Chapter 1 – The Queen Standing in the Courtroom

The courtroom was in an uproar.

Naturally so. Because today was the very day of the Queen’s witch trial.

What was more, when it came to trials related to the royal family, it was customary to limit attendance to the nobility, but today was an exception. Since it was being held as a public trial that even commoners could attend, the courtroom was as chaotic as a marketplace. And every scrap of talk spilling from the lips of the highly excited spectators was about the Queen, the subject of today.

“You heard the rumor too, didn’t you? The rumor that our country lost the war and life has become so hard because of the curse of an evil witch as wicked as a fiend! And that the witch is the Queen! Honestly, even when I first heard that rumor, I thought ‘surely not, surely not!’ But what in the world is this?”

“What do you mean, what is it! It means that rumor wasn’t just a rumor after all! Good grief! They say there was even a maid who heard sounds from the Queen’s bedchamber, praying to the devil to destroy our Kingdom of Eilan! How could she do such a thing!”

“My goodness! Then are you saying the Queen was really bewitched by the devil?”

“Of course! And that’s not all! They say the reason the Queen has never been able to bear a child is because she consorted with a devil! It’s not that she was barren, but that the devil she lay with cursed her so no other seed could grow in her body!”

“Honestly, she always was a little strange. What noblewoman doesn’t rush to wear splendid clothes and adorn herself? But have you ever seen the Queen do that? Day in and day out, she goes around wearing some dark hat with a mesh veil over it. It’s obvious now that it was all because she was a witch!”

Even though the trial had not yet begun, everyone was speaking over one another. As if they had truly seen and heard it for themselves. Of course, among all the rumors they spoke of, not one had actually been confirmed as the truth. But that was not what mattered. What mattered was simply sharing and enjoying the interesting and provocative rumors surrounding the Queen.

“Silence, all of you! The trial will begin shortly!”

A court official shouted toward the spectators. Once the courtroom had finally quieted down, the judge seated in the very center moved lips that had been firmly sealed.

“Now then. We will begin the witch trial of Queen Chloen Risse. Your Majesty, please enter.”

At that moment, all eyes turned at once toward the courtroom doors.

As if answering those gazes, the heavy doors opened, and soon a woman stepped inside.

The woman, wearing long satin gloves that came up to her elbows, had on a plain dress without a single ornament. A hat sat neatly atop her carefully pinned-up hair, and attached to that hat was a black mesh veil as dark as her hair. And that veil covered more than half of the woman’s face.

At a glance, she looked so plain and unadorned that one might be reminded of a funeral, but no one found it strange.

Because the Queen was always dressed like that. There was nothing new to be surprised by.

However, in the eyes of the crowd fixed upon the Queen, other emotions were tangled together.

Curiosity, for one, over whether the rumors surrounding the Queen were really true. Or fear and contempt, the sort of feelings that could be sensed from those who had already convinced themselves that she must be a witch.

But the Queen herself looked calm. It was obvious from how she coolly stood at the very center of the courtroom, fully receiving all those gazes that dug into her from top to bottom.

When the Queen came to a stop, the court official rose from his seat to read the indictment.

“In the second year of the reign of King Zenon Alberic O’Shea of the Kingdom of Eilan, the accused Chloen Risse…….”

That was when it happened.

“That is incorrect.”

The owner of the voice that interrupted was the Queen. Keeping her eyes on the court official, she continued in a clear, measured tone.

“There is no ‘accused’ here. There is only a pitiful Queen who has been falsely charged because of absurd rumors. Perhaps by the time I leave this courtroom a little later, I will instead be a Queen who has finally been cleared of unjust accusations. Therefore, I request that you correct that rude form of address.”

At the Queen’s firm voice, which seized control of the moment, the court official looked at the judge as if flustered. The crowd watching this was much the same. The judge drew his brows together for a moment, then soon nodded. The court official cleared his throat once and began reading the indictment again.

“Queen Chloen Risse fell to the devil’s temptation, concealed her identity as a witch, and in secret has been cursing Eilan. Because of that curse, Eilan lost its lands and even its authority as an Empire, was reduced to a Kingdom, and fell into becoming a tributary state under the rule of a foreign people. In light of this charge, do you admit to your crime, Queen?”

When the reading of the indictment ended, the courtroom stirred. It was only natural.

Only a few months ago, the nation that had occupied the central island of the capital and prospered without setback was the Empire of Eilan. For such an Empire to have its situation overturned overnight by a rebellion of the foreign people it had ruled, to lose its lands, and in turn become a tributary state ruled by those very foreign people, was something far too shocking. But then, to learn that all of it had supposedly been because of the curse of the Queen, who was a witch. There was no way it would not draw everyone’s attention.

But Chloen did not waver. If anything, she cried out even more boldly.

“No. That is absurd. As all of you know, my great-grandfather was a founding contributor who helped Lawrence I, the first Emperor of Eilan, establish this nation a hundred years ago. Thanks to that, our House of Risse was granted the title of Duke, and I too, honoring my great-grandfather’s will, have lived my life devoted to the Empire until now. And yet you say that I cursed Eilan? Do you truly think that makes any sense?”

At Chloen’s confident voice, part of the crowd wavered. It seemed they thought her words made a certain amount of sense. Seeing that, Chloen drove the point home once more.

“Of course, I too am well aware of the rumors circulating these days. They say a rumor is going around that Eilan has fallen into this state because of the curse of an evil witch as wicked as a fiend. And there is also a rumor that the witch in that rumor is me. I do not know who spread such nonsense, but I am absolutely not a witch. To be frank, they are merely rumors, and there is no evidence at all, is there? Am I wrong?”

Chloen’s proud voice rang through the courtroom once again. Faced with her unusual force of presence, the court official who had called her ‘the accused’ just a moment ago now said nothing. The crowd that had also been shouting that Queen Chloen must surely be the witch in the rumors was no different.

Within it all, Queen Chloen quietly steadied her breathing.

Everything was flowing in her favor. If it continued like this, then just as she had said earlier, she would be able to leave the courtroom proudly as a Queen cleared of unjust accusations.

‘Good. You’re doing well. Just keep going like this, Chloen. Don’t get agitated.’

Chloen thought. All she had to do was not get agitated. If she did not lose her composure, then no one here would be able to learn her secret. Of course, there were people who knew her secret, but there was no need to worry about that.

Her beloved mother and older brother, and Rachel, the maid and old friend who had always remained by her side since she entered the palace.

And finally…… Zenon Alberic O’Shea, the King of this nation, her husband, and her eternal liege.

The only people who knew Chloen’s secret were ‘her people,’ those who would never betray her.

Besides, she had something to rely on.

‘Chloen. Don’t get agitated, just stay calm. If you can simply get through the trial well, I’ll take care of everything after that. You haven’t done anything wrong anyway. And the secret you carry has nothing to do with this matter. So don’t worry. In the end, everything will pass without trouble.’

It was the first time. They were married, but her husband, who had always remained cold and never let her close, had comforted her with such tenderness. And that encouragement gave Chloen the strength to endure this ordeal.

That’s right, Zenon is behind me. Besides, you haven’t done anything wrong. So stay calm, Chloen. If only you don’t get agitated, nothing has to be exposed. Just as he said, everything will pass without trouble.

Was it because she remembered Zenon’s comfort from last night. The fingertips trembling faintly inside her gloves regained their steadiness. Her lips and eyes, which had secretly been trembling dangerously beneath the black mesh veil, no longer shook.

At Chloen’s unwavering attitude, several members of the crowd seated in the gallery also began to agree with her.

“That’s right. Her Majesty the Queen couldn’t possibly be a witch. Just who spread such a ridiculous rumor?”

“I heard there are many factions dissatisfied with the royal family these days because the state of the country has worsened. Most likely one of them is trying to frame Her Majesty the innocent Queen with some absurd false rumor.”

Public opinion inside the courtroom was gradually tilting more and more toward Chloen. Watching that, Chloen too was consoling herself that if things continued this way, everything would end safely, when—

All of a sudden, the judge sprang to his feet and shouted, narrowing his eyes.

“And if evidence were presented? Then, would you admit it?”

At the judge’s sharp question, the lips of those who had been agreeing all pressed shut at once. Chloen was no different. But Chloen could not simply remain silent. Working her lips with effort, she asked the judge in return.

“……Evidence? What evidence could you possibly present?”

At that moment, the royal guard standing beside Chloen suddenly snatched away the hat she was wearing.

Startled, Chloen looked over with wide eyes, but it did not end there. As soon as the guard who had taken her hat also stripped away the long satin glove covering Chloen’s left arm, gasps burst out here and there.

“Wh, what is that?”

“It looks exactly like some kind of bite scar, doesn’t it? How hideous!”

It was a natural reaction. On Chloen’s snow-white arm, now revealed when the glove was removed, there was a large and grotesque scar. Only belatedly did Chloen try to hide the scar by drawing her arm into her chest, but as he watched that, the judge moved his lips again.

“It certainly looks like a scar left by some kind of bite. When did you get that scar on your arm?”

At that moment, Chloen’s brown eyes, no longer shielded by the veil, trembled faintly. But the more that happened, the more Chloen struggled to compose her gaze as she spoke.

“It’s a wound from being bitten by a dog when I was a child. But what does this have to do with me being a witch?”

“Of course, if it truly is a wound from a dog bite, then it has nothing to do with it. But…….”

With a meaningful smile, the judge continued.

“Was it not a dog, but a demonic beast that bit you?”

At the word ‘demonic beast,’ the courtroom stirred once again. The demonic beasts that were said to appear often in the northern part of the central island were terror itself to the people of Eilan. Always in a state of agitation, demonic beasts had eyes red as blood and poisonous fangs, and the moment one was bitten by such a beast, one would either die, or if one barely survived, live in suffering for the rest of one’s life, tormented by the aftereffects of its poison. That was why the people of Eilan regarded demonic beasts as monsters created by a devil that had betrayed the will of Eilus, the only god they believed in. So for the Queen to have once been bitten by such a demonic beast. Everyone could only be horrified.

As if responding to that agitation in the crowd, the judge continued speaking.

“The Queen was bitten by a demonic beast as a child. Normally, when bitten by a demonic beast, one should either die or live forever tormented by the aftereffects of the beast’s poison, but the Queen did not. Instead, something very astonishing happened to the Queen.”

The judge, pausing for a moment, looked as though he were piercing straight through Chloen’s brown eyes.

“The magical power possessed by the demonic beast was transferred into the Queen’s body. So, strictly speaking, rather than being a witch…… a more accurate expression would be that the Queen became a ‘half-demonic beast.’”

Chloen’s eyes surged as though struck by a violent storm. She knew she had to offer some kind of excuse. But her thoughts had stopped, and her lips had frozen. There was only one thought rising in her head.

‘How does the judge know that. Where in the world did he hear all of this from…….’

At that moment, perhaps pleased by Chloen’s wavering eyes, the corner of the judge’s mouth lifted faintly.

“The fact that you cannot answer is as good as admitting that I am right, so shall we move on, Queen? No, not Queen. We should change the way we address you now.”

A foul smile rose at the corner of the judge’s mouth.

“Listen, accused. According to rumor, the accused recited spells in her bedchamber every night to curse Eilan. Presumably, as a half-demonic beast, she was trying to use the magical power she possessed to lay a curse upon Eilan.”

“A curse? I never did such a thing! I swear!”

Chloen hurriedly cried out the truth, but her explanation was buried beneath the judge’s continuing voice.

“And that’s not all. There is also a witness who claims to have seen those brown eyes turn blood-red, like the eyes of a demonic beast.”

The judge, who had paused for a moment, politely folded his hands before him. Then, looking toward the door through which Chloen had entered earlier, he said,

“As it happens, that witness has graciously agreed to attend the court in person today, so bring him inside.”

At the judge’s words, Chloen quickly turned her head toward the door.

Who could this witness be. I had hidden it so carefully all this time, so who on earth…….

At that moment, the heavy door leading into the courtroom opened. Then, crossing the threshold of the courtroom door that she herself had barely stepped over earlier on trembling legs, a man entered.

The moment she saw the man’s face, Chloen’s legs wavered and nearly gave way. It could not have been otherwise.

‘Zenon……?’

The one who had crossed the threshold and entered was the King of this nation, and her husband.

Zenon Alberic O’Shea.