02x08 - The Identity of Master Robe

[bunniefuu]

These flowers are particularly fragrant.

M-Margaret grew... those peonies.

Really? That's amazing.

What a worthwhile pastime.

Oh, begging your pardon.

Patrick is pleased to meet you.

Margaret...

Your team is led by Isabelle
and Mirabelle, isn't it?

You must be worried.

What?

Yes, worried...

What will we do if they return?

Since they've been sent
to the soot pipes and everything...

Margaret hopes they will just disappear.

Because those twins' hearts
are twisted and ugly.

Oh, right.

Um...

As a memento of our acquaintance...

please take this flower...
that Margaret grew.

Um...

You took a liking to it, didn't you?

In the face of sadness, we shall smile

To live is to be a marionette

Once your heart gets into the swing...

Would you like a coffee?





I can't seem to dance very well

Pain and resentment, and sadness, too...

Mix them, knead them...

And then a good night kiss

Shall we Dance? We shall dance

Despair and desire. This is the life!

Shadow Life!

Don't puzzle over things unnecessarily

Let's become one

How nice [How nice] How nice [How nice]

Humans... Being human... It's so nice

The Identity of Master Robe

Both Master Patrick and Mistress Louise
are very kind, aren't they?

They are.

There is information Kate
cannot gather on her own,

so they are a very great help.

It may be a good time to hold
another meeting of peers.

What is it?

You seem happy somehow, Mistress Kate!

What?

Don't block the path to the washing room!

Move!

Please, let us go!

We can't endure any more!

That isn't something you get to decide!

We're begging you!

Let us go! Please!

Both Isabelle and Mirabelle
carried the scent of perfume.

Even in that situation, they put some on,

so perfume must truly be essential
to a shadow's toilette.

The scents which Shaun discerned
to be close to Master Robe's...

are used by those on this list.

Lydia said that pinpointing
a specific perfume is difficult,

but as shadows bathe frequently,

their perfumes are always fresh, and thus
smell the same as they do in liquid form.

So, the people on this list could still
be Master Robe. That remains unchanged.

That evening,

Mistress Kate happened to meet
Mistress Louise and Master Patrick,

and the three of them agreed
to once again hold a meeting of peers.

What is John doing?

Staying in one room
for too long will draw suspicion!

That's why we said we'd keep this brief!

Don't release so much soot.

This is Patrick's room, you know.

Let's begin our reports.

John's absence doesn't actually
pose a problem, does it?

Today, Kate wanted to hear
the living dolls' observations, too.

Shaun's opinions are very helpful.

But Kate supposes that we must proceed.

Let's begin organizing our information
on the phantom disturbances.

First, the information
Louise kindly gathered

on the soot volumes of different shadows.

When one considers the conditions required
for the formation of a phantom...

We can narrow our list of suspects
to those shadows with high soot volumes.

There is no way for us to confirm
whether everyone answered truthfully,

but by comparing
the statements we can deduce...

The ones with a high soot volume are

Barbara, Benjamin, Gilbert,
Douglas, John, Sarah, and Kate.

It is also said that those with high
soot volumes are difficult to dispose of.

Kate, that gives you and
John quite an advantage!

Those sorts of things
are graded within the house, too?

Next, the information Patrick
was kind enough to gather on peer groups.

What?

Barbara and Maryrose debuted together?

Patrick reacted in exactly
the same manner you just did, Kate.

And on top of that, they've been
here the longest of anyone?

That means they're older than Susanna,
Lydia, and Jeremiah, doesn't it?

Oh!

Those three look quite old, don't you think?

Stop that. It's rude, Louise.

Kate, you touched on it first.

Um... Ahem.

Returning to the topic at hand...

Once all the relationships
between peers are brought to light,

then we should also have the motives
for the incidents clearly in sight.

"To light" and "in sight"...

Th-That wasn't on purpose, Emilico.

Patrick, did you learn anything else?

Well, let's see...

There was something about Henry and
William's ranking of recommended girls...

Master Patrick, I'm certain
that topic is of no relevance.

What?

Ranking girls? That's atrocious.

Henry and William seem like nobodies,
so it's fairly certain they aren't the culprits.

And both gentlemen have very low ambitions.

So we can rule them out.

And from Louise's investigations,

we know that neither Henry nor
William possess soot powers.

Though, we can't speak of it with Patrick,
as none have awakened in him.

Who do you think the culprit is?

This guy seems suspicious, don't you think?

Why?

W-Well, because...

And yet...

Even after gathering
all of this information,

Christopher's name hasn't come up.

If he's become an adult,

then he's probably older
than Barbara and Maryrose.

With what we have,
there's no way to predict anything.

And as we had time, Patrick also looked
into the marriage system.

Really... Sarah said that?

One should pick someone who won't be
dispensed with as a marriage partner.

Marriage, you say?

Louise hasn't given any thought to it yet.

Sarah's name is on the perfume list.

What if Sarah's marriage partner is Douglas?

Douglas?

Well, he is Sarah's peer, but...

And that isn't all.

Sarah said she was confident.

Wouldn't that be because her partner
was someone with a high soot volume?

We can eliminate current Star Bearers
Barbara and Benjamin.

Gilbert is a peer of Star Bearer Susanna,

so it's very likely that he's allied
with the current Star Bearers.

And John is engaged to Kate!

He is not.

The only ones left are Sarah and Douglas.

Isabelle and Mirabelle
are favorites of Susanna.

Quite the unpleasant spectacle.

I think Mia didn't like the Belles.

During the phantom disturbance,
Doug used Mia as a shield.

Could that have been to make
themselves appear to be victims?

If Maryrose falls by the wayside,

Sarah will attain
the position of team leader.

If Sarah and Douglas were
co-conspirators in the crime,

could it have been an effort to disrupt
the order among the current Star Bearers?

It's true that Sarah has been
focused on becoming a Star Bearer.

And she is the type to cling to power
and influence, but...

Sorry for being late!

You see...

We had to repair the wall and
clean the Star Bearers' meeting room!

We've been busy!

What a happy-go-lucky guy.

Don't you understand?

Cleaning is a humiliating
punishment for a noble!

And we've already finished our discussion!

Sarah and Douglas are the culprits!

Are they?

They are! And that is because...

Well, that makes sense.

But, you know,

having a high soot volume doesn't
mean you can make phantoms.

What?

Jeremiah told us about scorches.

Right, Shaun?

Yes.

He said that when scorches gather together,
they don't naturally form a phantom.

Which means that phantoms don't appear
unless they are deliberately created.

We've narrowed our list of suspects
to shadows with high soot volumes,

but it seems our fundamental
assumptions were wrong.

You moron! You should have
come sooner and said that!

What do you mean, "moron"?
It's good information, isn't it?

Take responsibility for sending
us back to square one!

Try to deduce who the culprit is!

You just leave it to John!

It's actually those with low
soot volumes who are suspicious!

Namely you, Patrick!

That isn't deduction or logic!

Kate, show John the documents!

He will give it serious thought!

What?!

Barbara and Maryrose are peers?!

We're done with that already!

Hearing it again from someone
who came late is just annoying!

That's right!

Patrick, John is going to
borrow your bathroom.

John got dirty while cleaning,
so he's going to wash his face.

Go and stay gone!

He's like a storm, isn't he?

Huh?

Something smells nice. Is it this flower?

That Patrick.

He should display this flower
in his rooms, don't you think?

Master John, this is...

What?

Of course!

That's why he's got it here
where no one will see it.

Everything makes sense now!

John has misjudged you, Patrick!

What?

You really are Master Robe and the
culprit behind the phantom disturbance!

What are you talking about?!

Master John, please don't be hasty.

What's happened?

This!

It's the true source of
Master Robe's fragrance!

Mistress Kate, my apologies.

When I smelled the perfumes
at the lab, it didn't hit me,

but I'm certain that it was
the scent of this flower.

So, Master Robe's scent
wasn't that of perfume?

Who are you calling Master Robe?

Patrick received that peony from Margaret!

Huh? Really?

So, you and Margaret are friends, then?

No! It was the first time we'd met!

Blast it...

Patrick didn't want Emilico to see
he'd received a flower from another girl.

Then Master Robe is... Margaret?!

Say, what is this "Master Robe," anyway?

Mistress Kate?

When you think about it, it makes sense.

Why didn't Kate realize sooner?

To conceal one's identity,
one would obscure one's perfume.

Kate had thought there was a possibility
that Master Robe was Christopher...

But no.

Adults use different perfumes
than children do.

And no child would be able to
identify those variations.

There would be no need
to hide the fragrance in the first place.

And it isn't any of the shadows who are
suspects because of the perfume list.

They would pick a flower with
a completely different scent

from the perfume they usually wear.

If we use the process of elimination...

Then the identity of Master Robe is...

This shadow.

But why?

Um...

I thought I must have been imagining it...

I didn't want to say something strange
and confuse you, Mistress Kate...

What is it?

But I do think it's strange after all.

When I think back on it...

One face was clean.

We said we'd tell Patrick and Louise
when we'd confirmed the culprit,

and they seemed convinced, but...

What do you want to do?

Should we charge into the offender's rooms?

Wait.

Kate found another hint on the map.

A hint?

A place under the jurisdiction
of that shadow's living doll.

Master Robe has written
two things onto this map.

The first is right here.

And then, here.

When we were exploring,
Kate remembers a flower bed being here.

When you look closely, it seems like the
pen pressure is different from the original.

Still, would you really be
able to find a hint like that?

It would be impossible for anyone but Kate!

First, let's try going to this flower bed.

An untended flower bed...

People wouldn't come
to a place like this very often.

There's just one spot where
the soil has been made level.

Right, Emilico!

What?

Team Brawn is going to dig!

John!

Please don't equate Emilico with yourself!

I'll do it!

We've got something!

"In that moment which spans across days..."

"Let us meet in the place where
that which was wicked was shattered."

Do you think it could be a trap?

It may very well be.

Do you think that Master Robe
hasn't been brainwashed?

Why would they do something like this?

Why, indeed.

They had the disposition to
create all this strife, after all.

We need to prepare ourselves first.

The frightening thing is that
we still don't know their motives.

And we don't know what
they might mean to do next.

Honestly. It's all so circuitous.

Kate doesn't like their methods one bit.

Fine, then. We'll do as you wish.

Just you wait.

We'll tear that robe right off of you!

You really did come.

Say, John would like to ask you something!

Have you been waiting here every night?

That must have been grueling!

Simply checking if the flower bed had been
dug up would render that entirely unnecessary!

That makes sense.

Phantoms and their disturbances
were once only rumors,

and now they've appeared twice
in a short span of time.

According to the research team,

scorches do not naturally
turn into phantoms.

Which makes it clear that
someone's soot power made them.

And...

Late at night, you sought
to make contact with Emilico.

You, a strange, unsettling presence...

Do the messages you left on the map

mean that you were hoping
for something from us?

It's amazing that you've been able to

conduct yourself in a way that
doesn't expose you, Kate.

You're a special morph, too, aren't you?

Morph? You know about that, too?

Morph?

You haven't told your allies about it?

To think you'd be so thoroughly cautious...

I'm impressed.

Kate, what is it that you know?

However...

Do you control information in that manner
because you don't trust your allies?

That's not true.

Since your own existence is special...

You look down on others, don't you?

As I thought... Your memories
remain, do they not?

Memories from before you
began to mimic a human.

What will you do?

Your underlings are confused.

Shall I explain?

A morph is the previous form of a shadow,

from before they begin to mimic a human.

Once they mimic a human,
they also mimic its intelligence.

It's very close to reincarnation.

And once that happens,

their memories from when they
were morphs slowly disappear.

But Kate and I are different.

We remember everything.

I have seen the mechanisms by which
Shadows House treats its living dolls as tools.

Shadows are nobles?
That is simply make-believe.

Shadows House is a house of kidnappers.

Kate wants to change that! That's why she—

Are you sure about that, Kate?

You haven't changed either, have you?

In the end, you're the only one
who knows the secrets of this house,

and you compel your
underlings to follow you.

You manipulate them
from a position of superiority.

Were you frightened?

Did you think that if the information leaked,
you'd be digging your own grave?

Or did you think that
if they learned how cunning you are,

you would lose their trust?

You're saying all that when you
know nothing of John and the others!

If you hurt Kate any more,
John will punch you!

She's the smartest, so of course she's
thinking about all kinds of things!

Kate, please say something
in your own defense!

John can't figure out what to say!

Well, it seems you've said everything
you wanted to, with no restraint.

Kate is furious right now!

Because of you, Kate fell under
suspicion from the Star Bearers.

And even supposing there were morphs
who retained their prior memories,

are you saying that all
of them would share your ideology?

Just how many living dolls do you suppose
were hurt by the phantom disturbance?

Some, like Rosemary and Victor,
were even severely injured!

As you know that living dolls are human,

Kate cannot understand why you would
take such a course of action!

If anyone here is preening over
their own splendid superiority,

it's you!

If that's the kind of shadow you are,

then Kate has no reservations about
handing you over to the Star Bearers.

Remove your robe.

Kate knows who you are.

Hiding your scent, height, and voice means
that you're someone close to us.

It's highly likely that you're affiliated
with Emilico, Shaun, or Rum's teams.

We also investigated
perfumes and soot powers!

After the process of elimination,
the only one left was you!

And then Emilico testified to something else.

One trait of soot sickness is that the
afflicted's whole face is blackened with soot.

That's because they resist
when the scorches cling to them.

And yet...

When I think back on it...

One face was clean.

The living doll who started
the whole incident...

bore no signs of resisting!

That's because you ordered your own
living doll to do it, right?

To think you'd go so far...

Why did you do it,

Maryrose?

All of you really are quite entertaining.

Traveling through a jumbled labyrinth...

Over and over

This lonely utopia...

I have no more need of it

A vanished smile

Promises are lies, too

Everything is pointless,
isn't it? And yet...

Even misshapen as I am, I keep searching...

For shadows of recollection

Roses whose love has rotted...

Lock their feelings away

That silhouette from back then...

I've kept on chasing it...

Even if pale, frozen thorns

Pierce my heart over and over

Until I can take that hand

Again and again

I'll wish on a star

Next time,

Next Time

The Last Lessons

"The Last Lessons."