Chapter Text
“It was a dark and stormy night… Wait, who am I kidding? Am I really going to commence my story with such a predictable opening line? Well, I do appreciate the ambiance, but was it particularly stormy? Yes, was it nighttime? Also yes, but shall I really commence my story in such a fashion? … yes, yes, I shall. Henceforth, it was a dark and stormy night…”
Edeline was mumbling to herself as usual as she wrote. In contrast to the twisted tale of macabre that she was so lovingly crafting, it was a rather bright, sunny day outside of her large oriel bay window. It was decorated with pillows of all sizes and overlooked her mother's and father's kingdom. Large spires and houses could be seen in the distance; houses flooded the landscape, decorating it in a sea of colours, banisters, stalls, and people. A large river cut its way through the town, carving a pathway for the gondolas that littered the crystal water.
It was a very busy town, bustling with trade and merchants immigrating from all over the world. Truly a landmark in commerce, as her father often stated at grand gatherings or trade deals with far-off nations. Edeline wasn’t supposed to overhear their talks; she was meant to be in her room or hidden from view. But she just couldn’t help but listen to their talks of trade and exchanges; she would need this information if she were to be a proper royal, after all.
She had decided to try her hand at writing while she was just older than an infant but took a liking to it and continued with this passion throughout her teenage years until now, at 17. She was hesitant upon telling her parents, however, since writing fictional stories wasn’t ladylike in their eyes, much less becoming of a monarch of society. As much as she loved her life in the palace, their grandest of libraries, and the wealth of knowledge placed right at her fingertips, she detested behaving like a supposed ‘princess,’ although that is what she is.
She didn’t feel like a princess at all, though; she didn’t enjoy taking charge, and she very much disliked large group conversations or conversing with anyone at all, really. She preferred to keep her head down and keep to herself. But she did try; she always kept up appearances of being an orderly princess, a cornerstone for the patriarch, and such.
As much as she disliked interacting with other people, being orderly, and keeping up appearances for the sake of her parents, she wanted to be important; she wanted to prove that she was capable. Capable of what? She hadn’t figured it out just yet, but she wanted to show that she could be competent and the perfect daughter.
It was apparent to Edeline from the moment that she became conscious that Mother and Father didn’t like her very much. Her hair was extraordinarily unruly, and her eyes were a grey that betrayed nothing. Rumours had spread of Mother being unfaithful, but they never left the castle. Edeline had simply been different from the day that she was born, and it wasn’t the only thing that would upset Mother and Father.
A while later, Edeline had realized that not only did she look different from everyone, but she thought differently from everyone as well. When everyone had given up, thinking something impossible, she had just wondered if they were pretending… or incompetent, but that was not a word that she would allow herself to use.
She had come to the conclusion that maybe she was smarter or more observant than her father and his compatriots. But she didn’t wish to cause harm upon her family by uncovering things that needn’t be uncovered. So she hid that part of herself away from them, but over the years, she had hidden more and more parts of herself. She wanted her parents' approval and their love and attention, so she had to work hard to seem perfect, to seem like the perfect princess, without all of these imperfections.
But since she had a large dislike of interacting with others and would much rather stay inside of the castle, that is what she did. She didn’t interact with the other villagers much due to her history with the townspeople from before she was taken in by the king and queen after being left on their doorstep several years ago.
But since Edeline hadn’t made many public appearances and her parents hadn’t made any attempt at betraying that she was the princess, this fact would be largely unknown to the public unless Edeline had told them herself. Which she didn’t plan on doing any time soon.
“Edeline dear, supper has been prepared for you on the dinner table.” A gentle voice called through the door, halting the train of thought and easing her back to reality. She had not realized that her grip on the quill had grown stronger and left an imprint on her hand. “I-I’ll be arriving soon, miss—my lady—umm… I’ll be there.” Another aspect of herself that she tries to keep hidden, only to find that she has no control over it, is her stutter.
Standing up, she managed to bump the table and turn over the inkwell, the sea of darkness slowly making its presence known all across her desk, devouring light with a steady onslaught.
“Oh dear,” she mutters, and she plucks her papers off the desk and away from the mess.
*~`~(TT~TT)~`~*
Edeline rubs the moisture off of her hands on her long dress as she carefully treads down the mahogany stairs in the direction of their large dining room. Rubbing the long black skirt as she enters the opening in the wall, the room is grand, with murals painted on the ceiling and staff members milling about plating food and conversing with Father, who was seated at the head of the table, with Mother to his side. She took her place at the table and started eating the food that the chefs had prepared.
“Edeline, honey, why don’t you wear those nice dresses I got you? The one you wear now is rather sombre; it looks more at home in a funeral. It's quite tacky if I'm truly honest, not particularly in season, nor is it something befitting a royal, dear.” Mother said, “That hat is rather disrespectful to be wearing at the table as well. It would be best if you would remove it, dear.” She said, going back to her food. Edeline remarks that none of the royals had decided to comment on how it had blocked her eyes or how her hair had become long enough to cover the majority of her face. They didn't want to see her eyes, and neither did Edeline.
Once the meal was over, her father glanced up for the first time in the duration of the entire interaction and looked straight at her. He locked eyes with her and delivered his next phrase with no more indifference than if he were simply stating the weather. “You are to study abroad for the next few years before you may come of age to inherit the kingdom with a husband by your side; it would be beneficial to all parties involved if you were well educated. School starts in three days; you shall start to prepare once the moon shows its face. You are dismissed.” Then, he gets up with Mother and retreats to wherever they had come from.
Silence engulfs the room, coating the walls and choking her every breath; the servants halt in their tracks with the sentence as well as Edeline. The tension is palpable in the air; she can even taste it. It tastes like dying dreams that never had the chance to bloom into hopes and deep-seated dread and betrayal, but she couldn't say that this was unexpected, and that's what hurts the most.
She slowly got up and retreated to her room, her soft footfalls sounding too loud in the empty corridors. She never thought that they seemed empty; only on those days did they seem desolate. But today it was intoxicating, emptiness clawing its way through her body and numbing her mind; she was performing actions while on autopilot. Edeline packed her trunk with her essentials, papers, books, quills and inkwells, and extravagant dresses that her mother didn't approve of, as well as other necessities.
She never liked surprises, changes to her environment, or socialization. But her future was set in stone now, and it seemed to contain all of these things that she hated so very much. But Edeline decided to look on the bright side, only as a means to cope; she wasn't a very ‘brightside-y’ person to begin with anyways.
It would be an ideal chance to explore other areas of knowledge that she hadn't discovered on her own just yet. Experiences that couldn't be found in the dusty old books housed in the large castle library. Maybe a chance at freedom while she was there? Putting together a pretty little picture in her mind, some of the dread ebbed away, replaced with a strange sort of rare, faint excitement.
Her parents had always listed the reasons why she should interact with girls her own age more often, but the truth is that she had never wanted to, and that has not changed over the course of all 17 years she has been on this earth. But she doesn't have much of a choice now, does she?
(๑•́ -•̀)
She had always loved trains; they were grand, mechanical, and fantastic. She liked their complexity, and they were one of her earliest memories of her previous family before she was given to the current queen and king of her country. Stepping onto the platform with her trunk in hand, she gave it to the train hand to lift to the upper compartment while she sat down and eagerly waited for the ride to start.
The doors had closed with the final grumbling businessman scuffling in. Energized women were gathered around a table; they looked to be of high class, and they were gossiping about something or other. Edeling could barely hear them over her own ecstasy at the station slowly drifting away, being replaced with the regular dreary palette of the city.
Taking care in organizing herself and getting comfortable in her seat, she noticed that the sky outside had opened up and soft droplets cascaded gently upon the earth. “What perfect weather…” she whispered to nobody in particular as her gaze fixated upon the window and the grand expanse beyond it.
The whistle blew, and the loud train sounds echoed across their second-class compartment as they chugged through the city. Edeline had chosen a seat in the back, weary of the other passengers and enjoying the quiet and solitude that came with it. There was an empty seat across from her, but the leather was ripped, so there wouldn't be anyone who would sit on it, and she would be left to her peace and her own imagination.
After about an hour of Edeline gazing lazily out of the window at the vast countryside bathed in shadows and drenched in water, she had decided to make use of the worn, old, leather-bound notebook that she had resting on her lap, as well as the pot of dark ink that had been housed on the table opposite her, with a contrasting white quill poking out the top.
She started to let her imagination run wild, her hands moving swiftly over the pages and dipping her quill into the inkpot every few lines. The dark atmosphere outside was perfect for inspiration and ideas breaking free, as her mind could no longer contain them and their chaotic nature.
She wrote stories of boats going into whirlpools as the large locomotive she resided in chugged its way past a port-side town, she wrote of a girl by the name of Morella, about a person observing people in a crowd, and many more.
Eventually the train had reached another stop, but Edeline barely took notice, her attention and mind lost to the clouds as a churning sea of ideas swallowed her consciousness whole as she jotted down story ideas as well as a mystery novel she took care in creating.
Edeline never even looked up from her stories until another girl around her age, maybe two years younger, plopped herself down right across from her and kicked her feet upon the table.
Edeline startled and dropped her quill onto the carpet-covered flooring of the train as she looked up at the newcomer in surprise, which faded into faint annoyance that she wouldn’t be alone on this ride, merging with thoughts of anxiety.
“Heya!” The newcomer said, and Edeline took note of her medium-length raven-coloured hair, her round face, and her long lashes. She had decided that this newcomer was fairly pretty; she was also wearing unusual attire for a young woman boarding a train.
She was wearing a pinstriped outfit. A heart-shaped neckline was visible under a similarly styled overcoat; the dress she was wearing had a semi-long skirt of the same pinstriped fashion reaching down to just before her ankles. Long white socks could be seen poking out in the space between her skirt and her black shoes. She also sported a brown paperboy cap.
Her figure was rather well proportioned in Edeline’s mind; she was short, much shorter than Edeline, and rather curvy. Her hair was rather short for a woman; it was raven black, tied into two simple tresses that only went as low as just touching her shoulders.
This mysterious girl also had a fine pair of black spectacles folded in a pocket of her overcoat. They looked like they hadn’t been wiped in a while, and they appeared to have a few fingerprints on the lenses. Edeline found that detail to be a tad bit amusing but didn’t let the emotion show on her face as she uttered a greeting herself.
“G-good afternoon, miss.” She stumbled over her words, then continued on with her stories, hoping that her newfound seatmate wasn't a very sociable person.
But she was proven wrong. As her newest seatmate was rather chatty.
“Sooooo, when are we getting to our stop?” Said the strange girl sitting across from her, she looked rather comfortable sprawled out on the train seats, her belongings scattered about even though they had only just started to leave the biggest train station around. It housed trains and passengers from almost anywhere in the world and was a huge centre for commerce in Europe.
“O-our stop?” She exclaimed, uncertain what this girl meant by that. “Our stop! Are you stupid? That would be a real shame if you were, then I’d never be able to figure out this train.” The girl rolled her eyes as she said this and revealed a sweet from who knows where and popped it into her mouth; Edeline continued on regardless. “Do you not know how to ride a train?” She asked tentatively, “Nope!” Replied the other girl, placing emphasis on the ‘P.’.
“Oh dear…” Edeline mumbled, then continued. “How did you manage to get in in the first place then?” “Simple, my father did all of the navigating for me and told me to find help from anyone who seemed competent.” The girl finished, as positive and self-assured as she had been this whole interaction. “A- and you thought that I had appeared as competent?” Edeline asked quietly. “Are you all there? Hello? Yes, obviously, but now you make it seem like you aren’t competent enough with trains, so I might as well go ask someone else.” A pout was present on the dark-haired girl’s face as she placed both feet on the ground and moved to leave Edeline alone.
“Wait!” She didn’t know what pushed her to do it, but something about not being competent had stopped her in her tracks and made Edeline want to prove her own capabilities, even if it was to this strange and arguably eccentric girl. She did have a strong liking for trains; she was an expert in this field and could easily help the other girl, so why not? Even if this was probably going to be her only chance to escape this girl, Edeline wouldn’t pass up on a challenge.
The raven-haired girl sat back down with vigour, and a smirk replaced the pout on her face in an instant, turning to face Edeline while always keeping her eyes closed, thick lashes caressing her cheeks. “So can you help me?” The girl asked.
“Yes, I am quite fond of trains. B- but just how did you know that we were going the same direction?” Asked Edeline, figuring out just now that the girl was going to the same school as her. Hopefully they wouldn’t interact much, was Edeline’s first thought regarding that revelation.
“It was obvious; we’re the same age, boarding at the same time on the same train. We both have the required trunks, and it’s the first day of school.” The girl stated it as if it were normal to know all of that by the first glance alone. Edeline had to admit to herself that she was impressed, albeit a bit irritated as well. Why? She didn’t know the answer to that just yet.
It could be the way this girl presented herself, not even bothering with her name but making demands as if expecting them to be followed, or maybe it was the casual aura of self-confidence that exuded from her that Edeline could only dream of attaining. Either way, this girl was an annoyance.
But Edeline betrayed none of her bitter thoughts in her expression, and the other girl didn’t notice or didn’t care enough to look at Edeline deeper, choosing instead to focus all of her attention on doodling on Edeline’s notebook.
Wait. Edeline looked down on her lap to find that her notebook had vanished from its perch on her knee and found its way into the hands of the other girl, and unsurprisingly, so had her quill.
“Hey, could you please return that? I would rather you not look in there.” She mumbled to the other girl but was either ignored or went unheard as the ravenette continued flipping through pages.
“The murderer was the uncle; he wanted revenge on his brother’s wife for choosing his brother. But the son died of some type of bone disease before he could confess to his love.” Said the other girl as if it were any normal afternoon and not like she had just spoiled the whole plot of the novel Edeline was attempting to write. Then, as if nothing had happened, she was going back a page and poking it with one of her fingers.
“Plot hole here, this method doesn’t make much sense taking the killer's motives into account, and also it’s pretty basic—a stab wound, really,” said the pinstriped girl, dripping with sarcasm. “You can do better than that.”
Edeline was in a state of awe at how easily this girl could pick apart the story and, by extension, her brain. But after that feeling subsided and as the girl went on, her awe turned into resentment at the girl for achieving this so easily when it had taken her over a month to plan and orchestrate it all.
To have such an ability to deduce her story like that, it did more than make her a bit angry; she was jealous. Jealous that she couldn’t even keep up with this odd girl, who was flicking through the pages so easily that Edeline had spent a little over a month on them. Jealous that her mind, one of the only things that she could pride herself upon, was figured out so easily.
Another thing that she disliked about that interaction was that the first person to read her work was not her parents, as Edeline had hoped, but some random girl on the train. It made her feel lots of emotions, none of them beneficial to their positive relationship.
As the train slowed to a halt, the girl tossed the journal back to her and crossed her legs. “You know—” the girl had started but was cut short by Edeline standing up abruptly, gathering her belongings in a rough manner, and instructing the ravenette that it was their stop and that all she had to do was get off of the train with her things.
“Ughh, that’s such a bore! Could you carry—“ but she was cut short again by Edeline. “I’m not going to carry your things for you.” The girl pouted and stood up with her items. "I’m not enjoying being cut off, thank you very much!" She turned to leave but turned back and opened her eyes for the first time since the girl got on.
As their respective gazes locked onto each other, Edeline couldn’t help the sudden speed up of her heart, because she resented that girl more than anyone else that she had met before, of course.
“My name's Ranpo Edogawa, and don’t you forget it! I’m going to be the smartest girl in school, so you better watch out!” She exclaimed excitedly before turning and sauntering off out of the train.
Edeline was left in silence as she gathered her notebook and quill. Ensnaring that name in the tangled vines of her mind, Ranpo Edogawa. Why? She couldn’t find a reasonable response but felt that it was a necessity, just in the chance that they would encounter each other once more.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩ <( ⸝⸝•̀ - •́⸝⸝)> ₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
Stepping foot off of the train, one healed boot onto the stone path of the small train station, one hand clutching her trunk and another clutching the railing, she starts walking past the train station and towards the school.
As it was raining this morning, everything was damp. But the rain had stopped for now; Edeline doesn’t know for how long, but she did notice that the sun had started peeking out from behind the clouds, and Edeline was second-guessing the large dark cloak covering her shoulders.
°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ (っ'-')╮=͟͟͞🍋)`-' ) °❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･