When everyone arrived at the gate, they quickly saw Aurora hanging there like a dead dog. But now, she no longer had her once dazzling appearance. Her face was bruised and swollen, her clothes torn and ragged, and she seemed to have long since lost consciousness — utterly pitiful.
Around Aurora, however, a crowd of townsfolk had already gathered, seemingly in the middle of a heated argument about her.
"What's going on? What happened? What are they arguing about?"
Seeing this scene, Noknare frowned and called over a soldier who was maintaining order nearby to ask about the cause of the quarrel.
When the soldier saw Noknare arrive, it was as if he had been granted amnesty. He immediately told Noknare and the women accompanying her everything from start to finish.
"This… Lord Noknare, although we don't know why the Chief of the Wind Clan appeared here tied up like this, without your orders, we didn't dare to take her down directly…
"But many passersby believe that, no matter what, Aurora is still a clan leader. Even as a prisoner, she shouldn't be treated like this — it's far too undignified and makes us northern fairies seem crude and ill-mannered. At the very least, she should be untied and treated with courtesy… However, others believe that since you hung her here, you must have your reasons."
"I see…" Noknare mused. She then looked toward the people still arguing — and because she and her companions had arrived without much fanfare, the fairies hadn't noticed her yet and were still debating.
"You lot, it's obvious that hanging the Wind Clan leader here was Lord Noknare's decision. Since that's the case, she must have her own reasons. Who are you to criticize?"
"Even if the northern fairies and the Wind Clan are still at war, Aurora is still a leader. How can we humiliate her like this?"
"That's right! And Aurora has always treated everyone — human or fairy — with kindness and equality. Such a beautiful and respectable woman shouldn't be treated so rudely! If Lord Noknare is this vulgar, then she's not worthy of our loyalty—"
"Oh? Is that so? You're loyal to me?"
Glancing at the dissenting fairies, Noknare noticed that most of the ringleaders were Wind Clan fairies. She shook her head and suddenly spoke:
"You in front — your name is George, right? If I'm not mistaken, didn't you and your brothers claim that Aurora persecuted you and drove you out of Salisbury? And now you're defending her? Forgot your own backstory?"
"I already knew that among the fairies flooding into Edinburgh from all directions, there were many with ulterior motives… But I didn't expect you to drop the act entirely and jump out like this."
"L-Lord Noknare…"
Seeing her suddenly appear and expose his identity right away, the fairy named George was instantly flustered. The excuses he had prepared became useless, and he could only stiffen his neck and say:
"E-Even so, Lord Noknare, Lady Aurora has long enjoyed a reputation for kindness. She never turned away any fairy who came to Salisbury, and she adopted many human orphans. She is renowned for her charity. To abuse her like this — isn't that going too far?"
But before Noknare could respond, a package suddenly dropped from the sky, landing right in front of her. Startled, she looked up to see a blue meteor streak across the sky.
Before Noknare could order a soldier to retrieve it, Artoria had already curiously stepped forward and quickly opened the package. The moment she saw what was inside, she froze.
"Hey, what's in the package?"
Bavinci, who hadn't managed to open it first, asked curiously.
"These… let me see — there's a handwritten letter from Aurora, reports from the orphanage, secret correspondence to the Glasgow prison guards… All of these seem to be records of Aurora's crimes!"
Artoria was astonished.
"There's so much in here… secretly commanding rebel forces to raid villages, ordering assassins to eliminate rivals, bribing Glasgow prison guards to massacre the Mirror Clan, even instructing her subordinates to 'dispose of' all the humans in the orphanage who had no value… Good grief, she was born this rotten?"
Even with just a quick skim of the numerous letters and documents, she was shocked by the sheer number of atrocities.
"T-That… how can you slander Lady Aurora like this?"
Seeing the crowd of Aurora's supporters still trying to argue, Artoria glanced at them and suddenly said:
"There's even evidence here that Aurora persecuted Wind Clan fairies — just because they happened to see her in an unflattering state. Honestly, seeing her like this now, she's probably already put you all on her grudge list. If she ever escapes, she'd turn you into caterpillars and crush you underfoot."
"This one here is apparently a Wind Clan fairy who was turned into a caterpillar — still has traces of Aurora's magic on it. Want to take a look?"
With that, Artoria rummaged through the package and tossed a dead caterpillar at the group of Wind Clan fairies. They shrieked and stumbled backward, unable to say another word.
"What a bunch of fools — you don't even know what kind of fairy you're serving?" Noknare, finding it all rather dull, waved her hand. "Guards, take these traitors away and hold them for sentencing."
"She planned this thoroughly… This time, she didn't just hand over Aurora, but also gave us the righteous cause to act against her."
A familiar voice suddenly came from behind. Noknare paused and turned to see Guinevere standing there without her noticing.
"This time… we really can't refuse to accept the favor."
Looking at Aurora, still hanging unconscious on the gate, Guinevere shook her head.