CH 67.2

The day of the court hearing.

Sitting in the courtroom was the venerable Judge Bruce.

Eddie Claude’s desolate face was escorted into the courtroom by the police, his eyes filled with despair and gloom.

Since being taken away from the Claude mansion, Eddie Claude had been interrogated by the prosecutor’s office. However, he remained silent throughout the questioning. The prosecutors assumed he was being stubborn and subjected him to relentless overnight interrogations, depriving him of sleep under the glaring light of a scorching desk lamp. They forced Eddie Claude to keep his eyes open and answer questions, despite his dehydrated and fainting state. Yet, he remained resolute, not uttering a single word.

Eventually, a seasoned interrogator noticed that something was amiss with Eddie Claude. They had a doctor examine him and discovered he had been rendered mute due to poisoning. The interrogator attempted various medical treatments to restore Eddie Claude’s voice, but none proved effective. In the end, Eddie Claude was transferred to a quiet room where his injured and dislocated hand was treated.

Since speaking was not an option, writing would have to do.

When the interrogator handed Eddie Claude a pen and paper, they said, “Write down who harmed you. We already have evidence linking you to the K108 hijacking incident. Your charges are undeniable, but if you reveal your accomplices, if you disclose anyone else involved, I can apply for a reduced sentence from higher authorities.”

“You must understand that with your current charges—endangering public safety, murder, espionage—you would be condemned many times over. You’d be locked away in the empire’s most secure prison for the rest of your life.”

“Don’t you want to avoid an immediate death sentence? As long as you reveal your accomplices—”

The interrogator believed that they would have to employ further threats and inducements to make Eddie Claude put pen to paper. However, as soon as the pen was handed to him, the haggard-faced Eddie Claude’s eyes brimmed with hatred. His grip on the pen was so forceful it seemed as though he might tear the paper apart. One name after another poured out from his hand without hesitation.

[Charles Claude]

[Treston Claude]

[Karma Claude]

[…]

[Kyle Odysseus]

Upon seeing the names written down, the interrogator’s expression revealed a slight astonishment. They never expected that Eddie Claude would implicate his own family, exposing his father, younger brother, and younger sister as co-conspirators.

Gradually, Eddie Claude began to write down some familiar names, including several officials from the empire’s governmental agencies.

Upon reaching the final name, a chill ran down the interrogator’s spine. Matters involving members of the Odysseus royal family were not to be taken lightly. This was a significant issue that the interrogator was no longer able to decide upon.

Consequently, the interrogator discreetly handed the list of co-conspirators provided by Eddie Claude to their superior.

The superior belonged to the faction aligned with Prince Edward. They passed the list to Prince Edward.

In the superior’s view, Prince Edward had long desired to remove his half-brother, Prince Kyle, from the position of heir to the imperial throne. By utilizing this list of co-conspirators, Prince Edward could place Prince Kyle in an irreparable situation.

No Imperial citizen would ever wish for a monarch who employed such deceitful and insidious methods at the cost of human lives.

The anger of the Empire’s citizens ignited by the K108 hijacking incident attested to this fact.

However, even the interrogator did not anticipate that once Prince Edward learned of the list, he would order the destruction of any evidence related to Prince Kyle, in an attempt to protect him.

The submission of evidence required the scrutiny of the prosecutor’s office before it could be presented in court.

In the courtroom.

Justice Bruce’s face was solemn. Yesterday, he had personally escorted the evidence that proved the collusion between the Claude family and Prince Kyle with the enemy federation. He had repeatedly requested the responsible officials of the prosecutor’s office to handle it carefully.

However, the incriminating evidence against the Claude family still remained on his desk today.

On the other hand, all evidence against Prince Kyle had been completely wiped clean. Even the name mentioned by Eddie Claude during the live news broadcast had been replaced with a federal official named Kelly, whom he had never come into contact with before.

The attached evidence revealed that the Claude family had been a hidden infiltrator from the federation within the empire’s aristocratic class. The mention of Prince Kyle during the news broadcast was likely their conspiracy to tarnish the reputation of the Odysseus royal family and create social unrest in the empire.

This fabrication of evidence not only cleared Prince Kyle’s name but also had the potential to garner sympathy from many naive imperial citizens who would pity this scapegoat.

Justice Bruce was deeply disappointed with the corruption within the prosecutor’s office. However, he had been cautious and kept something in reserve. He did not submit all the paper evidence and had hidden several handwritten letters from Prince Kyle implicating his collusion with the federation in his own residence.

The current evidence presented in court was insufficient to prove Prince Kyle’s guilt.

After the trial, he would tightly safeguard these letters and ensure that Prince Kyle would be thoroughly convicted in the next court session.

Now it was Prince Kyle’s turn in the courtroom.

He was well-prepared, sternly rebuking the voiceless Eddie Claude, reciting a pre-rehearsed whitewashing script, and presenting the fabricated evidence.

He passionately explained the ‘conspiracy’ of Eddie Claude, who intended to frame the Odysseus royal family and make the imperial citizens distrust a spy colluding with the federation.

Eddie Claude opened and closed his mouth, emitting an incomprehensible sound of frustration. In the courtroom, he glared at Prince Kyle with intense hatred, banging the wooden railing, but his mute throat failed to utter a single word.

Finally, the jury announced Prince Kyle’s acquittal.

Justice Bruce’s face turned pale in the courtroom, and his worried gaze shifted to Si Huaixi, who was sitting in the back row of the audience. The deep, cold eyes of Si Huaixi, looking at Prince Kyle, seemed to regard him as a sentenced man.

In an instant, it made his elderly heart skip a beat in fear.

He was afraid that Si Huaixi would make a move right there, in front of so many people, against Prince Kyle.

Justice Bruce continued to nervously observe every move of Si Huaixi, hoping that he wouldn’t act impulsively and recklessly sacrifice the latter half of his own life for the sake of revenge.

Fortunately, Si Huaixi remained seated in the back row of the audience until the end.

Except for Eddie Claude, who was sentenced to life imprisonment and imprisoned in the most secure Siren Prison, never to be released, the rest of Eddie Claude’s family were immediately sentenced to death and would be executed shortly.

This caused chaos in the courtroom.

The Claude family cursed Eddie Claude vehemently, while her sister cried out her sorrow until her voice grew hoarse.

Eddie Claude grinned, revealing a twisted and eerie smile, while his sinister gaze fixed upon his beloved family, sending shivers down the spines of everyone present in the courtroom.

Even if he were to spend a lifetime in prison, the impending death of his dear family brought him exceptional satisfaction and joy!

As Eddie Claude was being detained by the Imperial Police and taken out of the courtroom, he was to be sent to the remote Siren Prison. The piercing sunlight entered his gloomy brown pupils, while his family, already sentenced to death and feeling disheartened, witnessed a cold and bright gleam in Eddie Claude’s eyes.

“Damn murderer! Rot in hell!”

“How could we let Eddie Claude go? His crimes are unforgivable, and he must be sentenced to death!”

Slap—slap, clap—clap!

Enraged Imperial citizens viciously smashed Eddie Claude’s face with rotten eggs and tomatoes.

The burst egg yolk and crushed tomato made Eddie Claude look utterly disheveled.

However, he raised his restrained hands, wiped off the rotten tomato juice, and licked his lips. The partially rotten tomato juice still had a hint of sweetness to it. His hoarse throat emitted a hissing, deep laughter.

The accompanying police officers felt a chill run down their spines, warning him not to move recklessly.

And indeed, he didn’t move recklessly.

Suddenly, Eddie Claude’s body stiffened. His face contorted in pain, and he groaned from the depths of his chest, violently coughing up mouthfuls of blood foam. The intense coughing seemed to threaten to expel his insides as he collapsed to the ground, convulsing and his pupils dilating.

The police officers quickly called for an ambulance from the nearest hospital.

The Imperial citizens who had thrown tomatoes and rotten eggs retreated in panic, hastily explaining and shouting, “Our tomatoes aren’t poisonous! It’s not our fault that this murderer is coughing up blood!”

“He’s dead.”

One of the police officers pressed his fingers against Eddie Claude’s neck, frowning deeply.

The criminal died right after leaving the courtroom, putting the police in a difficult position. In order to investigate the truth behind Eddie Claude’s sudden death, even the onlookers who had thrown tomatoes were taken away.

Si Huaixi walked out from the chaotic crowd, his cold and chilling sea-blue eyes glancing at Eddie Claude’s lifeless body on the ground. The pale face still bore an expression of fear, disbelief, and utter despair.

Then, his icy gaze slowly turned towards Prince Kyle, who was leaving in a private car, the air growing colder with a sense of foreboding.

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