This would make it impossible to overturn the trial results. It would mean going against divine will.

‘When did those rat bastards prepare for something like this?!’

Feeling like he had been properly hit, his neck stiffened and his blood pressure soared.

If he retreated like this, the Diart side would definitely counterattack, so he had to do something right now.

To shift people’s attention from the heretic trial to something else.

Howard, desperately racking his brains, caught sight of Deborah drooping powerlessly alone.

His eyes flashed for a moment.

Bang! Howard deliberately knocked over a chair to focus the attention on him and shouted.

“Setting aside the heretic matter, how will you explain that Lady Diart tried to kill my daughter!”

His plan was to shift the topic from the heretic trial to Johanna’s attempted murder case.

Shailyn frowned at the obvious and conscienceless trick. But anyway, as he made a fuss, people began to look in that direction one by one.

“If you think about it, shouldn’t we try that matter first!”

Howard pointed at Deborah with his outstretched hand, raising his voice with a face flushed red.

“That vicious and evil lady tried to murder my tender-hearted and kind daughter! Moreover, the Diart ducal family tried to cover up that incident!”

“We never did such a thing! Deborah isn’t a child who would do such wicked acts!”

Dain covered Deborah’s ears with a hardened face, and Bartholomew retorted angrily.

“Hmph, you’re covering for her because she’s family. Would Your Grace have said the same even in the opposite situation?!”

Howard, crossing his arms and snorting, slyly rolled his eyes. From people who had completely turned their bodies toward him to those who had awkwardly turned only their heads while praying.

Confirming that he had drawn everyone’s attention as intended, he bowed toward the emperor.

“Your Majesty, please postpone the official announcement of the heretic trial results, and please first reveal their crimes for my poor daughter’s sake.”

The wolf-like emperor’s eyes narrowed. He pondered whether to cut off Duke Celsior here or give him a little more support.

‘Hmm, is it still a bit too early?’

There was no other high-ranking noble as easy to use as Howard. Moreover, since he was from a ducal family, his utility was incomparable to others.

The emperor, considering the interests entangled with him, made his decision.

“Very well.”

To side with Howard once again.

At those words, Shailyn’s side stiffened, while Howard’s expression noticeably brightened.

The empress and Linus also flinched and looked at the emperor, but he unilaterally raised his hand and opened his mouth.

“Based on today’s trial, we will proceed with a reinvestigation of the Diart family and Count Sharofe, prioritizing the attempted murder case of Lady Celsior—”

“Wait—”

This was when Shailyn was about to bring up Emma’s story to reveal Celsior’s dark intentions and stop the emperor.

Bang!

Someone roughly opened the courtroom door, cutting off both people’s words simultaneously.

“Please wait.”

Shailyn’s eyes widened as she saw the man who politely requested and strode boldly inside.

‘Carl……?!’

No, why are you appearing here.

She was at a loss at the surprising appearance of the bondservant she had been worried about, wondering if he was staying safe.

The Diart ducal family also looked at him with bewildered faces.

Carl, dressed unusually neat, quickly approached while crossing the spectator seats.

‘What should I do? Should I shout for him to leave? But if Carl gets caught too……’

Restless, Shailyn casually turned her head and paused.

Howard’s complexion had turned not just pale but blue with shock.

Just like someone who had seen something they shouldn’t have.

‘Why is he acting like that? Anyone would think a dead person crawled out of a grave.’

It was even more so because Howard’s lips trembled as Carl approached closer and closer.

Carl, not giving him a single glance, passed by Shailyn and brushed against her pinky finger as he went by.

Finally reaching the emperor, he knelt on one knee.

“I apologize for suddenly intruding into the trial. I had urgent matters to discuss, so I unavoidably committed this rudeness.”

“Who are you? And what do you have to say?”

The emperor asked without hiding his displeased mood.

Meanwhile, his gaze lingered on Carl’s face, as if searching for some kind of trace.

Carl raised his head slightly and reported in a calm voice.

“The new Duke of Celsior greets Your Majesty.”

“……!”

The ripple effect caused by that brief self-introduction was tremendous.

Howard’s body stiffened rigidly, and even the imperial family couldn’t hide their shocked expressions.

“I didn’t mishear just now, right? He said new duke, right?”

“No, Duke Celsior is right here in this place, so how……”

“What exactly is that man’s identity? He seems somewhat familiar though.”

The courtroom stirred greatly.

Only Raviel looked at Carl with a peaceful face alone, as if he was the only person who had foreseen this situation.

Carl, having thrown everyone except him into chaos, calmly continued the words he had prepared.

“As the head of the family, I will withdraw all lawsuits and accusations that the Celsior ducal family has filed against the Diart ducal family.”

He paused for half a beat as if telling them to listen carefully, then opened his mouth again.

“I will also resolve the attempted murder case of Johanna Celsior internally within the family.”

If that happened, all the snares that had been binding the Diart ducal family and Shailyn would fall away.

Shailyn, feeling more confusion than joy at this, looked at Carl with bewildered eyes.

Duke Celsior? Carl?

She desperately wanted to demand an explanation of what had happened right away.

On the opposite side, Howard was glaring at Carl as if he wanted to kill him. Feeling despair that the scene he had always feared and guarded against had finally been realized.

“No, what on earth is this……. Duke Celsior, you explain.”

“……”

“Who is that person to call himself Duke Celsior?”

As things flowed in a completely unexpected direction, the emperor demanded as if frustrated.

While Howard hesitated, unable to open his mouth, Carl snatched that question instead.

“My name is Kyllen Celsior.”

The real name he had lost and lived without for the past year flowed out quite smoothly.

Howard squeezed his eyes shut as if he didn’t want to hear it. However, Carl’s words didn’t stop.

“I am the nephew of the current Duke of Celsior and the child of the previous ducal couple.”

The young lord who had been confined after suffering from madness following his parents’ death and died in a fire.

The story she had once heard from Dain and Deborah finally came to mind.

All kinds of memories swirled like a storm in Shailyn’s head.

The suspicious points she had occasionally seen in Carl fit together like puzzle pieces.

The natural way he spoke down to others like a high-ranking noble, his familiarity with social rules and etiquette, the powerfully restricted information access as if he harbored a huge secret…….

“This bracelet and sword are proof that I am a Celsior.”

Carl rolled up his sleeve to reveal the bracelet and drew the sword at his waist to show the pattern engraved on it.

The peregrine falcon pattern symbolizing the Celsior ducal family.

‘……It was a peregrine falcon, not a vulture.’

As Shailyn realized her mistake, Carl removed the bracelet from his wrist.

Then his eyes, which had been black like his hair, turned red.

Just like Howard and his daughter.

Carl, having completely regained his true appearance, curled up his lips diagonally and faced Howard.

“It’s been a long time, Uncle. I trust you won’t pretend not to know your nephew.”

“How are you……”

Alive?

Howard, forcibly suppressing the question that had risen to his throat, forced a smile.

He exaggeratedly spread both arms and slowly approached Carl.

“Yes, Kyllen! How joyful that you, whom I thought was dead, have returned alive!”

His cold eyes and the corner of his mouth twisted bizarrely and trembled.

Carl leisurely observed his uncle’s state, filled to the point of explosion.

“But nephew, by whose permission are you saying you’re the new Duke Celsior?”

Howard grabbed his shoulders and spoke in a greatly lowered voice.

Strength entered his fingertips and his eyes shone fiercely.

“When I am alive with both eyes wide open……!”

A smile resembling mockery rose to Carl’s lips at that secret threat.

“Since Uncle is alive and I am also alive, wouldn’t it be proper for me to inherit the ducal family?”

“Don’t be ridiculous! You can never do that without my consent!”

“I obtained your consent long ago, Uncle.”

Carl leisurely put his hand into his chest. Howard watched what he was doing without even blinking.

Soon his face hardened when he saw the paper Carl pulled out.