"So, my liege, do you know what the current inflation rate is?" Esdeath asked, her voice calm and clear.
"What?" Augustus spat, completely confused. He had expected Esdeath to try to prove Lortell's innocence by confusing him with complex legal talk, but this question was completely off-topic and made no sense.
"Okay, I guess that was too tough for you," Esdeath said smoothly. "How about you tell me the average income of a middle-class family in the kingdom?" she asked another question. Again, Augustus just gave her a puzzled look. He had no idea what the answers were.
"I suppose that was difficult as well. How about naming three daily struggles that the common people face?" Esdeath questioned, her tone still calm. But her calm expression made everyone feel like she was openly mocking the king.
"Are you trying to insult me?" Augustus said with a deep frown. "What does any of this have to do with anything?"
Esdeath raised both hands in a gesture of surrender. "My bad, my bad! I got a little carried away!" she apologized casually. "Okay, this time I'm serious," she added, her expression turning solemn. "So, just as Cassandra said, you did not collaborate with her to place false allegations on Lortell, all so she could take the title of Arch Duke for herself?" she asked directly.
"Of course not!" Augustus replied quickly.
"Is that so..." Esdeath said, stretching out the words as she looked back toward the audience. "Well then, I would like to invite Princess Ravenna to come here and give her opinion on this matter!"
"Ravenna?" Kailith repeated slowly, her voice full of surprise. She wasn't the only one; everyone else in the courtroom was just as shocked. Ravenna stood up from her seat and, with a determined look, walked into the witness stand opposite her father.
Before anyone could recover from the sudden shock, Ravenna began to speak. "Cassandra met with my father at the palace before all of this happened," she said, her voice nervous but clear, like an innocent witness finally finding the courage to speak up. "They had a deep conversation about Lortell!"
"Ravenna!" Augustus roared, his face turning red with fury.
"Sister! How dare you go against Father!" the first prince shot to his feet, his finger pointed accusingly at her.
"How treacherous," the younger prince sneered. "What did she give you to turn your back on your own family?"
It was a statement no one had expected to hear in the courtroom. Many people felt a sudden shift, as if the one under control was not Corin, but actually Princess Ravenna. In just a moment, whispers and murmurs filled the entire room.
"Order! Order!" Maddie banged her gavel hard, then fixed her gaze on Augustus. "Did you and Cassandra have a meeting?"
"Yes, but not to plot against Lortell!" Augustus defended himself. "I already had my own suspicions about Lortell's fishy activities, but after meeting with Cassandra, I was certain that Lortell needed to be punished!"
"Hahahaha!" Esdeath burst into laughter, clutching her stomach. "You had your own suspicions?" she mocked, wiping a tear from her eye. "The same man who doesn't know a single thing about inflation, the struggles of common people, or anything else, even though he's supposed to be the king of this land?"
Esdeath had a clear purpose in asking those questions. She wanted to paint the king as an incompetent ruler who was driven by a petty, personal grudge against Lortell.
If she could do that, all of Cassandra's serious allegations would seem less like a cry for justice and more like a part of a family feud. If the accusation had come from anyone else, it might have been brushed aside, but this testimony came from Princess Ravenna herself.
Of course, her words made more sense and believable. As a princess with two older brothers, she had no claim to the throne, and there had never been a single rumor of her being at odds with her family. There was simply no logical reason for her to lie, which made her words ring with a truth that was ten times louder than the king's own.
"Don't worry, the princess isn't finished yet!" Esdeath's laughter vanished as quickly as it had appeared, her expression becoming calm and serious once more, as if the outburst never happened.
Every eye in the room snapped back to Ravenna, the air thick with suspense about what she would say next.
Ravenna swallowed hard, a fine layer of sweat beading on her forehead. She turned her head, her eyes finding Maruti.
Maruti met her gaze and gave a small, firm nod. Ravenna slightly nodded back and squeezed her eyes shut, her knuckles turning white as her grip tightened on the wooden railing of the testimony stand.
"Actually... my father is a pedophile!"
She screamed, her voice cracking under the strain. A ripple of stunned silence washed over the courtroom, leaving her words hanging in the air like poison.
"Cough... what?" Even Queen Maddie's calm persona shattered, her voice a gasp of shock.
"Ravenna..." her brothers hissed in unison, their faces contorted with rage. They clenched their fists, their minds already plotting their sister's punishment for this betrayal and of course punish by death.
But Ravenna pressed on, her voice now a fragile, trembling whisper. "Yes. After Mother died, he started looking at me with those same hungry eyes. I had to endure his lust every single day. If not for me awakening and joined academy to keep myself away from him, He might have already forced himself on me", she cried out, her voice filled with the raw pain of a cornered victim.
"God knows how many other young girls he has raped, or how many families he has destroyed to keep his secrets!" With that, Ravenna fell silent, her head hanging low as if the weight of her confession was crushing her.
"Ravenna, I raised you, and you turn out to be a whore just like your mother!" Augustus seethed, the words a venomous whisper that only those closest to him could hear. He bit his lip so hard he tasted blood, but in this moment, he couldn't dare to raise his voice. To do so would be to condemn himself further.
"See? He has nothing to say. That is the silence of a guilty man!" Esdeath declared, her voice dripping with disgust.
The accusation was so monstrous that even Cassandra was reeling, unable to tell if it was a brilliant lie or a horrifying truth.
Because in her eyes, Princess Ravenna and Esdeath had no relation, So why would she help her and go against her own family?
"He sure is a vile man, so this can be possible... I should have investigated him more thoroughly!" she thought, a cold dread creeping into her heart.
She felt like she had made a deal with the devil, and now the devil was turning on her. The entire focus of the trial had shifted completely; Lortell's alleged crimes were forgotten, replaced by the king's monstrous depravity.
"I finally said it. I finally said it all given in the script," Ravenna thought, a secret thrill running through her. "Ahh~... look at their faces. The disgust, the disappointment... it's all for me." Her eyes danced across the faces of the nobles who stared at her with revulsion.
"It's so... exciting~!" A wave of pure ecstasy washed over her, and she couldn't stop herself from rubbing her thighs together, hidden by the folds of her dress.
Although Cassandra was at a disadvantage again, she refused to give up. She had come too far to turn back now. Whether the king was a pedophile or not was a question for another time.
She began arguing with Esdeath, and the two of them went back and forth like two seasoned lawyers in a heated debate. It continued for another ten minutes until Maddie finally slammed her gavel down, the sound echoing through the silent room.
"Order! Order!" she commanded, her voice full of authority. "Since both parties no longer have any evidence or witnesses to present, it is time for this case to reach its conclusion!" The entire courtroom fell silent, every heart pounding as they awaited the final judgment.
Maddie looked directly at Cassandra. "The photos are not enough, Speciall when it did not shown lortell in any of them. Do you have any official documents that show those mines, Slaves and Properties are under her name? Anything at all?"
Thankfully, Lortell had decided to stop her shady dealings and focus on her family. To completely erase her past, she had long ago wiped out any documents that could be traced back to her. Cassandra shook her head, a single word escaping her lips. "No."
Then, Maddie turned her gaze to Esdeath. "And although I am taking Princess Ravenna's words very seriously, do you have any strong proof against King Augustus?"
Esdeath also shook her head, but said nothing. She might have actually prepared for this, perhaps even gathering documents of the king's other crimes, but unfortunately, she hadn't had enough time. Simply defending Lortell this far was a huge victory in itself.
Maddie inhaled deeply, closing her eyes for a few seconds to think. "At this point, neither party can be considered fully guilty, yet neither is fully innocent. Still, both sides demand a judgment," she spoke, her voice calm but firm. "In this case, we will revert to our ancient tradition. Augustus, you have two choices. You must choose one!"
Maddie looked calmly at the king. Augustus's face was already pale, because he knew exactly what was coming.
"First is a trial by combat," Maddie announced. "Both parties will choose a champion to fight on their behalf or they themselves. The winner will be declared innocent, and the loser will be declared guilty."
"Second is an all-out battle," she continued, her voice unwavering. "Those who support King Augustus will fight by his side, while those who support Archduchess Lortell will fight for hers. The winning side will be the new ruler, or can appoint another person to rule!"
"Of course," she added, "you may begin fighting once all the guests have left this room. Attacking us or other guest will be taken as an act of war against our kingdoms!" Maddie finally rested both of her hands on the bench in front of her, placing her chin on her palms. "I am giving you two minutes. Decide," she said.
Augustus's hands began to tremble uncontrollably. He had never imagined the situation would become so deadly. When he first heard Cassandra's plan, he thought his victory was certain.
But somehow, everything had been ruined. "I should have waited longer!" he thought to himself, his heart filled with bitter regret.
"The king should choose trial by combat. I'll fight for him!" Ethan said, gripping the hilt of his sword and preparing to walk to the king's side. But Violet and Sylvania immediately stopped him.
"No, you can't defeat her," Violet said, holding him back. "At least have some faith in the king's judgment!" Their words had weight. Trial by combat was the biggest advantage for Lortell. As an S Rank, no one in the entire kingdom was strong enough to defeat her.