Sentence Negotiation (1)
The bandages wrapped tightly around his wounds gradually stained red, filling the council chamber with Ashton's screams.
Even Dianne, the queen consort, frowned at the scene—not just violent, but brutally merciless, trampling his injuries without pity. The other nobles followed suit.
"Hngh... hngh... "
Eunhyeon lifted his foot from Ashton's chest, then grabbed the collar of the man sprawled on the floor and yanked him upright by force.
He leaned in close to Ashton's ear and whispered softly.
"If you're lying. You know what happens, right?"
Ashton's body shuddered, his face twisted in agony as he gasped for breath. The cold voice that had first pierced his shoulder with a javelin and mercilessly torn into the shaft during the interrogation resurfaced long-forgotten terror.
"I-I'll talk... I'll talk, so stop!"
"Get up on your knees."
"Kugh!"
Every movement reignited the piercing pain in his shoulder that anesthesia had dulled until now, flooding his entire body. But driven by survival instinct ringing alarms in his head, Ashton obeyed Eunhyeon's command without question.
"That man..."
Elenoa watched quietly, heart pounding, as Eunhyeon appeared so cruel and ruthless. It was different from the playful, teasing demeanor he'd shown her before.
Nor was it the hatred and disgust he'd displayed in his battle against the undead queen, Media.
The closest image Elenoa recalled first was from the public trial: weighing lives by value and efficiency, filled solely with cold "selflessness," utterly devoid of personal emotion.
"Even deeper than back then..."
At the public trial, he'd placed his own life on the scales yet retained a relaxed, light attitude. Now, Eunhyeon exuded something far more unsettling—a sense of confronting a "monster of pure reason," emotions entirely excised.
Riod noticed the change too.
'...He's regressed a bit.'
A twinge of worry stirred, but Riod set it aside, deciding to silently observe how this hearing would unfold.
Not just Riod—all the nobles who knew Eunhyeon from the public trial stiffened at this stark contrast to the man who'd provoked and toyed with them through rhetoric. None dared speak.
Even the Royal Guard knights who'd rushed in to subdue the intruder kept their distance, recalling his illusory feints and indescribable pressure from moments ago.
Gulp.
The oppressive aura crushed them; one knight's swallow echoed audibly nearby.
As the chaos settled into heavy silence, Eunhyeon finally spoke.
"What's your name?"
"Ashton..."
"Your family name?"
"Armitas."
"You're the one who conspired with and led Lenion Hersha's embezzlement?"
"...Yes."
The nobles, holding a tense silence, began murmuring at Ashton's ready admission.
"Was that embezzlement the 'will of the ducal house'? Or your 'personal will'?"
"...My decision alone."
"That's absurd!"
One noble slammed his table and shot to his feet upon hearing the confession. He raised a ledger from his table high and shouted.
"This ledger details how the Armitas ducal house and allied nobles have siphoned kingdom taxes over years. Naturally, it includes the duke and vice duke! He's trying to pin everything on the former vice duke to save the house—cutting off the tail! Don't be fooled!"
"Ah, that?"
Eunhyeon remained unfazed, his expression bored despite the sharp accusation waving "evidence" and calling Ashton's confession a lie.
He turned to the noble. "May I ask where you obtained that ledger?"
"Th-this... It's from a secret source. Revealing the informant could endanger them, so I can't disclose it!"
As the expected response came, Eunhyeon smirked.
"Ashton. Prove that ledger was your creation."
"Wh-what...?"
"Page 6, second line..."
As Ashton recited the page's contents—the noble's name, embezzled amounts—the presenter's face hardened. He'd confirmed with his own eyes that it matched his "evidence" perfectly.
"H-how...?"
"Because Ashton made that ledger, and he orchestrated its leak to you."
"...?"
"You trusted the informant guild too blindly."
"Kgh!"
Realizing the guild had passed them Ashton's fabricated ledger, the noble grimaced.
Eunhyeon chuckled at the frustrated face, then pulled an identical ledger from his robes and held it high, drawing every eye in the chamber.
"The real ledger is here."
"Wh-what?!"
"What do you...!"
Some nobles startled. If Eunhyeon's ledger truly listed embezzlement conspirators, their own names were surely there too.
Ashton had drawn in greedy nobles across factions, sharing blame to keep it buried. The royals used the fake—omitting their own allies—to pressure the ducal faction perfectly.
Ashton had excised royal allies deliberately, his vengeance aimed solely at Abros.
"Th-there's no proof that's the real ledger!"
"Even if its author testifies here, you won't believe it?"
"If the one we have is fake, this could be too!"
Eunhyeon gave a hollow laugh at the predictable retorts.
"That's not for you to judge. Whether this is genuine evidence is for Queen Consort Dianne to decide."
"......"
Yet he met eyes with specific nobles, smiling knowingly—not a sweep, but deliberate stares that chilled them.
'...He knows.'
The royal-allied embezzlers caught his sly grin's meaning: their involvement exposed.
"Then, I'll submit this real ledger as evidence to Her Majesty—"
"Don't move!"
As he stepped toward Dianne, two Cracir Royal Guards blocked him, hands ready on swords.
"I need to deliver this, though?"
Eunhyeon shook the ledger with a grin; the knights scowled.
"Hand it to me. I'll give it to Her Majesty myself—"
"No need."
"Your Majesty...?"
"As some say, if the presented ledger was fabricated by the former vice duke and leaked here deliberately, its credibility naturally drops. Thus, this 'real' one you offer could be fabricated too. It holds no evidentiary value. I decline."
Dianne swiftly rejected adopting Eunhyeon's ledger. If real, it listed nobles beyond factions—ducal and royal alike.
She'd planned to punish Abros's house, but implicating her own allies would dig her own grave.
Eunhyeon smiled satisfactorily, as if hearing what he wanted, and addressed her.
"So, we can take it that the Armitas duke and vice duke's names in that noble's fake ledger might be fabricated too—clearing their charges?"
"......"
Dianne gripped her fan till it nearly snapped, glaring at his repeated question.
"I... acknowledge it. But that doesn't erase the ducal house's responsibility entirely."
"Of course."
Eunhyeon nodded agreeably to her clinging words. The conspiracy shrank from the "entire Armitas ducal house" to "Ashton Armitas" personally, but his crimes as vice duke remained. The house's prestige was already tarnished by his public confession.
"What do you think?"
He turned to Abros, whose face was ashen, passing the floor.
"...Of course. Though stripped of vice duke status, he bore the ducal name in his actions. We'll bear the responsibility."
"That's what he says."
"One request to Your Majesty."
Riod rose promptly, facing Dianne.
"...Speak."
"The embezzlers of kingdom taxes aren't just the late Lenion Hersha and Ashton Armitas. Grant me investigative authority to uncover all involved nobles and punish them fittingly."
"Hm."
Most nobles nodded approval—mostly uninvolved, like Finance Minister Bernard. The few implicated paled, eyes on Dianne.
Letting tax thieves fatten themselves wouldn't benefit her long-term. She knew her royalist nobles abused her and Prince Damian's influence for personal gain.
Eventually, royal authority would crumble, threatening the kingdom. They were nobles to purge eventually—but not now, before Damian's crown prince investiture.
Yet Riod's righteous demand left no excuse; she reluctantly approved.
"...Very well. Marquis Olivion, Artia captain, arrest all involved without exception."
"Thank you."
Dianne inwardly fumed at Eunhyeon and Riod's scheme but had no choice but to sacrifice her embezzling royalists.
One consolation:
'Not few ducal nobles are tangled too, and we can strike hard at the ringleader Armitas house...'
She comforted herself that binding the Armitas ducal house succeeded. She'd aimed to demote the title and dismantle their power over the whole house's budget theft, but exposing and punishing Ashton was still a win—though unsatisfied.
'That man intruded again...!'
She ground her teeth at Eunhyeon, who wrecked her plans and twisted the flow.
"Hoo..."
After a deep breath, Dianne spoke.
"All nobles who joined the embezzlement: fined 100 platinum coins within one year from conviction."
"Your Majesty!"
"That's too harsh...!"
"What's harsh? Embezzling kingdom funds is a grave crime. You know that—a challenge to royal authority."
"That's..."
"And why react so fiercely to the punishment? Were you involved?"
"N-no!"
"Then no issue."
Unable to salvage anything, implicated nobles gnashed teeth, glaring at Eunhyeon—the culprit.
Embezzlers profited 1-5 platinum each—a fortune personally, but for dozens, it siphoned 20% of monthly royal budget steadily. Fronting low officials hid massive scope, implicating many nobles.
Now facing near-100x payback, they were livid.
'Hold it. Hold...'
Seeing their rotten faces nearly broke Eunhyeon into laughter; he clenched teeth desperately to maintain his smile.
Dianne frowned at battered Ashton.
"As Ashton Armitas, former vice duke, confessed conspiring with Lenion Hersha's embezzlement, I impose a fine on house head Abros Armitas too."
This precarious max-legal fine and timeline pressured the duchy, eroding prestige gradually. Confiscating to treasury would bankrupt them, chaining invisible noose around Abros's neck.
"Considering him the ringleader, aggravated: Armitas house pays 300 platinum within six months."
Abros clenched jaw, suppressing rage, hesitating.
300 platinum in six months. Doable with effort—quarterly duchy budget equivalent. Raise taxes, skimp maintenance.
But burden fell on ducal folk too. Abros realized Dianne's ploy: squeeze via oppression, erode loyalty, infiltrate to devour duchy alongside house.
Hoped-for path ahead was thorny. No choice; he spoke slowly.
"Wow, Your Majesty is merciless. But don't you hate the ducal house too much? Cut it a bit."
"Y-you...!"
"Such insolence!"
Many nobles gaped in shock at Eunhyeon's mocking laugh and absurd demand.