CHAPTER 49……………………………………………..
“Then why didn’t you change your approach, even after your wife refused so many invitations?”
“I intended to, once I had more time. But before that could happen… things ended up like this.”
The exchange between Sharon and Pharrell dragged on without any real turning point, growing only more sluggish and circular.
Finally, unable to watch any longer, the judge struck the gavel.
“At this point, we will call for a recess.”
He frowned slightly.
“I believe I need time to examine the evidence submitted by both sides more carefully.”
Before the judge’s bench, the piles of documents Sharon and Pharrell had competitively presented had formed a literal tower.
Normally, when there is this much evidence, it is submitted to the court in advance for review.
After all, the trial itself cannot be consumed entirely by paperwork.
But this case was different.
Because of the Emperor’s influence, the trial had been convened with unusual speed.
It seemed the defense also had not been able to receive full prior review of their materials.
The judge let out a faint sigh as he looked at the massive amount of paperwork he now had to skim through during the recess.
“If there are any witnesses scheduled to be summoned next, have them prepared.”
Pharrell answered as if he had been waiting for the moment.
“We request Marianne Neuer, the head maid of House Cassius, as our witness. She is effectively the highest authority among the servants of Cassius Castle.”
The head maid—who had clashed with me over the portrait incident—was also present here.
“Understood,” the judge said. “Then we will resume in thirty… no, forty minutes.”
And with that, the trial was temporarily suspended.
“Tay-nim still hasn’t arrived.”
Outside the courtroom, Robby ran over and whispered urgently.
Terrence… and the butler he had gone to retrieve… were still nowhere to be seen.
“I wouldn’t mind if the break were two hours instead of forty minutes.”
I muttered while checking the clock hanging in the corridor.
Still, the recess benefited us.
Given Pharrell’s personality, I had assumed he would come prepared with plenty of evidence.
And I had been right.
“Alright,” Sharon said, pressing her fingers hard against the crease between her brows.
“I didn’t anticipate them taking that angle. We should return to the waiting room and discuss how to counter it—”
Someone cut her off.
“I’m truly disappointed, Young Madam.”
The head maid of House Cassius was glaring at me as if I were her mortal enemy.
“I believed in you. I wanted to believe in you until the very end… but how could you do this to me?”
She was clearly referring to the portrait I had destroyed in Cassius Castle.
At last, she seemed to have realized my logic back then had been nothing but nonsense.
“To treat Lady Rienna’s portrait like that… Young Madam, do you truly have no blood or tears in you?”
So she didn’t think for even a second that hanging a portrait in someone else’s room without permission was wrong.
Still, in the novel, the head maid was always described as kind.
She even tried, in her own way, to “understand” me.
“Yes… what can we do? You were raised under such disgraceful parents, so of course you turned out twisted.”
“In a way, I almost pity you.”
That wasn’t comforting at all.
It only made my blood boil.
What should I do… provoke her?
The head maid had a simple temperament.
It wouldn’t be hard to inflame her anger.
All I had to do was drag Rienna into it.
Just then, spectators who had stepped outside for air glanced toward us.
They looked curious—wondering if the center of today’s scandal might provide new entertainment.
If the provocation works and she raises her voice, it benefits me.
It would show everyone exactly how disrespectfully the Cassius servants treated me.
It would strengthen my claim that I had been mistreated in that household.
And with court officials everywhere, the judge would definitely hear it.
Good.
It was worth a try.
I was just about to speak—
When…
“Marianne, there you are.”
Rienna suddenly appeared.
“What’s going on? Don’t tell me you were saying something rude to Sister-in-law?”
“Oh—n-no, Lady Rienna.”
“You can’t do that!”
Rienna scolded her lightly.
“I told you over and over, you must treat Sister-in-law with utmost respect.”
Then Rienna turned to me with an awkward expression.
“I’m sorry. Was Marianne being disrespectful?”
“…It’s nothing.”
So she was guarding against the maid saying anything unnecessary.
If I couldn’t draw out what I wanted, it was better not to engage.
“Rienna, what are you doing over there?”
At that moment, Duke Cassius called out from a distance.
“Ah! I’m coming!”
Rienna grabbed the head maid and walked toward him.
The duke gently wrapped an arm around Rienna’s shoulders, then shot me a sideways glare as he turned away.
Tch. I don’t like you either. Who do you think you’re scaring—
…Huh?
A strange sense of discomfort crawled over me.
It felt like I was missing something.
What is it?
I tilted my head—
And then I realized the source of the unease.
Duke Cassius looked completely calm.
That’s strange.
He should have already received a report from his men that the butler was found.
There was no way he wouldn’t know by now.
Even if entry was restricted during the trial, we were in recess.
With the duke’s personality, the moment he heard, he should have rushed to where the butler was.
So why was he still here, wearing such a relaxed expression?
Meanwhile…
This is bad.
Cayden, the butler of House Cassius, silently bit down on his lip.
He was currently inside a carriage, surrounded by Cassius knights.
He had not boarded willingly.
He had been shoved inside, nearly by force.
From that moment on, a sense that something was terribly wrong had gripped him.
No matter that he had submitted his resignation and disappeared—
He had been the duke’s closest confidant for decades.
Yet the way they treated him was rough.
Unthinkable, under normal circumstances.
Cayden repeated the words he had spoken earlier.
“Why is it not allowed? Didn’t I say I would explain directly to His Grace why I vanished?”
The knight who seemed to be the leader answered.
“His Grace is currently attending the young duke’s trial.”
“Then I will go to the courthouse.”
If he reached the Central Court, he could meet the duke under pretense…
And then take the stand as a witness.
But the knight shook his head.
“That is not permitted. Our orders are to escort you first to the town house.”
“…Whose orders?”
“Pardon?”
“I served His Grace for decades. I know his temperament better than anyone.”
“He is cold and calculating, but when he decides to act, he is swift.”
The knight remained silent.
“A man would not sit patiently after finding the confidant who vanished without a word.”
The leader’s voice turned sharper.
“It seems those decades were meaningless. Do not make pointless assumptions.”
Cayden narrowed his eyes.
“…Lady Rienna?”
The knight’s eyelid twitched.
That reaction confirmed Cayden’s suspicion.
“So it is.”
“And now that I look at you… you’re not a face I recognize.”
“You must be one of the men she brought into the household.”
The knight gave a small chuckle.
“You’re drawing useless distinctions. His Grace’s orders are Lady Rienna’s orders.”
“And Lady Rienna’s orders are His Grace’s orders.”
“How can her orders be his?!”
“Then answer me.”
The knight leaned closer.
“Even if His Grace learns everything… will he punish me?”
Cayden fell silent.
Because he knew his master well.
The duke might rage—
But one word from the daughter he adored would melt it all away.
And Duke Cassius had tolerated Rienna’s unilateral actions many times.
Even when he didn’t understand them at first…
They always turned out, later, to benefit House Cassius.
“See?” the knight murmured.
“He won’t punish me.”
“….”
“So don’t resist pointlessly. Stay quiet.”
“In a few days, you’ll be returned to His Grace’s side.”
“Then the town house was a lie.”
“Not entirely.”
“After some investigations at a villa near the capital, you may be taken there.”
“Investigations?”
“Just in case.”
“Why? Do you think I’ve been bribed?”
“I do not wish to doubt you, Butler… but caution never hurts.”
Cayden let out a bitter laugh.
“Just say it plainly.”
“You want to lock me up because I might take another family’s money and threaten my superiors’ lives.”
“A harsh way to put it.”
“If you prove your innocence, you may return to your former position.”
“My former position…”
Cayden almost wanted to ask—
When had that ever truly existed?
For a long time now, he had been nothing but an old man pushed into the shadows.
The title of “head butler” had been nothing but a shell.
Look at him now—
Being treated rudely by a knight Rienna had brought in only a few years ago.
At some point, the key positions in House Cassius had begun filling with Rienna’s people.
And Cayden, who disliked Rienna, could only be pushed farther and farther away from power.
Lady Idel… I’m sorry.
There was no escape.
The knights surrounded him.
And the carriage had already moved far from the lodging where he had been staying.
They might care for Joshua, left alone at the inn—
But there was no chance they would allow Cayden to go to court.
I wanted to repay you.
You were the one who made me realize my mistakes…
The moment Idel had looked him straight in the eye and pressed into his hand the small carving Joshua had made as a child—
“You’ve lived as someone’s servant your whole life.”
“Why not spend what remains… as your son’s father?”
It had felt as though his eyes opened for the first time.
Like a fog in his mind suddenly lifting.
Idel had thanked him again and again for agreeing to testify…
But truly, she was his benefactor.
And now—
It was over.
He couldn’t repay her.
And he might never become a father Joshua could be proud of.
House Cassius would never let him go so easily.
Then—
Crash!
The carriage window shattered into fragments.
Something shot inside—
An arm.
“What—what is it?!”
The knight seated by the window barely had time to draw his sword before a hand seized his face.
“Aagh!”
A dark crimson light bloomed from the intruder’s grip.
The knight screamed and collapsed.
The hand moved quickly, undoing the carriage latch.
The door flew open.
A black figure climbed onto the carriage.
“Who are you?!” the leader shouted.
The masked figure replied in a low murmur—
“Who knows.”
“A hero of justice?”
The tone was utterly playful, completely wrong for the situation.
And then—
That dark crimson light flooded the inside of the carriage.
