For Maribelle, there was nothing better than an early morning cup of tea. Before she spent the rest of the morning reading up on Askrian law, the noblewoman planned to use the early light to brew a radiant cup of her favorite blend. Stahl, for all of his uncouthness, had managed to procure a tin of the finest Valmese tea leaves, and Maribelle had been itching to make a cup since they had left for Muspell.

The kitchen itself was pleasantly silent. Stahl and Panne were not there cavorting about, Oscar was not entertaining Mia, and there were no heroes attempting to sneak in a snack or two. Maribelle giggled to herself; she was here to sneak in a treat of her own, after all. After a few minutes of scouring the drawers and the cabinets, she found it. Her favorite kettle, which she had ensured was only used to boil water for tea. The noblewoman filled the kettle with water, and placed it on the stove. It was then she smelled something.

Something smelled like it was roasting, perhaps on another burner, though she didn't see anything on that stove. Maribelle checked on the other stoves in the kitchen. Nothing was on beyond her kettle, and nothing was burning. The smell cleared out rather quickly, and she shrugged it off. Perhaps it was a lingering scent from last night's party, or from some other innocuous source. The noblewoman continued on her quest, locating a small familiar tin. She inhaled the scent, a blend of floral notes and malt. An amused giggle escaped her lips, as she danced with anticipation.

The sound of a mortar and pestle shook her from her dreamscape. Maribelle turned quickly, and scanned the room. There was nothing in her direct line of sight, which only made her more wary. Picking up her parasol, she began inching around the kitchen.

"Whatever you are, you foul beast, I shall smite you without a second thought!" Her voice wavered slightly, a fact that she cursed herself for internally. If there was a Risen or something worse here, they would not be very fearful of such a weak threat.

A large metal workstation sat at the far end of the kitchen. Maribelle eyed it cautiously. It was just big enough to hide a single person, and there was a suspiciously placed tablecloth on it. The troubadour steeled herself, and flipped the cloth over the station.

An empty stone bowl sat in the workstation, with some strange brown powder left in the bottom. Maribelle placed a finger in the powder, trembling with fear. The kettle was now wailing, which only served to increase her discomfort. She tasted the powder, and nearly gagged. That wretched, bitter taste - it was horrifyingly familiar.

"Coffee?!" She spluttered, spitting out the bitter powder. Who would be making coffee last night? The foul drink, for all it's faults, was exceptionally good at keeping people awake, so why would somebody make some last nigh-

Maribelle felt a chill up her spine. The kettle had stopped squealing, and now the troubadour could hear the sound of pouring water from behind her. A tall figure lurked in the shadowy corner of the poorly lit kitchen, pouring the water into a glass tube of sorts. Maribelle could see small particles darken the water, and she quickly realized that this foul thing was using her water to make … She felt blood rush to her head, and her right eye began to twitch.

"My TEA!" Maribelle bellowed, and she rushed towards the miscreant with newfound energy. Her parasol made contact with the creature several times, but when she came to her senses, there was nothing to be found. Even the perfect kettle had been stolen.

"-And this is why I am asking you 4 to find the culprit and bring them to me!" Maribelle announced. Lute, Sanaki, Setsuna, and Nephenee were seated in front of the noblewoman as she ranted about her horrifying ordeal. Lute quivered with excitement; the whole trip to Muspell had been largely boring and not worth her time, but now there was another mystery afoot.

"Yes, this is something that is equal to our mystery-solving prowess!" Lute declared, "We accept the job!"

Nephenee cleared her throat cautiously. "I would uh, love ta," she replied, "But Kags and I were gonna go out into town today."

Lute cleared her throat, "Nephenee, you are the muscle in our mystery team; I support your romantic endeavors, but we need some muscle if we're going to solve this mystery."

"I'm not sure how much muscle y'all have ever needed, but I might be able to find someone ta take over for me today."

Lute pondered this option for a moment. "Acceptable," she finally stated, "Lead the way." The mystery team started to file out of Maribelle's room, leaving the noblewoman slightly befuddled.

Maribelle sighed, "I suppose it is a nice enough day for a stroll, but what about my tea?"

The training grounds were once again bustling with activity. The sounds of wood hitting wood echoed across the clear skies, along with the voices of heroes yelling amongst themselves. The mystery team entered the large encampment, and Nephenee found who she was looking for rather quickly. Maribelle groaned when she saw who the halberdier had in mind, and it seemed she wasn't alone.

"Lute, I'm not sure if this will work," Setsuna muttered, "Even if we need muscle, this seems like a little much."

"I agree," Lute replied, "I've heard stories about her."

"Do you think it's true that she once challenged twenty people to duels and killed them all?"

"Yes, it is quite likely." She turned to Sanaki, "Sanaki, you have worked with her before, haven't you?"

"Hardly," the Empress responded, "We were allies, but I never spent a considerable amount of time with the girl."

Maribelle huffed, "I daresay, I would be mortified if I were you three," she scolded, "Allies are allies, no matter how uncouth they may be; and anyone who will to help me find my kettle and the rapscallion who took it is a friend of mine."

"Glad to hear it!" A sharp voice cut from behind Maribelle, just as she felt a heavy pat on her back. "Any stuffy ol' noble who's willing to work with the little man is good in my eyes!" The girl's frame never seemed to stop moving, which matched her bright purple hair and intense green eyes.

"Mia …" Nephenee mumbled, "Gotta be gentler than that."

"Right, right." Mia hopped by Maribelle and stood in front of the others. "Heyo! I'm Mia!" She stated brightly, "Neph tells me you guys got something I can help you with?"

Lute steeled herself. "Yes," she replied, "We have a mystery in dire need of solving, and we want your help."

Mia rubbed her chin, and looked over the mystery team. "Well, I guess I do owe Neph a favor ... And I'll help Micaiah's sister anytime!"

Lute smiled. "Good, this all seems to be in or-"

"So who do I gotta beat up first?" Mia interrupted, "Or do you need somebody who's good at slicing stuff? Oh! Or did one of you fall afoul of some villain and you need an expert duelist to save you? Or have you, perhaps, been victimized by some horrible horrible person, draped in all white, who has been daring for one of you to challenge them?"

There was a sharp intake of breath from Lute, and she continued. "Now that everything is in order, we should go about looking for clues and identifying potential suspects." Mia's face dropped.

"Looking for clues?" She asked, "That sounds so boooooooooooorrrr-"

"-rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring! Oh, hey. When did we get into the kitchen?" Lute, Sanaki, Setsuna, Maribelle and Mia were now standing in the middle of the aforementioned room. Setsuna was covered head to toe in pots and pans; how and when, Mia was unaware.

"We've been here for 3 minutes 27 seconds." Lute stated plainly, "And while your immense lung capacity is worth researching, I think it's time to spread out and try to find some clues."

"So," Setsuna began, "What exactly are we looking for?" Another pot clanged on the floor as she attempted to get up.

"Something that can give us an idea of the culprit," Lute replied. She motioned to Maribelle, "Mary-ann, how tall was the culprit?"

"Maribelle," The troubadour replied curtly, "And the monster was …" she motioned above her head. "This tall? Tall enough to exude an aura of menace."

Lute observed the reported height, "Reported height is 2 and a half meters tall, Sanaki; thoughts?"

Sanaki snorted in amusement, "Sounds positively real and not fabricated, Lute." Both the girls chortled at the Empress's astute observation.

Maribelle was incensed, "I was not calculating the exact height of the creature, they were just very tall and thin!"

"So the culprit was tall, thin …" Lute muttered, "Bipedal, I assume; and you would have noticed great big wings flapping about."

"She might have not noticed a tail!" Mia offered, "I know some Laguz have tails!"

"I think I would have recognized a tail," Maribelle answered indignantly, "But yes, it was definitely on two feet, Lute."

Another pan rattled on the floor, and the group heard Setsuna groan in discomfort. "Hey, speaking of feet," she managed to say while covered in cookware, "I almost landed in something." A black, sludge-like material sat inches from the archer's face, coalesced into a neat bootprint. "Looks like a boot or shoe or something."

Lute stepped over Setsuna and investigated the marking. "Good work, Setsuna," she said, "Now we can narrow things down. This is a large bootprint, so we can verify that the owner must be rather large."

"Or two people in a large suit!" Mia interjected. The rest of the group stared at her incredulously. "What?" she asked, "It could happen."

"So, I think we have enough information here to start rounding up suspects." Lute began.

Maribelle did a double take. "Enough information?" she asked, "All we know is that the person who stole my kettle is tall, thin, and wears boots."

"Tall, thin, and boot-wearing excludes a great many people in this castle, Lady Marzipan." Sanaki pointed out. "I doubt, for instance, that someone like Nowi would fit such a description, even if they were," she eyed Mia, who was helping Setsuna out of her current predicament, "Stacked upon the shoulders of someone their size."

"It's still a working theory, your graciousness." Mia argued, dropping a spatula on Setsuna.

"It's Maribelle, and logically, we should find out what kind of boot this could be, and set ourselves on the course of unlocking the truth; that is what it means to solve the mystery."

"You raise a valid point," Lute said after some consideration, "But how can we go about figuring such a thing out?"

"Well, first things first," Mia pointed out, "Those aren't riding boots, or sturdy boots for marching. There aren't any treads, so it's gotta be dress boots for a military uniform."

"So we need to find someone wearing nice clothes …" Lute muttered to herself, before clasping Mia's hand, "I take back everything I thought about you being a battle-crazed harpy, Mina."

"Uh, thanks?" she replied, "You were calling me what, now?"

"Never mind," Lute said quickly, "We have work to do."

"So, what am I doing, exactly?" Claude asked the surrounding mystery team.

"We just need to borrow your shoes." Sanaki explained matter-of-factly.

Claude smirked. "Ah, for research." He said, raising an eyebrow suggestively. "Gotta say, I'm really into that." Sanaki stammered in embarrassment.

Maribelle shriveled her nose in disgust. "Aren't you nobility? You should watch how you present yourself." Claude rolled his eyes and smiled.

"Yes, ma'am," he said in a sing-song voice, "I don't want to get hit by a parasol again, though. Can we skip tha-"

"We cannot skip that, if you wish to learn." came the harsh reply as she tapped his head lightly.

"Riiiiight," Claude sighed, and turned to Lute, "So what did you want to do, exactly?"

Lute cleared her throat. "Ah yes, Crawdad," she began, "We were hoping you could place your footprint in this chocolate powder we spilled on the floor."

"Seems like a waste of chocolate. Lysithea would not like that one bit…" he paused, "But that's it? Nothing else?"

"That's it."

"Okay, simple enough." Claude took a heavy step in the chocolate powder, and left a sizable print.

"Yeah, it's the same bootprint, but Claude's is too small." Setsuna was hanging from the ceiling, wrapped in butcher's twine.

"Do you have bigger shoes, Claude?" Lute asked.

"I just moved in," came the reply, "These are one of the two pairs I own. Same size."

Lute stroked her chin thoughtfully. "Unfortunate." She said, "That means we're back to square one. Claw, can you help get Setsuna down?"

"Ah, sure," Claude responded, turning towards the fellow archer, "Does she forget everyone's name?"

"Pretty sure she does it on purpose." Setsuna replied. After a few minutes of tugging, Setsuna was freed from her makeshift bonds. The group headed out of the kitchen, intent on looking for more clues. The archer noticed Claude following the group, looking rather casual about the whole thing. "Is there something you need?" she finally asked.

"Huh?" Claude replied, "Nothing in particular; I'm just bored and this seems to be a decent distraction."

"Cool," Setsuna said, "Just don't tell Lute that, she's really into this."

"I was going to ask earlier, but uh…" he paused, "How did you get up there?" Setsuna sighed and shrugged her shoulders.

"That's just a thing that happens from time to time."

"You just magically get tied up and hung upside down."

"Not always, I just have a tendency to not notice a trap until it's too late."

Claude chuckled, "I have to admit, I've never seen that before." The duo caught up to the others, who were now debating amongst themselves.

"Lute, we don't even know who the culprit is!" Mia protested. "Setting up a trap at this point seems …"

"Hold on," Setsuna interrupted, "What's this about a trap? You know how traps work with me."

Lute held her hand up. "Do not worry, Setsuna." she replied, "I have a plan."

"A plan to prevent me from ending up in the trap?"

"Well … you won't be surprised, I guarantee that." Setsuna gulped nervously. "I find it extremely likely that the culprit will try to return the kettle tonight, and we will be ready for them."

"But no guarantee I won't end up in a trap?"

"Bait, that makes sense." Setsuna sighed as she sat in the kitchen, facing the door. Lute's plan was simple: Setsuna would scare the thief, and chase them into a nearby net trap. The theory being that the archer's trap magnetism would lead to the culprit being captured. The plan was a solid one, she had to admit; even if she didn't appreciate being used for her bad luck. Setsuna sighed, it didn't help that she was alone in the kitchen, which was rather boring.

She nearly nodded off when she heard the creak of the kitchen door, and saw a shadow enter the room. Setsuna jumped out of her seat, and pointed at the silhouette.

"Stop right there!" she growled out, her voice gravelly from a dry throat. The silhouette jumped in shock, and scrambled out of the room. "Hey, I said stop…" she muttered as she gave chase. Setsuna flung herself around the doorway, chasing the perpetrator into the dining hall, just as planned. "Hey!" she managed to shout, and she hoped the others heard her.

The flash of light indicated that they indeed heard her, and she heard the classic sound of a net landing in front of her.

"Good job, Setsuna!" Lute exclaimed, "Let's see who our culprit is." She put a lamp near the shadow's face, revealing the frightened face of Stahl. "Ah, of course!"

Maribelle shook her head. "Stahl, why did you do it?"

"Do what?" Stahl asked, "I was just trying to get a snack!"

"Then why did you run from Setsuna?" Sanaki asked.

"Setsuna?" Stahl squinted at the archer, "I thought she was Panne. She doesn't like my snacking."

"A likely story!" Maribelle looked furious, "You stole my favorite kettle and used it to make … make … coffee!"

Stahl grew pale. "Maribelle, you know I don't like coffee! And why would I steal your kettle?!"

"I can't believe you did this to your comrade, Stahl," Mia said derisively, "My opinion of you has fallen quite a bit, man."

"But I didn't do anything! Why does this always happen to me?!"

"Guilty conscience leading you to a natural outcome?" Lute suggested. "Well, it looks like this little mystery is solved! Good job, team!"

"Lute, I swear I didn't do anything!"

Claude stood in front of a large doorway. He had a hunch from the earlier encounter with Stahl, and he wanted to confirm it. A couple of sharp knocks later, the door opened to reveal Edelgard, wearing a full robe and bedhead.

"Claude, can this not wait until morning?" Edelgard asked, clearly annoyed. "It is rather late.

Claude laughed. "Sorry princess, I just couldn't sleep. I just wanted to know what you were thinking of doing tomorrow."

Edelgard raised an eyebrow. "This seriously couldn't wait until morning?" she sighed, "Well, I took a short tour of the castle today, but I imagine I will look into some of the clubs that were on that sign in the main hallway."

"Sign on the hallway?"

"Honestly, Claude," The Empress scoffed, "You will not get far in this strange place if you don't keep your wits about you."

Claude chuckled. "Fair point, I'll keep that in mind. Good night, Edelgard."

"Good night."

"Good night, Hubert."

A voice came from behind the door. "Claude." Edelgard quickly slammed the door and hissed something at Hubert. Claude chuckled to himself as he walked back to his room.

"What an interesting place."

Thank you all for reading! I hope you all have enjoyed so far! As always, comments, questions, critiques, etc are appreciated! I'll answer some of them in the next update! It means a lot to me!

Next Chapter: Hubert and the Seventy Hexes