Britia slowly opened her heavy eyelids and rose from her bed.
She had dreamt of crawling blindly through thick rain, unable to see a thing. The weight of the dream seemed to linger on her body. She was too exhausted to even feel relieved that it was just a dream.
Today was the day of Robley’s trial. Given the unsettling dream, she didn’t have a good feeling about it. It felt like the nightmare she just had would pale in comparison to the reality awaiting her.
She wanted to wake up from this nightmare too, but time seemed to move painfully slow. Every hour felt like a year. Unable to sit still, Britia decided to head to the trial early, even though it was much too soon.
When she had waited for what felt like ten years in that courtroom, Crave finally appeared.
“You’re here?”
Britia asked as Crave sat down next to her with a faint smile. He took a seat on the right side of the elevated platform where the emperor and empress would be seated.
Britia glanced at Crave, who was unusually quiet. When she had sent him a letter detailing the crimes of Duke Robley, his only reply had been a brief acknowledgment.
She imagined how much disappointment and sadness he must have felt, something she herself knew all too well.
“It looks like you’re looking a bit better since the last time I saw you.”
Though Crave’s face still showed clear signs of exhaustion, Britia tried to lighten the mood with a joke. Crave gave a small, tired smile.
“And you look well too. What have you been eating to make your face glow like that?”
Living in the imperial palace, of course, she would eat better than him. They exchanged pointless small talk.
But when they ran out of things to say, a heavy silence settled between them. Britia forced herself to smile, searching for something to say, but it was no use.
“What if I pass out in the middle of the trial?” Crave asked, his lips trembling slightly.
“Then I’ll pinch you so hard you’ll snap right out of it.”
“You could just poke my side. Pinching is a bit much.”
His familiar grumbling made Britia smile faintly.
Soon after, Duke Scandars, Grand Duke Camelon, the crown prince, and the empress entered the courtroom. Lastly, the emperor appeared, escorted by Sig, and everyone in the room stood as he entered.
The emperor slouched into his chair and gave a slight nod, signaling everyone to sit. Shortly after, Duke Robley, accompanied by soldiers, entered the courtroom and stood at its center. From where he stood, he had to crane his neck to look up at everyone.
When Britia’s eyes met Robley’s, she clenched her fists tightly.
“The Duke is accused of deceitfully tricking the late Count Lockhart and obtaining the Lockhart estate. Is this true?” the crown prince, standing beside the emperor, asked.
“No, it is not.”
“I obtained the estate through a legitimate contract with the late Count Lockhart.”
“You used such wicked tricks, and yet you dare call it legitimate?”
The crown prince warned him to refrain from jeering.
“Duke Robley, do you remember a wandering man who visited your estate ten years ago?”
“I recall such a man visiting.”
“And do you remember what he told you?”
“He said he had wheat seeds that were resistant to drought, found only in his homeland.”
“And did you believe him?”
At the crown prince’s sharp questioning, Robley hesitated for a moment.
“…My mage at the time revealed that the seeds weren’t wheat and were not even edible. So, no, I didn’t believe him.”
“You knew, and yet you sent that fraud to the Lockhart estate!”
Duke Scandars raised both his hands dramatically as he shouted.
“There’s no need to drag this trial out any longer, Your Majesty. He’s guilty!”
Skanders was thrilled at the thought of finally ridding himself of the thorn in his side.
“Duke Robley, why did you order that man to go to the Lockhart estate?”
“Your Majesty, I never gave that man such an order. What I said was just a joke.”
Duke Robley wore a smile that suggested he was in a very tight spot.
“No one in this world could be so gullible as to fall for something like that unless they were as naive as Count Lockhart. In my experience, he was the most innocent man I ever knew. But it was just a joke. I never thought that wanderer would actually seek out Lockhart…”
“That’s a ridiculous excuse.”
Duke Scandars cut him off sharply.
“Duke Robley acted with the intention of bringing about Lockhart’s downfall.”
Robley’s lips twitched slightly, but he remained calm as he continued to speak.
“I never thought he would actually go, let alone that the Count would be foolish enough to believe those words.”
Crave and Britia’s eyes widened in unison.
“Father was not a fool. He always believed in people…!”
“Believing in those you shouldn’t trust—that’s what it means to lack judgment, Count.”
Crave’s voice trembled as Robley smirked at him.
“If my words offended you, I apologize, young Count. But I’m simply offering an honest assessment. I’ve known your father far longer than I have you.”
So, that heartfelt assessment meant that he believed his father lacked discernment?
Crave felt a surge of anger at the disrespect toward his deceased father, clenching his fists tightly.
Britia was relieved she wasn’t holding a bow at that moment. If she had been, she might have shot an arrow straight through his heart without thinking of the consequences.
“Your Majesty, if I am guilty of anything, it’s believing that Count Lockhart could make a rational decision.”
Duke Robley shamelessly asserted this.
“Are you claiming you had no intention behind your actions?”
“I had no intention at all.”
The crown prince nodded and turned to the emperor.
“Your Majesty, may I call a witness?”
The emperor blinked, granting permission, and the crown prince gestured to the soldiers.
“Bring Duchess Robley as a witness.”
Tension spread through the room at the mention of the Duchess’s name, who was rumored to have fled to her family’s home. Robley’s expression hardened for a moment. Duchess Robley entered the courtroom, stumbling weakly alongside the soldiers.
The crowd began to murmur at the sight of the usually glamorous Duchess, now appearing disheveled. She stood a distance away from her husband, seemingly too afraid to even make eye contact.
“Do you swear to speak the truth here today, Duchess Robley?”
“I swear before the great goddess and His Majesty the Emperor.”
Robley had anticipated that she would take the stand, so her presence didn’t shock him. Still, seeing her in that state filled him with an indescribable sense of betrayal.
He couldn’t comprehend how his wife could act like this, especially after she had gone to the temple and the emperor to make unnecessary noise about seeking a divorce, bringing this matter to trial.
He had agreed to her seeing whoever she wanted, as long as they were out of sight. He showered her with gifts and treated her kindly. Robley believed he had fulfilled his duties as a good husband.
Shouldn’t she have done the same? Where in her actions was the good wife she had promised to be?
Was he the monster in this scenario?
All he had done was bring Lockhart to financial ruin. He hadn’t killed anyone himself. Had he forced Lockhart to buy those seeds? Had he held a knife to his throat and demanded he sign the contract?
That fool had been tricked by a con artist and had died in a reckless accident.
He had given Lockhart the legitimate payment outlined in their contract, and Lockhart had failed to repay it. Instead of hearing gratitude for waiting an extra five years, he got nothing!
Duke Robley shot a furious glance at his wife.
“Duchess Robley, can you repeat what you told His Majesty before?”
The Duchess licked her dry lips, avoiding eye contact with the Duke as she began to speak, her voice trembling as she shared what she had learned. The courtroom buzzed with murmurs once again.
“How could someone do such a thing?” Voices of shock and disbelief rose from various corners of the room.
Robley was stunned. How many of them could genuinely claim to be righteous? It was all hypocrisy.
“Even the goddess wouldn’t forgive such an act!”
Duke Skanders, who was always the loudest when there was drama, had probably committed worse sins himself.
And what about that mad dog standing beside the Emperor with a glint in his eyes?
Did anyone really believe the previous Count Huate had died of illness? No, the mad dog had killed him because he couldn’t stand the idea of someone else desiring his woman.
“If the Duchess’s testimony is true, this is a serious case of fraud.”
Grand Duke Camelon, who had remained silent until now, finally agreed with Scandars.
Hypocrites, all of them. And among them, the worst hypocrite was the man who dreamed of seizing the throne.
Robley scoffed, already thinking about doubling the transport fees for Camelon in the future. But before that, he needed to shift the atmosphere in the courtroom, which was leaning toward a guilty verdict.
“Madam, no matter how angry you are or how much you want a divorce, you’ve really outdone yourself.”
She had gone on and on, spilling everything. But so what? There was no one left who could back up her words.
The old mage who gave the order? Long dead. His journal? Robley had burned it the moment his wife came waving it in his face, accusing him.
Could they track down the con artist who tricked Lockhart? Impossible. Robley had that wanderer silenced ten years ago.
As for the mage’s apprentice who might have found the journal? Robley had renewed the secrecy agreement with them on the same day his wife fled, ensuring they couldn’t speak a word, even if their lips were torn apart.
“You swore to tell the truth before the goddess and His Majesty. Yet now you’re committing a grave sin by lying under oath.”
“Are you claiming the Duchess’s testimony is false?”
“She claims to have read the old mage’s journal, but I could never confirm its existence.” Robley bowed his head deeply in response.
“How…?”
His wife was too shocked to continue. He had burned that journal himself, and now he was pushing her into a corner. If she was accused of perjury, she would face execution—it was a crime punishable by death.
Robley knew this all too well. The Duchess realized her husband was trying to kill her.
“Duchess Robley?”
The Crown Prince urged her to respond, but her lips only trembled in silence. Robley smiled inwardly, glancing at the woman who was still technically his wife.
“…I underestimated you.”
“But he foresaw all of this.”
Robley’s eyebrow twitched at her use of “he.” Who could she be talking about?
“Your Highness, I submit the journal of the old mage as evidence.”
Robley’s eyes widened. He had personally burned that journal, yet here was an identical one in her hands.
“It seems he wrote two copies. Perhaps that was his genuine assessment of you, as someone he knew far longer than I have.”
