The trial began.
Perhaps there had already been two or three hearings before, because the verdict was delivered quickly after being consolidated.
“I will now read the final verdict for Gerald Gush.”
In the Prasen Empire, titles and family names always went together, that’s why Gerald, who had his Barony revoked, also lost the surname Lansval.
‘Then that surname, Gush, must be the surname he had as a commoner when he was young.’
The contents of the verdict that followed were long and detailed, but the conclusion was simple.
“…Therefore, in accordance with Article 391 of the Imperial Criminal Code, Gerald Gush is sentenced to life-long forced labor.”
At the moment the sentence was declared, Gerald and Helga’s eyes widened as if they would burst.
It was the price for kidnapping innocent people and selling them into slavery, and even causing some of them to die.
Even so, the two reacted as if they had never expected such a heavy sentence.
“No—!!”
Helga screamed in a voice sharp enough to tear apart.
“My son, my precious son, how dare you…?!”
Some of the spectators, hearing Helga, dressed in shabby clothes, refer to Gerald—the filthy prisoner—as “my precious son,” began whispering in disbelief.
Since multiple verdicts were being announced in succession, many in the gallery had come to observe other cases, and they didn’t know that Gerald had once been a noble.
“She looks like a beggar at a glance, so what is wrong with her?”
“Is she not out of her mind?”
Gerald stood there in a daze, as if unable to believe it, and soon his eyes filled with tears.
“This makes no, no sense…”
Helga reached out toward Gerald, who was sitting right in front of her, and stroked his filthy face.
“My one and only son, I raised him so preciously… he has never done such harsh labor in his life! What are we supposed to do?”
Gerald, who had been half out of his mind, heard the phrase he hated most in his mother’s tone — “What are we supposed to do?” — and in an instant, his eyes rolled back in fury.
“What do you mean, what are we supposed to do?! I can’t do it, I can’t do that kind of work!”
Helga nodded fervently through her streaming tears.
“That is right! It makes no sense!”
Then she lifted her head and shouted at the judge at the top of her voice.
“Judge, Your Honor! My child was raised too preciously to do such things!”
She grabbed Gerald’s hand, which looked like a pig’s trotter, and lifted it up.
“Look at my baby, look at these delicate hands. What kind of work could these hands possibly do? Please do something!”
At the absurd words and actions of the mother and son, the courtroom filled with murmurs and commotion.
However, the judge calmly silenced everyone, watching their pitiful tearful display without emotion.
It was the composure of someone who had seen criminals cause disturbances in court many times over the years.
“If you continue to object to a verdict that has already been finalized in this manner, you will be removed from the courtroom.”
Gerald, no longer in his right mind, shouted as he cried.
“Why?! Why?! I can’t do it! Ah… right, that’s it!”
Then he grabbed one of Helga’s wrists and raised it high.
“Here, my mother lived as a commoner when she was young, so she will be good at that kind of work! Make her do it instead of me! That solves it!”
Everyone in the courtroom froze in shock.
Even Helga stopped crying abruptly and stared at her son with a stunned expression.
As Gerald’s struggling continued, Helga squeezed out a trembling voice.
“Y-Your Honor, I, I mean, I am not… a criminal…”
The judge looked at Gerald silently for a moment, then shook his head slowly.
“Remove both of them.”
At once, the security officers standing on either side of the courtroom approached and seized Gerald and Helga from both sides.
Helga was dragged outside obediently, with an expression that seemed oddly relieved.
However, Gerald now rolled his eyes back completely and screamed.
“Ah, why?! I have a bright future ahead of me! Send that old woman instead! I can’t do such lowly work—!!”
Behind Gerald, who struggled like a tantrum-throwing child, the courtroom doors slammed shut with a bang.
The gallery quickly filled with murmuring again.
“Order, please.”
With a weary expression, the judge let out a sigh and picked up the verdict for the next case.
Seeing that, I gave Ris, who was sitting beside me, a small glance.
“We should leave now too.”
Only after we stepped out of the courtroom did she let out a long sigh.
“Wow… Madam. That was more spectacular than most plays. He did not show even the slightest bit of remorse until the very end.”
“Indeed. They say reality is always more unrealistic than fiction, and it really seems that way.”
“Still, I knew he was a vile person, but I did not expect him to act like that even toward his own mother.”
Ris, who deeply valued family bonds, shook her head as if she couldn’t understand it at all.
“It’s because he only values himself.”
“That is true. It was practically his catchphrase that his entire family should support him and uphold his pride.”
“Exactly. By the way, where will he be sent for forced labor?”
“He will probably be sent wherever Imperial infrastructure projects are underway. Things like constructing fortress walls at the border, or rebuilding bridges destroyed by floods.”
I recalled Gerald’s body — thin limbs without muscle and only his belly protruding.
“He will either improve his constitution and become healthy, or he won’t endure it and die early. It will be one of the two.”
While I was at the Lansval mansion, I had fed him plenty of salty and greasy foods, so not only had he gained more weight, but there was probably a great deal of fat in his blood vessels as well. When I saw him today, his swollen face and fingers must have been because of that.
‘With that body, how long will he endure if he is suddenly forced to do hard labor?’
Would Helga remember what I had said a few months ago?
‘When she pressured me, saying I had to fix Gerald’s bad lifestyle habits that even she, his own mother, had never been able to correct.’
“Since he is my precious future husband, I may have to discipline him and correct his habits, even if I have to use force.’
“W-what? What do you mean by that…?”
“As if I would do that. I am joking. It will not happen overnight, but it will all be fixed eventually. Just wait about a year.”
I had said a year at most, but it hadn’t even taken half a year for things to turn out this way.
Now, Gerald would never again sleep in late for the rest of his life, just as Helga had wanted, nor would he complain about poor meals. He wouldn’t lie down immediately after eating, nor stay up late drinking alcohol and eating greasy foods.
‘Helga, I have done exactly as you wished.’
At the thought that the wish she had forced upon me since my previous life had finally come true, a faint smile escaped me.
***
A few days later, our engagement party was held.
These days, it wasn’t uncommon for nobles with limited finances or practical dispositions to omit engagement parties.
It was only natural, since their importance was relatively lower compared to weddings.
However, our engagement party was so lavish that it surpassed even the wedding receptions of most nobles.
‘No wonder he had been relentlessly pressing the butler and the head maid for a while.’
But there was something even more surprising.
Rastan had sent out the invitations only a week before the engagement party, yet not only the Empire’s most prominent high-ranking nobles attended, but even members of the Imperial Family were present in full force.
‘Even having Their Imperial Highnesses the Prince and Princess attend would have been surprising for a mere engagement party, not a wedding, but even His Majesty the Emperor and Her Majesty the Empress attended, which surprised even me.’
Among those stirred by this event, there were no low-ranking nobles. That was because Rastan hadn’t invited anyone who knew about my previous engagement to House Lansval.
***
The grand engagement party ended.
‘Phew… it was a long day.’
After washing and coming out of the bath, I saw Rastan already sitting on the bed.
He must have washed first, because he was leaning against the headboard with slightly damp hair, reading what appeared to be a report.
As I got into bed, I spoke to him.
“Are you not tired? It is impressive that you can still read reports even in bed. Ah, is it because a lot of work piled up today due to the engagement party?”
When I sat beside him, Rastan set the report aside on the bedside table.
“No. I was simply reading because I did not want to fall asleep before you came.”
“I see.”
Replying casually, I reached out and gently played with his firm hand.
Watching this, Rastan observed my expression, then carefully spoke.
“…You have something you want to say to me.”
