“Accomplice? State your case in detail.”

“Before I elaborate, I would like to apologize to Your Majesty, Lady Monique and all the nobles here who had a hard time because of this incident. I feel very ashamed of what I have done since I failed to behave properly as a great noble.”

After offering apologies, he bowed deeply toward the head table and me. I was surprised because I never expected that a marquis like him could bend over deeply.

“The real mastermind of all this incident and plot is Duke Jena. He has been targeting Lady Monique’s life for a long time. ”

“Duke Jena. Do you have any supporting evidence?”

“Of course, I do, but I think I had better explain the outline of the incident. Can I?”

“Yes, go ahead.”

Marquis Mirwa continued after bowing to express gratitude to Duke Verita.

“Any noble in the empire knows that the immediate members of the Marquis families in the empire can’t enter the central political stage except for the Monique family. Why? Because they are carrying out the duty of defending the borders to honor the will of the first emperor. But I wanted to succeed in the central political stage. So, I came up to the capital despite my late father’s strong opposition. That was the problem. ”

The marquis continued to talk about various things such as the fact that Duke Jena approached him who had no political base in the capital, his joining hands with him to broaden his support despite the dissent with his political position and his calling one day when the marquis felt he was establishing my position more strongly than before and telling him to poison me.

“I agreed with the position of the noble faction that more rights should be guaranteed for the nobles than the common people, and that currently the obligations of the nobles in the empire are excessively onerous. However, I did not want to use despicable means for the political interests of the noble faction, but I could not openly oppose Duke Jena’s instruction. So, I decided to pretend to obey his instruction, thinking of persuading him gradually over time.”

After moistening his lips, he continued talking about things such as the fact that he didn’t have the heart to report Duke Jena’s conspiracy to the emperor because he belonged to the noble faction, the fact that only when I was poisoned did I he realize that there was another man who had been assigned the task other than him, the fact that he tried to find the antidote but it was very hard to find, and the fact that the High Priest arrived in the middle of it.

Only the marquis’s voice resonated in the hall where it was so silent that people could even hear someone next to them breathing. He said although he resorted to all kinds of means to persuade Duke Jena away from his wicked plot, the duke revealed his ambition all the more strongly. The duke began to buy off palace affairs officers one by one and his eyes shone with a murderous intention when he heard that I could have a baby again. When he tried to dissuade the duke out of the dangerous plot, the duke told him that he already set up a plan to assassinate the emperor. The duke even threatened to point out the marquis as the culprit if the latter didn’t follow the former’s instruction.

‘I see. So, that document…’

Come to think of it, that’s why Earl Lanier seemed to have singled him out as the culprit. Didn’t he make a secret deal with Duke Jena, calling him to guarantee the safety of his family members in return for him calling out Marquis Mirwa as the mastermind of his plot?

“I knew it was the best policy to report the duke’s scheme to you, but I was afraid that I might be stigmatized as the mastermind as the duke threatened. So, I escaped from the capital with the false excuses of a fire at my estate, thinking that I would report everything to the emperor after obtaining the antidote first. And I came to know through my informants about the duke’s plan to ambush Lady Monique. Fortunately, I arrived at the scene before the worst could happen.”

“Hmm. It seems that there is no contradiction in your statement. Good. Give me the evidence that Duke Jena is the mastermind. Oh, before you do that…”

After stopping for a moment, Duke Verita spoke to the emperor, “Your Majesty, how about summoning Duke Jena? If the marquis’s claim is true, it means that the duke is found guilty, so you don’t have to go through another trial of him. Why don’t you end this trial with his?”

“Good idea. Let’s do that.”

When he approved, the protocol officer ran out and came back with an old man with gray hair.

“Victor de Jena. Born in 901 by the imperial calendar. Jena is the lord of the Jena estate, with the title of the duke. Although he has no specific title in the government, he currently serves as the chairman of the nobleman’s council in which more than sixty of the nobles participate. Is that right?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm. I understand that it’s a great shame that you are sitting there as the defendant despite your status as the duke. As I have the same title as yours, I hope you can keep your manners when you answer.”

“…”

“Anyway, you are here today on charges of having committed the crimes of attempting to kill the emperor, poison Lady Monique and ambush her recently. Do you admit the charges?”

“Not at all.”

Duke Verita looked at the old man silently, who turned up his mouth a bit sarcastically, and said, “Well, good. Marquis Mirwa, just continue. ”

“I heard that a few days ago the maid’s lover surrendered himself. Why don’t you question him first?”

“Who surrendered? What nonsense are you talking about? Don’t slander me like that! Stop that nonsense!”

I was lost in thought while watching the two engaged in a war of nerves. Isn’t the maid’s lover Ina Belot? If he surrendered himself, did he learn that his daughter who had been taken hostage was freed?

When I was pondering over several things, a haggard middle-aged man came into the courtroom. He, who got cold feet when he drew their intense attention, was obviously the very man who used to serve as the emperor’s wine.

Given the situation, he seemed to have been threatened by Duke Jena. If so, was Ian Belot also connected with Duke Jena in the past?

“Ian Belot, you are in charge of the emperor’s wine as a palace affair officer, right?”

“That’s right.”

“A few days ago, you came to me and accused the duke of his crime, right? Repeat what you told me.”

“That man, namely Duke Jena, kidnapped my only daughter and threatened me. He threatened to kill her if I didn’t put poison in the emperor’s wine. He also had me tempt a maid to poison Lady Monique’s tea. Then, he told me that if I got caught, I should say Marquis Mirwa was responsible! At first, I didn’t want to do it as he ordered, but I had no other way to save my daughter. So I did…”

Watching the man speak out, I turned up my mouth a bit. It’s not easy to save his life because he was a direct participant in treason, but when I see him speaking out so aggressively, I think differently given that he actively defended himself. Duke Verita, who was very good at persuading people, might have offered him a deal to testify in his favor. For example, he might have persuaded the man that he would be saved or he would take care of the man’s daughter for the rest of her life in return for his testimony against Duke Jena.

Listening to him silently, with his eyes closed, Duke Jena said, “So, do you have any evidence?”

“Well, yes, you clearly threatened me!”

“Duke Verita, do you have any evidence that I kidnapped his daughter or tempted the maid?

I don’t think you’re going to persecute the Jena family with that guy’s ridiculous claim.”

As expected, the duke was not a pushover. He was the leader of the noble faction.

No matter how much he denied and resisted, however, all he could do was drag his feet on this case. The game was already over because we had all the evidence that he asked us to present.

“Okay. Let’s move on to the next witness. Let me verify the truth of this man’s claim a little later. Let me bring the next witness,” said the duke, raising his glasses.

The next witness who came in immediately was very familiar to me like the man in charge of the emperor’s wines.

I let out a sigh, watching the man shivering a lot. I felt very suspicious about his behavior recently.

“Nove Senar, you came to me a few days ago and asked for leniency in return for your surrender. Tell me about your crime once more.”