CH 135

He had already given him a chance once. He repaid the opportunity by attempting to kill the woman Lyle loved and pregnant with his child.

“If it’s unfair, wouldn’t it be enough to solve the injustice at the trial?”

“The evidence has already been tampered with… … ! How can that trial be fair, your Majesty! Please have mercy… … Have mercy on me!”

The Duke of Lance begged, banging his head on the ground so hard he bled. As a result of his torture, his fingernails and toenails were all pulled out, and many bones throughout his body were cracked and broken, but it seemed that he had enough energy to lie down and beg.

Lyle was offended by the fact that Duke Lance had so much energy left.

“Mercy? Did you just say mercy?”

At the sound of his frosty voice, Duke Lance, who had his head banged on the floor, raised his head. Lyle’s eyes narrowed at him.

“Everyone here will know. That I have already shown you too much mercy… … .”

“W-what are you talking about… … .”

Lyle twisted his lips and sneered, looking down at the Duke.

“The fact that you can now see this court with your eyes, and try and deceive and manipulate me with your three tongues … … Did you really not notice that it was all my mercy?”

“Ah… … Of course, your Majesty—Your Majesty’s mercy… … is… … .”

He did not pierce his eyes to make him blind, nor pluck out his tongue to make him unable to speak.

The laws for traitors made by the previous emperors were far more cruel, but Lyle was the one who lowered the level of punishment because he scorned the cruelty. Because he did not want to be an Emperor who used an iron fist of terror in order to protect his power.

Lyle also decided not to use that method because he wasn’t convinced by its effectiveness.

“And yet you are wasting my time using the mercy I have given you and trying to decieve me in vain.”

“… … ”

Duke Lance trembled, unable to reply.

Even though there was a tiny possibility he was afraid that his work would be discovered and caught. But I never thought that the young emperor would torture and persecute me so cruelly. Because he was also from an imperial family… … . He never thought that he would be so cruel to the ‘same’ royal family.

“I am slowly getting bored of hearing your lies. You already know how to survive here.”

The Duke of Lance’s eyes searched the floor as he looked for an answer and then took a peek at the Emperor. He was already in a hurry. If he didn’t talk about ‘him’ he would eventually lose everything including his life.

Not saying his name was Duke Lance’s last hope. Saying his name could save his life, but he would lose all of his wealth and power as a duke. He would never be able to get it back.

‘why? Why are you taking so much time? Am I going to be thrown away like this?’

As promised, he had to be taken out of prison before he could be put on trial like this.

Duke Lance closed his eyes tightly without answering.

“The defendant has closed his mouth. … … Judge, start the trial.”

As Lyle gave the orders, the judge bowed his head in the direction of the emperor.

Soon the solemn voice of the judge rang out, announcing that the trial had begun.

***

She could attend the trial as Empress, but Lyle and her other maids stopped it. Medea’s temperament was not very resilient, so they were afraid her bad mood and stress might have a bad effect on the fetus. In the end, she decided not to attend because she came to the same conclusion.

To be honest, seeing someone tortured would be very psychologically distressing.

‘I knew this was a class-based society, but… … torture is a bit— Still, it’s in a romance fantasy novel… … .’

She thought it was cruel, but that didn’t spur her to dissuade others from doing it.

Luckily, she found the parts of the magic tool before the incident, otherwise most of the people around Medea would have been killed.

When she thought about the people who were pouring her tea, telling her stories, and serving her right now—becoming bloody carnage… … she thought that she shouldn’t concern herself with the worry of whether or not he was tortured.

Why should she care about his human rights when the bastard is trying to kill her and the people around her?

By reading the original, Medea knew for certain that he was the culprit, and there was already too much evidence for him to deny it.

While she was immersed in her complicated thoughts, her maid informed her that Luke and Seira had arrived.

Worried that Medea would disregard her maids or his own advice and appear in the courtroom, Lyle ordered them to meet Medea today. She also noticed his plan, but there was no reason to refuse the visit of the two. Medea also wanted to know how far they have gone.

Additionally, I am sure… … .

‘He must have called you two to see if Luke really likes Seira.’

Medea was convinced Lyle had planted a spy among her maids in the Empress Palace. It was very much in line with his personality.

Since he had a bad relationship with the former Medea there was probably a spy planted here from long ago. It was after she fell ill with her ‘amnesia’ that the couple got along better, but he would have decided it would be better to leave an extra pair of eyes for the sake of safety.

It was a fact she was semi-certain about, but Medea wasn’t upset about it. To Medea this world was a far more dangerous place than the world in which she originally lived.