Chapter 31
The Trial
If you asked Aiden what he thought of a courtroom, he would honestly say it wasn’t a place he was particularly fond of.
For someone whose main job was being a con artist, that was only natural.
So, for him to voluntarily step into such a place was quite the unusual occurrence.
…No.
Considering the boldness he was showing now, maybe it wasn’t so strange after all.
Noel kept sneaking glances at Aiden, who was sitting beside her.
The moment he heard that the prince would be here, he had come rushing without a second thought for his usual preferences.
And to make matters worse, the trial currently underway was the kind that would easily set him off. It was to decide the treatment of Sir Levant, who had previously attacked Katya.
“……”
What she didn’t like was this:
Both the prince and the Minister of Administration had clearly seen her and Aiden arrive, yet neither of them showed any kind of reaction.
As if they had ‘expected’ them to show up.
As if it had all been prepared in advance.
It didn’t sit well with her at all.
“…Mr. Aiden, are you really sure about this?”
She couldn’t help but ask that question over and over again.
It wasn’t the kind of question you’d expect from someone who always charged into enemy lines without a second thought, but even she could tell just by looking that Aiden was in a dangerous state right now.
“Not really.”
…And with that response from Aiden, it only confirmed her fears.
“Pardon?”
“I don’t like just sitting here and waiting.”
“……”
While Noel was at a loss for words, Aiden stared straight at the prince sitting on the dais with his eyes closed.
It was a gaze packed with simmering fury.
‘Sometimes, it’s like his brakes just vanish.’
Noel sighed to herself.
She had managed to talk him down, telling him that disrupting a royal official during a public duty was a serious offense and he needed to at least wait until the trial was over.
She had noticed it several times before—when it came to his own issues, he could let things slide with ease, but the moment something happened to someone close to him, he lost all sense of restraint.
—Different gender, but quite similar to Teresa, isn’t he?
—Just like her mentor, the Warden of the Realm.
“……”
Noel unconsciously clenched her hands resting on her lap.
She had tried hard not to show it, but the sight from last night was still clinging to her mind like a black smudge.
Why?
As commonly believed—
For a spirit to manifest in the material world, one must have reached a certain level of achievement, and—
Be left with an intense ‘regret.’
And Teresa, who had appeared as a ghost, had attacked her. As if that act was the very ‘regret’ she had held onto in life. As if it were the reason she hadn’t completely passed on to the underworld yet.
—Why?
As that thought crossed her mind, her already clenched fist tightened until her knuckles turned white.
What resurfaced in her mind were the memories of that night.
The final words Teresa had left her with.
—I’ll stay behind, Noel.
—You know, don’t you? You’re going to become someone greater than I ever could.
—You have to protect—
—the people.
—Understood?
—Her train of thought broke.
It happened the moment she realized that blood was dripping from her palm.
“……”
Noel quickly covered it and closed her eyes.
‘This is dangerous.’
…She had to maintain her composure. Especially in front of the prince and the Minister of Administration.
Who knew what Aiden might do—so at the very least, she needed to stay calm.
“—Therefore, the defendants caused the incident near the Capital Government Office on the aforementioned date, and this—”
She glanced to the side and saw Aiden glaring at the Minister of Administration, who was speaking from the witness stand.
…Honestly, Noel could completely sympathize with Aiden’s reaction.
Minister of Administration, Rad Ilja Varfon.
On the surface, he seemed entirely harmless, but he gave off a certain scent.
Hunter, predator, or perhaps—
Viper.
That kind of insidious aura clung to him.
And it probably only grew stronger the moment he opened his mouth.
“—Ah, it seems the individuals involved are present with us today.”
Rad’s gaze shifted and locked onto Aiden and Noel in the gallery.
“…?”
Noel frowned at the way he so casually and naturally dragged them into the center of the proceedings with his words.
“Well then, how about I present an interesting line of discussion?”
Still smiling brightly, Rad continued.
“As some of you may already know, there was quite an intriguing incident last night, wasn’t there?”
At those words, Noel’s expression hardened.
This wasn’t a topic that should be casually brought up in this setting.
“There was that weapon smuggling case at the Capital’s port. A major crime scene that even included Hellfire Bombs. Not to mention the terrorist attack inside the Government Office itself and the spirit of the Warden of the Realm that appeared last night…”
His fingers drifted lightly through the air, then pointed decisively in one direction.
A gesture clearly aimed at Noel. It resembled a scene from a well-staged play.
—And unmistakably, it was filled with malice.
“There’s one common denominator among all these incidents, isn’t there? They all seemed to happen around one particular person.”
…In one regard, she had to admit—it was a compelling argument.
An interesting line of discussion, indeed.
As she looked around, she noticed that the judge, the defendants, the plaintiffs—everyone was silent. The entire room was focused solely on the Minister of Administration’s words.
As if this entire courtroom was his stage.
‘He’s really pulling this stunt out in the open?’
Noel looked at the minister in disbelief.
At this point, it was understandable why Aiden, beside her, was glaring as if he were ready to kill a man he’d never even met.
It was as if the other side had known from the start that they would be here, and had deliberately set up something with them in mind.
“…What exactly are you trying to say, Minister of Administration?”
She replied in a voice that had gone rigid. The minister slowly opened his mouth, stroking his chin.
“It’s just that, if you call it coincidence, isn’t it odd that every major incident of late seems to originate around you? Amusing, isn’t it? Almost like the Lionhearted herself is the one throwing the capital into chaos. Oh, not that I’m saying it’s true, of course.”
Rad added with a sly grin.
“Not yet.”
…He was a man with a remarkable talent for provoking people.
“…So basically,”
Noel responded calmly, though her voice carried disbelief that almost surpassed her anger.
“You’re saying I’m responsible for the weapon smuggling into the Empire, the broad-daylight terrorist attack on the Capital Government Office, and even the vengeful spirit of the Warden of the Realm reappearing?”
“I’m saying it’s a possibility worth suspecting.”
“……”
…It was so absurd that she couldn’t even get angry.
It didn’t even feel worth responding to.
“That’s not a point fitting for this time or place. Accusations require proper testimony through legal procedure.”
“Ah, yes, of course.”
The Minister of Administration snapped his fingers.
Like giving a cue to a prearranged ‘actor.’
“Then, please tell us—Sir Levant, seated in the defendant’s box by proper procedure. Who was behind the recent terrorist incident at the Capital Government Office?”
“…I was instigated by the Lionhearted.”
Sir Levant stated flatly.
The sentence dropped without warning, and everyone in the room visibly stirred.
“What was your motive?”
“I did it because I didn’t like her husband. It was a political strike.”
The moment those words landed, reactions erupted all around.
Maybe those who had been in on it weren’t fazed, but the rest—those uninvolved—wore faces of collective shock.
At a trial attended by both the Minister of Administration and the prince, a knight who was part of the Empire’s military core—one with active combat experience no less—had just said it.
No matter how ridiculous it sounded, it couldn’t be dismissed outright as a complete lie.
Whatever the truth behind the rumor, the story itself was a scandalous bombshell. It wouldn’t take long before it spread like wildfire.
And that alone would tarnish her image.
“……”
Noel grit her teeth hard.
She didn’t even need to look to know how this was going to unfold.
By making that statement, he was surely taking all the punishment upon himself in exchange for negotiating the safety of those under his command.
Sir Levant, regardless of his relationship with her, was someone who fiercely protected his subordinates. Persuading him wouldn’t have been difficult.
It was a painfully obvious farce. Anyone could see that this was a reckless accusation thrown at her for the sake of framing her.
What made her even angrier was the motive behind it.
This wasn’t simply about damaging her image.
‘The real target isn’t me.’
Considering the prince’s usual behavior, it wasn’t hard to discern the true intention.
What the prince was ultimately after wasn’t her—it was her fiancé sitting beside her.
No matter how much attention Aiden had drawn until now, within the Empire’s political sphere, he had no base whatsoever.
Everything he had done so far was just barely enough to fulfill the bare minimum requirement of being the Lionhearted’s husband.
The only reason she had been able to get those around her to accept such a marriage was purely because of her own reputation and connections.
If ‘the’ Lionhearted had made the decision, then even they couldn’t treat that man lightly—that was the unspoken implication.
What the opposition was really after was that.
To drive a wedge between her and him, by shattering her public image.
“If you go around spreading groundless rumors like this, you won’t be able to deal with the consequences once the truth comes out.”
Then, in this situation, the best rebuttal she could give was to calmly and firmly deny the claims.
After all, she had never once lied. All she needed to do was speak the truth.
The problem was—
“Ah, but.”
There was one thing.
One point she couldn’t defend herself against.
“Didn’t the spirit of the Warden of the Realm clearly attack you?”
“—”
For a moment—
She felt the blood drain from her face.
“Why don’t you tell us yourself, Lionhearted? Do you think the Warden of the Realm would ever raise his sword—even by accident—against someone who wasn’t an enemy of the Empire?”
“……”
“A hero of the nation, someone who threw his life away for the country—how do you explain that?”
On every other point, the truth was on her side.
But this one—
This one, even she couldn’t say anything in her defense.
And the reason was simple.
Because she didn’t know the answer either.
Noel herself had no idea why Teresa’s spirit had done what she did.
No—perhaps deep down in the very recesses of her heart…
She couldn’t completely shake the suspicion that what they were saying might be true.
“……”
That kind of doubt caused hesitation, and even the briefest delay instantly became a vulnerability.
The best lies were always laced with a sliver of truth.
The expressions of the people sitting around her began to change.
Seeing her unable to respond right away, it seemed they were beginning to think the Minister of Administration might actually have a point.
“……”
“……”
Just like before, silence filled the room.
But now, the atmosphere clearly flowed in the direction the Minister of Administration intended.
Every incident in the capital as of late was the fault of the Lionhearted.
Even without solid proof, this was the moment that could plant such a suspicion in everyone’s minds.
‘…This isn’t good.’
Even with her face completely pale, that was the only thought Noel could manage to hold onto.
Because of her hesitation just now, the tide had completely shifted in their favor. It wouldn’t be surprising if, based on her reaction alone, people started believing everything the minister had said.
And that meant—
It would naturally lead to an attack on the very foundation of this ‘marriage.’ Her actions just now had opened the door.
So then—
If one man hadn’t suddenly stood up and strode across the courtroom, the situation might have continued down that path.
“But what’s really disappointing…”
All eyes turned to the man who spoke in a low, calm voice.
“…is how you conveniently left someone out.”
His tone was far too relaxed for a room this tense.
One might even say it didn’t suit the gravity of the situation.
“There’s one more, you know. One more person who fits this ‘common denominator’ you keep talking about.”
But anyone who knew the voice’s owner would judge it differently.
“I was there too. At the smuggling site, the terror scene, even when the spirit showed up—everything.”
This was someone barely holding back fury that had risen to the top of his head.
The cold composure he wore like a mask was the product of that boiling rage being crushed down by sheer force of reason.
“So, as someone who was actually there, I’ll say this directly.”
And there was no mistaking where that anger was directed.
“My wife isn’t that kind of person, so cut the damn nonsense.”
Not at the Minister of Administration, Rad, who had uttered the accusation.
But at the one who had clearly given the order to make such an accusation.
“Your Majesty.”
He dropped the words right in front of the prince, who had been sitting silently on the dais.