This Body Appears!
The day of the trial had arrived.
I’m not sure this will work.
I had prepared the materials with painstaking care and received plenty of advice from Katrina.
She had told me the timing was perfect.
With Katrina’s influence now stronger than ever, the professors would be watching her reactions just as closely as the prince’s.
What I was counting on most was Isana’s reputation. Unlike me, whose name had been dragged through the mud, Isana was one of the students the professors actually favored.
She attended classes diligently and never flaunted her status as a duke’s daughter. She showed impeccable manners to everyone—except commoners, of course.
A trial wasn’t supposed to involve personal feelings, but humans aren’t machines. We can’t always stick strictly to principles. Katrina had pointed that out specifically.
Instead of attacking with pure logic, she told me to dig into their emotional weaknesses. I followed her advice and came up with one method.
I would play the villain in this trial.
Isana called me Darling and obeyed me, but that fact wasn’t known to the public. On the contrary, most people at the academy believed our relationship was hostile. In truth, they weren’t entirely wrong.
After all, Isana had constantly denounced me as a filthy commoner.
Who would have thought that would come in handy like this?
The scenario wrote itself: a resentful commoner who had always been looked down on by the arrogant noble lady. The moment he learned she could fall to his level, he approached her, half-threatening, half-coercing, and turned her into his slave.
I would play the male lead in that story—a piece of trash who had hidden the blade of revenge and seized the opportunity the instant it appeared.
“Your role is crucial.”
“I practiced enough… I’ll be fine, Darling.”
Isana nodded with a solemn expression.
“You even praised my acting, remember?”
She had to portray several emotional layers at once.
The humiliation of becoming my slave. The desperate will to survive despite it.
Both had to come through clearly for the performance to land.
“Yeah. With your skill, it should be more than possible.”
We had rehearsed together several times, and her acting was genuinely professional. It wasn’t focused on a single emotion but layered multiple feelings simultaneously—the most notoriously difficult kind of acting. She performed it flawlessly.
Her skill was proven. All that remained was to deliver in the real thing.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
Isana and I changed our expressions at the same time. I adopted the slightly greasy, arrogant demeanor of a commoner. She shrank her shoulders and began trembling like a broken slave.
“Tsk.”
The staff member sent to escort us to the courtroom frowned as he looked me up and down.
“This way.”
The sharp click of heels echoed through the quiet corridor.
“You may enter.”
With a heavy creak, the large doors opened. The solemn atmosphere inside pressed down on me like a physical weight.
I walked forward with my head held high. The stares that pierced me were razor-sharp.
Strangely, I—the one who had come to defend the defendant—was being treated as more of an outsider than Isana herself. That was a good sign.
It meant her act of trembling in terror even before the trial began had already worked. I sat at the defense bench and let out a slow breath.
After steadying myself, I scanned the room. Seven judge seats dominated the center of the courtroom.
The dean sat in the middle, flanked on both sides by rows of professors.
To the far left of the judges’ platform was a separate observation area. There sat Katrina, chin resting on her hand as she watched me with relaxed interest, and Calian, who glared at Isana with pure murderous intent.
The prince is more hostile than I expected.
Did he really hate Isana that much? I bit my lip at the unexpected variable—then noticed Seah greeting me with her eyes.
She should have been excluded from the official list on the grounds that she was my teacher, but the dean had somehow forced her inclusion. A few professors might question it, but the true focus of this trial was Isana. In the end, they would have no choice but to set minor issues aside and concentrate on her.
“We shall now begin the trial concerning the treason of the Sivtant family and the related charges of treason against Isana Sivtant.”
The dean opened the proceedings in an unusually formal tone.
“First, the defendant Isana Sivtant stands accused of treason. Based on the evidence submitted by the prosecution, it has been confirmed that while enrolled at the academy, the defendant had contact with Valterion Sivtant and exchanged correspondence with the rebel commander, Roberun. Is this correct?”
Of course it was nonsense. Why would Isana ever contact the family head?
The documents were fabricated. The prosecutor himself had been sent by the princess’s faction.
This whole thing was essentially scripted WWE. The prosecution would present fake evidence, I would tear it apart head-on to seize momentum, and in the process, I would convey Isana’s emotional state. That was the real point of this trial.
“No. The materials provided by the prosecution contain obvious errors.”
I pulled out my prepared documents.
“On the day the prosecution claims contact occurred with Valterion Sivtant, the defendant was attending a club dinner with her fellow members.”
I exhaled, then deliberately turned my gaze toward Isana so everyone could see.
I looked at her with eyes full of lust, as if promising that the moment the trial ended, I would use her without mercy.
Then I smoothed my expression again and produced additional documents.
“Furthermore, the handwriting in the letters differs from the defendant’s.”
I had refuted the prosecution’s claims point by point, but there were still plenty of holes. A club dinner didn’t make contact impossible, and handwriting could be faked.
The prosecutor immediately pounced on those weaknesses and attacked my evidence.
That’s exactly why I brought a witness.
I had called a student who normally got along well with Isana to testify.
“I-Isana was with me from that morning. She mentioned the dinner that night, so I walked her over and came back.”
The witness stammered as she gave her testimony. This wasn’t acting—she genuinely believed Isana was in danger and had stepped forward to help.
Good thing I have at least one solid friend.
There was a reason her reputation was so good.
“There was no time for her to meet anyone else. I can swear to that!”
After finishing, the witness glanced around nervously and sat down. Now it was my turn.
“That’s correct. Handwriting can certainly be altered. However—”
I produced a magic tool shaped like the lie detectors I remembered from Earth.
“Unique magic wavelengths cannot be changed. By analyzing the magic wavelength of the letters and comparing it to the defendant’s, we can determine whether they belong to the same person.”
Isana hiccuped and stepped up to the device. She kept sneaking fearful glances at me before flinching and placing her hand on it.
The judges’ expressions grew sharp. From this point on, they would focus less on the documents and more on the relationship between Isana and me.
“The results are in. The defendant’s magic wavelength does not match that of the letters.”
I spoke calmly and put the tool away. Even though I had completely dismantled the prosecution’s evidence, Isana looked resentful, fighting back tears.
She scratched at the defendant’s table with her nails, body trembling. When she caught my eye, her face went deathly white.
“Ah… M-Master… please… spare me…”
Isana muttered to herself incoherently, forgetting she was even in a trial.
“The defendant will maintain proper decorum,” the dean interjected, having caught onto the act. One corner of his mouth lifted in what looked like approval.
Please spare me.
Every professor except the dean and Seah stared at me with open disgust. My image was completely ruined—but that was exactly what I wanted.
Even if the trial went smoothly, the fundamental question would remain unanswered. Isana was the daughter of a treasonous house. Awkward as it was to say, the moment her family rebelled, her very existence became a crime.
I was putting on this ridiculous, over-the-top performance to divert everyone’s attention from that uncomfortable truth.
I was preparing my next argument when Katrina mouthed those words to me.
Honestly, Isana seems to be doing better than I am.
Her acting felt far too real—more intense than it had been during rehearsal. It was so convincing that even I felt an unwelcome pang of guilt.
Very good.
The trial continued to flow smoothly. We kept up our intense back-and-forth like a perfectly choreographed match. Isana continued her performance, deliberately stirring the professors’ sympathy.
We were almost there. Once the judges rendered their verdict, it would all be over.
That was when it happened.
“What exactly do you people think you’re doing!”
The prince, who had been quietly observing, suddenly stepped forward.
“I fail to see the meaning of this trial! Even if the defense is flawless, does that erase Isana Sivtant’s crimes?”
Despite the public setting, the prince continued speaking down to everyone.
“To think that so-called professors could be swayed so pathetically… I am truly disappointed!”
Huh?
That was going too far. Prince or not, this was a formal public proceeding. He was supposed to show proper etiquette.
“Don’t you all agree!”
The prince shot up from his seat in the observation area.
“Say something!”
His voice grew louder and louder. Something was clearly wrong.
Even if the prince was an idiot, he wasn’t usually this stupid.
“Calian, sit down.”
“Shut your mouth! What would a bitch like you know!”
The prince was practically screaming now. This was definitely abnormal.
It reminded me of the rebels who had been manipulated by the World’s Will.
Shit timing.
The mood had been perfect. Now, whether he was being controlled or not, the prince had thrown everything off course.
The professors looked confused by his behavior, but they had clearly snapped out of their emotional immersion. They were now staring at Isana with complicated expressions.
If things continued like this, we would lose the trial.
Damn it.
I had to come up with something. I was racking my brain when—
BANG!
The doors exploded into splinters as someone strode inside.
“I told you to come find me if you were lonely, yet all you’ve done is surround yourself with women.”
The woman took another step forward.
“Having two heavenly masters wasn’t enough for you?”
The scabbard at her waist swayed with each movement.
“And now you’ve even started dabbling in magic?”
She looked straight at me and frowned.
“Who the hell are you!” the prince shouted, completely losing his composure.
“I am the master of that unworthy disciple. What do they call me out in the world again? Sword Demon, was it? Something like that. I’m not entirely sure, but anyway—it’s like this.”
She pointed at herself with a raised thumb and flashed a bright grin.