Chapter 2199 - 2197: Can You Help Me? (Ben Cat Wants to Roll in the Water Today)

"Is it that I promised you too much, or that what I originally gave wasn’t enough? You always have countless reasons, and I always follow your feelings..."

"What are you singing?"

Sitting on the Ferris wheel, listening to Fang Zheng hum a tune, Mira curiously asked.

"Oh, I’m giving Kudou’s current inner feelings a BGM."

Hearing Mira’s inquiry, Fang Zheng chuckled and looked out the window.

"How could I blame you for making a mistake? I gave you too much freedom, making you lonelier, only to get caught in an emotional whirlpool..."

"By the way, what do you think Kudou’s feelings are right now?"

Mira was quite excited about this and curiously asked.

"Probably feels like there’s a vast green pasture over his head and ten thousand horses are galloping atop it?"

Fang Zheng thought for a moment, replied with a playful grin.

"This kid is just like that; he likes Ran so much but is too shy to confess. Then upon hearing that Ran is going to be alone with another man, his jealousy flares faster than anyone’s..."

"And what about Ran? Does Ran like him?"

"She does, but is too shy to say it... After all, they’re young, and they’ve got plenty of youth to squander."

"Youth is so wonderful... I feel like I’m getting old."

"Hahaha, you’re still young too."

Watching Mira’s nonstop exclamations, Fang Zheng laughed as well. Although Mira looks almost identical to Ran, their personalities are completely different. Ran has a steadier demeanor, while Mira is more outgoing. In simpler terms, Mira’s personality is more like Sonoko’s, only more assertive and feisty than Sonoko.

"Ring... Ring..."

At this moment, Fang Zheng’s phone rang, so he took it out and answered it, and soon Conan’s voice came through on the other side.

"Where have you taken Princess Mira!!!"

Conan was furious at the moment; after seeing that photo, he felt like he was hit in the back of the head by Gin, and it took him quite a while to recover. It wasn’t until Ran appeared later that he and Kogoro Mouri learned the truth of the situation — Ran had met Mira on the road, and at that time, Mira was being chased by her own bodyguards. Ran mistook them as aggressors against Mira, so she knocked one of them down with a roundhouse kick.

Then, they chatted in the park, and unexpectedly, Princess Mira suddenly came up with the idea of swapping clothes with Ran and simply ran away.

Upon this revelation, Conan finally sighed with relief, but he quickly examined the photo again and noticed something suspicious... thus, he furiously called Fang Zheng to express his anger.

"Oh, Conan, you’ve seen that photo? Miss Mira and I are out playing right now."

"Stop joking around and bring her back. That is the Visbania’s Her Royal Highness!!"

"Visbania... Oh, I remember the banquet tonight..."

"Exactly, you better bring her back soon, otherwise they’ll mistaken Ran for the princess!"

At this moment, Conan was extremely anxious, because the envoy from the Kingdom of Visbania had actually said that if the princess doesn’t return, then they’ll use Ran as her stand-in!

Conan and Kogoro Mouri naturally wouldn’t agree with this. Just before, there was an attempt to poison the princess at the banquet. Them using Ran as a stand-in was clearly to draw fire and take the hit!

"Oh, I see."

After listening to Conan’s account, Fang Zheng nodded.

"Give him the phone."

"Alright."

Soon, a calm yet arrogant voice came through on the phone.

"I don’t know who you are, but I advise you to bring the princess back immediately, or we’ll regard you as a suspect of her abduction."

"Oh?"

Hearing this, Fang Zheng raised an eyebrow.

"Are you trying to give me orders? Who do you think you are?"

"I am Geese D. Stink the Earl, the envoy of the Kingdom of Visbania."

"Oh."

Fang Zheng nodded, covered the phone, and looked at Mira.

"Miss Mira, do you want to go back?"

"I don’t!"

"Alright then."

Hearing Mira’s response, Fang Zheng shrugged his shoulders and picked up the phone again.

"That’s it, Miss Mira hasn’t finished playing yet. Once she’s had enough, I’ll take her home. By the way, I advise you to release Ran, because if you dare do anything to her, I promise I’ll beat you so bad that even your mother won’t recognize you."

"Who are you?"

The tone of the other party gradually turned cold, while Fang Zheng chuckled softly.

"I am Fang Zheng, the president of Umbrella Corporation. You should know my name, so... I think you understand what rejecting me means."

"..............."

The other party fell silent for a long time, finally biting their teeth and replying softly.

"What do you want to do?"

"It’s simple. Miss Mira and I are having a good time. It’s rare for her to come to Japan, so naturally, I’ll take her around. Don’t worry, I’ll send her back home."

"......... I want to speak with Her Royal Highness Mira."

"Here."

Fang Zheng handed the phone to Mira across from him.

"Someone wants to speak with you."

"Ah, um..."

Mira took the phone, her expression becoming a bit tense.

"Hello, ah... Geese? No, that... what?!"

Upon hearing this, Mira raised her eyebrows in anger.

"I don’t want to go back, there are people everywhere trying to harm me! You? What good are you? You can’t even tell when someone poisons me, a kid saved me! I don’t want to go back. I’m having a great time with Fang Zheng! Fang Zheng will protect me!"

After saying this, Mira angrily returned the phone to Fang Zheng, and soon, Earl Geese’s voice came again from the other side.

".........Well, Mr. Fang Zheng, Her Royal Highness Mira is entrusted to you. If anything happens to her, it will affect the diplomatic relations between Visbania and Japan, please consider carefully."

"What do I care about your diplomatic relations with Japan."

Fang Zheng casually retorted and then hung up the phone directly.

For a while, the atmosphere in the observation car was somewhat silent, but soon, Fang Zheng broke the slightly awkward silence.

"So, you’re the Princess of Visbania, huh? Speaking of which, what happened with the poisoning you mentioned earlier?"

"Well, since you already know, there’s nothing to hide."

As her identity was revealed, Mira no longer hesitated and quickly confessed the situation to Fang Zheng. She is the Princess of Visbania, which was originally ruled by the Queen. However, half a month ago, the Queen and the Prince, who was supposed to inherit the throne, died unexpectedly during an outdoor trip.

According to the records at the time, the Prince accidentally shot the Queen while trying to kill a fox during the hunt, which led to his guilt-driven death as well. Thus, the country’s royal inheritance immediately fell onto the Princess’s shoulders. Naturally, Mira was very resistant to this, as it was always her elder brother’s mission to become King, and she had never considered becoming Queen.

But now, with her mother and brother dying simultaneously, she’s suddenly required to become a ruler of a country, making her exceedingly reluctant. Not only that, but there are opposing factions outside her doors loudly protesting against Mira inheriting the throne, demanding structural reforms, which infuriates her further.

She feels like an invisible figure who had been standing on the sidelines, suddenly dragged forcibly to the center of the stage, unable to plan what to do next, and condemned by the audience below...

Moreover, Princess Mira has experienced multiple assassination attempts and poisonings in the Royal Palace recently, further annoying her. Originally, she didn’t plan on attending this ridiculous banquet in Japan, but her mother arranged it, and she reluctantly came.

But what Mira didn’t expect was that as soon as the banquet started, an assassin disguised as a waiter handed her a poisoned drink.

This made her feel utterly despairing. Though it’s already insecure in her own country, what’s unexpected to Mira is that even escaping to a distant, unfamiliar country can’t escape death lurking in her shadows.

That’s why she ran away from the banquet hall in despair, coincidentally encountered Ran who looked very similar to her, and the subsequent events...no need to elaborate.

"I don’t believe Elder Brother would kill Mother and commit suicide. It must be Duke Gilad’s doing; he is Mother’s brother. As long as he kills us, he can rightfully claim the throne, and on that day, he accompanied Mother and Elder Brother to the hunting trip..."

Mira clenched her fists tightly as she spoke.

"But those people investigated for ages and still claimed there’s no evidence! No evidence! I..."

At this moment, the ferris wheel began to gently descend, and Mira’s eyes gleamed with radiance, looking at Fang Zheng.

"Fang Zheng, you can even capture Lupin III, you must be very capable! Can you help me find the real culprit?!"

"So you want to hire me?"

Fang Zheng squinted his eyes as he spoke, looking at Mira right in front of him.

"My commission isn’t cheap."

"As long as you can help me capture the perpetrator, I’ll do anything!"

Saying this, Mira’s face flushed slightly, but she still firmly clenched her fists, looking at Fang Zheng.

"No one can help me, no matter where I am, it’s always the same, even in the Royal Palace. Everyone claims it’s to protect my safety, but I need more than that, I want to capture the perpetrator, I don’t want to live like this anymore. I once swore, as long as I can avenge Mother and Elder Brother, I’d sell my soul to the Devil!"

"Since you’ve said so, I’ve no more words left."

Upon hearing Mira’s response, Fang Zheng squinted, pondered for a moment, and nodded.

"Alright, while I’m not any Devil, your commission... I’ll accept."