CH 139

The trial over Sios didn’t last long. The trial took place the very next day after he was taken to the palace, and the presiding judge was Marquis Paren.

All the evidence was clear, and the safe with the gold he had stolen was also brought to public display.

And everyone who erased that safe, after being caught, pointed a finger at Sios.

“This kind of scam is a huge crime against the country.”

On top of that, everything was revealed, including the heinous act of trying to blame all the sins on the Duke of Croft, and after such news, no one even thought of defending the rights of Sios.

“Marquis Sios. The series of crimes you have committed is so gruesome that there is no excuse for you. So, from this moment on, I deprive Sios of his position and title and sentenced him to 100 years of forced labor in a mine on the western border.”

The solemn voice of Marquis Paren rang out.

The former marquis, now just a slave, screamed in despair.

“Ahhh!!!”

Unable to accept what he heard, Bilan Sios screamed angrily, but no one looked at him with sadness in his eyes.

“Arrest the criminal and drag him away.”

The knights grabbed Sios by the arms as Marquis Paren winced at the noise and ordered loudly.

“Let me go! Do you even know who I am?! Want to die?! I’m the prime minister of this country and the grandfather of the first prince!”

Bilan screamed like crazy and was torn from the hands of the knights.

It would be strange if he immediately flew out of the prime minister’s chair and immediately into the quarry, and didn’t go crazy.

Out of himself, Sios trembled and flashed his eyes.

“Could you shut up?! If you keep yelling like that, we will have to use force.”

“I’m not going anywhere! Call the first prince here! His Highness will let me go! The prince won’t leave me so easily!”

Marquis Paren looked at the distraught Sios and clicked his tongue.

And then he waved his hand to the knights.

The knights understood his will, and by force they twisted Sios.

They threw him to the floor, tied a rope around his wrists, and dragged him out of the courtroom while Sios dashed about like a dog.

The fate of the former Marquis, who was once called the real ruler of the Empire, made the nobles think about themselves.

“Let me go! Let me go!”

When the condemned man had just been pushed out of the courtroom, Edmund met him outside the door.

“Grandfather…”

He didn’t bring out the news of the trial, and personally came to the place.

Fear flashed in Edmund’s eyes as he saw his grandfather being pulled out by the knights.

It was a shocking sight.

He had once read articles that claimed that his grandfather’s guilt was clear, but the prince denied this, because how would people know?

His maternal grandfather, who was always kind to his grandson, couldn’t commit such a heinous crime.

Just like his mother told him that nothing like that would happen.

‘But why…’

Edmund stared at his grandfather, frozen in place.

At that time, Sios, who found Edmund before him, screamed desperately.

“Your Highness! Edmund! Save me!! Ed…”

“Calm down!”

His grandfather’s distorted face, like his tantrums, were so unfamiliar that Edmund backed away without realizing it.

Seeing Edmund walking away, Bilan’s green eyes widened with terror.

“Edmund! Thanks to whom you were able to sit on the throne…!”

“Stop it, father!”

At that moment, while Edmund stared numbly into the terrible eyes of his grandfather, someone held Edmund from behind.

Edmund, momentarily shocked, recovered from a familiar voice.

“Mother…”

When Lisa turned to Edmund, his grandfather had already disappeared along with the knights.

“My prince…”

Lisa hugged Edmund, who was now shuddering like a leaf in the wind.

‘You shouldn’t have come to court. It’s too soon… It was humiliating to let you see such a scene.’

Lisa exhaled deeply to calm herself and slowly lowered the hand that was holding Edmund. Then she bent down and met Edmund’s gaze.

The black eyes that looked at her trembled pitifully.

‘I was going to give you the throne…. It hurts like someone’s ripping my stomach open.’

“Mother, what is this…?”

“Prince, listen to me carefully.”

Edmund closed his lips at Lisa’s lo voice. It was the first time in a long time that he saw his mother’s face that he felt serious.

“Yes.”

“Everything that falls on us in the future will bring us a lot of grief. And your mother is unlikely to visit the prince often.”

“…”

“But keep this in mind. It’s not over yet. Honey, you have to endure in silence. Understood?”

Edmund saw Lisa’s changing eyes.

The mother’s words that nothing would happen to her turned out to be a lie.

Just like when she told him about the Imperial Palace.

She said that if he went to the Imperial Palace and became a prince, he would be happy, but Edmund didn’t live in happiness a day after he became a prince.

A father who brushed off his mother’s hand and always looked at him as if he were a stranger.

He was always strangled by other people’s views and hundreds of rules, which he must follow.

But now he even lost his maternal grandfather.

What’s even more disturbing is the ominous foreboding that his mother will be the next to sink into oblivion.

But Edmund was too good a son of Lisa to give her his true feelings now.

Edmund nodded, holding back the words that ripped from his throat.

“Yes, I will do it.”

“Everything will be fine. Trust your mother and return to the palace.”

Lisa broke into a deep smile as she affectionately caressed Edmund’s cheeks.

Edmund responded after a pause, noticing the oddities in her smile.

“…Take care of yourself too.”

With heavy steps Edmund moved towards the palace, hoping that everything would be all right with Lisa.

* * *

At the moment when the trial of Marquis Sios had just begun.

Many nobles attended the meetings, but Jeremy wasn’t among them.

And even if it was he who laid out all the evidence, and he really wanted to see Bilan Sios and Lisa cry, but he missed the trial.

He didn’t come, because the new find took all his attention.

“Why the hell? This is…”

Jeremy was now looking at the portrait on the table.

He accidentally discovered another secret safe of the Duke.

He recently ordered the reorganization of several rooms in the mansion, as well as the Duchess’ office, which remained intact after the death of her mother.

Before that, he looked into the library to pick up some of his mother’s things, and accidentally stumbled upon a safe.

The portrait there was nothing more than a portrait of the first prince.

He had seen it before.

He saw this picture when he returned to the Duke and first opened his father’s safe.

The portrait of the first prince and the inscription on it says ‘Lisa Sios’.

At that time, he couldn’t properly see it, because he was in a hurry, because he heard footsteps, but now there was something very strange in this picture when it came into his hands again.

Another name is written just behind the picture.

Tywin Agrita.

This name was nothing more than the name of the half-brother of the current Emperor, the name of the former prince who died a terrible death.

Not that the name of the dead prince was strange.

But the fact that his name was written on the back of Edmund’s portrait was rather strange and raised a lot of questions.

‘Why the hell… My father wrote the late Crown Prince’s name next to them.’

The two had no obvious connection.

No, however, there was one family that came to Jeremy’s mind.

But he didn’t even dare to think about it, because it was so ridiculous and terrible.

“…But there is a chance.”

He spent the whole night with his eyes open, and today he was thinking about it again. There is only one reason why his father left these two inscriptions.

There is a connection between Edmund and Tywin.

It was obvious that it had something to do with the birth of the first prince.

“This is the case…”

Another major problem has arrived.

If his guess becomes true… If so… The problem will not end with the death of only Lisa.

Will the destruction of three generations be enough for us? Or more, considering Raymond’s feelings for the dead prince?

A drama of this magnitude he had never seen before.

“That I have to do…”

The case was too time consuming for him to undertake the investigation with his own hand.

However, it was a problem to tell Ellie that it would bring more dangers on her.

Since there was no solid evidence, there was only a picture and a name written there.

It was also a risk to convey this to the Emperor.

Depending on the mood of the Emperor, Jeremy’s life itself could be in the balance.

Jeremy lifted his head and leaned back in his chair.

Jeremy leaned back in the chair, leaning his neck back. And he calmly organized his confused mind… One by one… And in the end, the answer was one.

‘That even despite the risk I should convey this to the Emperor.’

Jeremy grabbed the paper and jumped up from his seat.

After leaving the office with a firm face, he ordered the butler.

“I am going to the Imperial Palace. Prepare the carriage.”