By Basilio Mura, Nor Eastern Correspondent

4/9- Ever since a raving lunatic claiming to be Rigel Rinkenbach was detained outside of Rinkenbach R&D early last month, the Royal Palace in Oeil de Fleur has been silent about the matter. While many believed the man was indeed the wayward inventor, his identity hadn’t been confirmed, until now.

“The man we detained last month is indeed Sir Rigel Rinkenbach,” said a spokesperson with the Palace. “Physically speaking, he is fine. Mentally, however…we aren’t so sure. The Empress tells us that his behavior is mostly normal, if a little more erratic than usual.”
A doctor who has been observing Rinkenbach added clarification.

“Sir Rinkenbach has displayed signs of a nervous breakdown brought on by extreme stress,” psychologist Antonez Dupleur told us. “Since his detainment, he has given us all extensive lectures on alchemy, rambled incoherently about something he calls ‘extra-dimensional cellular atrophy’, and expressed great concern over Miss Pixie Sinclaire, the agent provocateur currently searching for one of your missing reporters and a former paramour of Sir Rinkenbach, I’m led to believe. The Empress was most displeased about this.

“In the month since his detainment, however, he’s shown great improvement. Mostly. He expressed a wish for a lab, which I signed off on, hoping that a familiar setting would put him at ease. He also demanded a new owl, so we got him an owl. Except that it was the wrong kind of owl, so we had to get him another, but he took a liking for the first owl and wouldn’t let us take it away. So now they’re both down there, being ignored while Rinkenbach toils away on some project or another.”

While Rinkenbach has supposedly calmed down over the course of his stay at the palace, Doctor Dupleur is not yet willing to sign off on his release, and the Palace has yet to determine when, if ever, Rinkenbach R&D’s status as a private business will be restored.”

“While the Empress has a great affection for Rinkenbach, even she cannot deny the many and profound debts that the company has incurred over the years,” the spokesperson said. “Debts that have only grown larger since the failure of his newest product and nervous breakdown. No, I’m afraid that mister Rinkenbach will be a guest of the Royal Palace for quite some time.”