CH 125

Cersinia straightened her back and approached Limapheus. She’s like a knight going to war. The crowded nobles made way for her. Cersinia trudged along the open path as if the Red Sea was splitting.

“When they found out I’m suffering from sleepwalking, they tried to use it to commit arson and frame me.”

“Don’t fall for the witch’s trick!”

Fleur shouted out loud. Her twitching chest swelled up and down.

“Your Highness, I’m really sorry, but you must not believe the words from that deceitful witch!”

“That’s right. I should be fair so that neither side feels wrong.”

Limapheus showed his sharper side than ever. The nobles gathered there felt as if they were seeing the current emperor right in front of their eyes.

“How did it go?”

The crown prince said, looking down at the sinners with his low sunken eyes. Then, through the crowd, two men wearing glasses approached him. There were some documents in their hands, which made them look like scholars at first glance.

“These are the results of the appraisal of the letters and documents. The handwriting matches. These two letters are handwritten by Duke Kailos and Lady Fleur.”

At the sound, the two criminals raised their faces with expressions asking what that meant.

“The handwriting of the handwritten documents kept in the Imperial Palace and the letters conspiring arson are the same. What’s going on here?”

Kailos’s lips trembled at the surprise attack. He didn’t expect them to do a handwriting appraisal. But this proof has a big loophole.

Kailos shouted, making quick judgments, “It was written by my servant!”

All the documents sent to the Imperial Palace were written and sent from the mansion. There was no evidence or witness that he wrote it himself. Of course, it was reasonable and legal to send the documents to the Imperial Palace written and signed by yourself. However, the documents the nobles had to deal with a day were quite many, so they hired servants to fill them out and sent them.

Kailos also filled out most of his paperwork through his servant, taking advantage of that loophole. He would take anything he could to avoid being involved as the preparator of the arson.

“It’s the same for me! I don’t know my servant and the letter have the same handwriting, but I feel really upset by it, Your Highness!”

Fleur also couldn’t lose, so she got on board with Kailos’s remarks.

“Then you mean your servants exchanged these letters? And you’re involved in any of that?”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

“That’s right, Your Highness!”

Kailos and Fleur’s faces glowed. They seemed to be getting a little relieved now. As the incident took another turn, the nobles exchanged different opinions. The banquet hall was slowly filled with commotion.

“Then how about this?”

Cersinia, who was watching everything, opened her red lips.

“How dare a lowly witch to open her mouth recklessly in front of anyone!”

Fleur exclaimed, looking at Cersinia, who was about to step up again. Her stomach turned upside down whenever she saw the witch’s appearance, and her anger soared. Her biggest anger was that people were listening to that witch. Everyone should look at the witch like they’re looking at the dirty filth. That’s what supposed to be… but Everyone at the banquet looked up to her like a hero. Fleur’s heart was twisting.

“What is it?”

Limapheus, who was somewhat embarrassed by seeing the criminals who were not easily caught, answered quickly.

“Didn’t we all sign it ourselves when we came in? Since the sign was signed by the personally, not by the servant, if we evaluate the handwriting in the guestbook and the handwriting of the letters, we will be able to find out exactly.”

Cersinia smiled leisurely. It was the smile of the victorious queen. The loophole that Kailos thought of was something Cersinia thought too. So she didn’t move much to hide the fact that they knew the culprits as much as possible. Just in case the culprits catch a glimpse and don’t respond to the emperor’s call.

On the day Akat came with the letters, Limapheus took those to the palace and checked their documents and letters to find out if their handwriting was consistent. However, they needed one more piece of evidence they could never escape because she knew it would come out like this. Evidence that they can’t escape because if they investigate their mansion, they can dodge it again by saying it was written by their servants.

Whether it was Kailos or Fleur, when they entered the banquet hall, they wrote their names directly. It was seen by many nobles and servants who maintained the guestbook. All of them were witnesses, and it was the perfect evidence from which they could never escape.

“…”

At Cersinia’s words, the sinners shut their mouths. At the same time, the commotion stopped. The feeling of why they hadn’t thought of that flashed across everyone’s faces. It was the same for Limapheus. The reason for writing in the guestbook was to check who was present. When Cersinia requested for the guestbook, he thought it was to check the presence of Kailos and Fleur, but he didn’t know it would turn out like this.

“Bring the guestbook.”

As the command fell from Limapheus’s mouth, cold sweat formed on the forehead of sinners who were frozen like statues. The movement of the knights going to get the guestbook makes it quicker. This was not something that could be skipped over. Because dozens of eyes watched them sign.

“Your Highness, you must not be misled by the words of a lowly witch! Please make the right decision!”

There was only one thing they could do after all. They have no choice but to push Cersinia, who suggested it, as a witch.

Fleur was silent. She clenched his fists with a white face because of the sense of crisis that followed to the tip of her jaw. Long, sharp nails dug deep into the palm of her hand.

“Compare it.”

Limapheus ignored all the words from sinners and ordered the appraisers to compare the guestbook that had been brought.

There was a long silence. The appraisers carefully compared the handwriting of the letters and guestbook in great detail. Only the paper in their hands made a rustling sound, and no one could even breathe properly.

“Your Highness.”

At last, the long silence was over. The appraiser lifted up the glasses that had been spilled. Cold sweat was dripping down the faces of the two appraisers.

“Say it.”

“The handwriting in the guestbook matches the handwriting in the letters. The Duke’s unique curvature when it bends and the whole point subtracted from the upper part of Lady’s letter are all consistent.”

“Oh my god…!”

“Then Duke Kailos is really…”

As a result of the appraisers being announced, the surroundings became chaotic.

“Y-Your Highness, this is a setup…”

“Silence!”

Limapheus shouted at Kailos, who tried to make excuses and blame others again. The atmosphere sank heavily with the heavy sound of a large stone falling into the cave.

“Are you sure about it?”

“Yes, that’s right

The appraisers bent toward him as if they were sure.

“You still have more to say?”

Sharp, cool eyes, like a cross-section of broken glass, turned toward the sinners.

“Y-Your Highness… I have been fooled by this woman’s words! It’s true! I really didn’t know things would turn out like this!”

Trapped in the trap with no escape, Kailos began to beg. He blamed Fleur for everything as if it was someone else’s fault.

Cersinia’s crimson eyes had cooled before she knew it. The scene she saw so many times that she was disillusioned made her nauseous. A look of disdain poured down on the sinners.

Cersinia turned around. It’s really over now. The fire and the sinners who tried to frame her. Anxiety and emptiness coexisted in her mind.

“Hahahaha!”

Then Fleur, who was still biting her lips, suddenly burst into laughter. Cersinia turned back and looked at Fleur.

“I can’t believe you’re listening to the witch. It’s funny, it’s so funny!”

Fleur, who laughed so hard that her eyes were filled with tears, glared at Cersinia with a hateful face.

“Witch?”

Cold voice flow from Cersinia’s lips. It was the word she had been used to listening to. The word everyone used to refer to herself.

“What witch are you talking about?”

Her voice choked with anger. The word that haunted Cersinia for years. This was not just a question for Fleur but for everyone. What witch are they talking about?

“Ha, you’re so shameless! The witch refers to you bitch! You’re the one who uses vicious, deadly, and ridiculous magic to disrupt people! The bitch that only harms people must be eliminated from this world!”

“It’s you.”

Cersinia responded to Fleur, who was huffing and screaming with a flushed face in a calm voice. Obviously, she spoke to Fleur, but somehow her eyes were slowly scanning everyone. The nobles, who felt the gaze, shuddered and avoided it. Her eyes, burning more intensely than the flames, were bitter as if they were going to condemn them at any moment.

“What…?”

Fleur was dazed by the ridiculous nonsense. What is that witch saying?

“Just like what you had said. It is you, not me.”

At that moment, deep displeasure erupted in Fleur’s heart as Cersinia’s words struck deep inside her. She just couldn’t stand it.

“Who are you calling a witch? I’m different from you!”

With captive hands behind her back, Fleur spurred from her seat with all her might and rushed towards Cersinia.

“Kyaaaak!”

“Catch her!”

The screams of the people and the shout from Limapheus were heard together. And yet.

“Keugh, keugh…”

A cracking sound was heard in the pain of choking breath.

“I’ll kill you at once.”

Ben grabbed Fleur’s neck and tightened his grip. The blue veins on the back of his hand stood out thickly as if he was really going to kill her.

“Heuk, heeuuk…”

Fleur’s face grew redder than the raging flames. Cersinia looked indifferently at Fluer, caught in Ben’s grasp and floating in the air. Then she slowly moved her head and whispered in Fleur’s ear.

“Go to hell.”