IPTVI – Chapter 10

“What?”

At my words that I had found the dagger, Grand Duke Richard’s eyes widened. A murmur erupted from the gallery. Even Crown Prince Lawrence, who until now had shown little reaction, shot to his feet and fixed me with a piercing stare. So I met his eyes and gave him a sweet smile. It wasn’t like I meant I’d literally found the Grand Duke’s lost dagger anyway.

“In fact, I found quite a few.”

When I tipped over the sack I had beside me, dozens of daggers identical to the one submitted as evidence clattered out onto the floor.

“I searched around the weapon shops in the capital, and it turns out this dagger is a mass-produced item supplied across the entire Imperial Army. That means anyone who could buy a dagger could essentially be a suspect. Is there any evidence proving this particular dagger must belong to the defendant?”

It wasn’t like his name was engraved on it, and in an era without advanced forensics, there was no way to detect the Grand Duke’s fingerprints or DNA. So how exactly did they plan to prove that the dagger used in the crime was his? It was nonsense.

The Chief of Police tried to push back.

“The defendant doesn’t have his dagger! Obviously because he used it as the murder weapon!”

“It’s missing not because he used it, but because it was stolen. The judge himself just acknowledged earlier that there was no evidence this was a lie.”

The judge’s face twisted in a sudden realization. He’d carelessly accepted that statement earlier, thinking the trial was already a sure win, and now it had come back to bite him. The Chief of Police’s expression briefly flashed with panic before he raised his chin defiantly.

“Then how do you explain the fact that the defendant is left-handed!”

I let out a small laugh.

“If you knew how many left-handed people there are in the Empire, you wouldn’t be so quick to make such declarations.”

A trial isn’t a mystery novel. Guilt is decided by clear evidence. Dragging a confession out of a suspect with deductions like ‘the culprit is left-handed,’ or ‘why did he conveniently lose his belongings at that time?’ is the sort of thing only acceptable in mystery novels like Sherlock Holmes.

“So what, are you going to name every left-handed guest at the banquet that night as a suspect?”

Then I lifted my gaze toward the high place where the novel’s male lead, Lawrence, sat. The moment Crown Prince Lawrence entered the courtroom, I’d noticed he was left-handed. The sword bearing the imperial crest was strapped to his right hip.

For an instant, Lawrence’s lips twisted upward. Pretending not to see that expression, I turned my gaze back to the Chief of Police. Having realized the intent behind my question—if he was prepared to accuse even the Crown Prince—the Chief merely cleared his throat with a cough, adding nothing more.

But he still squeezed out one last desperate point.

“The defendant has more than enough motive. It’s revenge for being rejected by Her Highness the Crown Princess!”

“If that’s your angle, I must point out how thoroughly mistaken it is. His Highness the Grand Duke has never loved Her Highness the Crown Princess. So there’s no reason for revenge.”

Oh dear. I looked at the Chief of Police with pity. Then he held up several copies of newspapers with a solemn face.

“These are scandal articles claiming the defendant loved Her Highness the Crown Princess. It’s already a very public fact in the Empire.”

“Oh, so you want to insist that whatever’s printed in the papers is automatically true.”

I dropped a tremendously thick scrapbook with a thud onto the prosecution’s table, at least ten times thicker than the documents the Police Bureau had brought.

“Then how about this? By your logic, wouldn’t these articles look even more like the prevailing public fact?”

These were the fruits of my carefully orchestrated PR campaigns over the past few weeks.

Evidence can be manufactured. Once a rumor makes it into print, it becomes a tangible document, and people instinctively trust anything in print. Thus believing whatever’s written in the newspaper as fact. If enough people believe the story, it naturally becomes real. And if they witness it, all the more so.

“Isn’t Grand Duke Richard in love with his wife though?”
“We all saw it earlier too. The way she openly declared her love for him.”
“They must be incredibly close to say that even in a place such as this…”

Just as expected, murmurs of agreement spread through the gallery. Having heard my earlier confession, the spectators were all the more easily swayed by my argument. Besides, people were always more interested in the current scandal than an old one.

“Ugh…”

Hearing the Chief of Police let out a groan, having lost his words, I stepped closer and asked.

“Now, let me ask you again. Is there any evidence here that proves the defendant killed the victim?”

A subtle expression crossed Lawrence’s face at my words. Beside him, Vivian only glared at me with her lips tightly sealed. Caught off guard by the unexpected turn, the judge pressed his temples and let out a heavy sigh.

At last, the Chief of Police, his face flushed red, pointed a finger at me and shouted.

“Hey! Let’s say you’re right. Then who do you think the culprit is? If you’re so confident, tell us right now!”

I smiled confidently.

“Well… I have no idea.”

“What? And yet you’re declaring that the Grand Duke isn’t the culprit?”

“Is it my job to figure out who the real killer is? I’m just a humble defense attorney.”

“……!”

“It’s the Police Bureau’s responsibility to identify the criminal.”

“That’s ridiculous! If you let the suspect go like this, what happens to justice? Shouldn’t anyone standing in this courtroom uphold the law and stand on the side of justice?”

At his indignant roar, I slowly tilted my head, then lifted my shoulders in a shrug.

“I think you’re mistaken. I’m not on the side of justice. Never have been.”

“W-what…!”

“I’m on the side of Grand Duke Richard. Whom I love very much.”

It wasn’t even really a lie. A lawyer is always on their client’s side. Sometimes because they love the money the client‘s will pay. At those words, my eyes met Grand Duke Richard’s. His face looked strangely complicated. Then I turned my gaze back to the judge.

“According to Article 17 of Imperial Law, guilt must be determined by evidence.”

So no judge could declare him guilty in this situation. Because all the evidence proving his guilt had been dismantled. The judge threw an awkward glance at the Crown Prince. Lawrence, face stiff, was whispering something to an attendant at his side.

At last, the judge spoke with a resolute face.

“I will now deliver the verdict.”

Every gaze in the courtroom focused on the judge’s mouth. Soon, he read the judgment in a somber voice.

“Since the charge that the defendant, Benedict Richard, murdered Devon Hayden is unproven, the defendant is hereby released.”

Finally!

Overjoyed, I instinctively grabbed the Grand Duke’s hand tightly. In that moment of ecstasy, I imagined receiving my enormous contingency fee and living the sweet life in this world.

“But.”

‘What…?’

I froze at the ominous word that followed.

“This case is extremely serious, and the need to uncover the truth is very great…”

The judge, handed something by the Crown Prince’s attendant, kept wiping sweat from his forehead. I stared at him blankly.

“Until the true criminal of this case is revealed, the acquittal is suspended, and the confiscated assets shall not be returned but held as collateral.”

My mouth dropped open at words I could barely believe even as I heard them.

‘They’re… not giving the assets back?’

Suddenly the world spun, the sky turned dark, and I collapsed right then and there.

*   *   *

A quiet bedroom with no one else around.

Grand Duke Benedict Richard sat staring silently at the sleeping face of Elena, who looked almost dead.

“It seems her health was already quite fragile, and she fainted once the tension lifted. Right now she’s simply sleeping, so please don’t worry, Your Highness.”

That was the diagnosis given by the physician who had examined Elena after she suddenly collapsed in court.

His gaze drifted to the slender wrist exposed outside the blanket. Her skin was so pale it was almost white, and faint bluish bruises that hadn’t yet faded could still be seen. He furrowed his brow sharply.

‘She pushed herself even though her body wasn’t in good shape.’

Even for him, who had endured countless hardships wandering battlefields, the trial had been grueling. Unlike the Police Bureau, which had the protection of the imperial family and dozens of people working on the case, Elena had faced it all alone.

“And yet she still managed to win in the end.”

Grand Duke Benedict Richard muttered in a low voice. It had been a trial that was originally supposed to end with a death sentence. But now, here he was, no chains or ropes, sitting freely in the bedroom of the Grand Ducal Residence. Even if there were conditions, if he was willing to give up his property, it was essentially the same as being declared not guilty.

‘She went this far for me…’

He told himself he had to draw a line with Elena, but once he was aware of her feelings, he couldn’t help being bothered by them. This morning, he’d justified taking extra care with his appearance as being purely for the sake of the trial. But the result was that he’d made Elena fall even harder for him. In that sense, he couldn’t say he was blameless.

In fact, when Elena had looked at Lawrence with those heated eyes, his heart had suddenly dropped. Worried she might have fallen for Lawrence at first sight. Until now, it had always been Lawrence who held the upper hand in high society, not him. It was only natural—between the Crown Prince and an imperial bastard, the gap was obvious.

“I wanted to see how impressive he was, but he’s nothing special.”

Luckily, in Elena’s eyes, he seemed more dashing than Lawrence. Even though he’d always been undervalued in society because he was a bastard, maybe he wasn’t such a bad man after all. At least from his perspective, he was much more of a man than Lawrence. With more muscle, too.

Elena, unable to hide her feelings, had even blurted out in front of everyone that she loved him.

“I’m on the side of Grand Duke Richard. Whom I love very much.”

Slowly, he rubbed his fingers together. From the moment he was born, he had never had anyone on his side.

Others thought he had joined the military to win the Emperor’s favor, but they were wrong. At least on the battlefield, the soldiers who fought with him were on his side. That was what kept him lingering in such dangerous places.

But Elena had said she was on his side. And she’d added ‘love’ to that. Even now, he could still feel the grip of that small hand that had clasped his so tightly the moment the judge pronounced his release. Without thinking, his hand started to reach toward Elena’s slender fingers—then he jerked his head violently.

“It will only become a weakness.”

He clenched his hand tightly into a fist. There was no room in his life for leisurely games of love. Every day was war and peril. Grand Duke Benedict Richard turned his head almost as if fleeing, toward the documents on the table. It was the contract he had signed with Elena.

‘This fake relationship needs to end as soon as possible. It’s only right for her to let go of feelings that won’t be returned.’

Benedict dropped the completed divorce papers he had prepared right on top of their contract, as if tossing them there. Then, almost like making a vow, he muttered to himself.

“As soon as she wakes up, I’ll give her half of what’s left of my assets and we’ll—”

“Absolutely not!”

At that moment, Elena suddenly shot up from the bed.

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