Chapter 11
‘Oh, no. It can’t be.’
But every time Ian smiled in that way that made Marcus’s heart flutter, it was for a different reason than most people would think.
Before Marcus could even open his mouth to try to persuade the man he served, Ian flung open the carriage door. The carriage was still stopped in the middle of the road, and the prince left his seat with a light movement.
From a very young age, when Ian first became aware of his royal duties and role, he never thought about his own future. It was because he found it unbearable to deal with the disappointment when life didn’t go as he imagined.
It was easier not to dream in the first place.
If there was any consolation, it was that he had several times more patience than most people. He was better than anyone at suppressing his true nature.
But that didn’t mean he was fine. Sometimes, he found it hard to bear the sudden surge of frustration.
It had already been two months since he was summoned to Windsorbell Palace for a private meeting with his mother. Those moments of suffocating frustration were becoming more frequent.
At this rate, he thought, he might even start to resent his older brother a little.
So Ian needed a place to breathe, even for a moment. Not to sit and eat with those sly old men.
Let’s just say, at his age, he was feeling a late rebellious phase.
Let’s say he wanted to run away from the crown like a coward.
There was also the news of the baroness’s prison sentence, which left him feeling uneasy.
Whatever the reason, the fact that he ended up entering the courtroom for Miss Dawes’s final trial was a spontaneous decision.
***
The David trial, held over three sessions, had, by the third, emptied the gallery and thoroughly excluded spectators, learning from the chaos of the previous two.
While the trial was underway, Ian, for today only, used his status as a prince to quietly slip into a corner of the empty gallery.
And soon, as he absentmindedly looked toward the defendant’s seat, he couldn’t take his eyes away. The light returned to his eyes, which had been dull for nearly two months.
‘That cross-dressing woman from before.’
Her half-up hair, neatly pulled back for the conservative jury, made it easy to recall her face from that day.
A pale face. Deeply colored eyes and hair.
At a glance, she looked like a pretty boy, but she was definitely a woman.
Most of all, that brazen expression that screamed how unfair this was.
It was definitely the cross-dressing woman who had bumped into his attendant at Dwan Central Station.
The only difference from that day was that she was now sobbing, and her eyes were bloodshot.
‘Cross-dressing for writing erotic novels, huh.’
Amazing.
Ian felt a pure sense of wonder at one person’s colorful life. It was a fresh shock he hadn’t felt in a long time.
He didn’t know why, but he felt a sense of anticipation. For some reason, his heart was pounding, so he listened closely to the trial.
But that didn’t last long.
The uninspired defense attorney and the prosecutor, who argued without logic and only with personal feelings, engaged in a boring cross-examination. It couldn’t even be called a real trial.
When he looked back at the defendant, she still wore that “so unfair I could die” expression, but only moved her lips.
Ian was debating whether to leave when he narrowed his eyes.
Just as the lawyer finished a stupid answer, Natalie Dawes raised her hand. Her hand, floating in the air, trembled.
Everyone’s eyes turned to Natalie. The judge saw her and spoke.
“Defendant. Do you have something to say?”
The prosecutor raised his eyebrows and glared at Natalie. As if to say, how dare you open your mouth here. Natalie hunched her shoulders, but her mouth moved on instinct.
“…Yes.”
“Speak.”
“Honorable Judge, sob, to say that I incited an attack on the morality of ladies… I could never even imagine doing something so terrible.”
Natalie Dawes, who had only sobbed throughout the trial, began to speak cautiously.
“I just wanted to do what I wanted, to do what I liked.”
Her voice was terribly nasal, but since it was the defendant’s first words after three trials of silence, everyone held their breath.
“I just wanted to make a different choice.”
At that moment, Ian’s eyes, which had been watching the baroness, widened.
A different choice. He’d heard similar words from Charlotte before.
At the time, Ian hadn’t understood what she meant. He couldn’t ask Charlotte, who wore such a rare expression.
But right now, he felt he might finally find the answer.
The defendant began her closing statement in a pitiful voice.
“I wrote out of complacency. As you said, I didn’t think about the influence of my writing. I just focused on showing off how witty I could be, how vivid my imagination was, and my greed brought me here.”
She spoke up to that point without even taking a breath, then blew her nose. Ian instinctively took a step back and frowned.
“So I fully reflect on that part.”
For the first time, the jury, men old enough to be her father or grandfather, nodded at Natalie.
“But Your Honor, I’m so foolish that I still don’t know if I broke the law. There’s no law that says an unmarried young lady can’t write erotic novels…”
She finished her sentence resolutely, even as she looked around nervously.
That was basically saying, “Why am I the only one in trouble when I’m not the only one writing dirty stories?”
The jury, who had been nodding, now grabbed their necks. It was a cheeky statement, but she looked so pitiful that no one could tell her to be quiet.
The judge, too, seemed at a loss as he answered.
“The defendant, as a baroness, produced obscene material. You are charged with causing social disorder.”
“And, sob, what exactly do you mean by disorder…?”
“You disturbed the morality of our society.”
“Well… As far as I know, morality is something every citizen of the great Grand Batten should protect. Gentlemen and ladies should set an example.”
“…That’s right.”
“But why is that morality so strict only for ladies, sob. Your Honor, I’m too dumb to understand. Do ladies and gentlemen learn different morality? Or does the law pick and choose among people…?”
Even while crying, Natalie Dawes managed to slip in a bit of sarcasm.
The mouths of the gentlemen in the courtroom slowly dropped open.
The judge sighed. He looked at her like a grandfather watching his rebellious granddaughter.
“What I mean is, if I’m the disgrace of ladies, then all the gentlemen are walking obscenity, aren’t they…?”
If we’re talking about indecency, you’re all worse, so why are you only coming after me, you hypocrites.
Natalie Dawes looked around at the gentlemen surrounding her, keeping the last part to herself, but the nasty prosecutor read her mind in her tear-filled eyes.
“Nonsense! Honorable Judge! The defendant is derailing the argument!”
The enraged prosecutor shouted, almost in a fit.
But once a lady’s mouth is open, it’s not so easily shut.
“Sir Gotton, you’re a nobleman and a respected jurist, so you must have gone to university and be a member of a famous club, right? Then you must have enjoyed gambling and visited brothels with other gentlemen… How scandalous… I may be disqualified as a lady for writing dirty novels, but if we’re being honest, you might be even more depraved and obscene… That’s what I think.”
She wondered how she’d kept her mouth shut all this time.
“Honorable Judge, the defendant dares to mock the prosecutor in the king’s court…”
“Mock? How could I? I just think that the daily lives of gentlemen are what truly damage morality and noble dignity… As a citizen who loves Grand Batten, that’s what I think…”
“Ladies and gentlemen are different! A lady must…”
“That’s what I don’t get. Who decided that in the first place? I’m too dumb to understand. Why do ladies have to keep it and not gentlemen…?”
Though she was completely intimidated, Natalie mumbled loudly enough for all to hear. When Sir Gotton, now thoroughly provoked, slammed the table in anger, she flinched.
Then she muttered again.
“I just don’t get why it’s a crime for me to write erotic novels, but it’s fine for a distinguished gentleman…”
“Writing is not a lady’s job! Especially not if it’s obscene!”
“Anyone would think what you’re supposed to do is written on your forehead from birth…”
“That mouth…! Can’t you shut that mouth… !”
Sir Gotton shouted at the top of his lungs. His eyes looked like they might pop.
“Sir Gotton, control yourself!”
“The lewd witch has revealed her true nature!”
The judge pointed out Sir Gotton’s behavior, but he, furious, lunged at Natalie as if to strike her.
“She doesn’t even regret writing incomprehensible, obscene fantasies!”
“I don’t particularly need Sir Gotton’s understanding…”
“What!”
“…Sir.”
Natalie said it quietly but firmly. Her mouth, once opened, would not be stopped, no matter what.
Ian involuntarily opened his mouth. He was amazed that even in such a state, she could show such spirit.
“Defendant! Stop speaking! Sir Gotton, you stop as well! We will take a short recess. Jury, go discuss your verdict.”
The judge shouted urgently.
As soon as Natalie Dawes opened her mouth, the trial descended into chaos. The jury began to leave the courtroom in a clamor to discuss the verdict.
“…There really isn’t such a law. And it’s not like what you’re supposed to do is written on your forehead from birth…”
Ian, looking down at the chaos in silence, muttered.
What was all that? He felt like he might finally find the answer he thought he’d never get.
Ian called out to his aide, who had quietly followed him and was waiting behind.
“Marcus.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Let’s go back to Malik House. What’s Charlotte’s schedule today?”
“I believe she has no plans to go out.”
“Good. We’ll go back right away. And…”
Ian never took his eyes off the defendant’s seat as he spoke.
Noticing this, Marcus followed Ian’s gaze. There was a woman, her head bowed, tears and snot running down her face.
“Can we bribe the jury right now?”
This was probably the first time in Ian Astiers’s twenty-four years that he had ever meddled in someone else’s business.
Marcus turned to look at Ian’s profile. He was smiling. Not his usual businesslike smile, but one that looked truly happy.
It was the first real smile Marcus had seen in a long time.
