Duke Sarnez probably cheered internally in delight after hearing about Madame Victoire’s death.

“Isn’t that too cowardly, Duke? Aren’t you supposed to be strong?”

“……”

He had received an entire incident without any proof. He probably thought that he could color this ‘imperial gift embezzlement incident’ as he pleased. He probably believed that an already deceased culprit would not be able to hinder him in any way.

“Baron Bellang’s family already lost their beloved twins. But not only did you frame these weak and powerless people with an unbelievable crime, you even schemed to mock the dead. The two deceased women lived with a giant nail in their hearts because of the Count’s House of Andresy.”

“……”

“Someone like you, someone who grew up not lacking anything, someone who lived his entire life in power, how could you think so shamefully about using the weak?”

I handed Vice Captain Élisabeth the diary and harped on.

“Because you can, because you could get away with it.” A reason like that was the wrong answer. At least, that was what I believed.

I didn’t want to hear such excuses in a world with leaders like Empress Frédérique and Cardinal Boutier. Marquis François and Baron Bellang, both people who were pushed to the edge, were beloved territory lords. I clenched my fists. I wanted to sensibly argue this, but I kept getting angry. My limit was barely managing not to shout.

“Why didn’t you just grab a knife and come right at me? At least that would have been fair and square.”

“……”

The Duke looked at me and opened and closed his mouth a few times before not being able to say anything and lowered his head.

That was better. His sins were not things that could be lessened with any apologies. I was not the only one he had wronged, and the people who died from his scheme could not come back from the dead!

“I guess you never thought about being retaliated against by the dead!”

That was why I was enraged even more at Werner Venetiaan. I wanted to say the same things to him. Stop playing dirty and personally come at me with a weapon. Stop hiding behind the curtains and dirtying other people’s hands. I had no idea about the reason he was doing all of this, but I didn’t care for a murderer’s dirty justification anymore. I wasn’t curious about it either.

“Shh, my little prince. Don’t worry. Leave the rest to the adults.” The Cardinal caressed my cheek and quietly consoled me.

I got upset again seeing the apologetic look in her eyes under her monocle. There were definitely more good people than bad in the world but I was angry at the fact that the people who did wrong were not the ones that had to take care of the aftermath. It felt wrong that it was my teacher who was being apologetic for not being able to stop something like this. It felt as if I was a long way from becoming a mature adult.

Sir Johann, who was silently standing in the back, smiled after seeing that I clenched the flame orb again.

“……During our investigation, we also confirmed that the Duke played a significant role in pushing back the opening ceremony of the Imperial Capital’s Garrison Officer Candidate School to December. The original date was scheduled for October, and although it is true that the date was pretty fluid… But to deliberately choose December 19th, the same day as the opening of the orphanage at the Barony……” Vice Captain Élisabeth, who had been silent for a moment, continued on.

The Duke and Eugénie Kessié’s crimes endlessly came out after that. The nobles gasped quite a bit whenever testimony by the House of Sarnez’s Chief of Staff, Gérard Sorio, was mentioned. “My goodness, is he some kind of onion?!”

For example, confirming that the Duke called young master Andresy to the Lord’s Castle to hand him some poison, how he used codes to personally lead the terrorist incident, how he came up with everything that was in that trashy pamphlet to sully my name, and how the former Duke and the Duchess from the generation before that both also gave information over to the Holy Kingdom.

There was also the explosive testimony about how Jeanette, the attendant in the Empress Palace, had been brainwashed by Kessié since a few years ago. Some of the priests covered their faces with their hands.

But the most shocking of all was when Kessié told an old truth.

“The idea to use the Baron’s House of Bellang…… It was my idea. Yes, it was me.” The old woman sounded as if she had given up. She had begged for her life at first and then harmed herself so much that it had been hard to see. But now, she seemed to have let it all go. Her forehead seemed to have stopped bleeding as well. Her white hair was red and wet. A voice that sounded as gritty as sand flowed out.

“The person who gathered the personal information of the deceased twins…… That was one of my agents. I spent quite a bit of money on that operation.”

“……”

‘What is she talking about?’ Even the young Countess, who was leading the trial, looked shocked.

She calmly responded. “Archbishop-nim. At that time, the Imperial Guard took an entire month inspecting the Bellang Lord’s Castle and the surrounding area. The culprit that sent information to the Holy Kingdom was the Baron’s coachman. The same guy who was killed along with the twins.”

My eyes opened wide. This was my first time hearing about this. This was talking about that incident back in March, the first attempted assassination of my life. Werner Venetiaan had smuggled in twins, a Clergy level Holy Knight and a priest, to kill me. The two criminals had murdered the Bellang twins who were about to enter the Imperial Palace as attendants for Juliette Palace, and pretended to be them. The Imperial Guard believed that someone within the Baron’s family had handed over information about the twins to the Holy Kingdom. That was what allowed the enemy kingdom to find assassins who met the conditions. I had thought that the Vice Captain of the Imperial Guard would tell me once the culprit was caught, but she had been quiet about it this whole time.

“The Imperial Guard ripped up the floor of the coachman’s bedroom and found gold bars hidden there. They were all created in the Holy Kingdom. One of the Imperial family’s appraisers confirmed it.”

The reason seemed clear now. The coachman who sold off the twins had been killed to keep him quiet. Vice Captain Élisabeth, as Ganael’s fiancee, as someone who would have heard about my condition, probably kept quiet rather than choosing to tell me about yet another tragedy. I had been suffering quite a lot of nightmares at that time.

“Hmm, that guy was just a smokescreen. A bait to close the incident.”

“Excuse me?”

The young Countess, who had maintained her calm until now, cracked for the first time. Captain Hervé also scowled from the witness stand. Kessié cackled and her shoulders bobbed up and down.

“For a fancy Pair de Riester like you to be so innocent…… I guess it makes sense after the fancy life you’ve lived. You would have never had to deal with veiled enmity in a tiny little remote temple or go deep into debt at a salon to buy a fancy carriage.”

“Archbishop.” The one to calmly call out to her was the priest who had spoken to the Empress earlier. The old man quietly looked at her, making the old woman scowl.

“……The one who gave over the information about the twins was not the dead coachman but a priest in the Barony. The temple is in such a remote place that it looked like he would not be suspected. He had a lot of interactions with the Baron’s family but was not very close to them.’

“My goodness. How……” Baroness Ann Bellang almost jumped out of her seat. Her husband barely held her back by hugging her. It felt like she could be crying out blood. “How could you speak so nonchalantly about murder? To put the blame on the dead! Do you know how we’ve felt until now?! Do you know how our lives have been since then?!”

“I did it to survive as well.”

“Then what about my sons?! What sins did my sons commit to die like that at thirteen?! Why?! Why……?!” She screeched before pounding her chest.

I jumped down to the witness area again. My heart felt so heavy that I thought I would never be able to float if I fell into a body of water right now. The woman leaned against her husband’s chest and cried while holding my hand. The woman who had been gentle yet strong this whole time had finally crumbled. The Baron silently cried while Antoinette tightly hugged the sobbing Elody.

I absentmindedly looked at Vice Captain Élisabeth and got shocked. She was right about to pull out her sword. The pressure from a Grade 8 swordswoman was pushing down on Kessié. Her sharp grey eyes were releasing cold murderous intent.

“Eek, ugh……! What are, you doing?! Eeeek!”

“So what did you do with the priest?”

“Right now, in front of her Majesty! Ugh!” The old woman clutched her neck and flailed on the ground. The pressure must have been intense as the injury on her head started to bleed again.

The young Countess did not budge despite the criminal screaming in pain. The Duke, who was kneeling next to her, was barely breathing.

I urgently looked toward the Imperial family. Including Sir Johann, all four of them had the same stoic looks on their faces.

“The priest who gave you the information. What did you do with him?”

“I killed him! I killed, gasp! Cough cough! Cough cough!” The old woman finally coughed and caught her breath.

The Vice Captain of the Imperial Guard had instantly pulled back the pressure. She roughly pushed back her dark green hair and continued to question Kessié.

“When. How.”

“After the investigation ended! I, it was about a month after that. In my, cough! I summoned him to my Archdiocese. It was easy because I had connections in the Vatican!”

The continuing confession was shocking. She had called the priest to her diocese to get rid of any loose ends. She then made the carriage slip off a sharp cliff. She had loosened the bolts of the carriage a bit and had blocked off the smooth road under pretenses of construction. It just ‘happened’ to rain. Kessié claimed she was ‘lucky.’

“……”

“……”

The chilling confession ended but nobody could say anything. Nobody had anything to say. I felt a bit tired. But I still did not let go of Lady Bellang’s hand.

“I guess that’s it.”

The gazes of the people in the audience room all headed up to the highest seat. The red eyes of the Empress were burning up.

“Then let’s start the cleaning.”

*

There was nothing stopping the Empress.

“I hereby strip the criminal, Simon de Sarnez of all his titles and merits, retake his territory, and all of his wealth will be confiscated into the Imperial Treasury. Any businesses under his name will also now be under the control of the Imperial family. Furthermore, The Duke’s House of Sarnez will be completely removed from all Official History recorded since the Warring Era. Isabelle de Sarnez and Christelle de Sarnez have been proven to be innocent so they will be excluded from the punishments and the latter will maintain her titles and salary.”

“As you command, your Majesty”

Everybody bowed their heads to the Empress. Frédérique controlled her anger and almost growled.

“It is the same for Archbishop Eugénie Kessié. Although her son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter did not actively partake in the scheme, they were aware of their family member acting as a spy and chose to remain silent to continuously benefit from it. As a result, all three of them will receive life sentences.”

“No. Noooo! No, your Majesty. My son’s only crime is being my son!” The old woman screeched. She scooted forward on her knees toward the Empress but the Imperial Guard that had been hiding around like shadows suddenly appeared and suppressed her. The Imperial Decree did not stop even as the old woman screeched.

“Aaah! Nooooo! How could you be so unfair, your Majesty!”

“Murder, attempted murder, murder instigation, attempted murder instigation, terrorist attack on a member of the Imperial family, attempted terrorist attack on a member of the Imperial family.”

The blood on the ground spurted everywhere. The audience quickly stepped back.

“I did my best in my life! I worked hard for the Empire for decades to rise from a lowly position to where I am now. Duke! You say something too!”

“……”

“The sin of communicating with the royal family of an enemy nation, practically instigating a rebellion and creating chaos throughout the Empire. The sin of selling off secret information of the great Riester Empire. The sin of daring to misuse the Empress’s authority and name.”

“Your majesty! She said that I would get to live. The Imperial Princess told me so!”

She could feel her soulmate’s soul firmly supporting hers. Frédérique Riester closed her eyes for a moment before opening them back. She then proclaimed without any shaking.

“For the sins mentioned above, I hereby sentence Simon de Sarnez and Eugénie Kessié to be executed.”

“……”

“……”

Simon and Isabelle closed their eyes at the same time. It was the expected result but it was not easy for anybody. Some of the nobles and priests cried with complicated emotions.

The process of washing away stale dust and past mistakes was quite difficult. But it was only for two generations. Just as her mother had done, Frédérique had to press forward as well. She was the ruler and leader of the strongest nation on the entire continent. If she did not tell people the truth about these people’s crimes and their wrongdoings, if she did not set clear boundaries, the same sins may be repeated at any time. That was why she had to do it now. She had to do it in the hopes that the weight on her son’s shoulders would be a bit lighter in the distant future.

“Take the criminals to the imperial prison,” Élisabeth ordered her subordinates.

Kessié was wildly sobbing now. “Your Majesty! Please give me one last chance! Please give me some time to represent myself in court!”

The Empress’s gaze was completely calm. She might have blasted half of the palace away if Aurélie had not been here. The damage the Empire received today would be talked about for a very long time.

“……Everybody leave. I will see some of the witnesses again tomorrow. You guys stay.”

She motioned with her chin. The nobles and priests bowed deeply and left the audience room. The Baron’s family and others supported each other as they slowly walked out.

Once they all left, Cédric and the children cautiously gathered at the center. Frédérique spoke in a quiet voice that the little ones would not be able to hear.

“Imperial Instructor.”

“I am at your command, your Majesty.”

The mercenary in the back responded immediately, quiet enough that nobody else could hear.

“It looks like I need to send one last warning to the Holy Kingdom.”

“Who should I address it to?”

Johann asked as if he had been waiting for this. His tone was light and calm. He sounded as if the Vatican being cut off would be no issue.

“The Empire’s spy in the Royal Capital.”

She then stopped for a moment.

Frédérique looked into Aurélie’s eyes for a long while before continuing.

“Duchess Wilhelmina Sneijder.”

—
Translator’s Comments

Oh snaps???! The bastard’s house is actually spies for the Empire? WTF???!

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