Gosick Episode 20

Synopsis
A line forms in front of the Phantom on the first showing of the play The Blue Rose of Saubrème, and Victorique and Grevil arrive shortly. While the two children of de Blois enter the theater, Kazuya hurriedly runs far behind after visiting the nearby marketplace. He realizes that Sophie has gone inside without him and plans to catch up when a commotion stirs not so far away.

What caused the fuss is a suitcase that is moving on its own. And what emerges from the suitcase is a woman with fluffy brown hair: Cecile Lafitte.

Teacher and student meet at the most unlikely of places and there, Cecile expresses her anxiety over Victorique's well-being, especially since the teacher knows that Victorique is once again summoned by her father. Before Cecile could finish her story about how she ended up in a briefcase, Kazuya storms towards the theater.

Kazuya desperately searches for Victorique inside the theater, while Victorique and Grevil continue on their way through a long hallway. Victorique could only look back with a cautious look on her face as she heads to what seems like unknown territory.

The de Blois siblings soon trudge along a long spiral staircase leading to the lowest floor of the theater, and as they stand in front of two large doors leading somewhere, Kazuya's voice is heard. Victorique is surprised and relieved that Kazuya has managed to find her, while Grevil was shocked at the feat he achieved. Kazuya assures Victorique that he will always find her, and when things appear bright for the two souls...

...Victorique declares that this is as far as he can go.

She enters the large door in front of him in spite of Kazuya calling her name, and soon, Kazuya is restrained, helpless as Victorique moves herself away.

Although saddened by what she had to do, she presses on bravely to the room where his father, Marquis Albert de Blois, is waiting.

Victorique soon enters a large room filled with candles on the floor. She stands in the middle of eight wooden frames filled with newspaper clippings, and as she waits patiently, a voice emerges — the voice of the Marquis himself projected by speakers around the room.

Victorique wonders why the Ministry of the Occult is interested with the case of the queen Coco Rose's murder, especially at that time. She suspects that the Ministry wants to use the case to gain more political might, and Victorique arrives at the conclusion that the culprit must be someone influential.

The Marquis, sitting on a room elsewhere, is impressed by the development of the case.

Meanwhile, Grevil escorts Kazuya out of the room where the Marquis is staying, and decides to give him an insight on the Coco Rose case.

According to Grevil, the incident began right before the start of the Great War. In Spring of 1914, an emissary from France arrived to see Coco Rose. Since the Queen has moved to a country house at that time, the king has her summoned to the royal palace.

And then, the emissary discovered the headless remains of a woman inside the Queen's chamber.

Reports and witness accounts say that the only person who came to the Queen's chamber is none other than the King himself, Rupert de Gilet. However, the lack of evidence supporting the suspicion of his involvement in the case has cleared him from the incident. Meanwhile, in the Queen's country house, a man appears and throws someone's severed head on the carpeted floor of the house and watches as it explodes into flames.

The man in the country house is later discovered to be one of the witnesses to the crime, and is a member of the Science Academy.

Kazuya confronts Grevil about Victorique's involvement in the case, but even Grevil does not know for sure. However, one thing is for certain: Victorique's failure to solve the case would cause her to lose the chance to return to the Academy. Kazuya protests to this, but Grevil has already put his trust to his sister, who is capable of solving any case.

Kazuya then decides to start an investigation on his own. He demands information from Grevil about what happened, but newspaper articles and reports are not enough. Kazuya thinks that not doing anything will endanger Victorique's life, so he retraces his steps to begin his investigation.

On his way to the theater lobby, he notices that in the hallway he passed by earlier, he sees a familiar face: the face of Cordelia Gallo. A woman soon notices him and asks if he is familiar with Cordelia Gallo, the woman in the picture. On that revelation, Kazuya realizes that it is Cordelia Gallo in the picture. The woman then tells him that there was a little girl looking at the same picture earlier, someone who looks exactly like Cordelia. Kazuya then thinks of only one person who fits that description: Victorique.

Thoughts of her allows Kazuya to regain his focus to the case, and as he heads off, he sees what appears to be the Queen Coco Rose in the picture. The woman tells him that it is not the queen, but Nicole Leroux, a dancer who looks exactly like the queen; in fact, she has the nickname "Downtown Blue Rose".

Soon, everyone prepares as the play about Coco Rose's life is about to begin.

It is already two in the afternoon, and Grevil checks up on Victorique. It appears that Victorique has insufficient information to solve the case, and it causes the men tasked with keeping her inside the room to restrain her.

Elsewhere, Cecile joins Kazuya on his personal investigation. They soon arrive in an office, where they discovered that the office was looking for a secretary which has a strict description: blond hair, blue eyes, and possessing a specified shoe size. Among those who applied for the position is a girl named Nicole Leroux, who later vanished.

Kazuya thinks that there is much to this case, including the fact that the "Downtown Blue Rose" might have a link to the case, so he pushes on, moving to individual interviews. According to those interviews with people from Saubreme, several people say that they have seen Nicole on a carriage, and rumors say that she became an aristocrat's mistress.

He later meets up with Cecile, who ends up buying something for Sophie on a shop that both of them usually visit. It turns out that she does not know that Sophie is in fact in Saubrème as well, to Cecile's surprise. Cecile soon becomes annoyed that Sophie chose Kujo over her, and she eventually reveals that she and Sophie have been best friends for 10 years already.

Kazuya decides to continue with his interviews, visiting a nearby bakery to talk to one of its bakers, who turns out to be one of Nicole's big fans. He soon tells them of the early demise of the famous performer, to the shock of both Kazuya and Cecile.

They later travel to Saubrème's cemetery to confirm Nicole's death, and it is revealed that the baker told them the truth, as Nicole has been dead for twenty-four years, placing her death at the time when she presumably disappeared. That would also place her death ten years too early from the Coco Rose incident.

Grevil contacts his father as he witnesses an unusual ritual take place; as Victorique is tied to a chair, four agents of the Ministry sound bells while bowls of incense fill the room with smoke. The Marquis suggests that Grevil should watch as the hidden abilities of Victorique are unlocked by their ritual.

Meanwhile, Victorique shows a crooked smile as she realizes that the ritual unfolding is more science that occult knowledge.

Kazuya and Cecile return to the theater, and realizes that they cannot enter the theater without a ticket. What's worse is that Grevil is not around to give them access inside. Soon, as Kazuya looks around, he sees a familiar face from a distance: Brian Roscoe!

Kujo gives chase, telling Cecile to stay where she is while he pursues Brian to an alleyway. He fails to catch him, but he sees a possible escape route when he sees a window with a rope hanging from it. He eventually reaches the staircase where he last saw Victorique before she leaves for his father, and waits impatiently.

Soon, Brian appears beside him, wondering where the courage that Kujo used to stand up to him had gone to. Before Kazuya could react, the red-haired magician runs to the staircase, and appears prepared to take the Ministry's minions at the entrance.

Meanwhile, Victorique is struggling herself as the Ministry's men began to confront her about clues to the case and who the culprit is. Grevil has tried to leave the premises earlier, but even he was prohibited to leave. Helpless, he could only watch as the scenes unfold in front of him.

A strong gust of wind soon ripped towards Victorique from the entrance, blowing away all of the candles and plunging everything into darkness. When the lights are opened, a shocking sight is seen: Victorique is now in the arms of a red-haired man, someone who is familiar in Victorique's eyes.

On the other side of the room, Kazuya rushes to where Victorique is, only to see that the same person he saw a while ago outside the room is now inside the room, holding Victorique in his arms: the magician Brian Roscoe. Before he could respond, Brian disappears in a strong gust of wind.

Kazuya runs to Victorique, who is barely conscious, and as the young girl opens her eyes, Kazuya heaves a sigh of relief. Victorique admits that she cannot solve the case, but Kazuya tells her that it does not matter now; Kazuya has decided to help solve the case just like he had always done in the fact... for the sake of a friend.

Kazuya's presence has strengthened Victorique's resolve. Although she admits that she could never break the bonds of his father, but she decides to push on. As if dictated by fate, Victorique says the exact words that she has received from her mother to Kazuya, telling him to "solve the case... show (his) power so that (he) may live..."

Victorique than announces that she will continue the case, not by herself but alongside Kazuya.

As these events unfold, Marquis wishes Victorique and Cordelia the best of luck.

Victorique and Kazuya soon return to the picture of Cordelia Gallo on the hallway where they passed by once. Kazuya tells Victorique that he decides to immerse himself in the Coco Rose murder case because it would be something interesting for someone like her. Although Kazuya still acts like an assistant at times, she commends him for having brilliant moments like these.

Grevil soon tells the two that Victorique is now allowed to go freely; the question now is where they would go.

Victorique's answer: the cemetery, where she would dig up the grave of Nicole Leroux.

Adapted from
This episode is adapted from the seventh volume of Gosick, "The Rose-Colored Life".

Characters
(in order of appearance)
 * Victorique de Blois
 * Grévil de Blois
 * Kazuya Kujō
 * Cécile Lafitte
 * Ginger Pie
 * Albert de Blois
 * Coco Rose
 * Rupert de Gilet
 * Jupiter Roget
 * Sophie
 * Brian Roscoe
 * Cordelia Gallo

New Characters

 * Nicole Leroux

New Locations

 * Saubrème Cemetery, Saubrème

Referbacks

 * The phrase "solve the case... show your power so that you may live..." originally came from Cordelia Gallo, who sent the message through Kazuya.

Cultural References

 * On Nicole Leroux's grave is the french phrase, "Argent et mignon oisillon bleu de dors ici à jamais", which can be translated as "Sleep here forever, silver and blue darling nestling".

Unanswered Questions

 * What is the relation of the applications for a secretarial job with the Coco Rose case?
 * What purpose did the ritual serve?
 * How was Brian Roscoe able to appear both inside and outside the room where Victorique is detained?

Quotes

 * "I told you, didn't I? That I'd always find you!" — Kujo