The Crime of Offending My Feelings
A full week had already passed since I arrested that utterly vile traitor who had been plotting rebellion against the king.
And now I was attending the Royal High Court.
Enforcement Knights also serve as prosecutors.
Proving this bastard's charges and shipping him off—that was my role from start to finish.
Losing the case? Pretty much impossible.
This world doesn't have lawyers, after all.
Sensing the trial was about to begin, I took my seat at the enforcement officer's bench. The judge assigned was Duke Belmond, someone I had never seen before.
"Now then, we shall commence the trial regarding Gaston de Broua's charge of treason."
Bang!
Guess they only hit that thing once around here.
The judge brought the gavel down hard once, announcing the start of the proceedings.
"The enforcement officer's side will speak first."
"Yes. Enforcement Officer Lucian speaking. Seven days ago, at the grand banquet hall of the royal palace, Viscount Broua demeaned His Majesty the King by calling him a 'brat' and declared he would drag him down from the throne. I arrested him on charges of treason."
"Gaston, do you acknowledge this fact?"
At that, the barrel-shaped bastard shouted in protest.
"I am innocent!! That man's words have no evidence whatsoever!! The only so-called witness is the very man who ordered my arrest!"
"I acknowledge the validity of that statement. Then, Master Lucian, as the enforcement officer—do you have anything to support your claims?"
I had fully expected this.
"Yes, I do."
I drew in a deep breath and activated a secret technique from my previous life.
Wind Style: Art of the Big Mouth.
"First of all, ever since I became the kingdom's Sword Master, I have always acted for the sake of the realm. I secured advantageous outcomes in negotiations with other kingdoms, and I never missed a single small-scale border skirmish or war against the Empire—always leading us to victory."
I paused for a beat, drawing every ear in the room.
"And yet I refused gold, silver, treasure, territories, and titles. I did so in order not to fall into greed myself."
The titles and lands I actually refused because managing them sounded like a pain, and as for money—well, if I asked Charles, he'd just give me some.
Charles's money is my money. Efficient asset management, I say.
"Master Lucian's integrity is recognized. However, that is judged to have no bearing on Gaston's charges."
"As additional evidence, I submit the Broua family's account ledgers."
I had anticipated this too.
I signaled the Orange Knight who had been waiting, calling him forward.
"Viscount Broua manipulated the accounts to underreport his family's profits to the royal house. Through that, he received tax reductions from the Crown—and yet he still raised taxes on his own territory. We have confirmed that the difference went straight into Viscount Broua's personal coffers."
"I am Knight Raymond de Plan, who was assigned to search the Broua estate."
Lemon—Raymond—handed the ledgers over to the judge.
"Knight Raymond, did you harbor any personal grudge against Gaston or the Broua family?"
"None whatsoever. I merely carried out the orders I received as a knight. I swear this upon the honor of chivalry."
Ohhh, yes. That's the stuff.
In this medieval fantasy land, nothing beats that.
An oath of chivalry. An oath to the gods.
When those come out, people pretty much believe anything.
"Considering Master Lucian's integrity and Gaston de Broua's greed, the validity of the charges is acknowledged. Finally, Gaston—do you have any rebuttal?"
"I do! That commoner bastard tricked me into saying those things! He said he would make me king, that he would make our house the royal family! This is a conspiracy to egg me on and frame me for treason!!"
"Master Lucian, is that statement true?"
"In part, yes—but I need to explain."
Well, honestly, that alone already locked him in as guilty.
But Wind Style: Art of the Big Mouth wasn't finished yet.
"Seven days ago, at a social gathering hosted by the royal family, I met with the daughter of House Broua regarding a potential marriage. However, she already had someone with whom she had exchanged mutual vows of betrothal. Viscount Broua concealed this and still wished to arrange a betrothal with me."
Just thinking about that moment still made my blood boil.
"The young lady of Broua's fiancé was a knight, and I learned of this through the knight order. Sensing something deeply off about Viscount Broua selling off his own daughter for military power, I ordered that knight to search the Broua household—and conducted a leading interrogation of Viscount Broua himself to test whether he harbored any intent of rebellion."
That completed my scenario.
Gaslighting is storytelling, after all.
"Then, Master Lucian, as the enforcement officer—do you harbor personal feelings against Gaston de Broua?"
"Yes. When I learned the truth, I was furious. I could not tolerate the way he tried to freely manipulate another person's heart for the sake of his own desires. As a knight, I know that I must serve the royal house and punish evil."
I do know that. Anyway, I only spoke the truth.
I just chose the order and the content of what I delivered.
"Even with personal feelings present, the validity is acknowledged. I shall now deliver the verdict on the traitor Gaston's charge of treason."
They probably wouldn't go as far as the death penalty.
He hadn't actually carried out a rebellion—it was just words.
"The criminal Gaston was greedy, used the hearts of others, and ultimately coveted the throne and plotted treason—this is clear. The verdict: Gaston de Broua is stripped of his title and sentenced to twenty years of hard labor under royal surveillance. With this, Gaston's treason trial is concluded."
Bang!
Judge Duke Belmond brought the gavel down, announcing the end of the trial.
"Kh… Why… why me…"
Why? Because you used Iris and offended my feelings, that's why.
The first time I met Iris, I had already pictured us growing old together in my head.
Mm… Still, this is a decent enough outcome.
A former noble reduced to a slave overnight, basically.
Reasonably satisfied with the result, I left the High Court and flew off toward my estate.
For several days after that incident, I did absolutely nothing—just sprawled around being a complete bum.
"Haa… They've got to send invitations for social gatherings and whatnot before I can even decide whether to go…"
Apparently, after rejecting everything until now, nobody was inviting me anymore.
"Man, do I seriously need to start steering this myself?"
Across both my previous life and this one—over fifty years total—I had never once dated anyone.
If I was going to spend this second life as a lifelong virgin alone in an empty room, maybe it was better to lock down some young ladies who were basically guaranteed jackpot tickets in advance.
Marquis of Simon, was it? I should go see that ridiculously cute Perrone first.
When I have nothing to do, I get lazy—but the moment a goal appears, I execute immediately. That action power is my strong suit.
"Marie! I'm heading out to see Marquis Simon for a bit!"
Marie happened to be coming into the office, a letter in her hand.
"Oh? Lucian-nim, a letter arrived. From the Imperial family."
"What? Why would those guys write to me?"
"How would I know? Read it yourself."
"Nah, I'll look at it when I get back."
Anything from the Empire was unlikely to be good news.
I couldn't go meet my future wife with my mood already ruined.
"But what business do you have with the Simon Marquisate?"
"I don't want to live alone forever, so I'm going to lock down an engagement in advance."
"I thought you didn't particularly like young children?"
"True, but Masters don't age much, right? I'll marry her once she's grown."
"Won't that take far too long?"
"Then you marry me."
At that, Marie suddenly swished her skirt and spun three elegant circles while drifting away from me.
"And so he spoke, never receiving an answer from the most beautiful maid in the world, and departed alone in lonely solitude."
She muttered more weird nonsense to herself, completely ignored me, and left the office.
"She's completely lost it, I swear."
Dumbfounded, I opened the window, floated outside, pulled out a map, and set off for the Simon Marquisate.
After about an hour of flying, I arrived at the Simon Marquisate.
"Master Lucian, what brings you here? Have you finally found the heart to become engaged to Perrone?"
"At this rate I figured I was going to die alone, so…"
"Hahah! Excellent thinking. Jacques, show him to the drawing room and bring Perrone."
Marquis Simon gestured to his butler and had him call for his daughter.
I waited a short while in the drawing room, sipping apple wine, until Perrone came bouncing in with a bright smile.
"Master Ryusian!"
"Hey there, Lady Perrone."
Perrone plopped down in the seat across from me and asked with pure sunshine.
"This lady has come to marry you!"
"Mm, not quite. How about we wait until Lady Perrone grows up a bit more and becomes an adult?"
"Okay! Specially, this lady shall wait until she becomes an adult!"
I'm the one waiting, but… with a guaranteed jackpot, it's worth waiting for.
"What does Lady Perrone like?"
"This lady likes candy! And since we're getting married, this lady likes Ryusian too!"
Seriously ridiculously cute. I wish I had a daughter like this.
"Alright. Today we'll just form the betrothal, and later when Lady Perrone grows up, we'll get married."
"Okay! Then starting today, Ryusian is this lady's fiancé!"
And just like that, I locked down Perrone—who might well grow into the most beautiful girl in the entire kingdom someday.
It would still be a long while before Perrone grew up, but with the bad ending now erased from the board, I felt strangely light and free.
After how long I've been alone all this time, what's a few years of waiting?
After that, I played with Perrone for quite a while.
Before I knew it, the sky had turned the color of sunset, and it was time to head back.
"Master Lucian, you chose well with the engagement. Perrone seems quite fond of you as well, so do visit often."
"Yes. I've got nothing but free time anyway."
"By the way, how did things go with the other young ladies? Count Rohan seemed rather eager to match Emilie with you as well."
"Pardon? Haven't I already formed a betrothal with Lady Perrone?"
"Nobles don't particularly care about such things. Of course, our Perrone must be the primary wife—but beyond that, do as you please."
What?! The harem route just opened up like this?! Nobles are the best!! Marquis Simon—no, Father-in-law—banzai!!!
"Haha… Yes, of course Lady Perrone is the primary wife. I haven't considered any other candidates yet, but if any arise, I'll be sure to inform you."
Philippe de Simon, the Marquis who had unlocked the harem route, was a god—and I was invincible.
From now on, anyone who dared touch the great House of Simon would answer to me.