The Dead Villainess Had A Child With The Male Lead

Chapter 98 Witnesses

“His Highness was recognisable by his expression, his laugh, the way he walked and the sounds he made.”

The faces of those in the hall were filled with doubt. Veronia’s face was the same, as she didn’t know the details of Julia and Caspian’s relationship.

‘Julia had a crush on Caspian? They were partners, attending parties together?’

‘How did they end up as the victim and perpetrator of a violent incident? It wasn’t easy to understand.’

“The day before the incident, I confessed my feelings to the Prince, but he was angry with me, saying that I was not worthy of him.”

Eventually, uncontrollable tears rolled down Julia’s cheeks. But she wiped them away as if it were no big deal and continued.

“And then the next day, the incident happened, and I was victimized for liking a man who wasn’t right for me, for confessing without knowing my subject.”

Immediately, the room erupted into an uproar. There were sighs and groans. Some people expressed outrage with exclamations like “Oh my God!”, “Oh my God!”, and “How could anyone do that?”.

Hot tears soaked Julia’s soft cheeks and her voice trembled in a raspy mess, but she didn’t stop testifying.

“The hardest thing of all is the memory of that day. No matter how hard I try to forget, it doesn’t come easy, and it still hurts to remember how helpless I was, unable to do anything in the face of such ruthless violence.”

Suddenly, there were sobs here and there. Tears were being shed by those who sympathized with Julia’s pain.

“There was no investigation, no punishment, no one was hit and no one was punished, and my parents, who at first cried and were outraged with me, turned a blind eye and a deaf ear.”

Tears began to well up in the corners of Veronia’s eyes. She thought how brave and admirable Julia was to endure such a painful time alone.

“For years, I chose silence. I thought there was no one who would listen to me, that my voice was insignificant compared to the imperial voice.”

Julia was no longer crying. Her eyes, dried, were shining brightly.

“But now… I have hope that maybe someone will listen to me, and that’s why I have the courage to stand here today. I want to thank him from the bottom of my heart for planting the seed of hope and courage in me.”

As she spoke, Julia’s gaze turned to Veronia, and their eyes met in a loving embrace.

In Veronia’s eyes, Julia looked like a completely different person. Gone was the sobbing, timidly rolling her shoulders. Instead, she stood tall, shoulders back, eyes shining, staring straight ahead.

When she finished testifying, people began to clap for her as she stepped down from the witness stand, a warm, supportive applause.

But the noise was out of place in the courtroom, and the judge called out to the crowd.

“Be quiet! We still have a lot of testimony to hear.”

The trial moved quickly. One by one, past victims who had come with Julia took the stand to tell their stories of what had happened to them years earlier, and they all pointed the finger at Caspian’s group.

Veronia was the last to be called to the stand.

“You’ll do well, don’t be nervous.”

Killion whispered words of encouragement in her ear. Veronia nodded and smiled up at Killion, confidence radiating from her smile.

Veronia was no longer nervous. There was already so much evidence and testimony, she thought, and she only needed to add a little. It made her feel a lot lighter.

On the witness stand, Veronia continued her testimony in a calm voice.

“If it weren’t for my escort, I would have been as badly injured as Lady Frida Mitchell. My escort removed the masks of my attackers so I could see their faces up close and personal.”

Veronia immediately raised an index finger, pointing to Caspian and his group.

“That was them.”

One by one, she called their names. Her stomach began to churn at the testimony that she had seen their faces clearly.

“I saw their faces right in front of me!”

“There’s no getting away from it now!”

“For God’s sake, why would His Highness, and no one else, take part in such an evil deed?”

The Inquisitor shouted again, and the room fell silent again. Veronia spoke again.

“I was face-to-face with His Highness, Prince Caspian, and we even had a conversation, and I submitted the prince’s bracelet as evidence.”

When she finished, Veronia glanced at Caspian before she left the witness stand. He was glaring at her with a fierce glare.

He looked like he wanted to twist her throat at a moment’s notice, but to Veronia, she seemed too plastic to even snort.

“Well done.”

Killion greeted her with a warm voice and touch as she returned to her seat. Veronia hugged him tightly and whispered, “Thank you. I felt like I had come this far because of Killion, who had stood by my side.”

The judge announced that the trial would be suspended for the next hour. The judges would confer amongst themselves to come up with a verdict.

The bell rang for recess and the five sitting judges, as well as the foreign judges who were observing, left the courtroom.

The hour passed quickly. Back in the courtroom, the judges solemnly read the verdict.

Caspian and the other five defendants were found guilty and sentenced to 20 years of exile. As if that weren’t enough, they were also stripped of their right to succeed to their titles.

“Oh, my God, exile!” he says.

“I’ll be living in a prison, not a jail, for 20 years.”

“I’ve lost my nobility, so this is a death sentence.”

Everyone was very surprised by the severity of the sentence. Apparently, this was a special international trial, and there was no mercy in the sentence. Sandra and Caspian were the most surprised.

“No, it can’t be, it’s impossible, he’s innocent… he didn’t do anything wrong, how dare you!”

Sandra shouted, her voice cracking. Her face, flushed red, looked precarious.

“You ungrateful creatures, how dare you mock the imperial family!”

Sandra screamed at the top of her lungs, and then, perhaps unable to control herself, broke down.

As Sandra was escorted from the courtroom by her maids, Caspian cried out.

“I am the prince of an empire! My brother is the Emperor, my mother is the Empress! How can the actions of royalty be sinful!”

Caspian ranted and raved, but no one listened, just glared at him with cold eyes.

Eventually, Caspian and his men’s wrists were cuffed. They flinched and shuddered as the cold metal touched their skin. 

As they were led away by the soldier’s hand, Veronia thought to herself.

‘If only they had been punished this way from the start, there wouldn’t have been so many more victims.’

Rather than the joy of having taken down a criminal, she felt a twinge of guilt.

Had he read her mind? Killion slipped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. 

“It’s all over now, let’s go home.”

“Yes, let’s go.”

Leaning against Killion, Veronia looked up at him and nodded. The thought of returning home with him seemed to open Veronia’s mind to the crisp forest air.

***

“And my grandmother?”

Entering the dining room, Jediel sought out his godmother first.

“Grandma says she’s not home tonight because she has a dinner party, so it’s just the three of us.”

“Oh… Yeah.”

Jediel looked very disappointed, and Killion grinned at the sight.

“I’ll tell the butler to let Jediel know first thing when Grandmother returns.”

“Thank you!”

Jediel laughed happily at Kilion’s offer. Even Veronia, tired from watching the long trial, couldn’t help but laugh along with the child’s smile.

As if reading her mother’s mind, Jediel chartered nonstop, his voice especially excited today. 

He talked about studying with his tutor, how he found addition and subtraction easy, but the dictation test was a bit difficult, and how art class was fun, but piano class was not.

Jediel chewed the last piece of steak, gulped, swallowed, and turned to Killion with a wide grin.

“I hope the Duke will read to me when I go to bed tonight.”

Veronia suddenly remembered Jediel saying that he wanted Killion to read to him on his first day in the manor.

‘I even got permission to give Killion a hint, but I didn’t tell him anything.’

Veronia felt sorry for both Jediel and Killion, for not doing her part, and even more so when she saw the look on Killion’s face as he seemed touched by the unexpected suggestion.

“I’ll do it. But will that get me a point? No, I’m not asking for it. It’s not like I’m not going to read the book to you if you don’t give me a point.”

“…”

“You’ve earned five points so far, so if you get one today, you’ll have six.”

He said no, but his blue eyes sparkled with eager desire.