Chapter 104
Chapter 104: The Human Verdict of Sin
Two weeks had passed since the sacred trial that had caused an uproar. The trial convened within a day, concluding with the Empress’s acquittal, but the details remained shrouded in secrecy.
The temple could not evade responsibility. News that the Grand Priest had been executed within the temple premises after a divine trial for receiving ‘God’s punishment’ emerged belatedly, but it was not enough to quench the seeds of unrest that had been sown.
Four days after the incident, the temple admitted its faults and acknowledged the complete eradication of Sefitiana. On the day the Emperor and Empress of Tessibania visited, it was declared that Sefitiana had finally been taken by God, only bringing chaos to the world.
The temple was guilty of causing confusion without proper verification. Though executed, they dared to use God’s will as a pretense to impose corrupt judgments of power upon the Empress and secretly harbored Sefitiana, a cause of war.
As a result, the temple had to surrender half of its accumulated donations to Tessibania and Veshnu. People’s faith and trust were also compromised. Now, people would doubt the gods, the belief in the temple’s ability to prove divine presence shaken.
Today marked the execution of Marquis Gendal, who had audaciously initiated the sacred trial against the Empress. Amidst the bustling square of the capital, Marquis Gendal knelt at the guillotine.
Vinea had no intention of witnessing his execution. It wasn’t the first time she had seen him die, and she considered it a waste of her time. Her icy gaze was instead directed through the black bars at Eurene.
Considering her noble status, it would have been proper to send her to an isolated tower, but Tatar adamantly decided that her place was in the dungeon and nowhere else.
Vinea had come to this underground dungeon specifically today because of what she had heard about Eurene’s condition.
“Hmm—”
Humming softly, Eurene sat on the dirty floor, braiding her lackluster sky-blue hair over her shoulder, her expression oddly elated.
“Mother, today I’ll weave a crown of Baloua flowers for you!”
Scraping a stone floor devoid of any grass, Eurene moved her fingers through the air aimlessly.
“Eurene Castallo.”
Vinea called out her name, but received no response. Tatar could have come and called her name to see how aware she was of her surroundings, but he refused, claiming he was doing his best not to simply cut her throat.
After a short sigh, Vinea turned to look at the woman standing behind her. It was Lady Castallo, Eurene’s mother, who had collapsed on the floor in shock.
“Eurene, my child, how could this—ah…”
Vinea had no intention of waiting for a leisurely reunion. She spoke down to the distraught mother.
“The lady ingested what has been confirmed as holy water. No toxins were detected. The temple has also verified this. The child she claimed to be carrying… has vanished, like a lie.”
Lady Castallo raised her head in despair, her green eyes unfocused in disbelief.
“How can that be? To become feebleminded from drinking holy water and then for a child to disappear! How can an object blessed by God harm a person!”
“That’s not a question for me, but for the temple. Only God knows why the lady ended up this way after drinking the holy water meant to drive out malice.”
It was a harsh truth. Lady Castallo buried her face in her hands, overwhelmed.
“How can this be? The child was innocent. It’s all my fault…!”
“You and your daughter are no different. Innocent, you say? Despite repeated warnings from her parents, she could not let go of her desires, indulging in a night of deviation. It was her choice not to terminate the pregnancy, and her choice to attempt to seduce His Majesty with drugs. Shall I continue?”
Furthermore, she had collaborated with Marquis Gendal to spread malicious rumors about the Empress and had voluntarily offered to testify on the day of the trial, sharing letters with the temple.
The identity of the poison Eurene sought was revealed based on the testimony of ‘Asha,’ a liaison between her, the Grand Priest, and Marquis Gendal. Asha was dismissed from the temple and stripped of her rights as a citizen, banished beyond the borders. The back alley shop where she purchased the drugs faced a similar fate.
All were meticulously dealt with by Tatar, and the evidence was ample.
At Vinea’s cold rebuke, Lady Castallo could not raise her head, bowing it instead.
“The trial of the former Emperor will soon begin. There, your relationship with the former Emperor will be revealed to the public. Though it would be right to strip you of your title and sentence you to hard labor—”
Vinea threw a scroll at Lady Castallo’s feet.
“Lord Castallo reached out first. He sent documents including testimony from the man who spent the night with Eurene Castallo, the prescription for emergency contraception she obtained, and his signed document renouncing his dukedom.”
“Ah…”
“Yet if punishment is due, my sister and mother surely cannot bear it. They said they would take it upon themselves.”
“Ah, Taleum, dear, oh…”
“I respect that decision and offer you one option. It’s the only choice you really have.”
Vinea closed her eyes, briefly shaking her upper body as she looked at Eurene humming a tune, annoyed by her refusal to face her mistakes, but realizing there was nothing more to be done with someone who had lost their soul. For her, this state was as good as another death.
“You will lose your dukedom but retain some semblance of honor. Reveal all the truths at the trial of the former Emperor. The truths you’ve hidden all your life from your children.”
“What meaning does it have now? Everything has collapsed…”
“It will be known that everything was under the conspiracy of the former Emperor and Marquis Gendal to usurp the throne. We have secured the coachman who took the lady to the ‘Night’s Veil’ that day. Coincidentally, he had worked under Marquis Gendal a few years ago.”
“So, what about Eurene?”
“She will be unable to recall the memory of that night due to the drugs, believing only what Marquis Gendal told her. Medical tests will show she was neither pregnant nor had any relations with a man.”
She would remain a thorough victim. For someone living a life as an imbecile, reputation surrounding her wouldn’t matter, but for Lady Castallo, it would be different.
Lady Castallo glanced down at her daughter, now completely insane from drinking the holy water, a sign that even the gods had abandoned her.
In the face of this grim reality, Lady Castallo closed her eyes and responded.
“I will do as you say.”
* * *
It was the day of the trial of the former Emperor Maxiul. Vinea chose not to testify but visited the courthouse personally to witness the end of the man who had tormented her for so long.
Glancing at the clock on the wall, Vinea turned her head. The trial would start in three hours. When Vinea’s gaze met hers, ‘Agasha’ bowed her head. After removing the makeup that had been made to resemble the former Empress and changing into a simpler dress, her true presence was revealed.
“Thank you once again.”
“Lift your head. Melida Illeida… was it?”
The woman nodded, her eyes rimmed red.
“The name Agasha was far too noble to be mine. Without the Empress’s help, I would still be crushed under a name that isn’t mine, imitating someone else under Emperor Maxiul’s watch.”
Thirty-six. The same age as the former Empress when she died, Melida’s face bore suppressed anger.
Lineue had informed her that Melida’s body bore many bruises. The specifics were not disclosed, but who else but someone under the Emperor’s protection could have inflicted such damage?
Vinea inwardly scoffed as she thought of the former Emperor she would soon see in the courtroom.
“Your family is in Veshnu, right? You have a daughter who is seven years old.”
“Yes, my sudden disappearance must have shocked her. There’s a grandmother, but we’ve never been apart this long…”
A low-ranking noble with nothing but an empty title. Her husband was a man who frequented gambling dens every day.
With nowhere else to borrow money, he had approached back-alley moneylenders, offering his wife as collateral, and through unfortunate connections, a portrait of her had ended up with her uncle’s men, marking the start of her misfortune.
“Your husband will be sentenced to hard labor for his involvement in illegal loans and human trafficking. He will also be stripped of his title. It’s not a matter I need your permission for, but are you alright with that?”
“It’s fine. There’s no turning back now.”
Muffled calls for order from beyond the door indicated that the trial was about to begin. Melida lifted her tense face.
“Thank you, Your Highness. Truly.”
“Your Highness.” A title more familiar than that of Veshnu’s princess, who had been seated for just a month.
‘Vinea Your Highness, please—’
That whisper, silently mouthed when she encountered the former Emperor in the palace garden, had told her that Melida was a citizen of the Veshnu Empire and that being led around by the Emperor with a bell on her ankle was not what she had wanted.
“You are wise. I hope you live well when you return to Veshnu after the trial is over.”
* * *
No one expected the former Emperor to participate willingly in his trial, but his reaction was more violent than anticipated.
“How dare you disgrace my ‘Agasha’! Betray me? I will not forgive this, I will surely—”
The knights quickly restrained the former Emperor as he lunged towards Melida, who trembled in terror.
“Restrain the defendant. The trial will proceed,” ordered the judge.
“The defendant conspired with foreign rebels, threatening the continuity of the Tessibanian royal family, and inflicted unbearable pain on an innocent woman.”
The judge’s gaze turned to another woman in the witness box, Lady Megina Castallo, who sat with a desolate face, having let go of everything.
“Furthermore, he exploited his familial relationship to deceive Eurene Castallo and brought disgrace upon her noble honor. Because of these heinous acts unfit for a human, this court sentences the defendant to death.”
Bang, bang.
The gavel echoed through the spacious courtroom.
Watching the former Emperor struggle in disbelief, Vinea quietly stood and left the courtroom.
Climbing into a carriage prepared behind the courthouse, a figure already seated greeted her.
“Did you enjoy the spectacle?”
Vinea removed her hood.
“Have you come to reproach me for leading your father to his death?”
“On the contrary.”
Tatar extended his hand to Vinea. As she grasped it, he gently pulled her towards him.
“I should have brought some wine. We ought to toast.”
“In a jostling carriage?”
Tatar lifted his head, his eyes meeting Vinea’s. His grey eyes softened, easing the sharpness of his features.
“I could manage more challenging tasks than a glass of wine.”
“Nonsense.”
“Nonsense or not, I came personally to escort the Empress who has endured much.”
His hand deftly slipped beneath her. Vinea swallowed a small sigh and entrusted her body to Tatar as the carriage began to rattle on.
