episode_0069

“…What?”

Flora was greatly taken aback by Carcine’s sharp words.

She had anticipated that he would scold her to some extent, but she never thought that he would cut her off like a knife without even getting to the main point.

“Why? Why do you think you don’t need my help when I’m willing to assist? If you use me as a witness in the trial, we can easily resolve this matter!”

Flora stammered as she asked Carcine.

In response, Carcine, as usual, coldly inserted a dagger into Flora with a sneer.

“How can I trust you?”

“What?”

“I became a criminal with your testimony in the Chapel Forest Raid incident. How can I trust you?”

Flora was about to explode in anger at his words.

But Carcine’s words were one step ahead.

“You didn’t know much about Teo Ramstair at that time. Now that you know everything, it should be fine. Besides, you didn’t know Emma was such a person. Can you say that?”

Pierced by Carcine’s words, Flora trembled with uncertainty.

“Stop making a fuss and leave. You foolish child. One testimony from you is enough to turn the tide and make me a criminal.”

“What… I mean. Do you think I’m going to take Teo and Emma’s side now?”

“Oh.”

Just one syllable of affirmation.

But once again, it was a knife-like answer.

Her blue eyes began to waver.

“I said I would help. I didn’t say I wouldn’t. So…”

“It’s not necessary. Flora Vagrant.”

As Carcine sharply cut off Flora’s words once again, she suddenly remembered her conversation with Camilla.

– Since I know what the lady wants to say, may I speak frankly even if it’s off-topic?

– What?

– If you’re trying to win the lord’s favor, Flora, you’ll never achieve what you want.

At that moment, Flora flinched.

Because that was exactly what she had in mind.

– I wasn’t freed, the lord showed me mercy and spared my life.

That sin cannot be washed away.

It’s a sin that must be carried for a lifetime.

But even with that mercy, she saw it as an opportunity for atonement.

That’s what Camilla said.

She said it in a matter-of-fact tone, but for Flora, it was a cutting remark.

– What are you talking about? Are you saying that trying to help Carcine this time was a wrong move?

– I’m sorry, but yes. The lord has shown you mercy several times already.

– If I help and make sure such a thing doesn’t happen again in the future, why are you speaking like that?

After that, she expressed her anger and frustration.

Wait and see.

She wanted to show Camilla her determination to resolve the situation properly, as it was an issue that arose from her own actions.

Flora then left the room after showing Camilla her resolve.

However.

Reality was indeed as Camilla had predicted.

The tears began to flow down the walls.

“Why! You said you wouldn’t do this anymore! Why are you ignoring me!”

Flora’s hesitant voice turned into sobs.

Wiping away the tears that streamed down her face, Flora cried out.

“Really. I will take your side this time. I now know that Teo and Emma are bad people!”

She wiped away her tears and shouted.

Hoping that even a single word would reach Carcine’s heart and change his mind.

“I won’t do anything bad to you from now on! I won’t! So, I…”

“It’s not necessary.”

With a sharp sound.

As if Carcine’s voice was not that of a person, but of a cold entity.

Once again.

He drew a line.

“The commoner brought in by the mad Duchess. Not a family member, not someone to care about. How could I not despise a lowly, common, dirty man disturbing the noble Duke?”

Emphasizing their status, he drew a line.

The Duke of Vagrant and the child he luckily picked up.

He presented the argument that no one would like such a situation.

“Anyone could be a person who covets someone else’s family. My lord dares to stand on the same level as a commoner, so the maids and servants might as well torment him.”

Emphasizing his usual perception, he drew a line.

It was a justifiable torment.

A torment that could happen.

Even if no one ordered it, such things could happen.

“And then there’s Teo Ramstair. Emma Urnen took the initiative. Always causing trouble alone, making a racket, and spewing lies whenever he opens his mouth, he moved to bring justice to the commoner. Using maids and knights.”

“What… are you talking about…! What is this all about…!”

Now Flora also realized.

What the three drawn lines meant.

Nevertheless, Carcine continued as if there were no problems at all.

“You have no connection with this, right? Flora.”

Flora Vagrant, stating that she had no relation to this incident.

That she had nothing to testify in this trial.

She drew a very thick line.

“There is nothing you can testify about in the courtroom.”

As Carcine’s shadow disappeared into the burning sunset without a trace, Flora lost any opportunity to intervene completely.

– Thump, thump.

With the sound of footsteps, everything was erased.

Now, Flora, who had become a person unrelated to the incident, sat down helplessly and shed tears endlessly.

Because of the thickly drawn line.

As if nothing had happened.

As if nothing had occurred.

“The words you should say to the lord are not that. Flora.”

The sound of Flora’s crying began to spread.

***

“So this is the room.”

Three knights appeared in Emma’s solitary cell.

With a creaking sound, the door to the cell opened, and Emma, thinking she was finally being released, cheered, but…

“Drag her out!”

At the command to drag her out, she began to panic and struggle.

“What is this! How dare you treat me like this!”

“Stop the nonsense and come out.”

“I am the daughter of the Vagrant Duke! I am also Flora’s governess! How dare you knights treat someone like me in this manner!”

As she raised her voice, the knights snorted.

“You’ll understand when you see it. You’re more likely to be a criminal than a lady.”

“What… did you say?!”

Upon hearing the word “criminal,” she tried to argue again, but looking at their attire, she realized that they were not who she thought they were.

“Are these… official knights? Why?!”

If Teo Ramstair had successfully expelled Carcine and sent them to rescue her, it would have been the apprentices who came. Even if it was an important matter, they would have sent the squires.

But the fact that official knights had come…

‘Things… have gone wrong, haven’t they?!’

It meant that everything had been twisted.

“Emma Urnen. You are being transferred to the courtroom!”

“Hurry up and move!”

“Ack! Stop, stop!”

“Quickly, follow us!”

“Aaah! My hair is caught!”

As Emma, whose hair was caught in the bars, screamed, the room was filled with chaos.

The knights, indifferent to Emma’s protests, dragged her like a sack of potatoes to the courtroom.

The screams continued a few more times.

To some extent, the screams were caused by the intentional actions of the knights.

Emma’s appearance as she entered the courtroom was pitiful.

Her hair disheveled and tangled, her clothes torn and dirty from falling and colliding everywhere.

Even in the isolation cell, she had treated the maids as if they were prey, and her current appearance was no different from that of a criminal.

– Thud!

“Ouch! That hurts!”

The knights, who almost tripped Emma, ignored her cries and walked away without a word.

Sitting right next to Emma, Theo frowned.

“Miss Emma, stop acting like that and get up quickly.”

“Theo Ramstair? You…!”

As Emma was about to shout at the familiar face, Theo covered her mouth and forcibly lifted her up.

“It hurts! Didn’t you see me fall just now?”

“Hey, don’t start a fight with me now. If you don’t want trouble, cooperate.”

“What…?!”

“Let me make it simple. We need to work together to bury Karsein completely in this trial. Otherwise, we’re dead.”

“Wait, are we being framed as the criminals in this trial?”

“Yes!”

“Why me? I was just locked up in a cell!”

“That’s the point. Somehow, he knew that you had ordered the commission!”

“What…!”

“Stop the nonsense and follow my lead. If we can’t reduce the sentence in this trial, there’s no future for you or me!”

After conveying the hopeless situation, the main gate opened.

People poured in, and among them was Karsein. Emma raised her chin defiantly when she saw him.

But she had not fully grasped the gravity of the situation yet.

– “Princess Arsien is entering the courtroom to deliver the verdict!”

“What, Princess Arsien?!”

Upon hearing the name of the person who would be deciding the verdict, Emma’s mind raced.

She was not someone who could be easily bought off.

The power of the nobleman was quickly neutralized by the appearance of the judge.

Emma’s spine chilled.

Theo’s words were true.

‘This bastard is trying to bring down the nobleman!’

The chaos began as soon as that bastard entered, causing the nobleman to falter.

Thanks to him, her plans had gone awry more than once.

If they couldn’t drive Karsein away, they would lose everything.

She couldn’t afford to lose the peaceful life she had built in the nobleman’s house.

And the fire was already burning on her heels. There was only one way left.

After overturning everything with this verdict, they had to eliminate him.

But it was still a relief.

The fact that the trial was happening meant that it was an opportunity to prove innocence and expose Karsein.

Emma looked at Karsein, who was staring at her expressionlessly, and smirked as if to mock him.

But…

“Now, we will proceed with the trial of Karsein, who has been excessively punished towards the knights of the house and the fiancée’s handkerchief, as well as Theo Ramstair, who has freely confiscated the owner’s belongings.”

“…?”

As the trial began with completely unknown accusations, Emma’s composure vanished instantly.

– Ding.

The trial began with the sound of the courtroom bell.

Upon entering the courtroom, Theo and Emma were already there.

Both of them looked worse for wear.

Theo seemed to have been beaten up, with bruises visible on his body or shoe marks not covered by his clothes, and Emma’s appearance was greatly disheveled, with traces of being dragged along the lady’s clothes and her appearance that she had maintained even in the isolation cell.

Who would think that they were the knights of Bagrandt and the lady of the house? They were nothing but prisoners.

They glared at each other as if they wanted to kill each other or laughed.

‘Yes. You have confidence in the trial, don’t you?’

That’s right.

You’ve already defeated Karsein once.

‘But are you really confident?’

– “The oath of truth is to be sworn before the trial begins. Both parties must swear not to utter a single lie in their statements.”

“We swear.”

Not long after, Arsien announced the trial, and the trial finally began.

▶The trial has begun!◀

▶If the goal achievement rate is not met, you will return to the nobleman’s house and lose!◀

[ Goal Achievement Rate: 100% ]

Returning meant death.

Failure meant death, in other words.

It was nothing but a penalty with death as the consequence.

“May I present my argument first, Your Highness?”

“Hmm?”

“I am not here to refute the retrial issue. However, since my argument may be overshadowed if attention is drawn to this issue, I have the right to express my opinion before the deliberation.”

“Is that so? What do you think?”

Arsien looked at me and asked.

Giving the first opportunity to speak meant having the initiative to influence the atmosphere. Was it okay to give that advantage? That was the question.

But that was a one-dimensional thought.

It was much better for the side refuting the argument to draw out the opponent’s weaknesses.

“I have no objections.”

“Oh, I see.”

Arsien announced the trial.

“First, Karsein trainees received too much during their training period. Although it may have been excessive, the situation was suspicious of misconduct from the beginning. This suspicion was created by the individual himself. Therefore, we had to conduct a stricter inspection.”

Theo Ramstair presented the evidence he had submitted.

My pouch. And my bag that I had brought when I entered the academy.

He opened the bag and took out some items.

“This inspection was conducted during this process. Look. Don’t you see things like this coming out? The inspection can be considered a fair act for a fair judgment.”

The audience murmured in agreement.

“Indeed, that makes sense. Since they received support from Bagrandt, they certainly received more than other knights.”

“Training means teaching. If you receive so much, you won’t develop calluses and hardened skin.”

“Training with blood and torn skin in that state…”

– Ding!

A choice appeared.

Here, we had to appease the opinions of the audience.

Since all conditions had been met, there was no disadvantage or dead end.

Still, if I had to choose.

‘This opinion seems the best.’

[ 2. I received the same intensity of training as the knights from the beginning─ ]

– Whoa.

‘Why did the choice suddenly disappear?’

Thud!

At that moment, with a loud noise, a woman’s voice echoed throughout the room.

“What do you all think you know?”

Under her pink hair, a heavily distorted face stood out.

It was Claire.