Chapter 31: The Trial
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 31: The Trial
If anyone had asked Aiden for his thoughts on courtrooms, he would have frankly replied that he wasn’t fond of them. For a scammer by trade, that was only natural.
Stepping foot into such a place of his own free will was, therefore, highly unusual for him.
…No. Considering the raw aggression radiating from him right now, perhaps it was only to be expected.
Noel stole a glance at Aiden, who sat beside her. The moment he’d heard the Imperial Prince was here, he had rushed straight over, his usual aversion to such places completely forgotten.
To make matters worse, the trial currently underway was precisely the kind guaranteed to infuriate him. It was a proceeding to decide the fate of Sir Levant, the knight who had attacked Katya.
“…”
What truly rubbed her the wrong way was that neither the Prince nor the Administrative Minister showed any reaction, even though they had clearly seen her and Aiden arrive.
It felt as if they had known they would come.
As if they had staged this entire affair in advance.
She hated it.
“…Aiden, are you truly alright?”
Why else would she keep asking him that? It was an odd question coming from a woman who charged headfirst into enemy lines without a second thought, but anyone could see that Aiden was in a dangerous state.
“No, I’m not.”
His immediate answer only confirmed her fears.
“Pardon?”
“Just having to sit here and wait is pissing me off.”
“…”
As Noel was rendered speechless, Aiden glared at the Imperial Prince, who sat on the raised dais with his eyes closed. His gaze was heavy with condensed, simmering rage.
He has no self-control sometimes, Noel thought with an internal sigh.
Disrupting a member of the imperial family on official duty was a severe crime, which was why she had persuaded him to hold back until the trial ended. She had noticed it several times before: while he tended to brush off anything that happened to him with easygoing nonchalance, he completely lost it whenever someone he cared about was threatened.
—They’re quite similar, aren’t they? He and Theresa, despite being different genders.
—Just like her master, the Lord Protector.
“…”
Noel unconsciously clenched her hands where they rested on her lap. Though she tried her best not to let it show, the scene from last night remained stuck in her mind like a stain of pitch-black soot.
Why?
It was widely known that for a spirit to manifest in the material world, it required two things: a certain level of achievement, and a lingering, intense ‘regret’.
And Theresa, who had appeared as a ghost, had attacked her. As if that was the regret that bound her to this world. As if that was the reason she could not pass on.
—Why?
As her thoughts reached that point, she squeezed her already clenched fists until her knuckles turned bone-white. Her mind flashed back to that fateful night—to the last words Theresa had ever said to her.
—I’ll stay behind, Noel.
—You know it too. You’re going to become a much greater person than I could ever be.
—You have to… protect the people.
—Alright?
What snapped her out of her spiraling thoughts was the realization that blood was dripping from between her fingers.
“…”
Noel quietly covered her wounded palms and closed her eyes.
This is dangerous.
She had to maintain her composure, especially in front of the Prince and the Administrative Minister. Since there was no telling what Aiden might do, she at least had to remain grounded.
“—Therefore, on the aforementioned date, the defendants incited an incident near the Imperial Military Headquarters, which—”
Glancing to her side, she saw Aiden frowning at the Administrative Minister, who was speaking from the witness stand.
Honestly, Noel sympathized with Aiden’s reaction.
Administrative Minister Rad Ilja Barphon. On the surface, he looked completely harmless, but he reeked of something foul. He had the scent of a predator, a viper hiding its insidious malice.
What he said next only reinforced that impression.
“—And it seems the parties involved happen to be present in the audience today.”
As he spoke, Rad locked his eyes on Aiden and Noel in the gallery.
“…?”
Noel’s brow furrowed at how casually and effortlessly he’d pulled them into the proceedings.
“Shall we open up an interesting discussion, then?” Rad continued, his face still wearing a cheerful smile. “As those in the know are aware, an intriguing incident occurred last night, did it not?”
The moment she heard that, Noel’s expression hardened. That was certainly not a topic to be brought up so abruptly in a setting like this.
“Prior to that, the arms smuggling incident at the Imperial Capital docks—a major crime scene involving Hellfire Bombs. Then, of course, the terror attack inside the Imperial Military Headquarters, and yesterday’s appearance of the Lord Protector’s vengeful spirit…”
His fingers drifted smoothly through the air before pointing directly at her. It was an unmistakable gesture, a carefully rehearsed, theatrical trick.
—And there was undeniable malice laced within it.
“Is there not a common denominator connecting every single one of these events? It almost seems as though all these incidents erupt around a certain individual, does it not?”
In a way, she had to agree. An interesting discussion, indeed.
Looking around, she saw that the judges, the defendants, and the plaintiffs were all silent. The entire room was captivated by the Administrative Minister’s words, as if the courtroom were his personal stage.
He’s pulling a stunt this blatantly?
Noel stared at the man in utter disbelief. Now she understood why Aiden had been glaring at a man he’d never met as if he wanted to kill him. It was clear the other side had known they would come and had laid this trap specifically for them.
“…What are you trying to say, Administrative Minister?” she asked, her voice stiff and rigid.
The Administrative Minister stroked his chin and spoke slowly. “I only mean that calling it a coincidence feels a bit thin when every recent crisis seems to originate right beside you. Quite fascinating, isn’t it? It almost gives one the impression that Lionheart herself is orchestrating all this chaos in the capital. Ah, not that I am asserting that as fact, of course.”
Rad smiled subtly and added, “Not yet, at least.”
The man possessed an extraordinary talent for infuriating people.
“…In short,” Noel replied flatly, her voice carrying a sense of absurdity that surpassed anger, “you’re saying that the smuggling of weapons into the Empire, the terror attack on the Imperial Military Headquarters, and the revival of the Lord Protector’s spirit… all happened because of me?”
“I am merely saying that a reasonable suspicion exists.”
“…”
It was so utterly ridiculous she couldn’t even muster the anger to respond. It didn’t deserve the dignity of a rebuttal.
“I find this line of questioning entirely inappropriate,” she said, forcing herself to regain control. “However, an accusation only holds merit if supported by lawful testimony.”
“Ah, indeed.” The Administrative Minister snapped his fingers, as if signaling an actor to begin his scene. “Therefore, let us follow due process. Sir Levant, in the defendant’s box—who was the mastermind behind the terror attack at the Imperial Military Headquarters?”
“…I acted on Lionheart’s orders,” Sir Levant stated impassively.
The sentence dropped without warning, making everyone flinch.
“And the reason?”
“The motive was dissatisfaction with her betrothed. It was a political attack.”
The moment those words fell, the crowd erupted in shocked murmurs. Setting aside those who were in on the conspiracy, the other spectators all wore expressions of sheer disbelief. This was a statement made in a trial attended by the Prince and the Administrative Minister, spoken by a seasoned, battle-hardened knight of the Imperial Military.
No matter how absurd the claim, it could not be easily dismissed. Regardless of the truth, the news itself was a scandalous bombshell that would spread like wildfire, tarnishing her reputation in the process.
“…”
Noel gritted her teeth. The situation was painfully clear. He was taking the fall, shouldering all the blame, and in exchange, he must have negotiated for his subordinates’ safety. Sir Levant was a man who cared deeply for his men; manipulating him wouldn’t have been difficult.
It was an obvious farce, a blatant attempt to frame her. What infuriated her more was the true intent behind it. Tarnishing her image wasn’t the ultimate goal.
I’m not the real target.
Considering the Imperial Prince’s past behavior, his intentions were simple. The Prince’s target wasn’t her, but the man sitting beside her.
No matter how much attention Aiden had drawn, he was still an outsider with zero political foundation in the Empire. His actions so far had only just been enough to justify his position as her betrothed. The only reason anyone had accepted their marriage was because of Noel’s own reputation and influence—a tacit understanding that if the renowned Lionheart chose him, he couldn’t be taken lightly.
That was what they were aiming for: destroying her social standing to sever the bond between her and Aiden.
“—If you spread such groundless rumors, you will find yourselves unable to handle the fallout when the truth comes to light,” she declared, her voice cold.
The best rebuttal she could offer was a calm, adamant denial. She had never lied; all she needed to do was state the facts.
The problem was… there was one thing. One accusation she couldn’t defend against.
“But did not the spirit of the Lord Protector explicitly attack you?” Rad pressed.
“—”
In an instant, Noel felt the color drain from her face.
“Answer the question, Lionheart. Was the Lord Protector a woman who would draw her blade—even by mistake—against anyone who was not an enemy of the Empire? A savior of the nation, one who gave her life for the country without a second thought? How do you explain that?”
In every other matter, the truth was on her side. But for this, she had no answer.
The reason was simple.
She didn’t know either. She had no idea why Theresa’s spirit had done such a thing.
No… perhaps deep down, a lingering doubt whispered that what they were saying might actually be true.
“…”
That doubt delayed her response, and that brief moment of hesitation became a critical flaw. The most effective lies are woven with threads of truth.
The expressions of the people nearby began to shift. Seeing her unable to answer, they began to think the Administrative Minister’s suspicions might hold some weight after all.
Silence hung in the air, but the atmosphere had changed, falling completely under the minister’s sway.
All the recent crises in the capital are Lionheart’s fault.
Even if it couldn’t be proven, the foundation was being laid right here to make everyone suspect as much.
…This is bad.
Her face was pale as death, but that was the only thought Noel could manage. Her hesitation had completely surrendered the narrative. Many would now believe the Administrative Minister’s words, which meant an attack on the marriage itself was inevitable. She had opened the floodgates.
And that’s exactly what would have happened, if a certain man hadn’t abruptly stood up and strode into the center of the courtroom.
“I gotta say, though, I’m a little hurt.”
Every pair of eyes snapped to the man who spoke in a low, heavy voice.
“I don’t know why you’re casually leaving one person out.”
It was an impossibly relaxed voice, entirely out of place in the tension-filled courtroom—almost detached from the gravity of the situation. But anyone who truly knew the owner of that voice would have judged it differently.
“There’s one more person, you know. The so-called ‘common denominator’ you keep talking about.”
This was the sound of someone barely suppressing a rage that burned to his very core, a mask of composure hiding the fury boiling just beneath the surface.
“Because I was there at every single one of those places you mentioned. The arms smuggling, the terror attack, the vengeful spirit… all of it.”
And it was abundantly clear who that anger was directed toward.
“So, as someone who was actually there, let me say this directly.”
Not at Administrative Minister Rad, who had spouted the words… but at the person who had undeniably ordered him to do it.
“My wife isn’t that kind of person, so cut the fucking bullshit.”
He spoke the words directly to the Prince, who sat silently on the dais.
“Your Highness.”