The Unemployed Prince Covets My Nephew - Chapter 30
Then, finally, the King entered the courtroom. To prevent any undue influence, the King had to live in isolation for two weeks, without meeting anyone, not even the Queen, in accordance with the noble court tradition until the day of the trial.
Following the ceremony, everyone stood up to show respect to the King.
When the King sat down and gestured, everyone else finally took their seats.
‘Finally, the solitary meals are over.’
The King felt quite lonely because he couldn’t meet anyone for two weeks. The first few days were fine, but eating alone for two weeks made the food taste really bland. He even lamented, wondering if he became a king just to end up like this. But finally, it was over.
The King quickly scanned the courtroom and his gaze stopped at Axel’s location.
He had heard that even the Queen and the Princess had helped. But even the King himself had doubts about whether there was any real chance of winning until the moment he stepped into the courtroom.
But that guy.
‘Why is he so confident?’
Since childhood, his son had been called a genius in swordsmanship, a natural-born successor of Otte, and he knew that his son’s overconfidence often bordered on arrogance, but how could he remain so confident even at this moment?
The King couldn’t understand. If there was one person in this courtroom who seemed completely at ease, it was his son, Axel.
“Today is the trial to investigate the allegations raised by Duke Gaspar Brahe against Prince Axel von Otte. This is a fact-finding trial, not a trial to divide plaintiff and defendant, so it will conclude today, and no appeals will be allowed against today’s verdict. First, has the Duke of Brahe appointed a legal representative?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. The legal representative is Francis Lore.”
“What are the allegations?”
“Yes. We believe that the claim by Prince Axel von Otte that Count Roman and Baron Langston conspired to have the Vasans kidnap Prince Theodore is not true and is based on very insufficient evidence, which is why we requested this trial.”
The legal representative for the Duke of Brahe sat down. Then, the legal representative appointed by the Prince, who was also the brother of Khalid, Axel’s aide, Ainous Rethel, stood up.
“I am Ainous Rethel, the legal representative for Prince Axel von Otte.”
“Do you acknowledge the opposing side’s claims?”
“No, I do not acknowledge them. Count Roman made a deal to forgive Baron Langston’s debt in exchange for offering Prince Theodore to Vasa as a sacrifice, and the Vasans, disguised as merchants, kidnapped Prince Theodore. All of this is true.”
The courtroom buzzed briefly at the mention of disguising as merchants.
When the King picked up the gavel, the noise in the courtroom subsided again.
“The trial will now begin.”
The King struck the gavel twice, officially starting the trial.
“I call Prince Theodore to the witness stand.”
Theo was so small that from the audience seats, one could barely see the top of his head.
When his name was called, Axel stood up and gently lifted Theo with both hands, placing him on the ground.
Theo made eye contact with Hailey one last time and walked confidently.
Although he was said to be five years old, his physique was so small that he looked like he was only three or four. The distance to the witness stand seemed like a long journey for the child’s small steps.
Here and there, people sighed in sympathy, saying, ‘Oh dear, oh my.’
As the youngest and smallest witness in Zenovia’s history, they had especially made a child-sized staircase to reach the platform and a special chair that could adjust its height when the child sat on it.
When Theo climbed up and sat down with effort, the chair made a ‘whirr’ sound as it rose. Theo, finding it fascinating, slightly opened his mouth in surprise, saying, ‘Oh?’
“Please place your hand on the oath.”
The oath contained a pledge to speak only the truth, without lies or concealment, in the name of the Sun and the Sky God.
Theo read each line clearly.
The Sun referred to the King of Zenovia, and the Sky God was the deity of Zenovia’s state religion, a being that had ruled the world for a long time, even before the Great Empire of Charenne, bringing war and disaster as curses and punishments to humans before ascending to the sky.
If one lied under oath, they would be subjected to terrible curses and punishments.
“I, Theodore von Otte, swear by the Sun and the Sky God.”
The oath was handed over to the judge.
“Rethel, you may question the witness.”
Ainous Rethel stepped forward to question Theo.
He had practiced the trial with Theo every day and, to become friends, had even brought sweet and delicious green grapes, used to make the special sherbet unique to the Rethel family, from the Rethel estate. To Theo, Ainous was a familiar face.
“Prince Theodore, I know this is difficult for you, but could you recall the events of the day when the incident occurred? What kind of day was it?”
“It was the day Mommy wore a pretty dress and went to the palace. She said I could have three candies and gave me milk pudding.”
Thinking of Hailey’s angelic beauty, Theo’s nervousness eased a bit.
“Did the princess consort go alone?”
“No. Mommy went with… uh… the Baroness.”
“What did you do in the afternoon?”
“I drew pictures alone in my room. Mommy gave me the assignment to read the book ‘The Story of Zenovia’s Founding’ and write a review. Then I had two candies and pudding, wrote a letter to Mommy, and had a sandwich for dinner…”
“……”
“I tried to stay awake, but I was so sleepy that I fell asleep. But then, I woke up.”
Theo calmly recounted what happened that day. He paused briefly while saying he fell asleep waiting for Hailey.
Hailey watched him and clenched her fists tightly.
“Why did you wake up?”
“People suddenly barged into my room. They were the people who worked at the Baron’s house. They grabbed me by the neck from behind and dragged me away.”
Theo demonstrated by grabbing the neck of a doll from behind, showing how he was dragged, and explained clearly.
Hailey had seen and heard this testimony many times during mock trials, but watching Theo explain it directly on the witness stand brought tears to her eyes.
Axel’s large hand covered Hailey’s hand, which had been clenched into a fist for who knows how long. Hailey bit her lip and wiped away her tears.
“…But the red-haired man with the long beard said ‘He’ didn’t like sacrifices being injured, so they didn’t hit me.”
Theo’s testimony was surprisingly detailed.
With a memory far superior to most adults, he described the physique, appearance, and distinctive features of the Vasans present at the scene, one by one.
There was a man with a limp, a man with a large mole on his face, and a man with one eye covered by a strange patch.
“The man with the long hair and big mole on his face covered my mouth from behind while saying strange words, and I lost consciousness.”
Theo recalled and recited the ‘strange words’ he heard. They were in the Vasa language.
Some people were surprised and sighed when they understood the clumsy Vasa language that came out of the child’s mouth.
It was too detailed and descriptive to be dismissed as the imagination of a five-year-old child. He even used Vasa words he heard that day without knowing their meaning.
The nobles on Duke Brahe’s side couldn’t hide their bewilderment at Theo’s unexpectedly detailed testimony.
“Your Honor, today’s trial point was to determine ‘who’ kidnapped His Highness Prince Theodore.”
Ainous passionately argued based on Theo’s testimony.
The King watched Theo with interest. Just like the first day he saw him, the child had excessively bright eyes.
‘He is not ordinary.’
He started to understand why his son had been so confident.
He claimed to be a lucky guy but where did he find such a child?
The King was astonished.
“But as you can see, His Highness’s specific testimony clearly points to the Vasans. Moreover, His Highness has never learned Vasa. This is undeniable testimony that he heard Vasa directly at the scene that day. And please take a look at this.”
Ainous held up the handkerchief and the parmakia he had submitted as evidence beforehand.
The King’s expression immediately hardened.