Chapter 97

Chapter 97

As he watched the ensuing commotion with amusement, High Priest Resitia then turned and looked back at the woman standing across, Sally.

“Now, Miss Reed. Pay no attention to them, and from now on, answer only the questions I ask honestly.”

“…Yes, High Priest.”

“When did Miss Reed say she saw this bracelet?”

“It was when Sir Gareth came to see me with the finished emerald bracelet.”

“Oh, can you tell me why he came to you?”

“…Sir Gareth made me deliver this to the Duchess, saying, ‘I have received a bracelet from Sir Bediviel,’ since she had ordered it.”

“So?”

“So I delivered that bracelet to the Duchess and… after receiving the bracelet, the Duchess asked me to come back to her room in a few hours.”

“Wait, when did I do that?! I never did! The only time I ever saw that bracelet was at Loengram Castle!”

“Be quiet, sinner! How dare you interrupt the testimony in the sacred court!”

All of Sally’s words, as she began to testify with a trembling voice, were framing Min-ha of being the culprit who harmed Grand Duchess Blaine.

When Min-ha shouted, shaking off the strong hands of the women holding her by the shoulder, Sally, who stood at her witness stand, turned her head while the High Priest Resitia interrupted her with an angry voice.

The High Priest then turned back to Sally and asked her a question again in a cunning voice.

“So, how did Miss Reed behave after that?”

“The Duchess’s word was absolute within the Duchy of Persen, so I did as she commanded and visited her chambers a few hours later. She handed me the bracelet in a silk box and told me to give it back to Sir Gareth… and I just followed that order.”

“You mean to tell me you didn’t see that witch use any nefarious magic in the meantime?”

“…Yes. If I had seen it, I would have stopped her.”

“That’s ridiculous. When did I ever…!”

Sally finally answered, moistening her dry lips the entire time.

Everything she said was calumny. And just as Min-ha was about to open her mouth to retort, Bediviel rose roughly from behind her and glared at Sally on the witness stand with fierce eyes as he shouted.

“Your Majesty, she’s lying. All those testimonies are conspired!”

“Shut up! Sinners have no right to speak in the sacred court!”

“He’s using Sir Gareth’s inability to testify to frame me, the Duchess and Sir Gareth! D*mn it! High Priest Resitia, did you deliberately detain Sir Gareth in prison under the pretext of medical treatment!”

“What…? Sir Bediviel, is that true?”

“Where have you put Sir Gareth?! Where in the world have you taken him! Surely you didn’t beat him the same way you did me, did you?! I wouldn’t forgive you if you did that to him!”

“Such a thing! How dare a criminal threaten a witness and me in court?”

At Bediviel’s screams, Sally lowered her head nervously as High Priest Resitia scoffed at the notion as if it were ridiculous. And all of a sudden, the High Priestess then swiftly changed to a servile expression as though he had never done that before and spoke as if appealing to the Emperor.

“Your Majesty, I’ve never done such a thing. The sinner’s words are merely just the words of someone who’s trying to free himself from the guilt of doing a heinous deed to the Grand Duchess of Blaine… Sir Astell, Sir Ian. Make sure that this sinner doesn’t do anything more to disturb the courtroom.”

“Yes, High Priest.”

The next moment, High Priest Resitia gave orders to the knight guarding the gate through which the observers of the trial had entered earlier. The knights quickly rushed to the captive Bediviel’s side, binding his body more tightly to the chair he sat in to prevent him from moving at all.

“Ugh…!”

“Bediviel!”

Bediviel winced in pain at the knights’ behavior, as the wounds he’d inflicted a few days earlier while dealing with the imperial guards had opened up, and he hung his head wearily.

When she saw that, Min-ha cried out and pushed the woman who held her back.

“Your Majesty, Sir Bediviel is right! I didn’t harm Grand Duchess Blaine. I’ve never ordered that maid to fetch her bracelet, and I don’t know of any curse that harms the Grand Duchess! I saw that bracelet at a banquet in Castle Loengram, but I swear I never touched it!”

“….”

“Huek. Unk… please, believe me! If this is a lie, I’ll gladly take any punishment that comes my way. Your Majesty, please have mercy!”

Min-ha sobbed and pleaded desperately, hoping that the Emperor would listen at least a little.

At her words, the Emperor frowned and gazed at her with a troubled expression before turning to the High Priest.

“The words of your witnesses are consistent and credible. However, we couldn’t punish the Duchess only with the testimony of that maid, could we? High Priest Resitia, do you have any other evidence or witnesses?”

“Of course, there is. In the first place, the Duchess of Persen has… no, I have someone who can testify that that woman sitting there is a sinner and an otherworldly witch who dares not claim innocence to anyone!”

“…Really?”

“Yes, Your Majesty! If Your Majesty permits a witness to be present, I’ll prove here that the woman is a witch and that she harmed Grand Duchess Blaine and her two sons for nefarious purposes!”

“Good. Call them here.”

“Yes, Your Majesty… Miss Reid, you’ve done well. Your testimony has been heard here.”

“…Yes, High Priest.”

As the Emperor allowed the new witnesses to enter, High Priest Resitia smirked and glanced sideways at Min-ha before he asked Sally, who was standing on the witness stand, to leave the courtroom.

Min-ha looked at Sally, who had stepped down from the witness stand with a stern face, and the High Priest, who had an unpleasant smile painted on his face.

‘Who else is he going to call in and make them lie.’

Swallowing nervously, she stared anxiously in the direction of the door where Sally had exited a moment ago.

The door soon opened again, and this time, a woman in a white dress with very long sleeves entered the courtroom, escorted by a knight. The woman, with thick, dark green curls like the color of a deep swamp, scanned her eyes over the people in the courtroom with a relaxed gaze before walking slowly to the witness stand.

‘…I wonder who that person is.’

Min-ha watched the woman carefully with a nervous gaze.

However, as the woman strode to the witness stand, she suddenly turned to her and their gazes locked. The woman gently bent her eyes toward Min-ha, who was looking at her, as if she knew that Min-ha had been looking at her the whole time.

‘….!’

Even though she was smiling softly, her eyes were like those of a scientist about to perform an anatomical experiment. The woman stared at Min-ha for a moment, as if she were looking at a mysterious ‘creature,’ and then walked away toward the witness stand without lingering.

And when the woman took the stand, the Emperor turned to the High Priest Resitia and asked.

“Is that woman over there another witness brought by the High Priest?”

“Yes, that’s right. That woman over there is one of the nuns who lived in seclusion from society belonging to the Martia Convent of the Imperial Papacy.”

“…Reclusive nun. I’ve heard of them. It’s a position where once you’re selected and enter the monastery, you’re supposed to be cut off from the outside world and spend the rest of your life praying for God, right?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. It’s just as you said.”

“Though how could a nun with such a title come to court?”

“As Your Majesty pointed out, this would never be permitted under normal circumstances. However, the nun was the only one who could prove that the forbidden magic was used and reveal the identity of the witch in this world, so I inevitably brought her here, Your Majesty.”

“…Can that nun really prove everything the High Priest claims?”

“Of course.”

The Emperor, who stared at the nun on the witness stand with a slightly suspicious eye, eventually nodded at the High Priest’s confident answer.

“All right. I’ll allow her to testify. The Witnesses must give their names and identities under oath, not to perjury.”

“Thank you for the imperial grace, Your Majesty. Now, follow His Majesty’s orders.”

“Yes, I will.”

When the Emperor’s permission was granted, High Priestess Resitia turned to face the witness stand, where a long green-haired nun stood. As she bowed gracefully and raised one hand, like Sally had done earlier, she opened her mouth.

“I swear by God that I’ll answer truthfully and without concealment in court. My name is Morgiana, a reclusive nun from the Martia convent.”

“Sister Morgiana, will you be faithful to answer what I ask you from now on?”

“Of course.”

“Then, I’ll ask. What kind of enchantment was on this bracelet here?”

“There was a curse on the bracelet that would slowly and painfully drain the life out of whoever wore it and whose names were on it.”

“…Who exactly was that curse directed at?”

“It’s written in scripts from another world, so I didn’t recognize it at first either… Though as through the divine power, I was able to find out that the curse was directed at Grand Duchess Blaine, her two sons, and one other person.”

“Hoo… So, did you also find out who else the curse is directed at?”

“That’s right.”

“Who is that?”

The Emperor interrupted, confused by Morgiana’s testimony that the curse was directed at four people, not three.

Then, as she blinked slowly once, Morgiana replied in a calm voice.

“It is His Majesty the Emperor.”

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