“Episode 61”
“Good night. See you tomorrow.”
“[Y-Yuriana!]”
Flapping its wings, the small sparrow struggled to escape through the window bars.
However, Yuriana firmly shut the door.
* * *
On the day of the final trial, the mansion was engulfed in a solemn silence.
Like the eye of a storm, the quiet mansion gradually filled with visiting officials, Yuriana’s younger sister Iris Cavner, and men claiming to be former lovers of the duchess.
Yet, there was no emperor among them. The news of his absence just hours before the trial had spread.
Consequently, even the household servants began to speculate about the emperor.
“Why did His Majesty fail to attend? Especially after putting such pressure on the ducal family…”
“Well, why didn’t he come? Perhaps because the chances of winning were too slim. Was it rash ambition to tarnish the honor of the ducal family? Anna, what do you think?”
Meanwhile, Anna, who was busy hanging laundry and ignored their conversation, suddenly snapped.
“What do you expect me to think? Honestly, I can’t understand why the ducal family is going to such lengths for a mere trial.”
“Oh, Anna actually made a smart remark for once.”
The eldest maid, who was hanging dry laundry on the opposite side, chuckled softly.
Upon seeing Anna’s reaction, Ilaina, with a gentle tone, said,
“Oh, come on. You seem to have learned many difficult words while serving the duchess. Well done.”
Feeling pleased with Ilaina’s praise, Anna let go of her chores with a noticeably bright expression.
“The kitchen probably has cookies baked by Marlon. Let’s give the nice ones to the duchess and share the rest among us. Sounds good?”
“…Not bad.”
With a visibly brighter expression, Anna abandoned her tasks and headed to the kitchen.
The kitchen was the farthest from the laundry area, so Anna chose to take a shortcut through the garden behind the mansion, which was faster.
As she hurried through the bushes, a thorn pricked Anna’s cheek. Nevertheless, she didn’t stop and quickly picked up the magic tool she always carried to report to the duke.
A few days ago, it had miraculously survived the duchess’s magic tool inspection. The duke had attributed it to the fact that it was the least associated with dark magic among the things he had created.
Looking around anxiously, Anna entered a small thicket. Amidst the bushes, she found a small, stone-like magic tool emitting a faint glow. She muttered,
“Duke?”
[…]
Only a faint breath could be heard from beyond the magic tool.
Anna said with concern, “Is this really broken?”
[Fufufu!]
A strange laughter echoed from the other side of the magic tool.
It was a peculiar laughter. Although it sounded genuinely joyful, it didn’t seem entirely genuine.
The unfamiliar woman seemed to be laughing solely to ridicule.
“Wh-Who are you?!”
Startled, Anna threw the magic tool aside. Despite its previous appearance of being cute, the eyes of the magic tool quivered as if about to cry.
Anna swallowed her scream.
‘W-What is that!’
Then, the laughter stopped, and a voice was heard.
[Oh, Anna. Do you know how much narrative coherence I had to sacrifice to include a character like you, who doesn’t even appear in the original work? Really, I had to pay a high price to uncover someone like you. It’s really annoying.]
Frozen with fear at the cold voice, Anna stared blankly. At the same time, a white hand suddenly emerged from the discarded magic tool.
And that was just the beginning. Soon, a woman emerged from the tiny object, eyeing Anna as if she were edible food.
The woman’s gaze wasn’t that of someone looking at a fellow human.
It was a gaze filled with nothing but cold interest. Overwhelmed by that gaze, even though there was only a slight difference in height, the woman seemed towering and immense, like a mountain.
Here’s the English translation of the passage:
It had been a long time since she had seen her step-sister since the argument. Yuriana narrowed her eyes, wondering what her sister might say.
“She probably doesn’t even know. That the royal court and the temple are using her to ensnare the ducal family.”
“No, she probably doesn’t know.”
Yuriana sighed and straightened her posture to appear calm. It was to brace herself for whatever ominous words might come out of her sister’s mouth.
“……”
Meanwhile, Iris Cavner, dressed in a white dress, looked at her sister with a blank expression, furrowing her brow.
Even in this moment, seeing her calm sister, seemingly innocent of any wrongdoing, was unbearable for Iris. It filled her with a handful of anger.
“I am the accuser, Iris Cavner.”
“Very well, my lady. Please state your identity.”
Several high-ranking officials surrounding the judge leaned forward with interest, as if encouraging the young lady from the countryside who accused her own sister. It was the beginning of this incident, the moment when she accused her sister, Duchess Yuriana Oven.
Iris held her hands tightly to avoid trembling. Then, the words came out effortlessly, surprisingly firm.
“I am the second daughter of Theresa Cavner and the heiress of the Cavner estate. I had to come to Lady Yuriana Oven, my sister-in-law, to inform her of my mother’s danger.”
“So, is this the first time you’ve seen each other in a while?”
One of the high-ranking officials asked as if it were a scripted line. Iris stiffened and replied firmly.
“We had some interaction when we were young, but then contact was lost.”
“Why was that?”
“As everyone knows, Lady Oven had an unfortunate childhood. It was because of the divorce between Sir Oven and my mother, Theresa Cavner. However, my mother spent her whole life repenting for hurting Lady Oven. So she always urged me to respect my sister and try to maintain a relationship. But…”
At that, an elderly official showed interest and gestured. Iris, encouraged by the gesture, continued with a bitter smile.
“… My sister has changed over time. She became increasingly frivolous, to the extent that rumors reached my private estate. As everyone knows, recently, Lady Oven took advantage of the absence of the Duke, her husband, and hosted numerous parties, engaging in inappropriate relations with other men. My mother and I couldn’t believe it, so we sent several letters, but there was no response.”
“Can you show us those letters?”
“Yes. I will show you the ones we received.”
Iris took out a bundle of letters from her bosom.
Watching silently until then, Yuriana frowned. Some of those letters were in her step-sister’s hands because they had been partially received and partially returned.
The judge, standing on the dais, received the bundle of old letters. After examining the dates and the seal of the Cavner family on the letters, the judge said,
“The dignity of nobles must be maintained through effort. You must have suffered a lot as a family.”
The judge’s voice was quiet, as if speaking to himself.
Then, the judge behind him, Sister Yoon, smiled faintly. When Yuriana saw the smile on Yoon’s immaculate face, she felt a twist in her stomach. But she had to suppress her burning anger to find the right moment to intervene.
‘Am I supposed to save that girl? What does she know about this bird topic?’
Yuriana shook her head to erase the still echoing bird sounds from her ears.
In the meantime, as the judge examined the letters, he said,
“Long ago, Lady Ereonora only bestowed magic upon some humans. It is the origin of our imperial priests, and among that magic, she chose certain individuals to share in the divine power. That is the origin of our priests.”
The judge spoke as if laying down the law.
He seemed satisfied with his role in speaking to the nobles. With a subtle smirk, he looked pleased. After his satisfied smile, he nodded toward Sister Yoon, standing behind him.
“Today, Her Majesty informed us that she could not come due to the worsening condition of the Empress Mama. So, as the observer of this trial, the Sister came.”
At that moment, Yuriana raised her hand. The judge, now annoyed by her sudden interruption, lowered his head as if displeased.
“Lady Oven, please wait your turn. The accuser has not finished speaking yet.”
“Since you will be judging me at my estate, how can I remain silent?”
“…Lady Oven, this trial was supposed to take place in the temple. We gathered here only to accommodate you, so please calm down.”
The judge now spoke loud enough to be heard. Still, Yuriana calmly replied.
“Calm down? While my step-sister is making baseless accusations against me in court, are you asking me to calm down?”
“Hehe. The trial of purity is one of the oldest religious trials. It judges the dignity and honor chosen by Lady Ereonora among the nobles. Lady Iris Cavner, as a noble, as a member of the same family, personally requested in the temple to protect the family’s honor. If Lady Oven is found guilty…”
“Yes, it will probably lead to my noble disinheritance. But what can be decided by this crude trial? I am innocent.”
