CH 124

“I will begin the public hearing of Her Majesty the Queen!”

The chairman solemnly declared.

I exchanged glances with Rixus, then slowly walked towards the center of the public hearing room.

It was a seat at a fairly high position where one could look down on everyone.

However, the mana stone lighting persistently illuminated only this seat, as this was a place designed to intimidate the high noble standing here.

Looking from up here, I could see the various hearts of the people.

People who believed in me, and people who did not believe.

Those who wished for my innocence…

…Or those who wanted me to fall into hellfire like this and burn alive.

It felt like a jumbled mess of desires was touching my skin vividly.

‘I wonder what kind of expression they will make in an hour.’

Among them, I was most curious about Deborah’s reaction. What would she look like?

Right now, Deborah erased all the nervousness in her eyes and twisted her lips as if laughing at me.

It was clearly written on her face, ‘It’s perfect.’

“Today’s public hearing was held at the request of Madam Deborah, who has obtained evidence of Her Majesty’s ‘misappropriation of Aktoum’s budget’.”

“!”

The crowd roared loudly.

Even though I knew everything about the matter, it was shocking to hear it directly from the chairman.

Despite the uproar, the chairman spoke with a clean face as if it had been bleached.

“First, Madam Deborah, please give an overview.”

Deborah got up and walked lightly under the high platform I was standing on.

It was the center seat.

I could only guess how much Deborah, who liked attention, would enjoy this place.

“Hmm, ahem.”

Deborah cleared her throat in front of the magic stone loudspeaker and greeted everyone with an elegant attitude.

Then she immediately opened her mouth.

“I am Deborah, dear nobles of Aktoum.”

Deborah put her hand on her chest and said sadly.

“I recently found evidence of embezzlement of Her Majesty in strict secrecy. I hoped it wasn’t, but…”

“…….”

“Huge amounts of money had already gone to ‘Spinel’.”

“!”

The nobles were once again stirred up.

Someone shouted sternly from the nobility seats.

“As expected, to entrust our country’s budget to the Queen of Spinel was absurd! There’s no way it’s really for Aktoum!”

“It would have been safer to leave a fish shop to a cat.”

The chairman cut them off properly.

“Other than Madam Deborah, please refrain from speaking.”

Deborah nodded her head deeply, as if agreeing with the words of the nobles. Then she said with a sad expression on her face.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about whether I should just bury this in my heart or reveal it. Because…”

“…….”

“Because I didn’t want to stigmatize our Crown Princess, who is loved by everyone in Aktoum.”

“….…”

“Will this upset the mood of the country…? I was worried about that.”

A voice of admiration was heard from the nobility’s seats, which said, “Oh, how deeply she has thought.”

Deborah continued speaking with a bright face as if in response to the voice.

“But I couldn’t just bury it and walk away. Because it’s Aktoum.”

Her face looked like she really believed so.

Deborah, who was good at acting, was completely seducing the different nobles in this place.

The chairman, who had been silent like a rock, gave me the right to speak.

“Now, let’s hear from Her Majesty the Queen. Do you admit the charges made by Madam Deborah?”

Everyone’s eyes were stuck on me like needles.

I exhaled without blinking an eye.

“No, I don’t admit it.”

“!”

“I’ve never done anything detrimental to Aktoum.”

* * *

‘That shameless bitch!’

Deborah frowned and looked at Berylia.

‘I’ve made all the evidence that you’ve spent money. Now what?’

“Your Majesty, wouldn’t it be nice to just admit it?”

‘Admit it and just accept that you’ll lose four years!’

“I have all the evidence in this hand. The more you insist, the uglier it gets, doesn’t it?”

The impartial chairman stepped in.

“Madam Deborah, you’ll be given the opportunity to speak after a while—”

But there was no way Deborah’s ears could hear those words; it was just before her explosion.

“For the sake of your own achievement, you infiltrated Aktoum with dirty ambitions… and pretended to be for peace, didn’t you?”

The show that would ruin the queen today, the more provocative the better.

Only then would Deborah herself shine, and the social world would remember her shining brightly.

And most of all, it was refreshing to pay back the queen like this.

‘That bitch, it’s all because of that bitch.’

Her disastrous state in Aktoum’s social circle, and losing the Duke of Douglas.

It was because of that queen, who was born of noble blood and sat there proudly without any effort.

‘I’m here even if I struggle!’

‘So, take a look at whether you can pay the price of living comfortably.’

Deborah intended to be rewarded for today’s work.

Not only would it restore her popularity in society at once, she might also be able to win a title because she prevented a huge loss in the treasury.

The mere imagination of it was exhilarating, and her spine tingled.

Now, who would dare stand in the way of this Deborah?

Rising to her seat again after taking out the queen… It was a sweet fruit that was barely out of reach.

Deborah, who smelt the sweet fragrance right before her nose, was almost half mad.

“Madam Deborah, please refrain from making excessive remarks. You may be sent off.”

“Did I say something wrong?”

Deborah widened her eyes, and immediately retorted the stinging advice of the chairman.

‘Can’t he tell just by looking at it?’

Even though she had just overly insulted the queen, not only the queen, but also Crown Prince Rixus, kept their mouths shut.

‘Doesn’t that mean she has nothing to say?’

“Madam Deborah, the allegations have not yet been established.”

“Then I’ll show you the proof right away!”

Deborah pointed to Mary Jane.

“My maid, Mary Jane, will show you clear evidence of the embezzlement. After I got a credible tip, I directed my maid to find the evidence.”

“….…”

“Mary Jane, say something!”

Everyone’s gaze, including the chairman’s, were focused on her.

“Lady Mary Jane, please speak.”

Mary Jane, who kept her head bowed in a corner, raised her head at the words of the chairman.

She got up cautiously, then grabbed the loudspeaker magic tool.

“…5 years ago, I became Madam Deborah’s maid.”

‘Yes, we’ve been together for quite some time.’

The corners of Deborah’s lips rose in satisfaction.

‘She’s been filthy useless for a while, but now she’s being put to good use.’

Mary Jane’s smooth, thin lips moved slowly.

“My father, Baron DeCzeco, suffered a great loss in the imperial business he carried out with the Duke of Douglass, and since then… I have been made a ‘slave’ to Madam Deborah.”

“!”

‘……Hey, what are you talking about all of a sudden?!’

The atmosphere over at the nobility seats changed slightly at the untimely remark of ‘slave’.

“Madam Deborah ordered me to do all kinds of evil in return for hiding that fact. One of them was that I had to go to Her Majesty’s office in search of ‘evidence of embezzlement’.”

The nobles began to murmur. They definitely noticed something strange.

“…Mary Jane, say only things relevant to today!”

Deborah, apparently panicked, turned red and yelled.

“I mean, just tell the evidence of embezzlement!”

“Are you talking about this?”

Mary Jane raised the materials she brought.

Deborah pointed her finger madly.

“Yes! The proof of embezzlement! You showed it to me!”

“All of the evidence of embezzlement that I showed you is ‘manipulated’.”

A middle-aged nobleman who was listening to those words from afar let out a low groan.

Without batting an eye, Mary Jane continued.

“You instructed me, Madam Deborah. If there is no evidence, ‘Make it’.”

One of the young ladies, who was listening intently, covered her mouth as if terribly shocked, and whispered, “Crazy woman!”

Mary Jane, who had been enslaved by Deborah for five years, was doing her part well, as if she had been waiting for a situation like this.

“It can’t be… No, I didn’t order the operation! Nobles! I did not!”

Deborah was desperate to persuade the nobles.

“My maid did it alone! To trap me!”

In an instant, and to Deborah’s own surprise, she made something up.

“Even though I covered up and took care of the issues related to the imperial business, Mary Jane usually showed me a lot of disappointment.”

“….…”

“Because I couldn’t pay well after my divorce.”

At once, Deborah painted Mary Jane to be an ungrateful person.

She was also adept at putting herself in the position of the victim.

“Mary Jane, I understand you…! But not like this.”

While the nobles were confused by Deborah’s excuse, Mary Jane smiled quietly.

Then she pounded on the thick pile of papers she had been carrying with her as ‘evidence’.

“The crime of killing Her Majesty’s carrier bird and ordering me to take her letter.”

“!”

“The charge of abetting the assassination of the imperial family for giving the ‘Breath of Johannes’ to Lady Yuria.”

“!”

“The crime of ordering me to sneak into Her Majesty’s office to find and fabricate evidence of embezzlement.”

Mary Jane took the paperwork that was in front of her, went over to the chairperson, and handed it to him.

“This is an accusation against Madam Deborah, of the 281 charges I’ve seen and experienced over the past five years.”

“…This, two hundred and eighty one? Are you kidding me? Me?!”

Deborah yelled at her as if she was stunned.

“I put this together last night with Her Majesty the Queen.”

The nobility roared in surprise. But what surprised everyone the most was Deborah.

She looked up at Berylia with a wretched expression on her face.

When she saw that Berylia was looking down at her with a cold and somber face, it hit her.

‘I’ve been deceived!’

Anger and astonishment filled her chest.

Berylia spoke unwaveringly to the chairperson, who was flipping through the materials.

“Now that my innocence has been revealed, I hereby request a public hearing of Madam Deborah.”

“Yes, I will proceed. Your Majesty.”

Puk!

At the same time as the chairman’s words, the magic stone lights poured out towards Deborah.

Deborah’s pale, tired face was pierced by everyone’s dreadful eyes.

‘Oh my gosh……! What kind of dog shit is this!’

The chairman decided to deal with the major crimes out of the 281 crimes here for now.

Out of about 10 crimes, 8 cases had immediate evidence.

Deborah was helplessly mangled as the evidence was revealed one by one.

She made poor excuses, but then she became frustrated by the evidence that was being pushed.

She burst into tears like she was reflecting on herself, but when it didn’t work out, she screamed.

However, whatever she did was to no avail.

Deborah’s ambition, which was to shine in the highest places, had now changed to a simple one: Let’s reduce the punishment.

She could not be put in prison until she died of old age. She was desperate.

“I didn’t kill the carrier bird! It’s the truth!”

“Are you sure you didn’t?”

“Your Majesty…! I really didn’t do that!”

The high podium on which Berylia was at now looked like a judge’s seat.

Her diamond-like right eye shone coldly again today.

Berylia ordered relentlessly.

“Dig up the evidence.”

“!”

After a while.

Appearing at the public hearing was the private escort that Deborah had ordered to kill the carrier bird.

He brought a carcass of a bird and a torn note in a small box as evidence.

Deborah’s face paled even further, as if she had seen a ghost.

“Uh, how…”

‘I told you to take care of it! To think I’ll be stabbed in the back like this!’

Deborah’s limbs trembled.

Her forehead was distorted like a person being tortured.

‘……When did you talk to that escort?!’

Now, the goal had become more simple; it had been changed to ‘let’s avoid the death penalty’.

She couldn’t back down from this one.

Half-crazed, almost desperate, Deborah said,

“Y-Yuria, that bitch did it alone! I didn’t commit murder or anything like that!”

Now, there was only one major charge left. The crime of giving the ‘Breath of Johannes’ to Yuria.

It was a type of crime against the imperial family.

“I saw and listened carefully. She met Lady Yuria over and over again… and talked about it.”

However, another maid stepped up as if she had been waiting.

Deborah’s face was as ghostly as a corpse.

“I saw the Breath of Johannes in Madam Deborah’s room.”

“!”

“I heard what you two said.”

“Aaaaah!”

Pretty much shouting like a lunatic, Deborah pointed at the escort, the maid, and Mary Jane.

“You, do you think you’ll be okay?”

“….…”

“Will Grace! You killed people while you were an enlisted soldier!”

After screaming that at the escort, she turned and yelled at the maid, stabbing her weakness.

“Years ago, you stole the dead empress’s valuables!”

The private soldier called Will Grace said calmly.

“Three years ago, I misjudged an innocent man as an intruder and killed him… After that, I lived my life hiding my sins, but I always regretted it. I went to the ‘special investigation team’ organized by the Crown Prince last night, and confessed.”

“Me too. Deborah, it was hell while you held on to my weakness.”

The maid looked at Deborah with frosty eyes and said,

“Now I want to pay the price for my sins and get out of this hell.”

At that moment, Rixus, who had been quietly observing, opened his mouth.

“In light of your confession and testimony, your punishment will be lightened.”

Rixus formed a special team to investigate Deborah’s crimes last night, and put Ires in charge. He continued his speech with his characteristic languid tone.

“Since the crime of murder of the imperial family has been committed, the death penalty is certain. The special team will weigh the rest of the crimes and decide what to do with your body.”

“Ah, ah, ah…!”

Shocked, Deborah made a sound that was neither human nor beast.

Full of ugly desires, the duchess who rose from a barony had lost everything completely.

Even her life.

Today’s protagonist, Berylia, finally opened her mouth.

“Take her out.”

“Argh! Argh! Let go of me! Let go of me!”

Deborah was dragged out with a frantic struggle.

It was frightening to see how hard it was.

After she disappeared.

The nobles seemed shocked, and no one spoke easily.

In particular, the Nine Nobles who wished for the downfall of Berylia, had their mental state turned into rags.

I thought quietly.

‘Deborah’s evil deeds are now over.’

Someone had to cut it off.

I thought it was a relief that I cut it off with my own hands.

‘Next…’

I quietly set my gaze on one spot. At Johann, who had an interesting expression on his face.

In a while, Seryl went up to him and handed him a note.

“The Queen has told me to deliver this after the public hearing.”

“Well?”

Johann, who was cheerful as if he had just watched a fun play, looked at the contents of the note and became much more delighted.

〈One out of three meals, if we do it together today, will you stamp it?〉

“Keuk.”

Ah…… This woman.

‘It’s getting more and more fun. I’m going crazy.’