The audience nodded in agreement with the defense attorney’s words. Even some of the jurors, unable to maintain neutrality, showed signs of agreement.
The judge turned toward Armin.
“Plaintiff. Do you agree with the defense’s statement?”
There was an unspoken hope in the judge’s tone that Armin might drop the case.
Instead of replying, Armin rose from his seat. He walked slowly and deliberately to the spot where the defense attorney had just stood.
“Your Honor,” he said.
“Go ahead, Plaintiff.”
“I would like to call Cedric, a biblical scholar, as a witness.”
People began murmuring and glancing around.
A biblical scholar?
Not even I had heard of such a profession. It seemed the judge was just as puzzled as I was.
“A biblical scholar?”
“Yes. A scholar who studies the content of the holy scriptures.”
“Hmm…”
The judge seemed to choose the path of least resistance. Perhaps he had decided it would be safer to appear impartial and open-minded in a trial like this.
“Granted.”
A moment later, a very small man appeared in court. His arms were stacked with large, heavy books.
“Plaintiff. You may begin questioning.”
“Yes, thank you. Witness, please state your name and occupation.”
“Ah, yes. My name is Cedric Deutsch. I work at the Vatican, handling scripture.”
“So being in charge of scripture makes you a biblical scholar?”
“Well… to be precise, ‘biblical scholar’ isn’t an official title. It’s more of a nickname. Holy scripture is not permitted to be printed. Because of this, each copy must be transcribed by hand.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. And as someone who’s been tasked with that, I hand-copy one book per month and distribute them to various churches.”
Cedric scratched his head, slightly embarrassed.
“I’ve been doing this for ten years now—one book a month—so I’ve memorized the contents of the scriptures without even trying. That’s how I got the nickname ‘biblical scholar.’”
“I see.”
“As you can see, Cedric, the witness I’ve called, has extensive knowledge of the scriptures. Cedric?”
“Yes?”
“I have a question. Is the phrase, ‘God’s love for mankind is pure,’ found in the scriptures?”
Cedric thought for a moment, then nodded.
“Yes. If I recall correctly, that phrase or a similar one appears 79 times.”
“I see.”
Just like the defense attorney, Armin paused briefly. Now, all eyes were on him, waiting for what he would say next.
“In that case, has God ever been married to a human?”
“…What?”
Cedric’s voice cracked from shock. He looked uncertain—wondering if the question was blasphemous or not. After a moment of hesitation, he answered carefully.
“Assuming you’re not asking to be facetious, then no. That has never happened.”
“And has God ever given birth?”
“My lord!”
This time, Cedric couldn’t hold back. He shouted, his face flushed with rage, while Armin watched him with an expressionless face.
“How could you say such a thing?! That’s borderline blasphemy!”
“Please just answer the question. Does such a passage exist in the scripture?”
“Of course not! That kind of passage does not exist!”
“Then this is my final question.”
Armin turned to look straight at the defense attorney seated next to me and asked Cedric:
“Though God has never been married, nor given birth, is it still true that He bestows upon mankind a love that is called ‘pure’?”
Only then did Cedric understand what Armin had been trying to say. No—everyone seated in the courtroom now grasped Armin’s point. The defense attorney sitting next to me turned beet red with defeat.
If one denied the validity of spiritual love, they were essentially rejecting the “pure love of God” described in the scriptures. It was self-contradiction.
Looking at the visibly trembling attorney, Armin added one final remark.
“First love is just as important as last love. Just as God loved us humans first.”
With that, the debate on the first issue between the defense and Armin came to an end. The judge thought for a moment, then struck the gavel to call for attention.
“There has been a sharp disagreement on the first matter. The court rules as follows: Intangible emotions may also serve as a standard for purity.”
The gavel struck twice.
“Defense, do you have anything further to say?”
“Of course!”
The attorney, as if he’d been waiting for this moment, shot up and strode out.
“I acknowledge the plaintiff’s argument. The love of God described in the scriptures is indeed pure beyond question. However, can the love of mere humans—especially that of two immature youths—truly be compared to God’s?”
His tone had changed dramatically. Gone was the earlier smoothness; now he was fervent, almost desperate to persuade.
His reasoning was slightly strained, but his voice gradually calmed. It seemed he believed he had found a way forward.
“If we accept divine love as the standard, then emotion is a critical measure. But we cannot prove just how much of that measure applies here.”
“Hm. That… is a reasonable point,” said the judge.
The attorney turned and walked back with a triumphant expression.
But once he had taken his seat, Armin smiled—as though he had expected everything to go exactly this way. Or rather, as if he had hoped it would.
“Your Honor.”
“Yes, go ahead, Plaintiff.”
“I would now like to submit evidence that Vivian Roha harbored such emotions toward me.”
With that, Armin placed a box on the table beside him.
“As the defense has said, human love cannot be compared to that of scripture. However, whether Vivian Roha deserves to be the Crown Princess despite having engaged in such behavior—I leave that judgment to you.”
He then slowly pulled out the evidence from the box. It was a stack of letters.
As soon as I recognized what they were, I was horrified. Forgetting this was a courtroom, I couldn’t help but scream.
“N–No! Don’t!”
It was more a cry than a shout, so people stared at me in surprise.
I begged—so desperately that anyone watching might have thought I was the guilty party and he the wronged victim.
“Please, anything but that!”
With me showing such shame, everyone now turned their attention to the jurors. What on earth is in those letters? Their curiosity peaked. It was like watching an audience waiting for the next twist in a morning drama.
The towering pile of letters on a silver tray was handed to the jurors. Tension and curiosity written all over their faces, they pulled the contents from the envelopes. And then—
“Gasp!”
“No way…”
“How could a person… No, how could she…?”
They could only murmur in shock.
The jurors’ faces turned red. Then they began passing the letters among themselves. The solemn atmosphere of the court shattered completely. The public gallery stirred with uproar.
“Reveal the evidence!”
“Indeed! Letting only the jurors see it is unfair!”
As the murmurs grew into protests, I wanted nothing more than to disappear. This truly felt like social execution.
Amid the outrage of the crowd, the courtroom descended into chaos. To regain control, the judge had to bang his gavel multiple times.
“Foreman of the jury.”
“Yes, Your Honor?”
“Please read aloud the plaintiff’s evidence.”
“No, wait! Please!”
“Silence! Defendant, be quiet. This is a courtroom!”
In truth, the judge was probably just as curious as everyone else about what kind of evidence had stirred up such chaos.
For a fleeting moment, Sasha’s face crossed my mind.
“Savor this moment. In two days, you’ll be the most famous woman in the country.”
That devilish brother of mine. He had known this would happen all along. Just moments ago, my clenched fists had been slick with nervous sweat—now they trembled with rage.
“Ahem. I will now begin the reading.”
The foreman of the jury sounded visibly excited.
“How much do I love Armin? I’m simply reading what’s written here.”
How much I love him, really? The first part the foreman read was quite literally Vivian Roha expressing just how much she loved Armin Grey.
“How much?”
“Yeah, what does it say?”
Just kill me already, I thought blankly, muttering to myself.
I was too drained to even crawl into a rat hole if one appeared. But the foreman continued reading the letter, oblivious to my state.
“Try to draw the smallest dot in the world.”
“A dot?”
“I love you as much as the entire world—except that dot.”
“Gasp!”
Pandemonium erupted.
“She loves him, everything but the dot’s worth?!”
“My goodness! I’ve never heard a love confession like that!”
“Everyone! Look at this letter paper!”
There it was—my letter. And those with sharp eyes quickly realized that each character wasn’t written with lines—it was made up entirely of tiny hearts.
“My God. Those aren’t dots. They’re hearts.”
“What?! WHAT?!”
“Good heavens. I… I’m speechless.”
I shut my eyes, stunned and defeated.
My social life was effectively over. It was nothing short of a public execution. I would’ve given anything to just faint and escape it all.
Armin did her so dirty. But he’s doing it for their happiness xD