The Decisive Evidence
Cecilia stared down at the note. She stayed silent for a long time.
“...Senior. No one has ever used this in court before, right?”
“Probably not.”
“So you’d be the first one making the argument.”
“It looks that way. Which is why you can’t toss it out carelessly. The judge will be hearing this logic for the first time too.”
“Then isn’t it dangerous?”
“It is. No precedent means you have to persuade the judge from square one.”
I tapped the end of the notebook with my pen.
“But no precedent also means the other side probably hasn’t prepared any defense against it.”
Cecilia let out the smallest sigh.
“...Senior, you really are crazy.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Yes. It is.”
“Then thank you.”
Cecilia tapped the letters in the notebook with her fingertip.
“But just because they gave away a family heirloom doesn’t mean it automatically counts as a knighting.”
“Exactly. That’s the most important part.”
“They could just claim it was a loan. That they left it with him for a little while, something like that.”
“The other side will lead with that first.”
“Then what do we do?”
“We break that defense.”
I pulled out a blank sheet of paper.
“The difference between a loan and a formal knighting can be divided into four categories.”
“Four?”
“It looks complicated, but it’s manageable if you take them one at a time.”
1. Purpose
A loan has a limited objective—use it for a duel, store it, carry it only for the duration of a ceremony.
A knighting grants status, not temporary possession. It is not lending the sword; it is granting the right to bear it.
2. Duration
A loan has a clear return date—by tonight, within three days, until the event ends.
A knighting has no return date. Once made a knight, the person continues to carry the sword and the family name.
3. Control
In a loan, the original owner retains control—do not use it here, do not show it to that person, do not trade on the family name.
A knighting does the opposite: it permits the use of the family name.
4. Form
A simple handover can be argued as a loan—token of affection, drunk joke, momentary favor. Plenty of escape routes.
A formal knighting changes everything: kneeling, receiving the sword, tapping the shoulders, declaring the appointment by name. After that, claiming it was a casual loan becomes nearly impossible.
Cecilia’s pen stopped.
“...Ah, that part is clearly different.”
I set the pen down.
“That’s why my argument isn’t complete yet.”
“Why?”
“If all we have is circumstantial evidence that a family heirloom ended up in an outsider’s hands, it’s not enough.”
“The other side will say it was lent. They might even call it an expression of affection or a drunken prank.”
“Then we can’t charge them with treason?”
“Not in this state.”
“Not at all?”
“If we force the treason charge and it falls through, the rest of our claims will look weaker. We have to avoid that.”
Cecilia’s expression hardened slightly.
“Then what else do we need?”
“We need evidence.”
“What kind?”
“Proof that they didn’t just hand over the heirloom—they exercised the authority of the family head.”
“In other words.”
I spoke concisely.
“Evidence that a knighting took place.”
Cecilia stared at me for a long time. The skin under her eyes looked exhausted. She clearly hadn’t slept properly for days. It must have been from worrying about her brothers.
“...Senior. What if that evidence exists?”
“Then we can charge them with treason.”
Cecilia looked down at her bag. Her hand hesitated for a moment. Then she took out a small box. It was no larger than her palm. Inside was a video orb.
“A video orb. How did you get this?”
“I’ll tell you later.”
“Since when do lawyers keep secrets from their clients?”
“You said it yourself before, Senior. A client doesn’t have to tell their lawyer everything.”
“...True. You’re right about that.”
Cecilia placed the orb on the desk. A blue light swirled across its surface.
“It was recorded at Pearl Mansion. I only kept the important parts.”
“Who recorded it?”
“One of our family’s servants. He was very loyal to my brothers.”
“...Must have been hard for him.”
“Yes. It really was.”
“You’ve been through a lot too.”
Cecilia paused for a moment.
“...Senior. The first time I watched this, my hands wouldn’t stop shaking.”
“That’s understandable.”
“I wasn’t okay.”
“You don’t have to pretend you were. It’s normal not to be okay with something like this. But we still have to watch it. We’ve come this far.”
“...Yes. Let’s watch.”
I placed my hand on the video orb. The magic circle glowed.
Cecilia held her breath. I said nothing.
I paused the video for a moment. Cecilia kept her mouth shut.
“How should we interpret this?”
“Leakage of an heirloom.”
“What about treason?”
“Not yet. Since it’s an imperial gift, it’s still dangerous. But this alone can be called a loan. They could claim it was just bragging.”
“So it’s not enough for treason.”
“It falls short for treason. But it’s more than enough for divorce and damages.”
“...Understood. Keep going.”
The video was short. It ended there. Cecilia looked at me.
“And this?”
“Circumstantial evidence of impersonating the family.”
“Still not enough for treason?”
“The words are too light. They’ll say it was a joke. That the mood was playful at the drinking party. To us it looks filthy, but a court doesn’t move on filth alone.”
“What does a court move on?”
“It moves on formalities.”
I looked at the video orb.
“And on authority.”
The office fell silent. You could almost hear the tea going cold. Cecilia stared at the video orb for a long time.
“Did my third sister-in-law just… perform a knighting?”
“Yes. She did. She followed the formal procedure exactly.”
Cecilia sank back into her chair. Her face was pale, but her eyes remained steady.
“Then we can charge them with treason now, right?”
The blue light still lingered on the surface of the orb. The evidence was clear.
“If we raid the scene now, we can include it.”
“It’s confirmed?”
“We can treat it as confirmed. This wasn’t a loan.”
I opened the notebook again.
“If it were a loan, there would be no kneeling and no invocation of the family name.”
“And if it were a loan—”
I wrote it down.
The recipient would have no reason to act as a knight of the family.
“This wasn’t just an object changing hands. Status was transferred.”
“My third sister-in-law exercised the authority of the family head without my father’s consent. She used the authority the emperor entrusted to the head of the house however she pleased.”
“Correct. That is an infringement on imperial power and an act of treason.”
Cecilia bit her lip hard.
“...This actually makes sense. I only thought of it as evidence of infidelity. I thought it would be enough to prove my brothers’ innocence during the divorce. That was all.”
“Even that was well done. Not just anyone could have gotten this far.”
“But you saw this footage and immediately recognized the treason charge.”
“Not immediately.”
“It was immediate.”
“Before watching the video I called it a theory. The moment I saw that scene, I called it confirmed.”
“Because the evidence matched the theory perfectly.”
“The fact that you could see the match instantly is what’s impressive.”
“Impressive?”
“Yes. In a good way.”
“Then I’ll accept it happily.”
Cecilia smiled faintly. It was closer to a breath than a laugh—the sound of a tired person briefly coming back to life.
“You really are amazing.”
“You’re generous with the compliments today.”
“I’ve had too many worries lately. That my brothers might collapse. That our family would become a laughingstock. That my sisters-in-law would all escape. That the imperial family would find it annoying and just cover it up.”
“But when you speak like this, Senior, for the first time I really think we might win.”
I took a sip of tea. It had gone cold.
“Cecilia. It’s not that we might win.”
“I will make us win. The order is just important.”
“What order?”
“Divorce first.”
1. Divorce Claim
2. Return of Heirlooms and Damages
3. Defamation of Honor and Impersonation of Status
4. Treason Indictment
“Why is treason last?”
“If you scream treason from the start, it looks suspicious.”
“...That makes sense.”
“The other side, the judge, even the imperial family will immediately go on the defensive. But if we establish the grounds for divorce, lay out the leakage of the heirlooms, prove the impersonation of a knight, and only then present the video of the investiture ceremony—”
“...”
“At that point, it stops being a stretch and becomes the natural order of things.”
Cecilia stared at me blankly.
“Senior. That sounded pretty cool just now.”
“I thought so too, honestly.”
“Wow. You’re really insufferable.”
“You still laughed, though.”
This time Cecilia laughed a little more properly.
“Then this orb is the most important piece. We absolutely cannot lose it.”
“We cannot.”
“We should make copies, right?”
“Let’s make three.”
“Three?”
“One for the court, one for the imperial family, and one we keep hidden.”
“Where will we hide it?”
“I’ll find a place.”
Cecilia nodded. A strange light had entered her eyes—the look a client gives when they begin to truly trust their lawyer for the first time.
I closed the notebook.
“Cecilia. This is an unprecedented argument.”
“I know.”
“So we have to be even more careful.”
“Yes. I will.”
“Just because there’s no precedent doesn’t mean it’s wrong.”
“...”
“Every precedent began as someone’s argument once.”
“This time, that someone is you, Senior.”
“Yes.”
I set down the cold tea.
“This time, I’ll be the one to do it.”