Chapter 125
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No one spoke first. Even Nella, who had just tried to attack me, seemed to have trouble accepting the situation as she blinked repeatedly.
Then Hadel asked me in a worried voice.
“Asha, are you alright?”
After examining my body from head to toe, Hadel pulled me into his arms.
His embrace was so warm that the moment from just before, when my vision had turned red, felt distant.
“You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”
I nodded weakly in response to Hadel’s repeated question.
Although the current situation was extremely bewildering, it wasn’t me who needed to be worried about…
“Ugh, ughh… KYAAAAAAH!”
A piercing scream rang out. It came from Nella, who seemed to have finally grasped the situation.
“M-my hand… my hand, *sob*, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts…!”
Nella was clutching her bleeding wrist, her entire body trembling. Left like this, she would soon die.
I couldn’t let her die so easily.
I tightly gripped Hadel’s clothes. Understanding my meaning, he clicked his tongue softly and quickly rendered Nella unconscious.
“Deril, call a physician. No other treatment is necessary. She only needs to remain breathing for a few days. Just treat her enough to keep her from dying.”
“Yes, yes!”
The physician stanched Nella’s wound to prevent her from bleeding to death.
Meanwhile, Hadel looked at the nobles and delivered the final verdict.
“Further questioning would be meaningless. Nella Balkyrino will be publicly executed for the attempted assassination of imperial family members. Any objections?”
The nobles held their tongues.
There could be no objections. Nella had just tried to kill me right before their eyes.
If anyone voiced disagreement now, they too would face execution.
As the nobles remained silent, Hadel promptly summoned the knights.
“The public execution will take place in the capital square two days from now. Be extremely vigilant, as Duke Balkyrino may attempt to intervene.”
“We receive your command, Your Majesty!”
“Now, let’s move on to the next matter.”
Questions appeared on the faces of the nobles who had been preparing to rise, thinking it was over.
Seeing them all with the same wide-eyed expressions despite the gravity of the situation, I couldn’t help but feel amused.
“Deril, that one.”
When Hadel extended his hand to the head servant, Deril handed him a prepared folder of documents.
“You all must be well aware that Silver Lily requested a reinvestigation into the Deache family’s alleged treason from ten years ago.”
At Hadel’s casual words, several nobles’ complexions visibly turned pale.
Hadel stared directly at them and continued.
“There were quite a lot of things at Marquis Melliot’s residence. Besides that, we found evidence in various places.”
Then Hadel began to identify the nobles who had collaborated with Duke Balkyrino.
“Selington, Lindea, Paul, Lambos, Trinia, Gehail, Torte, and… Tremain. The rest are already dead.”
“Y-Your Majesty!”
“It wasn’t me! Something is wrong!”
“I am wronged, Your Majesty!”
“Is that evidence reliable?”
The nobles’ protests were fierce. Count Tremain in particular even struck the face of the imperial knight who came to arrest him.
“You scoundrel! How dare you lay hands on me! Let go!”
Ignoring the bewildered knight, Count Tremain began pleading to Hadel.
“Your Majesty! I, Tremain, have never done anything shameful in my entire life!”
“Oh? So you claim to be wronged?”
“Yes, Your Majesty! This must be Marquis Melliot’s scheme. Please verify the authenticity of those evidences!”
Other nobles nodded and joined in with Count Tremain’s utterly shameless words.
The nobles unrelated to this incident merely observed with serious expressions, while those involved all created an uproar claiming the evidence was fabricated.
After surveying them all, Hadel smirked and gestured to Deril.
“Bring him in.”
As soon as Hadel’s low voice sounded, Deril brought in a blood-covered man.
He was so badly injured all over that it wouldn’t have been strange if he collapsed right then and there. His jawbone was completely sunken in, making it difficult to recognize who he was.
“Count Tremain, you should know best who this man is.”
“Someone… I know?”
Count Tremain narrowed his eyes and thoroughly examined the man. He was frowning in disgust at the bloodied appearance, but he still couldn’t seem to recognize who it was.
Finally, Hadel impatiently gestured to Deril again.
“Deril, show his arm.”
While his entire body was covered in blood, strangely, the man’s arm alone was intact.
The moment Deril displayed his arm for the nobles to see clearly—
There were sounds of sharp intakes of breath from around the room, and Count Tremain’s face turned ashen.
A tattoo with the intertwined emblems of the Tremain family and the Balkyrino ducal family. Since they were mixed half and half, Deril used a mirror to show how the emblems completed each other. Just as I had verified.
“K-Kayden…!”
“Yes, this man was your head butler.”
“I-I know n-nothing about this!”
“I haven’t said anything yet, so what exactly do you know nothing about?”
“T-that’s…!”
“This man tried to kidnap Silver Lily and sell her as a slave. When we caught him, he turned out to be your head butler? He even had evidence of a secret agreement with Duke Balkyrino.”
Count Tremain’s eyes trembled wildly. His breathing became ragged, as though he might collapse at any moment.
“H-he was of poor character… I had already d-driven him from my estate, I never imagined that after being expelled, he would engage in such evil deeds.”
Kayden howled. Despite his broken body, he was shaking furiously, claiming his innocence.
Of course, with his jawbone completely destroyed, it was impossible for him to speak.
Hadel sneered at Count Tremain as Kayden howled in a frenzy.
“Butler Kayden has confessed everything. I have no desire to hear any more absurd excuses.”
“I-I am wronged, Your Majesty!”
“Your crimes, including kidnapping and slave trading, are the most heinous. You will be publicly executed along with Nella Balkyrino. This will serve as a good example for illegal slave traders.”
“Huk! Y-Your Majesty! I am innocent! This is absurd! How can you abandon me like this!”
Count Tremain shouted until his throat was raw.
Hadel, as if annoyed, coldly turned his head and commanded.
“Knights, what are you waiting for? Arrest the criminals immediately. Those who resist may be beheaded on the spot.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
With a metallic sound, the knights’ swords were drawn. The nobles, who had brought only ordinary servants to the palace, had to be dragged away with faces drained of color.
“Your Majesty! Emperor! This cannot be! Your Majesty! Do you know how many sacrifices I have made for the empire, Your Majesty!”
Among the nobles being dragged away, only Count Tremain refused to give up, shouting angrily.
Thud. As the courtroom door closed and the atmosphere quieted, Hadel surveyed the remaining nobles and spoke.
“Now that all the criminals have been removed, I will address the final item on the agenda.”
The expressions of the tense nobles contorted.
Their faces showed they were barely restraining the urge to exclaim: What more could there possibly be!
Hadel leaned back against his chair and laughed in a languid voice like that of a predator.
“There are no more criminals, so you can stop making those expressions. The next agenda item brings good news.”
The courtroom had somehow transformed into a council chamber. The nobles swallowed both sighs and saliva as they looked at Hadel.
“I believe it’s appropriate to restore Deache to its original title of Duke. Is there anyone who objects to this?”
Gulp. Someone swallowed hard.
In the current situation, no one would dare to object.
