Triumphed Over

**Triumphed Over** is a case featured in *Criminal Case*. It takes place in the Roman imperial region of Graecita.

## Plot

**You are experiencing the story in third-person view**

Norah, Kaleb and Marionette were getting to the Rome and are rushing to preparation before landing on its coast. Kaleb had worn his disguise and is seen having a fight with Norah, who refused to put on a dress he’s picked for her. Norah argued that she does not want to be a noblewoman, but a warrioress and that she’ll never be caught dead wearing a dress. Kaleb sighed, thinking of a solution and noticing her bob cut, he came with the idea of having Norah disguise as a man. Norah obviously wasn’t pleased Kaleb calling her a “dude”, but she agreed with this change of plan, as it was either that or having to put up with a long-skirted dress. While the two were arguing, Shirley helped Marionette into her dress and after everyone was done disguising themselves they started discussing the plan. Kaleb explained that due to their likeness in appearance, Norah and Marionette will be acting as siblings and that their story will be the following: They are members of a noble family of Roman heritage from far away, and once they heard the Roman empire was still alive, they decided to sail all the way to Rome to reconnect with their roots and that he (Kaleb) will be posing as their bodyguard. The girls were fine with the idea, but Norah questioned him on where would they sleep, where Kaleb responded by telling her that they’ll just stay at Shirley’s place, considering she’s a citizen of Rome and he assumed she has a property there. But then suggestion freaked out Shirley, who begged them to let her stay at the ship and that she can’t show her face there. The trio were about to ask her why she does not want to enter Rome, but suddenly another ship approached them and its people boarded their ship and began attacking them.

The people who attacked their ship were Roman soldiers, and as they were not expecting an ambush, the group lost the fight and ended up getting captured by the Romans. Once they were defeated, a blond man of average-height, who they believed to be the commander, approached them and demanded to know who they are. The group introduced themselves with their aliases, and one of the soldiers suggested that they free them as they were “Romans”. But the commander, Gaius Carolus did not fall for this, as he did not recognize them as citizens from the city and decided to take them to his father, the emperor to review their story and decide what should be done with them. The soldiers then began tying them up, but suddenly they heard someone tripping and caught Shirley next to lifeboat, trying to make her escape. Carolus approached her, recognizing her as a runaway slave from the palace by the name of “Sherise”, and ordered the soldiers to tie her up as well. The soldiers then forced their prisoners to walk with them to the palace.

Meanwhile at the palace itself, a young maiden, Audenzia Diodora, is looking out the window for fresh air and she spots Carolas and the Roman guards escorting prisoners into the palace. One of the prisoners, Kaleb Willoughby, caught her attention and she spent the next couple of seconds staring at him and when he catches her, she quickly hides behind the curtains. She tries to peek again, but is interrupted by another maiden who was calling her name. The other maiden was Claudia Messalina, the emperor’s daughter and when she called for her, Audenzia quickly turned to her to see how could she serve her. Claudia rolled her eyes and ordered Audenzia to light the brazier as it was getting seriously cold. Audenzia did what she’s told and while she’s doing the work, Claudia began bragging to the rest of the ladies-in-waiting about the engagement her father scored her with Carolus. Audenzia, who was recently forced to break off an engagement, was visibly annoyed, not realizing she was putting too much coal into the brazier. A piece of coal falls on the carpet causing a small fire that freaks out all the ladies in the room. Luckily, Audenzia realizes what she did and steps on the fire to stop it from spreading. But the carpet was ruined, pissing off Claudia who called her lady-in-waiting a “useless bitch” and kicked her out of the room.

Back to the group. Norah, Kaleb and Marionette are locked in a cage, awaiting whatever punishment the Romans had for them. Suddenly, guards came to summon them to the emperor. The guards escorted the prisoners to the throne room, which was surprisingly small compared to others they’ve seen, but also way more regal. The guards went out the room, leaving the prisoners to wait for the emperor and Carolus to arrive. Marionette’s kleptomania started kicking in, and she found it very hard to resist stealing anything from the room, but she knew she had to control herself or else she’ll dig even more trouble for everyone else. Eventually, she found herself a distraction, when she and her friends found an old man sitting lifelessly on the emperor’s throne...

**You are now playing as Marionette Patrick**

After they found the body, Gaius Carolus entered the room, immediately spotting the dead man sitting on throne and recognizing him as his father, Emperor Claudius Messalinus. Carolus was furious at seeing his father’s corpse and accused the prisoners of committing the murder. Norah denied the crime and tried to convince the emperor’s son to grant them time to find his father’s murderer and prove their innocence. Carolus was impatient, but he agreed to give them a chance and the group immediately rushed into solving the murder. During the investigation, Kaleb sensed someone following them and when they turned to see who was spying on them, it was Audenzia Diodora, a lady-in-waiting at the palace who acted nervous with Kaleb around. The group added her to the suspect list and soon they found reasons to suspect Nefertiti, the emperor’s favorite concubine. The autopsy results revealed that the emperor died from being bitten by an Egyptian cobra which made the team believe that the killer must be a a snake handler and that they also eat pork as they found lard on the victim’s body. Kaleb and Marionette are then seen discussing their progress while waiting for Norah, who had new information for them.

Norah revealed that she interviewed people all across Rome and she found out that the victim was not very well-liked by the senate and that earlier this day he attended court where he had a row with them. After hearing this, the group headed to the senate where they found two more suspects for their investigation: Gaius Livius, a young member of the senate and a nephew of the victim’s, and an older senator by the name of Albertus Diodorus who is coincidentally Audenzia Diodora’s uncle. During the investigation, the team discovered that Gaius Carolus is not the victim’s biological son, but a child of a close friend to Messalinus, who passed away when Carolus was a teen and since then the emperor took him under his wings. Additionally, they found out that the emperor was becoming less attracted to Nefertiti who was “getting too old”, which was worrying her as she didn’t want to get demoted to a “regular slave” and loose her chances of freedom. The team began recapping the case, only to be approached by a panicking Audenzia, who told them that Carolus is preparing to attack the Senate.

After informing the team of the news, Audenzia began crying as both her uncle and her cousin Livius as members of the Senate House and could lose their lives if Carolus attacked. The team calmed down the maiden before hearing to the senate where they managed to talk Carolus out of the attack. Once they have convinced him to back away, they continued their investigation where they learned that Livius got into politics to get close to his uncle but found it hard to live up to his expectations. Moreover, they discovered that Audenzia was the daughter of the emperor’s late fiancée through an alleged affair, that he refused to recognize her as a member of the imperial family and that her uncle Albertus had to beg the emperor to let her live in the palace and serve as a lady-in-waiting. This led the team to interrogate The Diodori before ultimately arresting Albertus Diodorus for the murder.

Albertus felt offended by the murder accusations, and was angry at Kaleb and Marionette for “daring” to bring them up, but after they backed them up with evidence, he furiously admitted to murdering Messalinus to protect his niece. Albertus explained that he wanted for Audenzia a life of comfort and so he trusted Messalinus to get her a match with a rich and noble man who would treat her well. The emperor promised to help her and landed her an engagement with his nephew, Gaius Livius which would help connect her to the Caesar family. Albertus was pleased with this match and was excited for the marriage, but he started to notice how Audenzia’s outfits are becoming provocative which made her the talk of the court. Suddenly to Albertus’ surprise, Messalinus broke off the engagement which caused him great anger and he went to confront his brother-in-law. The two argued and eventually Messalinus revealed the reason why he broke the pair: He wanted Audenzia for himself. This horrified Albertus because even though he wanted Audenzia to marry rich, he wanted her to be with someone her age, not someone old enough to be her dad and this caused quarrel between him and the emperor which ended with Messalinus kicking Albertus out of the palace. Wanting to prevent the marriage from happening, Albertus sent the emperor an apology letter and they agreed to talk at the throne. Albertus brought a basket with him which an “early wedding gift” for the emperor, and when Messalinus opened the basket he was surprised with the cobra. The cobra bit Messalinus and Albertus left him to suffer a slow, painful death. After hearing the motive, Kaleb and Marionette brought Albertus to Carolus and Audenzia came out begging the commander for her uncle’s life. But Carolus ignored her begging, drew his sword and slashed Albertus’ throat.

After witnessing Albertus’ execution, Marionette went out the throne room to talk with Kaleb and Norah. Norah asked her companions if either of them crosses paths with Shirley while they were navigating the palace, but unfortunately none of them have which made the team worry about what the Romans have done with her. Knowing Carolus would be uncooperative if they asked about her, Norah and Marionette decided it would be a good idea if they spoke with one of the palace’s slaves and agreed on talking with Nefertiti. But before Marionette could go with Norah, Carolus approached the group and ordered the team to speak with him.

Nervous, Kaleb and Marionette went to see Carolus, wondering if they were in trouble. To their relief, Carolus wanted to talk to them about politics and he revealed that since his father has died, Rome is left with no ruler and there are many powerful noblemen and city key figures who are fighting to become emperor. Carolus explained that this could lead to chaos which he wishes to prevent, but Messalinus has not announced his heir and unless they learn who he picked as his successor, anyone in the city can call himself emperor. Carolus revealed that his father kept important stuff at the senate house and that he asked to speak with them because he wants them to dig up the court to find any will his dad may have left, and he didn’t trust the senate to do this job. The duo agreed to assist him and they went into the senate to look for a will. The duo found a papyrus roll and Kaleb read its content, finding out that it is the will they were looking for and the emperor named his nephew, Gaius Livius as his heir. Marionette pointed out to Kaleb that the will was not sealed and knowing that if they handed it over this way, the power-hungry nobles will try and deny Livius his right for the throne. Luckily, Marionette picked up a leather poach while they were searching the senate house and inside the poach they found a seal which they identified as the imperial stamp. The duo stamped on the will and gave it to Carolus, who was livid when learning that Messalinus didn’t leave the empire with him and instead he named Livius as his successor, who Carolus considered as “pathetic”. However, he respected his father’s decision and allowed the duo to hand the will to Livius to take over his throne. Livius was shocked when learning that he was going to be the new emperor, but he honored and thanked the duo for finding the will before anyone else could get rid of it.

Hoping to find Shirley, Norah and Marionette payed the harem a visit and caught Nefertiti packing up to leave. Confused, Norah asked the concubine where she was going, where Nefertiti rolled her eyes and revealed that concubines cannot be inherited and now that her master passed away, this makes her a free woman and its time for her to leave the palace. Before she could go, Norah begged her to stay for the talk and she asked her about Shirley. At first, Nefertiti was confused but after getting a description, she soon realized they were talking about a Gallic slave called “Sherise”. Nefertiti revealed that Sherise was a personal slave bought for the emperor’s daughter, Claudia Messalina, who had fled Rome a year ago and they likely will find her working at the lady’s chamber. After getting answers, Norah and Marionette left the harem and found Kaleb waiting for them outside, and they asked him why he didn’t come in with them. Kaleb explained that it is rude for men to enter a harem, pissing off Norah, who yelled at Kaleb for “pretending to be a gentleman”, bringing up what he did to her sister. Before they started arguing, Marionette stopped them and the two were reminded about their mission and they head to Messalina’s chamber to look for Shirley. The team knocked on the door and they were answered by Audenzia, who sulked when she saw them. Guessing she was mad at them over her uncle’s execution, Kaleb apologized for giving Albertus away and asked her how she was coping. Audenzia appreciated Kaleb caring for her well-being, and confessed that she feels horrible for what happened to her uncle but she’s learning to accept it, knowing that justice must be served. After checking up on her, Norah asked if they could come in, but Audenzia told her that her mistress is in the room and they can’t come in uninvited. Right then, Messalina called Audenzia to invite the team and so, the lady-in-waiting let them in the chamber. When Kaleb saw Messalina, his jaw dropped at how gorgeous she looked, and he found himself feeling nervous in her presence. Messalina was also in awe of Kaleb’s looks, and she began leading him on with a flattering air, which made Audenzia glare with envy. Messalina gave the team permission to call her by her nickname “Claudilla” and Norah asked her about Sherise. At the mention of the name, Claudilla rolled her eyes and revealed that Carolus brought the runway to her, but she had no time to deal with “incompetent” slaves so she returned her to the slave market. This horrified the team, who were heading out of the room, but Claudilla insisted that Kaleb stay so she could “get to know him”. Norah and Marionette, however, were excused and they decided to investigate the emperor’s office hoping they’d find paperwork revealing who the imperial family bought Shirley from. The girls found a torn papyrus roll and when they pieced it together, it revealed a contract. Neither girls were fluent in Latin, so they went to check if Claudilla was done with Kaleb and had him translate the contract. Kaleb revealed that the contract was a deal made by the emperor and a slave trader to gain possession of Sherise, and the person who he bought her from was called Eusebius Abelardus. The team were relieved to know Shirley’s whereabouts, but as they aren’t allowed to leave the palace without a permit, they agreed to wait until their charges are lifted to look for Shirley.

**You are now experiencing the story in third-person view**

As the new emperor of Rome, Livius came into the palace to move in with the Imperial family and once he entered, Audenzia caught him and she ran to give him a hug. After the two embraced, the lady-in-waiting lead him to the former emperor’s office where Claudilla, Carolus and the team were waiting for him. Livius tried to spark up a friendly chat with Carolus, but the commander brushed him off and went straight to business. Carolus pointed at Norah, Kaleb and Marionette, and revealed that he caught them sailing toward the city and he believes that they aren’t from here. Livius thought about the case and he gave the team a chance to explain themselves, where Norah and Marionette introduced themselves as “nobles” from far away and began telling the story they had agreed on (except she changed Kaleb from being a “bodyguard” to a “slave” just to mess with him). Livius listened attentively and after taking their story to consideration, he not only decided to lift their charges but also offered to let them sleep at the palace until they get their own place. Carolus didn’t like the arrangement and began arguing with Livius, but seeing that the young emperor wasn’t up for any debates, he gave up. Unlike Carolus, Audenzia was enthusiastic and she revealed to the team that she already had a slave prepare a room for them and began leading the team through the hallways. When the team entered the room, they were shocked to see Nefertiti tidying up the chamber and Norah asked her what she was doing at the palace, as they thought she had left. The slave girl they thought was Nefertiti stared at them, and realizing that they mistook her for her twin, she blushed and corrected them, introducing herself as Nebet. Audenzia thanked Nebet for her service and asked the team what they thought of the room, excited to know their reaction. The team looked around the room, and while Nebet did a good job cleaning it, it was so small that there was only space for three beds for them sleep on, which weren’t even comfy, and its only appeal was that it came with a balcony. To brighten up the mood, Marionette decided to do a Susan Willoughby impression where she called the room a “dump”, and both she and Norah began laughing on how spot-on her impression was. Audenzia didn’t get the joke, and it was clear to Kaleb that she was hurt by Marionette’s remark. Kaleb thanked Audenzia for her assistance and once she was out of the room, he stared disappointedly at Marionette. The girls were still laughing, but when Marionette noticed Kaleb glaring at her, she stopped, and thinking he was mad at her imitating his sister, she felt bad about the joke she made.

At Jennifer Tanaka’s estate, Zachary is have a chat with Alex and Jennifer herself. He told his friend about the kiss Mia gave him, how he turned her down out of faith for Maylin, but now he’s starting to realize he’s got feelings for her and regrets pushing her away. Once he was done venting, Alex called him out for acting like an idiot, while Jennifer tried to motivate him. She pointed out only a few days passed since the kiss happened and the chances of Mia moving on are very slim, meaning he still has a chance and all what he has to do is go back to Mia and tell her he likes her. Meanwhile, Madelina is seen with the other daughters of Aphrodite, shopping for a dress she’ll wear this week to watch a play. Two of the sisters were staring at Zachary, and they began giggling and gushing about how hot he is. Madelina giggled with them and she began commenting about his personality, describing him as a total sweetheart. The two girls who were staring at Zachary remembered how Mia dunked a bucket of chum all over them, and they saw an opportunity to teach her a lesson. The girls grinned at each other and they decided to push Madelina into admitting she likes Zachary and encouraged her to ask him out. At first Madelina was hesitant as she still had strong feelings for Chet, but Gina overheard the conversation and she convinced Madelina she was too good for Chet and she deserves a real man like Zachary. Unaware that Mia has feelings for him, Madelina built up the courage to approach Zachary and asked him out for a theatre date. Zachary didn’t have feelings for Madelina, but believing that he blew his chances with Mia, he agreed to go out with her. This made Madelina excited and she rushed back to her friends to tell them about the good news. Once she was gone, Alex and Jennifer glared at Zachary and at that moment, he knew he fucked up.

## Summary

### Victim

* **Claudius Messalinus** (Bitten by an Egyptian cobra)

## Suspects

Gaius CarolusNefertitiAudenzia DiodoraAlbertus DiodorusGaius Livius
## Killer’s Profile

* The killer handles snakes.
* The killer eats pork ribs.
* The killer is a christian.
* The killer wears a laurel wreath.
* The killer wears red.