Chapter 69

“…What?”

Claire Bargrand was greatly alarmed by Karsein’s sharp remark.

Even though she had somewhat anticipated that he might scold her, she never imagined that he would cut her off so sharply before she could even bring up the main topic.

“Why? I offered to help, so why do you say it’s unnecessary? We can end this matter with a testimony in court!”

Flora asked Theo Lamstair tearfully.

In response, Karsein, as usual, stabbed her with a cold sneer.

“How can I trust you?”

“What?”

“In the Shafell Forest incident where Radies was attacked, your testimony turned me into a criminal. How can I trust you?”

Hearing this, Flora flared up and tried to shout back.

However, Karsein spoke even faster.

“You didn’t know much about Theo Lamstair at first, but now you think you understand everything, so it’s fine. You also didn’t know that Emma was such a person. Are you saying that now?”

Struck to the core, Flora shuddered.

“Don’t scheme and go back. Stupid child. With your testimony once, my fate could be completely overturned, and I’d become a criminal. That’s enough.”

“…What? You think I’m going to take Theo and Emma’s side?”

“Yeah.”

A simple affirmative response with just one syllable.

But, as always, it was a sharp reply.

Her blue eyes started to well up.

“I offered to help. You’re saying I won’t. So…”

“It’s not needed, Flora Bargrand.”

Just as her words were abruptly cut off, Flora suddenly remembered her conversation with Camila.

“If you’re trying to win over the young master’s favor, Miss Flora will never achieve what you desire.”

“What?”

“If you want to gain the young master’s favor, Miss Flora will never achieve what you desire.”

At that moment, Flora was startled.

She really did have that thought.

“I wasn’t released; I was given mercy by the young master and spared my life.”

“The sin cannot be washed away,”

“It’s a sin I must carry for life.”

“At least I received a chance for atonement because of his mercy.”

Camila said this with an expressionless face, but it felt like her words were scratching at Flora’s heart.

“What do you mean? Does this mean helping Karsein now is a mistake?”

“I apologize, but yes. The young master has already shown mercy to Miss Flora multiple times.”

“If I help, it will resolve everything! Why are you speaking like this?!”

Afterwards, Flora puffed up with anger.

“Just wait and see,”

Since this happened under her watch, she would show him she could handle it properly.

Flora showed determination to Camila and left the room.

However,

Reality was truly as Camila said.

Tears started streaming down her face.

“Why, Mary! Why don’t you trust me anymore!”

Her sobbing voice soon turned into weeping.

Wiping away her tears, Flora began to cry out loud.

“I really will, Mary. I’ll take your side this time. Theo and Emma are bad people, and I know it now!”

She shouted while wiping her tears, hoping her words might reach Karsein and change his mind.

“I’ll never do that again… I promise I won’t do anything bad to you…! So, I…”

“It’s not needed.”

Slash.

It sounded almost as cold as Karsein’s voice.

Once more,

He drew a line.

“The commoner whom the Duchess brought when she was suffering from a mental illness. Since they are not family, there’s no need to worry about them. They are uncivilized, filthy, and disgrace the noble Bargrand family.”

He drew a line, citing her social status.

No one would like the child picked up by the Bargrand family.

“They could be someone who covets another’s family. Servants and pages would be tormented by a commoner who dares to stand on the same level as a noble.”

Drawing a line based on her usual perception.

It was reasonable torment.

Such things could happen even without anyone’s instruction.

“Theo Lamstair and Emma Urnen stepped in. They moved to implement justice for a commoner who causes accidents, shouts loudly, and lies every time they open their mouth. They mobilized servants and knights.”

“What… What are you talking about…!”

Now, Flora understood.

The three lines drawn meant something.

Regardless, Karsein continued as if nothing was wrong.

“It seems you have nothing to do with this, Flora.”

Flora Bargrand had nothing to do with this case.

She had nothing to testify about in this trial.

He drew a thick line.

“That’s absurd… How could you… You know all the torment I suffered…”

As Flora reached out tearfully, Karsein responded indifferently.

“There’s no evidence.”

An old wound couldn’t prove the torment.

A single word, unremembered, couldn’t erase a person’s existence.

The pain was so numb it no longer mattered.

The victim’s unspoken confession became a huge barrier.

Finally,

Flora Bargrand had no room to intervene in this trial.

Like nothing ever happened.

“Your testimony in court will be nothing.”

Like the shadow of Karsein, which vanished without a trace in the sunset, Flora lost any chance to intervene completely.

-Tap tap.

With footsteps, everything was erased.

Flora, now disconnected from the incident, sat and cried endlessly.

Due to the thick line drawn.

When Karsein left, Camila, who had been watching the entire conversation, quietly murmured.

“That wasn’t right, Miss Flora. The words you should speak to the young master…”

────!

Flora’s crying spread.

***

“This room it is.”

Three knights appeared in Emma’s isolation cell.

With a clanking sound, the door opened, and Emma thought she was finally being freed.

“Drag her out!”

Panicked, she struggled.

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

“It’s better if you come out on your own.”

“I am the head maid of the Bargrand family! I’ve also taken care of Miss Flora! You can’t treat me like some ordinary person!”

Bluffing, the knights snorted.

“We’ll see. You’re more likely to be a criminal than a head maid.”

“What?!”

Hearing the word ‘criminal’, she tried to protest again, but seeing their uniforms, she realized they weren’t the usual ones.

‘Formal knights?! Why?!’

If Theo Lamstair had successfully expelled Karsein and sent them to rescue her, they would usually send apprentices. Even if it were a significant matter, they would send reinforcements.

But the presence of formal knights…

‘The situation must have gone wrong!’

Everything was turning upside down.

“Emma Urnen, you are being transferred to the courtroom!”

“Hurry up and move!”

“Ahh! Stop! Please stop!”

“Quickly, quickly, follow!”

“Ahhh! My hair is stuck!”

Emma, whose hair got caught on the bars, screamed.

Ignoring her, the knights dragged her like luggage to the courtroom.

Her screams continued several times.

Some were deliberate actions by the knights.

When Emma entered the courtroom, she looked disheveled.

Her hair, tangled and messy, and her tattered clothes from falling and bumping around.

Even though she had servants manage her in the isolation cell, she now looked like a criminal.

-Splat!

“Ouch! That hurts!”

The knights threw Emma aside without even pretending to listen and left.

Next to her, Theo complained.

“Head maid. Don’t just sit there. Get up quickly.”

“Theo Lamstair? You—!”

Recognizing the familiar face, Emma tried to scream.

Theo covered her mouth and forcibly stood her up.

“It hurts! Didn’t you see I just fell?”

“Come on. This isn’t the time for a quarrel. Cooperate if you don’t want to get hurt.”

“What?!”

“Let me put it simply. We need to work together to bury Karsein in this courtroom. Otherwise, we die.”

“Are you saying we’re the culprits in this trial?”

“Yes!”

“Why me! I was locked in the isolation cell!”

“That’s exactly the problem. He figured it out! He knew you were the one who issued the request!”

“Wha—!”

“Stop your nonsense and follow my advice. There’s no future for either of us if we can’t reduce our sentence!”

Just as he finished speaking, the main door opened.

People rushed in. Seeing Karsein among them, Emma’s anger flared.

But since she hadn’t taken his warning seriously, she lacked vigilance.

“The verdict will be announced by Her Highness Princess Arshien!”

“What?! Princess Arshien?!”

Realizing who was handling the verdict, she snapped out of it.

This wasn’t someone she could bribe with money.

The power of the Bargrand family had instantly become powerless with the appearance of a judge.

Emma felt a chill down her spine.

Theo’s words were true.

‘He’s finally trying to destroy the Bargrand family!’

Ever since he came, things started to fall apart for the Bargrand family.

If he wasn’t expelled, she would lose everything.

She couldn’t afford to lose the peaceful life she had enjoyed in the Bargrand family.

Moreover, she was backed into a corner. The only option left was to overturn everything with this trial and eliminate him afterward.

Still, it was a lucky break.

The trial meant she had a chance to pin the blame on Karsein.

Emma smirked at Karsein, who was looking at her with a blank expression.

However,

“From now on, we begin the trial of Karsein, who imposed excessive punishment on the family knights, and Theo Lamstair, who forcibly took the owner’s belongings, including his fiancée’s handkerchief.”

“…”

The trial started with content she knew nothing about.

-Wing.

With the activation of the Judgment Gem, the trial began.

***

When they entered the courtroom, Theo and Emma were already there.

Both looked terrible.

Theo had bruises and shoe prints visible on his body and clothes, while Emma, dragged in, had marks from the head maid’s dress and her carefully maintained appearance was severely disheveled.

Who would think these two were the Bargrand family’s knight and head maid? They looked like prisoners.

They glared at each other viciously and snickered.

‘Yeah, you’re confident about the trial, huh?’

Of course.

You’ve already beaten Karsein once.

‘But are you still confident after this?’

“The verdict will be announced by Her Highness Princess Arshien!”

When Arshien’s name was heard, Theo’s eyes flashed, and Emma jumped.

“From now on, we begin the trial of Karsein, who imposed excessive punishment on the family knights, and Theo Lamstair, who forcibly took the owner’s belongings, including his fiancée’s handkerchief.”

As Arshien settled and stated the topic, Emma started whispering frantically to Theo.

She must be asking what was happening.

Of course, she would ask.

Arshien was the Peselros Empire’s princess, so she couldn’t express dissatisfaction with the topic as she used to.

If she refuted, it would look like she doubted the princess’s qualifications.

Then, as members of the Bargrand and Teresia houses filled the seats, they started swallowing hard.

This was a risk they had never imagined.

‘But I’m not in a position to relax either.’

People started entering the courtroom. Theo Lamstair had quite a wide network.

For Karsein, who knew little about the nobility’s etiquette, observing everything was itself a form of pressure.

In the end, it was just him.

He had to prove everything alone.

To remove the disguise, he had to face the manipulative cowards fairly and knock them down.