Bear George made Shepherd's Pie for lunch, a traditional British dish with a layer of mashed potatoes on top and meat and vegetables on the bottom, baked in the oven for fifteen minutes to get a hearty meal.
"Dear Jian Jing, poor girl, your legs are not even as thick as my arms," Bear George said when he saw her come into the kitchen. Without another word, he picked out the biggest pie and shoved it into the oven, "You've got to eat more."
Jian Jing didn't mind eating more, but she did mind eating more British food.
The country of dreadful cuisine, could it taste any good?
As the oven heated up, a rich aroma drifted out. George put on oven mitts, brought out the freshly baked shepherd's pie, and proudly said, "Try old Bear George's cooking."
Jian Jing ... ate a bite with great trepidation.
It was actually pretty good.
The mashed potatoes were blended with butter until smooth as silk. The beef was stewed until tender and falling apart, seasoned with pepper and tomato sauce. The brussels sprouts, mushrooms, and carrots were all cooked until crisp and tender, easy on the teeth.
The only downside was it was a bit too rich.
You'd need to pair it with a lemon drink to be able to finish it.
She scooped up a hearty spoonful of mashed potatoes and meat, and began to chat aimlessly, "You're a great cook, are you a chef?"
"No, old Bear George is a car mechanic, but I like to cook. My little Ruby loves when her dad shows off his skills the most." Bear George said.
Jian Jing: "She must be an adorable girl."
"Of course, Ruby is smart and cute, Jian Jing, you're certainly smart too, but my Ruby is the best." George opened up and began to tell his story without prompting.
He was an old bachelor. His wife passed away very early, leaving him with only a daughter, Ruby. Father and daughter lived a frugal but happy life together.
But good times never last. When Ruby turned seven, she was diagnosed with a rare disease that required long-term hospitalization, and she wouldn't live very long.
George couldn't afford the expensive medical fees and was driven to despair, almost suicidal.
It was Leo who helped him, paying a sum of money to the hospital. Because of this, Ruby was able to live a few more years and passed away without much suffering at the age of fifteen.
After losing his loved one, George returned to Barna and was employed at Castle Winterfell.
On days when Leo was not here, he would live in the gatehouse and watch over the place for him.
"Listen, don't listen to Luca's nonsense." George said categorically, "The people of Barna Town are prejudiced against Castle Winterfell, thinking they are forsaken by God - two hundred years ago, I might have believed it too, but now everyone knows it's just a disease! A rare genetic disease!"
Jian Jing was genuinely startled by the abruptly revealed clues: "Prejudice? Genetic disease?"
"Oh, did I say that? How awful." George regretted belatedly.
Jian Jing reassured him with a smile, "Don't worry about it. Our country doesn't believe in God. I'd be happy to learn more about this castle."
To increase credibility, she deliberately complained, "I told Leo I like it here, but he insisted it's an old house, dilapidated from age, totally ruining my dream."
"Leo is a good kid. Actually, I don't like it here either. It used to be much worse before we had heating installed. Just the fireplaces were completely useless against the cold air from the sea."
"Tell me about the prejudice, dear George." She said with a smile.
George glanced at her, and his attitude immediately softened - damn, he wondered, this girl didn't even look outstanding, with plain Eastern features, most compliments were just... courtesy, but she seemed to have some kind of magic that made him want to answer her involuntarily.
Could it be because she resembled Ruby?
He shook his head in his mind and said, "This is their greatest misfortune - unable to have a happy family for long, it's really too pitiful."
Jian Jing became even more confused and kept pressing him for more.
"Alright, alright." George vigorously wiped the counter and told her the secret of the Sal family.
However, though he called it a secret, it was common knowledge in Barna Town.
Women who married into the Sal family generally died unnatural deaths.
It was said to be due to a malicious curse.
Many, many years ago, the young and handsome Earl Sal married a noble princess from Hungary - she was recognized as an illegitimate daughter by the king, and though she could not officially be called a "princess" in documents, only holding a noble title, that didn't stop people from addressing her as such.
When they first married, the two were very much in love, inseparable. But good times didn't last. The Earl was promiscuous by nature, and a few years later, suddenly fell for a beautiful widow on his estate, and the two carried on enthusiastically.
The noble princess was proud. In anger, she had the widow seized and locked in the woodshed, burning her alive.
The Earl was shocked and furious, believing the princess to be cruel in nature. Husband and wife became hostile enemies.
Compared to the Earl's romantic gentleness, the princess was a woman who dared to love and hate, decisive in action. After discovering her husband's constant infidelity, she finally decided to end it all.
She poisoned the Earl, leaving him to shriek in agony on his bed for seven days and seven nights before he finally died a painful death.
On his deathbed, the Earl cursed the princess with the most vicious words, and left a will that the Sal family must not take brides from Hungary again, or they would lose everything.
However, although his descendants never again married brides from Hungary, the tragedies did not end there.
In the hundreds of years since, women marrying into the Sal family were all cursed by the Earl: fires, poisoning, hanging, accidents... It was difficult to discern which were accidental and which were murders.
But one thing was clear, there were not so many coincidences in the world.
The residents of Barna Town believed that the Sal family had inherited the Earl's hatred of his wife, and would unconsciously murder their own wives.
"It's a disease," George said solemnly. "I believe it's just an incurable mental illness that causes them to sometimes be unable to control their actions. But Leo has no issues. He has never shown any cruelty. Sometimes I feel he is more like a girl."
Taking the opportunity, Jian Jing probed him, "Then what do you think happened with the poisoning yesterday?"
"Uh, I believe, you know, nux vomica is a common plant," George said in a tone he believed sounded calm and natural but was actually extremely awkward. "Mixing it up by accident is also very normal. Perhaps someone accidentally mixed it in with the rosemary. And I... old George is getting on in years, my eyesight is poor, mixing it up by mistake is also very normal."
He deliberately acted very remorseful, "Fortunately no one was hurt, right? Otherwise I would definitely feel terrible, I don't want Leo to be heartbroken."
Jian Jing raised her brow.
Clearly, old George was covering for someone. Did he think it was Mary, or Leo?
After enjoying quite a decent lunch, Jian Jing volunteered to bring food to Melanie.
She wanted to chat with Melanie.
Just her luck, the bride-to-be had a guest, Kimberley was talking to her.
They seemed to be French, speaking French when alone, thinking others couldn't understand them. Their voices were loud and clear, Jian Jing standing outside the door could hear everything.
"Dear, I truly feel sorry for you. A wedding, it's every girl's dream, but you've encountered this kind of thing... However, you're very fortunate, aren't you?
"From young till now, you've always been lucky. When you first arrived at Uncle Hank's, his stocks made a huge profit right away. At the charity raffle, you won the best prize. In high school, your boyfriend was the most popular guy in school, all the girls were so jealous they wanted to die. Not to mention Leo, he's really great.
At this point, she seemed to feel it wasn't right, and quickly made up for it, "Of course Carl is also very good, but - I can be blunt, he doesn't have money after all. Dating and marriage are two different things. Boyfriends can be broke, what's wrong with Jack, buying a movie ticket makes him happy. But marriage is different. A rich husband and a poor husband, the difference is too big.
"I don't think you would give up this marriage just because of this accident, right? Don't do anything foolish. If you're afraid, just leave it to me. I already know who did it, don't worry, I absolutely won't let her off."
"Goodness Kimmy, you've got me all confused," Melanie's voice was still very weak. "Her?"
Kimberley smugly looked at her cousin: "Dear, although you are good at catching men, I, Kimberley, am more perceptive - the matter is clear as day."
Melanie still shook her head: "I don't understand."
"Silly Melanie, it's Mary, of course it's her!" Kimberley stated categorically, "Although it was Leo who poured the wine, it was just one of her tricks. The poison wasn't in the wine, but the wine glass. I was sitting right next to you yesterday and clearly saw her touch your wine glass when serving."
Melanie looked shocked, she reflexively denied: "No, impossible. Leo trusts her very much."
"Men often have blind trust in women who like them," Kimberley hit the nail on the head. "As for the skull that appeared in my room, that's even easier to understand. The door was locked, the key was in my room, so it looked like a locked room mystery, but that's premised on her telling the truth!"
She got agitated: "She said there was only one key, yes, maybe there was only one before, but could she not have secretly made a spare?"
However, Melanie did not fully accept her cousin's reasoning, just spoke objectively: "Mary has no reason to do this."
"She doesn't want you to get married!" Kimberley suddenly raised her voice.
"Kimmy, calm down," Melanie had to soothe her, "Even if it really was Mary, it would be too obvious. It was the wine she brought, and besides, she saved me."
This rebuttal was reasonable and well-founded. Kimberley frowned.
The conversation was interrupted, and Jian Jing opportunely knocked on the door: "George asked me to bring some sandwiches."
Kimberley was very wary: "Why is it you?"
"Just lending a hand. Are you suspecting me?" Jian Jing asked back.
Kimberley turned her head and said solemnly: "Mel, you can't let your guard down."
"Jian is a friend of Leo's friend. We didn't know each other before. How could she want to harm me?" A faint smile appeared on Melanie's pale face, "Thank you, Jian. I'll eat in a bit."
"Then I won't disturb you."
With Kimberley present, Jian Jing gave up the idea of chatting more, and simply left.
The next stop was naturally the library.
The skeleton was indeed gone.
"You were right," Leo and Kang Mucheng sat in the armchairs by the window, speaking lightly, "The first thing lovely Miss Jian did when she came in was look for the corpse - it's hard to imagine that young girls these days are actually interested in such things."
A smile flashed in Kang Mucheng's eyes: "No, she's special."
Jian Jing heard them teasing her, but she wasn't angry. She just asked: "So has anyone kindly told me when the skeleton disappeared?"
"That's not important," in contrast to his anxious state of mind yesterday, Leo was very relaxed today, and his mental state had recovered a lot. "Jian, it's all resolved."
She: "Huh?"
"The same thing won't happen again," Leo stated definitively. "Let's continue discussing the wedding. Mel has always wanted a masquerade ball, I thought it wasn't dignified. But now I have a new idea - what could be more important than making the bride and guests happy?"
He laughed happily: "Jian, what do you like - princess? Elf? Or perhaps...vampire? I want to fulfill your wishes."
When someone is genuinely happy, it's hard to say something that would dampen the mood.
Jian Jing still had doubts about what happened, but hesitated for a moment - she really couldn't bear to break his joy.
After all, a wedding was about to take place here.
After all, he was about to marry his beloved.
She pretended to believe it: "I want to dress up as a pirate."
"Oh, Anne Bonny? Good idea," Leo said.
Jian Jing smiled, but had a premonition in her heart: this would not end so easily.
And indeed that was the case.
Soon, there was a second murder.
