Liselotte could not understand why he was suddenly taking an interest in the trial.
Emperor Perida seemed to have forgotten the excuse about having sprained his finger and gave Eren’s shoulder several more light taps, perfectly fine.
Liselotte smiled brightly and asked back,
“I was worried when I heard your hand was injured. But you look perfectly fine?”
“That was my left hand.”
He slightly raised the left hand that had not been patting the shoulder.
There was still no visible sign of injury at all.
His pale aqua-colored eyes quietly examined Liselotte.
As if inspecting her.
“Then I will see you again later.”
With those words, the Emperor turned sharply without hesitation and left the courtroom.
When the Imperial knights who had come with him followed as well, the courtroom finally regained its quiet.
Liselotte, unable to make sense of it, stared at the door through which he had left.
‘He seems quite familiar with Eren?’
Of course, even if it were any other noble, their relation would be better than his with Liselotte, but still.
She hadn’t thought their relationship would be bad, but it seemed a bit more relaxed than a merely obligatory one.
She cast a sidelong glance at Eren, but could not read anything from his expressionless face.
Instead, he continued speaking calmly.
“If the presiding official is Ollas Dia, that is not bad.”
He spoke as if he knew him. Hearing the name, it felt vaguely familiar.
As she searched her memory, she recalled seeing his name in the list of book reviewers.
“Ah, the legal scholar!”
“He was once a law professor at the Academy. Every lawyer on the continent would have taken Ollas’ classes.”
“I wondered where I had seen the name. I saw it in books!”
Back when she and Ail were looking through law codes in the North, nearly every law-related book had the name Ollas Dia listed as the reviewer or author.
The laws of the Perida Empire had, to a certain extent, incorporated regional characteristics through subjugations.
Because of that, it seemed there had been considerable deliberation from the very beginning, when the first law codes were created, over how to define laws under a central legal system.
The laws in their current form were the result of being revised little by little over a long period of time.
Among them, Ollas was famous for having gathered the scattered regulations related to subjugations into a single body.
Ail, apparently aware of this as well, added a comment while organizing the documents with Hedmilton.
“His personality is a bit eccentric, but when it comes to ‘law’, there is no one who can match Sir Ollas. I was surprised to see him come out as the presiding official.”
Eren, seemingly of the same opinion, nodded.
“I heard it has been quite a while since he declared he would retire from the Senate and holed himself up. I suppose not yet.”
Perhaps because of that, Ollas’s demeanor remained unchanged even with the Emperor present.
Liselotte’s attention, which had been fixed on the courtroom door in confusion, quickly faded.
This was not the time to be thinking about someone whose name she was confusing with that of a snowman.
“Hedmilton, bring some paper so we can draft the complaint.”
At her blunt, curt order, Hedmilton responded briskly.
“Yes!”
***
“Father, did you hear about that?”
At House Gloria’s residence in the Capital, Diana asked Duke Gloria, who was enjoying tea time.
When his eyebrows twitched, Diana anxiously covered her mouth with her hand.
“I heard that Princess Liselotte submitted a complaint to the court.”
“…What? Against House Gloria? Jar, Jar!”
Duke Gloria, who had been listening with a leisurely posture, legs crossed and an arm draped over the sofa, loudly called for his aide.
The door opened and Jar rushed in.
“Y-Yes, Your Grace! What is it…?”
The moment she saw Jar, Diana hurriedly waved her hand.
“Father, no. Not our family. It seems she is appearing as a representative in House Rovans’ lawsuit.”
Rumors were spreading everywhere that the Emperor had appeared in court.
Not just anywhere, but the court.
On top of that, society had already been in an uproar over the letter announcing that Emperor Perida would postpone his banquet.
Everyone was perceptive enough to see through the excuse about a sprained finger.
They simply did not know the intent behind it.
Because of this, the recent movements of the Emperor had become a hot topic of interest among the nobles.
It seemed Duke Gloria had heard about it as well, as his brow furrowed.
“Rovans? You mean Hedmilton’s family?”
“I suppose so?”
“Tsk, that bastard. I knew this would happen. What concern for an old woman? In the end, it’s just a fight over property.”
Clatter. Duke Gloria irritably set his teacup down on the table.
He had no interest in House Rovans tearing itself apart with internal disputes.
But it was unpleasant that they were involved in a trial that had drawn attention thanks to the Emperor.
Above all, Hedmilton was particularly irritating to him right now.
Tap, tap. The tip of the Duke’s foot, crossed over his leg, twitched restlessly.
‘Hedmilton aligning himself with the North is deeply unsettling…’
The differences in opinion regarding damage recovery between the Eastern and Northern regions were not narrowing.
It would all be over if House Keilos simply knelt and admitted fault for detonating the magic stone mine in House Gloria’s lands.
The way they rampaged without acknowledging their own wrongdoing was ugly.
“A lawsuit from the detestable Hedmilton family, huh. It would be even better if they were thrown out onto the streets.”
Yet the nobles were focusing their attention on House Rovans’ lawsuit.
The details were unclear, but from the rumors circulating, it seemed to be going in their favor.
If this incident improved House Rovans’ image, there would naturally be nobles who recalled how Hedmilton had ostentatiously stormed out of House Gloria at the Imperial banquet not long ago.
Already, within high society, House Gloria’s name was being whispered about in connection with the trial.
And the Rovans’ representative was Liselotte.
Was that not the perfect backdrop for gossip-loving people to let their imaginations run wild?
Duke Gloria ground his teeth.
If it were up to him, he wanted nothing more than to throw Hedmilton and Liselotte, who had humiliated him, straight into the gutter.
Only by seeing them crawl between his legs, apologizing at his feet, would his anger be soothed.
Of course, Her Highness the Imperial Princess would never do such a thing, and ordering it would clearly earn the Imperial Family’s displeasure, but imagination had no limits.
Diana, who had barely been sipping her tea, gave a small cough and spoke.
“I heard the next hearing is in two days.”
“That will not do. Jar, file a lawsuit against Hedmilton for defamation.”
The eyes of Jar, who had been standing silently to the side like a mouse, wavered.
“…Pardon?”
“As soon as Hedmilton left, lawsuits started flying, so the name of House Gloria is being mentioned everywhere, is it not?”
“That is…”
‘Is that not unrelated to Hedmilton?’
The words that rose to the tip of his throat were swallowed back with effort.
But the Duke was adamant.
“He dared to disgrace me at the Imperial banquet, and with that letter as well, I need to intimidate him and press him down.”
Jar could not readily respond.
Hedmilton had been a colleague who had worked alongside him since the day he was first employed by House Gloria.
Living together, there had been many uncomfortable moments.
Unlike Jar, who obediently followed orders, Hedmilton always spoke up when something was unreasonable.
Even knowing that this provoked Duke Gloria’s anger, he never bent.
As a result, there had been times when Jar suffered collateral damage, such as having to write explanations alongside him…
‘You want me to file a defamation lawsuit against a colleague with my own hands?’
No matter that it was an order from the Head of the House and a complaint to be filed under the Gloria name.
He had always followed orders as instructed. Jar didn’t have the courage to argue back like Hedmilton did.
But there was still something he could do.
He quietly took out a letter sealed in an envelope from his breast pocket.
It was something he had written down the moment Hedmilton left, but had carried around ever since, lacking the courage to submit it.
When he respectfully placed it on the table with a soft tap, the writing on it stood out conspicuously.
Staring only at the envelope, Jar murmured quietly.
“I am resigning.”
“What?”
“Thank you for everything. Then…”
Despite Duke Gloria’s question, Jar bowed his head quickly and left the room.
“You crazy fools. What are you both doing?!”
Duke Gloria’s shout rang out behind him, but Jar’s footsteps down the corridor were lighter than ever.
