station up as I did too.'' The chef sat down as the Princess replied, ''Very well. Detective Unit, Please share to the court what evidence you found, thus the hypothesis you came up with?'', ''Yes, Your Highness.'' Seiko, being an official Cloverton citizen and knight-in-training, started speaking for the Princess' question. ''From the evidence in Lt. Longfaol's room, We believe that the fallen chandelier and bloodied glass means she was near the chandelier when it had fallen. We know it fell by sabotage because of the cut off rope where it was being held up. We think this was Charlie Longfaol's doing due to the fact he was already an escapee for attempted murder. After the chandelier fell, Lt. Longfaol would have gotten cut by the glass shards thus the need to head to the Infirmary. Which the place her body was found was on the way to the Infirmary. Leading us to believe the chandelier was a sham to lure Lt. Longfaol out of her room and near the incinerator where the gloves to cover up DNA, murder weapon and victim body. Additionally, the gloves belonged to Earl's office in the Infirmary, which had pinned the crime on him.'' As Seiko finished speaking, Akarui looked at him and drastically nodded in approval.  

Princess Alexandra banged that judges hammer thing on the stand thing that all courtrooms have. A couple of hours went by with more and more alibi's, testimonies and other long explanatory speeches. Who'd have thought that it was finally time to wrap things up, or at least that's how things looked to the squad. 

''I hereby claim Earl of Cupcake's innocent. And Charlie Longfaol, guilty of treason towards the throne, attempted and succeeded in murder, theft of Cloverton Royal property and working with an enemy nation. The court is adjourned.'' She finished as everyone stood up and left. After leaving the courtroom, she continued to argue with some of her guards about finding Charlie. Meanwhile, the squad decided to surprise Earl in his quarters. 

''Hey, Mr Cupcake man!'' Akarui exclaimed as she gave him a big hug. ''Oh, If it isn't the detective unit that solved the Longfaol case! What do I owe the pleasure?'' He returned all of their hugs with a smile. This was when Yashin noticed the photo on his bedside table. It looked like... Majo and Earl when they were young? Yashin nudged Pico, who was beside her, and when he noticed, he asked Earl about it, ''Hey Earl, who're those people in that photo? One of 'em looks like you!'', ''Oh! That's my childhood best friend, of course! Madame Majo was her name and helping me bake was her game! Haha...'' Earl laughed as the others looked at him with a shocked smile. ''Wait... MAJO?! As in Grandma Majo?'' Linette exclaimed, ''Well If that's the name she's going by these days... You seem to know her. How is she?'' Earl sat on his couch as the squad sat with him. Jiyu replied, thinking back to the nice old lady they met in the forest. ''Yeah, She's doing well. Queen Colette gave Majo her own little shop for her... well, herbs and stuff.'', ''I see! Fun fact about her business, It used to be what her mother did. She's from a long line of witches, y'know! Ah, No wonder my older baked goods had a hint of magic in them!''  Earl chuckled off the memory as they all talked about old funny stories with Majo and him, along with others sharing some funny things.

It was a good night to end a chaotic morning, put it that way.