He tore off his now ruined gloves and sighed. Joshua didn’t even want to count the number of gloves he ruined on cases like these. Hundreds. Thousands. Why did castles and ruins have to be filled with icky or that would cut open his hands?

These thorns however. They were deadly. Even just by looking at them Joshua could tell there was something magical about them. Meaning the whole reason for the infestation was magical. Shuddering Joshua whipped his head around, eyes catching a raven. He narrowed his eyes as the raven’s beady eyes glinted at him.

Slowly, he bent down and picked up a small rock. As quick as a whip, he threw it at the raven hitting it dead on. It let out a squawk before disappearing into wisps. Growling Joshua said, “Magic. I’m being watched by someone. The source of the vines?”

Whatever or whoever it was that was watching him was going to be in for a rude awakening. Joshua had never failed at solving a case and this one would be no different. He hauled his backpack on and moved towards the gate.

Staring down at his hands he saw that the pieces that he found in the bushes were a perfect fit for the missing areas in the gate’s semi-ruined crest. Time to solve a puzzle.

He smirked as the gates clicked and swung inwards. No ancient puzzle or contraption had stumped him in his five year career. This old ruined castle was going to be no different. Not when he solved three-hundred-year-old contraptions before.

Joshua stepped through the gates only to be confronted with an inner garden and statues of the Royal family. The king and the queen, their son, Crown Prince Jeonghan, and their only daughter Princess Jungah. When the kingdom disappeared so had the Royal family, maybe if Joshua was lucky he’d find out what happened to them while he was here.

Seeing a statue form of them didn’t do them justice. Not when he had scene photos of portraits of them. They were all rather attractive. Prince Jeonghan especially if he was being honest. He rarely swayed towards men but there was something about the prince’s eyes even from the photo that stilled his heart. It was odd.

But not as odd as this whole situation. A kingdom risen from the ruins. Thorned vines overrunning the area and into the city soon.

No case came easy but Joshua could feel that this one was going to seriously give him grief. Walking past the statues he heard a whisper, “Be careful detective. Watch out for the witch.”

“Who’s there?” Joshua shouted, quickly looking around. He opened his eyes wide, looking through the area but he saw nothing. Not one soul and not one bird. But that voice. Who called out to him warning him of a witch?