“I have no face to show you.”

Siobhan, who offered me an apology before a greeting, looked even more solid than he had a few days ago.

Doesn’t being in prison usually make a person look gaunt?

“Sir Sio, you look healthier than before…?”

“Ah…”

He smiled with a hint of embarrassment at my question and continued.

“I was worried I might fail to protect you, so I exercised more during my brief time in prison.”

In the middle of our exchange of greetings, Eden’s voice cut in abruptly.

“For the time being, Siobhan will be your dedicated knight.”

“Pardon?”

“Dias was the only female knight in the ducal knight order, but she has something to attend to for a while.”

Does this mean I finally have the chance to spend a long time alone with my favorite character?

“And until Dias returns, we will be sharing a room.”

“Pardon?!”

My reaction was quite different from the one I had when I heard that Siobhan would be serving as my dedicated knight a moment ago.

“Nothing of the sort you are hoping for will happen, so wake up from that dream.”

“Wh, what do you mean, hoping for! Besides, we are not even married yet, and we are already sharing a room.”

“There will be no one to handle night guard duty while Dias is away.”

“Sir Sio is here.”

Eden’s moonlight-like eyes simply narrowed at my answer. That gaze seemed to say, ‘No.’

“By the way, what brings you here?”

“Pardon?”

“Did you not come because you had something to discuss?”

“Oh.”

The mention of sharing a room had made me forget what I had come to say to Eden.

“I heard something from the Princess about a sorcerer.”

“……”

“Of course, I did not bring it up first. It came up while the Princess was talking about the time she lived on the frontier.”

“What was it?”

“A sorcerer had gone to perform a spell at a Marquis’s summons, but the spell was performed not on the Marquis, but on a certain Count’s young lady. And that young lady never woke up.”

“……”

“Of course, that young lady would not be me… but regardless.”

“It may be the same person as the sorcerer I was going to mention.”

“The same person?”

At my question, he gave a brief nod and then opened his mouth again.

“The sorcerer that Ter Giuo introduced to you was also said to be someone found on the frontier.”

Just as I thought.

“By the way, what kind of deal did you make with Ter Giuo?”

I gave no answer to Eden’s question. Or rather, I truly could not. I had nothing to tell.

I am curious myself. Just how much of the real Eloa’s words am I supposed to believe?

All I could do was avert my eyes and avoid answering in my discomfort. Into that silence, Eden suddenly held something out to me. What he held out was an envelope of a deep earth-brown color.

Not knowing what it was, I took the envelope and looked at him, and he answered me with a gentle smile.

“It has arrived.”

What has arrived?

“It is a summons for cooperation in attending a trial.”

It was an official document that had arrived within three days. The trial had come sooner than the date Eden had mentioned.

“Do not worry. The trial is two days from today, and we will be spending that time preparing for it.”

“In what capacity will I be attending?”

“As a suspect.”

“……”

“Myself, you, Lady Hesse, and several nobles who attended the diplomatic event, as well as those who were not on good terms with Ter Giuo.”

“……”

“About twenty people will be attending as suspects.”

***

True to his word, Eden spent the full two days doing nothing but preparing for the trial. He checked and rechecked alibis in anticipation of questions that might arise and to ensure thorough testimony.

The day of the trial.

I stood once again before the imperial palace, which I had visited just a few days ago.

I was already thoroughly sick of the imperial palace.

The total number of people summoned as suspects for questioning was twenty-one. Among them were high-ranking nobles including Eden, young noblewomen whom Ter Giuo had pestered, and nobles who had been on poor terms with Ter Giuo. Anyone connected to Ter Giuo was present.

The courtroom began to grow restless at the absurd sight.

“Everyone, please be silent.”

Though it was an imperial regime, the Emperor did not personally participate in trials. However, that did not mean the presiding judge could make all the decisions. In the end, the final decision rested with the Emperor.

“We will now begin the trial regarding the suspected murder of Marquis Ter Giuo. The trial was filed by the Marquis Ter Giuo household, and all questioning will proceed in order of rank among the high nobility.”

With those words, the first question was directed at Eden.

“First, Duke Eden Cler Hylus.”

“Yes.”

“I will begin with you, Duke. What were you doing on the night five days ago?”

“As everyone is aware, a banquet was held that evening for the diplomatic occasion with the Western Kingdom, and I attended on behalf of the Hylus family, a founding noble house.”

“I would like to ask what you were doing inside the banquet hall.”

“I was returning to my room with my fiancee.”

“Is that all?”

Eden nodded as though he found it too tiresome to answer any further. His response was so composed that it made the entire trial seem like a nuisance to him.

It had been a challenge in itself to suspect a Duke of being the culprit and open a trial. Of course, if there were concrete evidence, the entire situation could be overturned, but that was not the case now. If no evidence emerged here that Eden had committed the murder and his alibi was confirmed, the Marquis Ter Giuo household, which had brought Duke Hylus before the court, would be severely shaken.

Whether the presiding judge was fully aware of this, he pressed no further with his questions.

After Eden, the questions turned to Lady Hesse. Her answers were equally brief, concise, and delivered with a cold demeanor.

“Next, I will question Eloa Rumania, a Count’s daughter and prospective Duchess.”

“Yes.”

“Likewise, what were you doing on the night five days ago?”

“I attended the banquet together with the Duke.”

“Then, were you also resting inside the banquet hall?”

“To be precise, we had a prior engagement with Sir Enoch, the Prince of the Western Kingdom. I had gone to my room to retrieve a gift to give to Sir Enoch.”

No sooner had I finished speaking than a hooded man among the observers rose from his seat. Without hesitation, he removed his hood and waved with a nonchalant smile.

“I am Enoch Ilabalan, Prince of the Western Kingdom.”

Enoch’s appearance sent the courtroom into an uproar once more. It was in itself an uncommon occurrence for a prince of a foreign nation to participate in a trial. The faces of the Ter Giuo household members I caught a glimpse of were dark.

It is not as though we had simply been sitting idle.

In truth, meeting with Enoch had been a gamble in itself. He had not been fully aware of our situation and had only seen my back as I ran. Even so, he had agreed without asking a single question and willingly stood as a witness.

Enoch testified that he had met with us at the agreed-upon location and that a serious discussion had taken place for the benefit of both nations.

Thanks to his testimony, both Eden and I were able to clear ourselves of suspicion.

Since only Eden and Lady Hesse had been able to use transportation magic stones within the imperial palace on the day Ter Giuo was presumed to have died, there was one more round of suspicion.

However, this too was dismissed by the testimony of Schmitz, whom Eden had called.

“We are in the process of developing a magic stone capable of traveling a distance of more than two hours from the research institute, but it has not yet reached the stage of realization. While the magic stone under development can technically be used… I cannot guarantee one’s life.”

“Is it truly impossible for a transportation magic stone to travel a distance of more than two hours?”

“Yes. To provide supplementary explanation, I will submit a technical report documenting the development status of the magic stone.”

The transportation magic stones currently in widespread use could only cover a distance of two hours, and the distance from the imperial palace to Valhamir was four hours.

Since Schmitz was a mage working at a magic stone development institute that developed magic stones used within Ermensel, the atmosphere was one of general acceptance of his words.

All except one person. Ter Giuo’s mother, the former Marchioness.

“Are you saying my son went alone to that freezing Valhamir!”

Eden did not back down and countered her words.

“Then are you saying that I risked my life to use an unrefined magic stone, traveled four hours, and then risked my life again to return to the imperial palace. All just to kill one Marquis Ter Giuo?”

“If it were you, Duke, you would…”

“I am not someone so idle as to so readily risk my life. Not unless it were for the sake of the nation.”

Unable to refute Eden’s words, the former Marchioness wailed. The voice that filled the entire courtroom made my heart constrict once more.

Ah, the same sensation as back then.

My breathing grew gradually shorter, and I found myself gripping Eden’s sleeve tightly without thinking.

I just want this trial to be over soon… Just as that thought crossed my mind, another suspect opened their mouth.

“Marquis Ter Giuo was absolutely mad about women. He was the type who once went all the way to the frontier saying he would find a woman he would not have to spend money on, because he found it a waste to spend money on women.”

The man who had finished speaking hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth again.

“The truth is… the Marquis tried to kill a woman he had met on the frontier.”

The shocking statement sent a ripple through the courtroom.

“Is that true?”