The palace attendant went to pick up Princess Diana. The saintess leaned against Crown Prince Carlos and whispered something to him.
“How dare you do that.”
It seemed like she was talking about something that happened while the crown prince was away. The crown prince frowned and glared at Luigi.
“Weren’t you the saintess’s best friend?”
Luigi flinched.
“The saintess tried to use me, her best friend. I am justified.”
“There is a limit to shamelessness. You wouldn’t dare to harm the saintess and expect to get away with it, would you?”
Luigi looked at John with worried eyes at the crown prince’s strong momentum. Just by looking at Luigi’s reaction, you could tell that John had been playing tricks.
‘How did you convince Luigi?’
She heard that he sued Luigi’s family, but she didn’t think she would change his attitude like that.
“Ha! Why are you looking that way? Can you see what’s going on behind the scenes?”
“Your Highness, I only told the truth.”
“It must be the truth that’s favorable to Duchess Blanchet!”
Carlos mentioned John openly. John shrugged his shoulders as if he had been waiting for that.
“Why do you think I did that?”
“Because I heard it directly from Princess Diana.”
Carlos confidently mentioned Princess Diana.
“The princess said it. Duchess Blanchette threatened her and she had no choice.”
“Did the princess really do that?”
“Isn’t that something you’ll hear soon anyway?”
At that moment, the saint behind Carlos shed tears.
“Ah, Diana finally found the courage.”
“Thanks to your support, you, the saint.”
“I didn’t do anything…”
Princess Diana hadn’t even come yet. But Carlos was already acting as if Diana had already given her definite testimony.
‘Did Diana really betray me?’
Thinking about that made her feel bad for no reason.
‘Yes, Luigi betrayed the saint, so there’s no way Diana wouldn’t do the same.’
Still, it was because she thought of Diana as her friend. It seemed like she wasn’t the only one who was swayed by the crown prince’s confident attitude.
“Princess Diana really testified like that?”
“I thought what Miss Luigi was saying was a little strange, but well…”
Strangely enough, people quickly turned around and said that the saint ‘couldn’t have done that’.
‘Is it because of her title as a saint?’
As always, she couldn’t shake the feeling that the world was really flowing in Stella’s favor. Luigi stepped back as everyone’s eyes turned to her.
“No. I was just telling the truth.”
“You suddenly felt that way after Duke Blanchett sued the young lady?”
“That’s…”
“If you tell me honestly now, I’ll help you avoid being accused of defaming the imperial court with false claims.”
A hint of hesitation appeared in Luigi’s eyes. Stella appealed to Luigi.
“That’s right, Luigi. I don’t know what happened to Luigi, but I’ll help you.”
“I.”
“Yes, Luigi.”
Luigi closed his eyes as if he had made up his mind.
“In fact, I made a deal with Duke Blanchett about today’s trial.”
The nobles gasped in surprise. Carlos smirked.
“As expected.”
She was very suspicious of this situation itself.
‘John did this sloppy work?’
If you think about it, suing Luigi was the same. If you pressure Luigi so openly and make her change her attitude, wouldn’t anyone doubt the truth?
‘There must be something.’
At that moment, John glanced at her.
The red eyes that met her gaze dazzled. She didn’t know about anything else, but she knew one thing for sure.
‘This is what John planned.’
* * *
Carlos was very happy.
‘I didn’t know things would work out this easily.’
Carlos was taken aback by Lady Luigi’s sudden betrayal, but Carlos succeeded in turning it to his advantage.
“What did you deal with Duke Blanchett? Did he threaten the young lady’s family?”
To be honest, there was an effective method of coercion.
‘I threatened Princess Diana like that, too.’
In this confirmed situation, Princess Diana would have no choice but to testify according to the mood. Duchess Blanchet was the culprit who ordered the Saint to slander the Saint.
Luigi bit her lips as if he was still hesitating and covered her face with both hands.
“The Blanchet administration said that if I testified in favor of Duchess Blanchet, they would drop the charges and help our family not suffer any damage.”
“How could they do such a terrible thing…!”
John asked back with a blank expression.
“Me?”
“Yes. So I had no choice but to… for the sake of my family.”
While giving her testimony, Luigi looked at the Crown Prince’s expression this time. It seemed that he had been torn between Duchess Blanchet and the Crown Prince, but eventually decided to side with the Crown Prince.
“It’s all my fault. No matter how much it’s for the sake of my family, I have caused too much damage to the Saint. How can I atone for it?”
“It’s okay, Luigi.”
The Saint approached Luigi with a compassionate expression and hugged her.
“I knew Luigi had something he couldn’t tell her. I’m glad that Luigi has the courage now.”
“Saint…”
The two hugged each other like the best friends in the world. John asked, nodding his chin.
“Evidence?”
“…Yes?”
“Is there evidence that I threatened the young lady to change her testimony?”
Luigi’s expression hardened, but she stepped forward confidently.
“I am the evidence! The testimony I gave just now would not have come out if Duchess Blanchett hadn’t threatened me…”
[Isn’t it true that the Saint went around badmouthing Duchess Blanchett anyway? All the young ladies who go around with the Saint know, and even if they pretend not to, the Saint hates the Duchess.]
At that moment, a strange sound was heard above Luigi’s voice. Luigi’s expression rotted away.
“T-what is this…”
“I prepared it just in case.”
John took out a magical tool that felt magical power from his bosom.
“This is what I talked about with Miss Luigi.”
“T-there’s such a magical tool…”
“That’s because it’s a newly created magical tool.”
Luigi began to tremble like an aspen tree at John’s calm words.
“H-how do you know that Duke Blanchett didn’t do something? He manipulated it with magic…”
[Honestly, I don’t have to make it up, I can just tell you everything the saintess told me to do.]
“No, this is…”
[Proof? How can there be proof when you always call people to the temple? But since the saintess called more than one or two people, it should be easy to gather people.]
“No!”
Luigi shouted in a fit of rage.
“Saint, I never said anything like that! Duke Blanchett used magic!”
“Lu, Luigi…”
“Do you think so?”
John did not argue his innocence at length.
“Even so, can you trust what that young lady says?”
John’s attitude was plain and elegant, and he seemed like a truthful person to anyone.
“It seems difficult to trust Young Lady Luigi’s testimony.”
“Honestly, I wonder if it’s right to trust that person who changes his words every time…”
The Emperor pressed his forehead with his hand and said.
“This is absurd. Who would dare to do something like this in an imperial court? Aren’t you afraid of the crime of insulting the imperial family?”
“Your Majesty. I…”
“When will Princess Diana come? Isn’t it time for her to come?”
The Emperor ignored Luigi’s pleas and called the palace attendant.
Squeak-
The door opened just in time. However, it was not Princess Diana who everyone was waiting for who entered the audience room.
“Your Majesty, this is a big deal. There was an attack in the room where Princess Diana was.”
“Attack?”
“Yes. It seems that Princess Diana has been kidnapped by a mysterious assailant. What should we do about this…”
John lifted the corners of his mouth slightly as he watched the incident slipping into the labyrinth.
“This is really unfortunate. All the witnesses who gathered are like that.”
His voice did not show any regret at all.
Estelle looked at John and was lost in thought.
‘I never intended to leave Luigi alone in the first place.’
Because Luigi was also one of the people who had conspired with the saint and harassed her. She had planned the situation in the first place, hoping that Luigi would betray her.
‘With this, Luigi’s honor has fallen to the ground…’
The trial became even bigger due to Diana’s disappearance.
The name of the royal trial was heavy, but it gained more attention as various incidents got involved in the case.
‘Now it’s time for Sung Hwang to come out.’
And there, what John was really after will be revealed.
* * *
As the atmosphere of the trial became chaotic, the emperor postponed the trial to another day.
She returned to the room before John. There was wine prepared for the duke and duchess on the table.
‘It must be expensive because it was prepared by the palace.’
She didn’t usually enjoy wine, so she didn’t know how good it was. She opened the curtains and looked out the window while holding the wine glass.
Night had already fallen.
In the darkness, the palace was shining even more splendidly.
“Madam, what are you looking at?”
John entered the room wearing only a robe.
“Oh, I was just looking outside for a moment.”
It should have been familiar to see him in a robe, but her heart fluttered every time she saw him. His broad shoulders, firm muscles, and puffed chest, a perfect inverted triangle body, stood out.
‘Who wouldn’t be thrilled by that sight?’
Honestly, apart from the fact that she liked John, he was such a perfect man.
“The palace at night is more beautiful than the palace during the day.”
John stood next to me by the window and looked out the window. Then he naturally poured wine into her glass.
“Shall we have a glass each?”
“Okay.”
The wine had a sweet scent. It suited my taste, so I kept sipping it, and the alcohol started to kick in. John, who had been quietly looking out the window with me, opened his mouth.
“Shall I tell you a story from the old days?”
John had an unfamiliar expression on his face that was different from the expression she usually saw. She nodded nervously.
“What are you talking about?”
“A story about a man who barely survived the plot of the Libertan Dukes and took revenge.”
Anyone could tell that he was talking about John. John, who saw my expression, pursed his lips.
“You knew about it?”
“Well, I happened to hear about it.”
“It’s such a famous story, so it can’t be helped.”
John took a sip of his wine and spoke in a low voice.
“The Libertan Dukes falsely accused the Blanchet Dukes of treason and killed them. My family was unjustly destroyed.”
“…”
“I hate the Libertans.”
She never thought those words would come out of John’s mouth.
‘I thought you’d never tell me.’
Her hair turned white and she felt anxious. She looked at him, smiling sweetly in her throbbing heart.
“…Then does John hate me?”
“What do you think?”
Her mouth wouldn’t open properly. She rolled her eyes, not knowing how much she should pretend to know.
“I don’t know. I’m not John. But I don’t think it would have been good.”
“My wife is so lovely.”
“But I’m the daughter of a family that John hates.”
Then John looked at her and snickered.
“You’re wrong.”
The red eyes that met her eyes shone like jewels. When he smiled lightly, he exuded a languid charm that seemed to be enchanting.
“I never hated you.”
“…Really?”
“Yes, it’s the sin of the Duke of Libertan, not your sin.”
“…”
“Why would I hate you?”
John pinched her cheek as if to soothe her, looking at her stiff expression. It was a sweet expression of affection as usual.
“You were worried that I might hate you?”
“No matter what, human emotions are not something that can be resolved rationally.”
“That could be so, but it wasn’t me.”
There was not a single waver in his eyes. It was a wonderful and beautiful secret that she wanted to believe so much. She wanted to believe it.
“Then why did you marry me?”
“Because I felt sorry for my wife.”
John whispered in her ear while holding her in his arms.
“My wife is not even a blood relative of Libertan, but an adopted child. I didn’t want you to suffer because of Libertan’s sins.”
“Why do you…”
“I don’t know. Is this fate?”
John raised the corners of his lips slyly and rubbed the bridge of his nose against her face.
“I guess I was destined to love you.”
“…”
“If I had known you were this worried, I would have told you earlier to reassure you. I’m sorry, Madam.”
‘I should be happy.’
Because it was less likely that John would abandon her. Maybe he cared about her as much as she loved him. But she wasn’t happy.
Not at all.
—————————————————————
Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
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