Miro’s eyes, which had been filled with relief, widened.
‘Wow, so he can open his eyes wide too.’
He always kept them so narrowed that his pupils were barely visible, so she had simply assumed that was how they were.
To Liselotte, it was a rather fascinating sight.
The spectators, who didn’t fully grasp the situation, remained quiet. That only made Diana’s flustered expression more apparent.
“I object. It is unclear whether this witness is truly from Gelloa Village.”
“Then summon someone from the East who is from Gelloa Village. If the witness is indeed from the village, they can confirm it, can they not?”
Emperor Perida smiled leisurely as he partially accepted Miro’s point.
Miro hurriedly turned his head to gauge Diana’s reaction.
Though he clearly observed the silent exchange between the two, Emperor Perida calmly gave an order to the clerk.
“How long would it take to bring someone from the East at the earliest?”
“If the witness’s residence is confirmed, it would be possible within approximately ten minutes using a teleportation magic stone.”
“It will not take long, then. The defendant is the ruling House of the East, so you would know where someone from Gelloa Village is located, would you not?”
For a typical ruling House, it would be only natural to know at least where the residents of Gelloa Village had relocated.
Miro turned around once more.
Again, Diana slowly shook her head, her eyes firm.
Rather than confusion, there was more resolve in her expression.
Understanding her meaning, Miro quietly pleaded,
“Your Honor, we are grateful for your consideration, but most of those from Gelloa Village have passed away due to the epidemic and old age, and the remaining young ones married and scattered throughout the East, making them difficult to track.”
A lawyer was a lawyer.
Seeing how he managed to come up with an excuse in such a short time, he was closer to a swindler, but a skill was a skill nonetheless.
Judging by the way he exchanged glances with Diana, it was clear that Miro didn’t know the detailed story of House Gloria.
If he had known, he wouldn’t have needed to seek permission one by one and would have refused outright from the start.
The fact that they continued to entrust him with cases meant they liked him and trusted him to some extent, yet it also meant it had to remain a secret.
After Miro’s lengthy plea, Emperor Perida nodded with a tone of regret.
“Then it cannot be helped. Will the defendant accept verification of the witness’s identity?”
“…Yes. However, the expression sole survivor has not been verified.”
“I will accept that point. Plaintiff, be mindful of your wording.”
Well, this much was fine.
Liselotte smiled brightly and replied in a clear voice,
“Yes, understood.”
No sooner had the answer been given than Hedmilton quietly bent forward and hurried toward a corner of the gallery.
Before long, he brought Kairi, who had been waiting inside the carriage.
It was Kairi’s first time standing before so many people, and being someone who was wary of strangers, he hesitated at the threshold of the courtroom.
Liselotte leaned forward slightly and showed her face to Kairi standing at a distance, as if to reassure him.
Because of that, she could see Diana, who had gone pale, even more clearly.
It seemed closer to primal fear than simple anxiety. As though she had seen something she should never have seen.
Trembling like a quaking aspen, Diana pressed one arm tightly with the other, as if she couldn’t control herself.
She gripped it so hard that her expensive dress was mercilessly wrinkled.
When the hesitant Kairi met Liselotte’s eyes, he stepped into the courtroom.
At the same time, his gaze met Diana’s, who stood behind.
The moment Kairi saw her, his eyes widened.
“Uh, u-uh. Cha, Charlotte…?”
No sooner had he uttered the unfamiliar name than Diana turned her head away.
Kairi pointed at her precisely with his hand, like someone who had run into a person he knew.
“Charlotte. Charlotte! It’s Charlotte. How are you alive, alive?”
As his clearly audible voice grew louder, Diana stubbornly turned her body as if she hadn’t heard a thing.
She even hid behind the mercenary who had been snickering as he watched.
Sharply, she shouted at the mercenary,
“Kaul! If you are a mercenary, then act like one and do your job!”
“Ahh…”
Kaul, who had been standing by like a bystander, finally began to step forward slowly.
“Ah, this was fun, though.”
Only after hearing his name did Liselotte realize who he was.
Once, there had been a lawsuit involving the House Rovans and a swindler couple.
At that time, after losing the case, the woman named Crystal had clearly declared,
“He is Kaul Rigol, the son of my close friend. He has worked as a subjugation mercenary and has recently signed a contract to join an official subjugation force.”
Kaul Rigol. Miro had also said he was formerly a mercenary who signed a contract with House Gloria as a subjugation force member, so the circumstances matched perfectly.
‘This is how it connects?’
Liselotte had noticed because she had an exceptionally good memory, but even Hedmilton seemed to be hearing Kaul’s name for the first time.
Back then, since he had only been introduced as a friend’s son, she had assumed he was just an ordinary mercenary.
Birds of a feather, indeed. It seemed the friend’s son wasn’t within the bounds of normal either.
“What are you? The young lady’s friend?”
Though he had clearly been called to intervene, Kaul merely grinned and tilted his head as he stared at Kairi.
Kairi, who used to startle and flee at the mere sight of people, didn’t bare his teeth at Kaul for some reason.
“Friend…? Is she a friend? No. But she’s the same as me.”
As if everything amused him greatly, Kaul kept chuckling.
“Really? Then do you want to be friends with me? Heehee, you are a lucky child too, aren’t you?”
“…No! Get lost!”
Oh dear, teaching him curses first wasn’t the plan.
Without realizing it, Liselotte pressed a hand to her forehead.
‘They say when you teach someone to speak, they learn curses first, and I just had to…’
No sooner had the shout echoed through the courtroom than Eren rose from his seat and stepped between them.
“Do you have business with the witness?”
His broad back shielded Kairi.
Kaul wasn’t small in stature either, yet before Eren, he seemed somewhat slender.
Unlike the confrontation between Kaul and Kairi, which had felt almost like child’s play, there was a clear sense of pressure coming from Eren.
Kaul stared straight into those golden eyes. Unable to bear it, one of the nobles shouted,
“How dare you raise your head so stiffly before His Highness the Grand Duke!”
Liselotte glanced toward where the presiding officials were seated.
In a courtroom that should have remained orderly, curses had been shouted, so she thought it unavoidable even if they were reprimanded.
At the sudden commotion, all the spectators turned their attention to the back.
Belatedly, the Commander of the Conrad knights asked sternly,
“Witness. Is there a problem?”
“No, there is not. We are coming now!”
Hedmilton called out loudly on Kairi’s behalf.
Eren blocked Kaul’s path until the two safely reached the witness stand.
Though he had acted as though he might lunge at any moment, Kaul merely giggled and returned to the corner where he had originally stood.
Still huffing, Kairi, who had come with Hedmilton, only relaxed his expression after seeing Liselotte.
“Liselotte…”
Seeing him on the verge of tears, as though he might run into her arms at any moment, made Liselotte’s heart uneasy as well.
“Kairi, I am sorry. I told you there was something very important, did I not?”
“Yes.”
In the meantime, his speech had improved greatly; he could now even use honorifics.
Liselotte gently patted Kairi’s head.
“Today is that day. Just like we practiced, you just need to sit there at the desk and honestly answer only the questions they ask.”
“Understood. Kairi can do it.”
“Yes. I believe you.”
At Liselotte’s words, Kairi nodded vigorously, then sat in the witness stand and took the oath.
“I swear to speak the truth as it is, without concealment or addition, according to my conscience, and to accept punishment for perjury should I lie.”
Ollas cleared his throat awkwardly and stroked his beard as he asked,
“Ahem, we will proceed with the witness examination. Witness, are you indeed from Gelloa Village in the East?”
“Y-Yes.”
“Could you tell us something about your time in Gelloa Village? It may be something ordinary.”
“I, I am from the po… poorhouse in Gelloa Village. I had friends there.”
“Friends who were with you in the poorhouse? How many were there?”
“Yes. There were 302.”
At the unexpectedly large number, the gallery murmured.
Even the Commander of the Conrad knights and Ollas tilted their heads at the unusually high number for a poorhouse in such a small village.
