The Spirit of the Lake watched as the newcomer approached and cleared her throat. "I, um, offered him the sword with which he could rule. But, mortals cannot always handle the stress of being a ruler." She pointed to the corpse. "Sadly, this one has taken his own life."
The retainer gasped, "How horrible! That is so sad. He never told us he was depressed!" He bent down and examined the body. "Did he say anything?"
The Spirit stammered, toying with her long hair, "Uh, Oh! Um, w-well, he was v-very pleased at first about being a king and...and...then he was saying about how he wasn't worthy and just...sliced his throat with the sword."
"It's not a very deep cut..."
"Well, it was deep enough," she snapped back at him.
He looked at the sword, careful not to touch it. "The sword's edge is rather dull too."
"Well, what do you expect?" she replied haughtily with a shrug, folding her arms. "It's been lying in the lake all this time! it's not like I keep it in cold storage or something to maintain the sharpness, honestly!"
The retainer next knelt over the man's head and checked the wound carefully. "This just doesn't seem like a forced cut."
"Are you quite sure?" She daintily approached the bank, peering down. "He was bleeding like a stuck pig moments ago."
The retainer looked up at her. "This just doesn't seem self-inflicted. Look at the lay of the blood. There should be blood on his hands, his chemise-"
"R-Really?" The Spirit flushed, her sightless white eyes darting.
The retainer continued, "And the way the sword is laying near him. I've known him all my life and he was left-handed. He couldn't have killed himself, I'm telling you..."
"I-I see," the Spirit nodded quickly, licking her lips. She noticed the retainer had stood back up and was now looking back at the town. As quietly as she could, she bent down to pick up the sword.
"I'd better get some help," the retainer sighed. "We need to block this whole area. This is now a crime scene. I'll have to ask you to-"
He got no further. The Spirit of the Lake took a mighty swing and sliced through the retainer's neck, neatly separating his head from his body. She warily gazed up the pathway towards the town, then quickly kicked the retainer's head into the water. After dragging the headless body into the water next, making sure to weigh it down heavily with large rocks, she turned her attention to the first man.
"Clumsy idiot," she growled and carried him with her into the lake, disappearing just as guards on horseback arrived.