The next few days, the police station and Ivan worked their asses off. The assassins tried to escape several times, causing some injuries to the police officers. However, with the police watching them all day, they had no chance to escape from the temporary prison bars.
It was finally the day of the court trial. As usual, Valentin cooked breakfast and ate with Seojin. The kid had now become accustomed to this kind of routine. Noticing the old watch on Seojin's wrist, Valentin asked, "Where did you get your watch?"
"My parents gifted it to me for my birthday. It's the only thing that I was able to take with me." Seojin smiled sadly.
Since the judge had caught the criminals, the kid was less cold. It seemed like he trusted the man a bit more.
"Can I touch it?" Valentin asked.
The teenager folded his long sleeves and extended his arm. The silver watch wasn't made out of the best material, but it was carefully taken care of.
'System, can you transfer the reward to Seojin's watch? He wouldn't want a new watch that has no meaning to him,' Valentin asked the system.
[Of course!]
Seeing that nothing happened to the watch, Valentin asked the system suspiciously, 'Did it work?'
[Don't doubt the system's abilities!]
"All rise. Court is now in session."
Dressed in a black robe, Valentin sat in his seat in the front center of the courtroom.
"You may be seated," he said.
The back of the room was filled with Seojin's relatives. They all had a victory smile plastered on their faces, except for Mr. Han, Seojin's uncle, who planned the murder. The man was anxiously waiting for the court trial to start. As long as the assassins he hired kept their mouth shut, they would not be guilty.
"This is the matter of the murder of the Han couple," Valentin stated.
"Your honour, we have solid evidence that the 2 accused planned and killed the couple," Ivan started.
"My clients are innocent, and they had no reason to harm the couple," the defence attorney continued.
"According to the victim, who is the child of the couple, he saw the murderers' faces at the time of the crime. Our detective confirmed that they were stabbed to death and that the case was similar to other unsolved cases."
After the witnesses finished their duty, it was time for the opposing lawyers to ask questions to the witnesses.
It was the perfect time to activate his ability to force the truth out of others' mouths, which he received as a reward.
[You have used your reward.
Time remaining: 59:59 min. ]
Ivan walked in front of the accused and asked, "Did you kill the couple?"
Seojin's relatives held their laughter in. Who would respond honestly to that kind of question? To their horror, the two criminals said 'Yes'. The defence attorney looked at them, confused. Why did they admit to their crime?
The assassins closed their mouth, shocked. They wanted to deny it, but they ended up spilling the truth. What was going on? Even Seojin was confused; he thought that they would deny their charges until the end.
"Did you also plan to kill my client when you intruded on the judge's house?" Ivan continued.
"Yes."
"Why did you kill the couple? What is your motive?"
"Someone hired us to kill them," the accused spluttered out.
"Who is that person?" Ivan continued asking. How was everything going so well today? It was the first time in his career that the accused was this honest.
"It's Mr. Han, the second son of the Han family. He was afraid that his elder brother would threaten his position as the heir. That's why he hired us to get rid of them."
The courtroom went silent. Ivan would never have guessed that the real mastermind was someone else. If the assassins hadn't spluttered out the truth, they would never have caught the real killer.
Seojin stared at his uncle deadly. From Valentin's perspective, it didn't seem like the kid was surprised that his uncle was his parents' murderer.
"Your honour, may I ask some questions to my client's uncle? I fear that my client's safety is at risk."
"I will allow it," Valentin replied. He couldn't wait to send that uncle bastard to prison.
"Is it true that you planned to kill your brother's family?"
"Your honour, I believe that this is extending out of the main trial," the defence attorney interrupted.
"Yes, it is true. There was no way that I would share my dead father's money with someone who was kicked out of the family," the uncle spluttered out. After confessing, large beads of sweat flooded his forehead. He felt trapped in a spider web, as if someone had planned to take him down.
"Are you the only one who participated in this murder plan?"
"No, almost all my relatives were part of the plan. I used their thirst for money to help me carry out my plan. They stupidly fell into my trap," Mr. Han laughed.
A roar of curses rose in the back of the room. They couldn't believe that the man sold them out. All they ever wanted was to receive a bit more money from the deceased chairman's will.
With all the evidence in place, Valentin returns a verdict of "Guilty of first-degree murder" to the assassins and Seojin's uncle. He sentenced them to life imprisonment. As for the other relatives who participated in the plan, they were sentenced to 5 years in prison.
After the court trial ended, Valentin finally saw some light in Seojin's eyes. While heading out of the courtroom, Mr. Han held Valentin back.
"Didn't you agree to help me with this case? Why did you sentence us to prison? Don't you know how much money I gave you?" the uncle accused.
"What are you saying, Mr. Han? I can't seem to understand," Valentin said coldly. When was this trash going to let him go?
"Stop pretending!" the man yelled.
"Jeez. You admitted to your crime yourself. What do you want me to do? I have a reputation to hold on to," Valentin snickered.
"You!" Before the uncle could say more, the police officers dragged him out of the courtroom.
The fresh breeze outside cleared Valentin's head. It was finally over. He hoped that this event would lead the male lead to live a normal life again. Maybe that with all his relatives gone, Seojin won't become a killer.
The boy waited for him outside, next to his black car. For the first time since they met, the boy smiled brightly at him. His blue eyes were twinkling under the bright sun, and his pale cheeks finally had a red tint.
"Thank you, Mr. Judge!"
[Congratulations! You have sent the people who hurt the male lead to prison.
Reward: Your fame has risen! Your status has risen! More people would acknowledge you!]