CH 158

“Wha…?! You’re… Christiane?!”

As she sees the young lady who just entered the court, Helene cried out in surprise. Christa just stared straight at Helene calmly and didn’t say anything.

“You!” Helen snapped. “After all, your madness then was an act! How wonderful that you’re able to show yourself before me today!”

“Be quiet!” the judge yelled.

Helene has forgotten where she is from her anger. In addition to the judge that Alto was ordering from the start, there were several other court officials that had come together to hold this trial. At that reprimand, Helene gritted her teeth but kept her mouth shut. However, she doesn’t seem to be remorseful, and she shoots a sharp glare at the judge who reprimanded her.

“This is Lady Christiane von Reingen,” Dietrich said, waving off Helene. “She is here today for one reason and one reason only. It is because of her efforts that Caanza brought staff and tableware to serve the crepes and pudding they also made for the evening party. Could you please explain it to the court?”

“Yes……” Christa said.

And with that, Christa began to explain bit by bit.

Helene’s soiree was lacking in excitement just with House Bayen’s aid. Knowing that Helene asked for opinions and cooperation from those close to her, including Christa, to liven up the evening party. That’s why Christa suggested crepes, and she suggested that the guests would have a blast if she served the pudding that Christa came to know by chance.

However, when Helene heard the proposal, she was furious and rejected it. It’s outrageous to serve crepes and other low-class sweets at a formal evening party of House Bayen…

Hearing that so far, the audience and witnesses looked at each other with awkward faces. It was because they had also thought the same. Some of them may have already eaten crepes and admitted that good food is good, regardless of its source. However, even though they knew that it was bad publicity for a high-ranking aristocrat to happily eat the commoners’ sweets, most of them remained silent.

As Christa said, crepes were wonderful sweets if you could get rid of the prejudice that they were just lowly commoner’s fare. However, they can understand Helene’s behavior with what she knew then. Most people felt they could not blame Helene for just that.

However, Christa is not criticizing Helene for that. Just plainly stating facts, no, if anything, Christa still speaks as if trying to flatter Helene without blaming her. That’s all the spectators, the witnesses, and the judges could understand. Christa’s testimony continues.

Although Christa’s proposal was rejected by Helene, she thought that the party would end in failure, so she decided to prepare for the party independently without permission.

It was corroborated that Christa independently requested cooperation here and there at the time. These pieces of evidence were also presented by Dietrich without exception.

After realizing that no one will cooperate with her, Christa visits the Crepe Cafe alone. There, she met with the owners and managers of the Crepe Cafe and obtained a contract with Caanza to cooperate with the evening party.

After having secured a contract with Caanza, Christa asks Helene to rent a place near the back door on the day of the evening party. Even there, there was a dispute with House Bayen Servants, but with what space Caanza had after the House Servants shrank it even further, they were still able to deliver their end of the contract as agreed upon.

From there, everyone here knows what happened. House Bayen tried to steal the rights for the pudding that was served then. Furthermore, they tried to falsely claim that Caanza had stolen the Hexen White Porcelain they used during the catering.

“That story is naught but bullshit!” Helene began to yell. “Who do you believe, Helene von Bayen of the Bayen Duchy, or Christiane von Reingen of the Reingen Marquisate?!”

Had she ever been so unpredictable before? Up until now, Helene has done everything her way. Hence… why are you going against Helene of the Bayen Duchy? Her gaze flew around to her surroundings, thinking that it would be fine if all these incompetent people around her would just shut up and follow her.

“Houh!” Dietrich cried with a devilish smile, “Bullshit, you say? Does that mean Lady Christiane is lying? But where did she lie?”

Oblivious, Helen spat out, “Where is it? There’s no point in pointing out any one part! It’s everything! I didn’t ask Christiane to cooperate with the evening party. I was never even asked to rent a space near the back door. It’s all bullshit!”

“I see, I see,” Dietrich said. “Well then, let’s call those pieces of evidence and witnesses. Ah, of course, I think you must already know, but if you give false testimony in court, you will be charged with the corresponding crime. You took the oath beforehand, yes? Of course, status has nothing to do with it. The same is true for those who are high-ranking aristocrats, so even if someone like you lies, it won’t be overlooked. Now then, let’s see if Lady Christiane’s testimony was a lie.”

Finally… when Helene finally saw Dietrich’s face, she squealed, “Hii!” His face was the usual smile of the gentle-looking Prime Minister, but it felt like a terrifying monster’s, instead.

“Wa-Wait!” Alto said, unable to stand it. “Ah, no please wait. My daughter must be a little excited because it’s her first trial. Please, wait a moment while I try to calm her down.”

As he glared at Helene, he slowly spun his words,

“Listen to me, Helene. In a trial, perjury is a crime. It’s fine to remain silent but lying is never permissible. What’s more, if you have a disagreement with someone and one of you is caught lying, you will be pursued to the full extent of the law. Do you understand?” Alto said, tightly gripping her shoulders.

“—-!” Helene frowned in pain but finally calmed down a little.

Helen is not so stupid that she can’t understand what she was just told.

“I retract my earlier statement…” Helene said.

“Could you please be specific with ‘earlier’?” Dietrich asked. “When exactly are you talking about?”

Dietrich does not relax. He was prepared to pursue any specific remarks.

“Everything! I withdraw everything I’ve said since Lady Christiane entered!” Helene yelled.

“Houh!” Dietrich said. “Does that mean you accept Lady Christiane’s testimony as true?”

“…………”

Helene remained silent when Dietrich pursued her. She’s obedient to what her father just told her. If she said anything more after that, it would make her position even worse. In that case, she had no choice but to remain silent.

“Well, that’s fine,” Dietrich said. “Then I will produce evidence and witnesses.”

The witnesses Dietrich invited in were the House Servants of Bayen and nobles in Bayen’s Faction. Those people happily talk about the events and line up the “misdeeds” of Christa and Caanza. The only thing to do then is to keep quiet.

The servants and nobles who testified did not know what this trial meant. Since House Bayen was standing on the prosecution’s side, they gleefully gave their testimony, thinking that it would be perfectly right to speak ill of the defendants.

With the exception of Helene asking for cooperation in her private quarters, they talk about Christa asking for help here and there without regard for the trouble she would cause, and about Helene promising to rent the area near the back doors of the Bayen Residence. And first, they mentioned that said company renting the back door conceded with the House Servants and had their available space shrunken.

Alto could do nothing but lean back in his chair and stare skyward as the testimonies unfolded one after another. Helene can only look down and tremble.

And what came out was the story of the assault on Christa, the one who led the party to success. Christa said nothing about what had been done to her. And yet, one of the House servants talked about abandoning Christa before the Reingen Residence’s gate on the witness stand.

After the evening party, Helen and the others gathered together to assault Christa, had her thrown into a wagon afterward, transported her home, and then tossed her away in front of the gate. All of these were instructions from Helene… and were now exposed.

“Assault…” Dietrich said. “Are certain this was what happened?”

“………… Yes,” Christa said after much hesitation. “This is the costume I borrowed from Kanza Company at the time. And these are my scars from then.”

Christa wanted to keep quiet about it if possible. Because she knew that Helen and the others would be in deep, deep trouble if it came to light.

However, even though Christa had kept it a secret, for some reason Bayen Servants happily spoke about it. As if it was something to be proud of, they were proudly on the witness stand, looking down on Christa…

Now that it’s been exposed, she can no longer remain silent. She handed over her ripped and torn clothes as evidence, and after slightly rolling up her sleeves, she displayed her arms. There were fresh bruises here and there.

At that moment, Bianca heard an ominous noise beside her. She looked beside her and then squealed “Hii!” Dripping… something is dripping at the feet of the cloaked person standing next to her. It was bright red blood. Behind the hood that completely hid his face, she could catch a glimpse of an expression like a demon, blood was flowing from his mouth because he had clenched his teeth too hard.

Floto endured her anger by clenching her fists until they bleed and clenching her teeth until her mouth was cut.

If this… if this wasn’t the courtroom, if Christa hadn’t protected Helene, she might have killed everyone in House Bayen right now. She was so angry that the blood was rushing to her head. But it can’t be done. Above all, it was not the wishes of Christa, the victim. So Floto just endured her anger determinedly.

The audience and other witnesses see the scars on Christa’s arms and whisper. Even slightly rolled up there is that much damage. She must have been badly injured all over her body. More than anything else, even her face is scarred and bruised. It would be outrageous to assault the face of a young lady around her age, let alone use your position to personally beat someone who cannot disobey you.

“This is a copy of the contract that Caanza signed Lady Christiane,” Dietrich said. “Lady Christiane, is this the same document?”

“Yes,” Christa said.

After a little while, the place calmed down, and Dietrich took out the contract as his last evidence. It clearly stated that it was a contract between Cristiane and Caanza Trading Firm. Their cooperation at the soiree is based on a contract with Cristiane, not with House Bayen or Helene.

Of course, even though it was an evening party held at a Bayen mansion, it may be possible that they catered without House Bayen’s permission. However, it can be interpreted that Caanza has permission to participate in the evening party because they were promised a space near the back door.

Christa arbitrarily invited another company to the evening party. The criticism cannot be avoided. It’s true and undeniable. However, that had nothing to do with Caanza, and it was only natural for them to provide manpower and goods as per the agreement.

Christa personally bears the cost, so there is no reason for House Bayen or even House Reingen to interfere. Having presented all his evidence and finished his defense, Dietrich stepped back.

“Umm… is this my last chance to say anything?” Christa asked, after all the verification and testimonies were finished, Christa finally spoke up.

The officials who came later looked at each other and nodded.

“Go ahead.”

“Thank you…” Christa said. “Lady Helene… I’m sorry to have caused you so much trouble because I did something unnecessary then. However… I just… I just wanted to spend some time with you, Lady Helene… Lady Sophie, and Lady Emma… everyone… I just wanted us to be together again… I…”

“SHUT UP!”

However… Helene stood up with her face raised and interrupted Christa’s statement.

“You… it’s your fault that I’m in this mess… be prepared for what will happen to you, Christiane, and House Reingen in the future!”

The courtroom goes silent. Even the judges and prosecutors who were under Bayen’s control sighed and shook their heads. There was no further action to be taken.

“Then, let us hear the verdict of this trial!” Dietrich said.

“The defendants and their trading firm are found not guilty!”

The lawsuit this time is strictly a trial concerning patent infringement and tableware theft, which the Bayen family sued for. Therefore, they can only say that the defendants are not guilty of those crimes.

Now, for example, the trading firm can sue House Bayen on these grounds, but that will be a separate trial, and House Bayen cannot be blamed for those crimes in this trial.

Defendants who do not hold titles are not allowed to testify or defend themselves in courts in the Kingdom of Ploiss. They have an obligation to answer the questions asked, but the defense must be done entirely by their defense counsel. Since Floto is a knight, she is allowed to speak, but the three defendants did not answer any questions other than the ones asked at the end of the trial.

“This case is settled,” Wilhelm said. “Now, we will proceed to the next trial. Regarding the gigantic investment fraud scheme perpetrated by House Bayen and its faction.”

“Wha…?!” Alto cried.

After having completely sunk into his seat, Alto turned his face back from the heavens and stared at Wilhelm.

“What’s there to be surprised about?” Wilhelm said. “There’s still yet more crimes committed.”

“…………”

Alto completely collapsed this time. But that has nothing to do with those involved in the trial that ended earlier. Floto and her employees were finally freed and left the court, ignoring Alto and the members of the Bayen Faction behind them.