“……”

Helix, who listened to Lord Trow’s words right in front of him, had an even more subdued look in his eyes. He had recently heard suspicious information from his Master.

‘After investigating Baron Durford’s movements again… it seems he was the one who first fed the drug to the Lady, and then secondly tried to poison her by sending an assassin.’

Upon hearing that, he could piece together the full picture of the incident.

‘Since the Trow family handles that drug and conducts human experiments with it, that drug must have also gone from Trow to Baron Durford.’

In other words, the supposedly missing Baron Durford and Lord Trow, who now made a show at the witness stand, had worked together to try to kill Leah. And beyond that, they now attempted to bring her down with a scandal.

Shiver.

Helix gathered his trembling hands on the table and looked back at the witness stand. His pale gray eyes emitted an icy light.

Flinch.

Lord Trow, unconsciously overwhelmed by the pressure, slightly turned his head.

“…Baron Durford became increasingly distressed. When the competition between the Rose and Lily began, he became noticeably frightened.”

When he displayed a more timid appearance after looking towards Leah and Helix, the audience grew colder towards the Piert Ducal Family. Lord Trow drove the atmosphere while maintaining a grave expression.

“However, he endured it with his true and desperate feelings for Peirose, no, Lady Yuria Seigan. He always asked me what Yuria liked, and worried that she might misunderstand his sincerity. He just liked her, saying she resembled a fairy just to look at…”

Bang.

Grand Duke Calosi, who had kept his mouth shut until now, struck the table placed in front of the plaintiff’s seat. His eyes, wrinkled with age, were red.

“To threaten and harm a royal figure with personal feelings, this is a clear challenge to the royal family.”

It was Grand Duke Calosi suppressing his boiling emotions over his son’s disappearance and speaking of justification first.

The audience admired this attitude befitting a seasoned politician. Grand Duke Calosi spoke.

“Ruyan Piert must be dealt with for murder and treason!”

The audience agreed loudly.

“That’s right!”

“The insolent Ruyan Piert must be punished without leniency!”

Some impatient spectators even stood up while raising their voices. Grand Duke Calosi shouted reprovingly while looking towards Leah.

“Also, if Leah Piert encouraged and condoned this matter, we cannot let it slide!”

Bang!

Leah also struck the table, not backing down.

Both the Grand Duke and the audience flinched at the unexpected threatening aura. She asked back with fierce intensity.

“Did you see Ruyan Piert directly threatening Baron Durford? Isn’t it just that those with guilty consciences got scared preemptively?”

Her voice, amplified by mana, spread to every corner of the hall. People unconsciously swallowed. Lord Trow, still standing at the witness stand, hurriedly objected.

“They must have been like that after seeing others get hurt!”

“Who are these others who got hurt? This person? Or that person?”

Leah pointed to the noble who had testified earlier. The one who claimed Ruyan had hit him just for saying Peirlily was making lilies fashionable.

“I’ve heard about that incident too. I heard he said that because of me, prostitutes would start wearing lilies in their chest, and at this rate Peirlily would become a name for courtesans?”

The audience gaped at the unexpected strong statement. Leah swept her gaze across the crowd.

“Why should I, a noble of honorable Peiren and a member of the great Piert Ducal Family, have to hear such insults? Moreover!”

Leah lifted her chin high.

“What sane brother would stay quiet when his sister is compared to a pr*stitute?”

She raised her hand to press down on her chest.

“My brother is not a coward who stays quiet at such times. He is a noble and knight who terribly values his sister’s and family’s honor.”

***

The spectators looked at the noble Leah pointed to with dismay.

“How could he say such things to a noble lady…!”

“Which family’s young lord is he?”

The pale-faced noble waved his hands.

“I, I didn’t go that far…!”

“Ruyan Piert. My brother upheld the virtues of knighthood.”

She continued, ignoring the noble’s excuses.

“Even when standing up for his sister’s honor, he never once drew his sword.”

The crowd stirred.

“He only used his fists.”

Those fists were already weapons! The noble who had been hit screamed internally.

However, he had enough sense. He knew that if he spoke now, not only would his own face suffer more damage, but he would surely be marked even more firmly by the Piert family.

Moreover, the stirring atmosphere differed from before.

The hearts of the spectators, which seemed to have completely sided with Grand Duke Calosi and Lord Trow, now leaned back towards Leah Piert.

In the tense atmosphere, Grand Duke Calosi opened his mouth.

“If he is so innocent.”

Grand Duke Calosi paused briefly and looked at Leah with piercing eyes.

“Why isn’t Ruyan Piert attending?”

It was a weighty question.

The gallery stirred at those words. Lord Trow, sensing an opportunity, quickly shouted in a shrill voice.

“Hasn’t he already fled?”

***

“Me?”

Suddenly a voice came from the entrance.

“Flee?”

The voice carried a tone of laughter, suggesting something absurd had been said.

It was Ruyan Piert.

Light coming through the open door illuminated his platinum blonde hair like a halo. People gaped at him as he stood there, briefly blinking his green eyes, appearing to lack sleep.

He looked like a fairy disturbed from its nap or an angel bored with the human realm.

The judge, belatedly coming to his senses, shouted.

“Defendant, show proper respect to the court!”

“Ah, I apologize. The word ‘flee’ – it’s something I’ve never considered in my life.”

Ruyan said. Leah quickly picked up his words.

“My brother has never retreated in his life. Not in battle, not in tournaments.”

She emphasized her following words.

“You all remember, don’t you? Those villain-like traitors who invaded the tournament several years ago and threatened His Majesty the King, His Highness the Prince, and numerous noble dignitaries.”

Many spectators flinched. Leah raised her voice.

“Those traitors who, though disguised as thieves, showed considerable skill with swords – who subdued them? Who faced them to the end without fleeing?”

The crowd fell silent at her words.

That’s right.

People’s leniency towards Ruyan Piert wasn’t just because he was the kingdom’s finest swordsman, the second son of the Piert Ducal Family, and the Knight Commander.

The thieves who invaded the tournament several years ago and took the royalty and nobles hostage. To subdue them, Ruyan had drawn his sword while wearing the victor’s crown on the podium – this incident still sparked occasional discussions.

Not only that.

At that time, he who cut down enemies like a sword demon eventually collapsed coughing blood, and after a severe illness, lost his former genius movements.

Though he remains the kingdom’s finest swordsman, those who knew him from before all said:

A genius with broken wings, an unfortunate genius.

This was what Leah pointed out now.

‘You owe your lives to my brother, and my brother lost his brilliant talent saving you.’

She swept the crowd with cold eyes before shifting her gaze to Ruyan approaching the defendant’s seat.

The spectators whose consciences pricked also looked at Ruyan.

Step by step.

Ruyan walking to the defendant’s seat wore a complicated expression. His face, which usually appeared confident to the point of arrogance and angel-like, now looked pitiful with a mix of fatigue, wronged feelings, and anger.

“Oh my…”

A noble lady unconsciously murmured, enchanted by his face. A noblewoman next to her nodded.

When Ruyan sat down at the defendant’s seat with a small sigh, sighs of sympathy erupted from various parts of the gallery.

‘Little brother, nice.’

Leah, who had been watching Ruyan with appreciative eyes, turned her head. She opened her mouth heavily towards the judge.

“I request a witness.”

***

When the Piert side’s witness appeared, people shouted in surprise.

“Peirose?”

Rich and gorgeous red curly hair. A beautiful young girl with distinctive narrow eyes and plump lips. The people in the gallery doubted their eyes, then looked at Duke Seigan sitting in the special seats.

Duke Seigan’s expression suggested his eyes might pop out. His face grew increasingly distorted.

“How dare they… my daughter…”

His daughter who had been wounded several years ago, whom he had worried about constantly, fearing she might become discouraged by her mother’s absence.

And now they dare to imitate that daughter.

He clenched his trembling hands in anger. Blood vessels rose on his rough fists that had fought pirates in the west all his life.

The crowd stirred at Duke Seigan’s reaction.

“Does the Piert Ducal Family now intend to make enemies with the Seigan Ducal Family too?”

“The Pierts in the east, the Seigans in the west. If that happens, the borders…”

“Internal division worries me more than the borders right now.”

People were too busy observing Duke Seigan’s dramatic reaction to notice. How Lord Trow’s eyes, still standing at the witness stand, shook madly.

Click click.

The red-haired beauty approaching the witness stand stared straight back at those eyes.

“You lowborn wench… how dare you come here.”

Lord Trow spat through his teeth while gripping the edge of the witness stand.

The beauty retorted viciously.

“Where else? This is your grave!”

“You wench…!”

Lord Trow, who looked ready to strike, swallowed his words. If he acted here, he would only raise suspicions about what kind of relationship he had with this woman.

However, he feared what the woman might say if he stayed quiet. After a moment’s conflict, he quietly withdrew.

‘Whatever she says, I can just claim she’s a lowborn who gave false testimony for money.’

For that, distancing himself as soon as possible seemed better. Lord Trow looked at the woman with a ‘we’ll see about that’ expression as he left the witness stand. His lips moved slightly as he passed by her.

“Don’t get any unnecessary ideas. If I step in, do you think you’ll have anywhere left to stand?”

The woman’s lips curved up in a sneer.