“What nonsense is this! How dare you lie about what safety you’re in now! Are you not afraid of the punishment His Majesty will bring down?”

The Count thundered.

“Uh, uwaah. M-master. I’m sorry. Please, just this once, have mercy…!”

At that, the witness curled up and uttered a fear-filled cry.

Having worked at the Count’s mansion all his life, the fear of the Count was ingrained in his body, causing words to spill out involuntarily.

And the impact of that response was considerable.

“He really seems scared, doesn’t he?”

“While it’s not surprising for servants to be whipped when they make mistakes, that reaction… It seems the whipping itself was a daily occurrence.”

“That’s a bit harsh.”

“Hmm. He seems too much like an ordinary commoner to have been brought here under false pretenses… Plus, the contract is genuine.”

By now, the contract they had brought had made a round of the conference hall, passing the nobles’ strict scrutiny.

“Count, calm yourself. It seems you’re the one trying to manipulate witness testimony in this sacred place meant to uncover the truth.”

“Your Majesty. That is not-”

“One more outburst and I’ll have you bound immediately. You’ve already insulted the Emperor.”

As Carlos retorted irritably, the Count clenched his fist and looked at Mercedes. Her face remained composed.

“The first to stand before us, open your mouth.”

Carlos commanded.

From that point, the testimonies began.

“…If I may speak only of what I’ve seen. It was routine for Her Majesty the Empress to be whipped with the master’s belt.”

“Good heavens. With leather?”

“Whipping…? Didn’t he say she was raised preciously?”

“Even so, she didn’t want to reveal the abuse outside, so a healer was called every time, to the point where a healer was practically residing there.”

Since they had even brought the healer who had always been in residence, they could continue with that testimony. Starting with the whipping and then.

“The young lady… ah, no, Her Majesty the Empress was forced to wear a corset from her early teens. At a time when she should have been growing… She couldn’t eat properly, and even what was served as meals was actually worse than what I ate, just coarse and hard bread.”

“It was almost unbearable to watch from afar. Both Young Lord Frederick and Young Lady Flora would often play a ‘game’ of throwing all sorts of things to hit Her Majesty the Empress…”

“The Countess even had a riding crop made and would strike the young lady’s hands or other small areas whenever she made a mistake.”

“Even at her social debut, Her Majesty the Empress was dressed up only as marriage material. I heard she practiced being shown only to the richest and oldest nobles.”

“She learned etiquette in a truly harsh manner… If she made even a small mistake, there would be no dinner that evening.”

As the servants’ words flowed out, people’s faces gradually filled with shock.

Moreover, the story of ‘perfect etiquette’ made it a bit more credible. Honestly, for an innocent young lady, wasn’t the Empress’s etiquette too perfect from the beginning?

As if she had received excessively harsh education.

“…I am the young lady’s nanny. For ease of speaking, may I call her ‘young lady’? Your Majesty the Empress.”

Finally, Gertrude stepped forward.

“Of course, Nanny.”

“Thank you. I… was tasked with monitoring the young lady under the Count’s orders. The Count wanted me to be the only person the young lady could rely on in the household. So that if she ever strayed from his control, I would know all about her secret transgressions.”

Gertrude was willing to do anything if it meant escaping this curse.

So she spoke more freely than the other servants. Living with an ailing body, never knowing when the curse might strike again, was too exhausting.

“What’s there to hide? To faithfully carry out the Count’s orders, I even followed the young lady into Sheim Palace as her head maid. Here is my appointment letter from when I was head maid. It even bears the seal of His Majesty the King of Sheim.”

“…Oh ho.”

The nobles, who had been shocked, pricked up their ears at the story of someone so close.

“I could be arrested for slander, but I have no defense. His Highness the Crown Prince abused the young lady. He hurled insults daily, compared her to others… He even gathered many dancing girls, held banquets inside the palace, and called the young lady to serve them drinks. I still don’t understand why he tormented her so. The young lady was so pure… He said he didn’t like her innocence.”

“Is he mad?”

“The Crown Prince of Sheim knows no shame!”

The nobles were shocked and began to feel sympathy for Mercedes. It wasn’t particularly pleasant to receive pity. But Mercedes just calmly listened to the story.

She might be labeled for life. A name like ‘pitiful woman’. But how many labels had she already had? Having already endured all sorts of rumors, she wasn’t bothered at all.

“Meanwhile, the young lady began to be pressured by trivial rumors…”

Gertrude had to recall that night, reviving the terrible sensation.

She swallowed hard and looked at Mercedes.

Mercedes gazed back at her with transparent eyes.

‘Yes. If only I could escape this curse.’

In fact, there had never been any curse to begin with, but Gertrude, having witnessed an inexplicable power, couldn’t help but be frightened.

“I don’t know what the Crown Prince was thinking, but he ordered the young lady to take her own life. The young lady had to endure truly difficult days.”

Gertrude paused for a moment to catch her breath.

“And then… suddenly, the Crown Prince passed away unexpectedly. It was the day the young lady had gone to beg for forgiveness, pleading for him to withdraw his order.”

Gertrude faithfully followed Mercedes’ words.

Do your best to think of the testimony you can give, she had said. Keep absolutely silent about Mercedes’ power, but otherwise speak freely, even if you have to make things up.

Therefore, Gertrude had to carry it out without fail.

Only then would she regain her freedom.

“And I dared to think about the reason. There was a medicine that the Count always brought to the young lady, saying it was ‘good medicine for men.'”

“Medicine?”

“Surely he didn’t give the Crown Prince something unverified…”

“No, how could-”

The commotion in the grand hall grew louder.

“On the day she went to beg forgiveness, the young lady also took that medicine with her. If she offered the medicine that was good for men, perhaps he would forgive her. Yes, she might have made a mistake then. But that was the only way for the young lady to survive…”

Gertrude gritted her teeth and wiped away her tears. Recalling that day and the life that followed, tears flowed easily due to the overwhelming sense of fear and sorrow.

At the same time, the Count and the entire Count’s family began to shout in anger.

Flora and Frederick glared at Mercedes.

Mercedes faced them, maintaining an expressionless face.

It was a face whose inner thoughts were unreadable, but the members of the Count’s family felt a moment of intense anger at the fact that she dared not lower her eyes, at the fact that she was now cornering them.

“Where is the evidence, where is the evidence!”

The Count shouted.

Mercedes spoke calmly.

“Evidence… There is none. Neither the Count’s side nor mine has definitive evidence… Yes. Let me speak only of my experience.”

She lowered her eyes, this time showing a slightly strained expression.

“Father felt that I was lacking in serving His Highness the late Crown Prince, and during the two years I was Crown Princess, every time he visited, he gave me medicine. Saying it was good for men.”

Her soft, articulate voice had a certain magic that made one want to lean in and listen.

“I was raised to do whatever Father told me to do. Without even knowing the proper ingredients… I put them in the food. I still don’t know the ingredients. But when the Crown Prince died mysteriously in front of me.”

Mercedes took a breath. She furrowed her brow for a moment, as if it was painful to speak.

“I became a murderer. What came to mind belatedly was the medicine Father had given me. Whether that medicine was really just good medicine after all.”

“This is slander!”

“It was a foolish act on my part as well, not to have checked properly, so I don’t mind being called an accomplice. That’s why I too considered myself a criminal, and waited for the day I would die in prison. Regretting, and regretting again…”

“Why would I have poisoned His Highness the Crown Prince? I am a noble who received the title of Count in Sheim. How could I lack patriotism!”

“Whether it was poison or not, I don’t know. But that day too, I put the medicine in the Crown Prince’s wine cup, and begged earnestly. Please spare me, I pleaded. But His Highness the Crown Prince collapsed in front of me, coughing up blood.”

Mercedes paused in her speech as if slightly out of breath, and took a drink of water.

“Yes. Filial piety is a great thing. And so is human morality. The reason I had a physical altercation with the Count this time was because the Count was trying to hand me medicine again. To live as a human being beyond filial piety. Out of love for Your Majesty.”

She took another breath. A dense silence filled the grand hall.

“I simply refused. In the process, Father fell heavily, so that was my carelessness and mistake. I will accept that.”

“This is absurd! What medicine would I…! How dare you, to the Emperor of Lum!”

“Gregory. My Knight Commander.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Go to the mansion I provided for the Count immediately and find evidence.”

The Emperor’s voice solemnly descended upon the conference hall.