The employee’s gaze turned to Aris. Astonished, Aris covered her face with one hand.

However, her small palm couldn’t properly cover the sky or her small face.

“She often came here to drink. In a private room. I heard the noises from that room…”

“It’s not true!”

Aris shouted hysterically.
“I’ve never been to such a place! I’ve never seen that person either!”

Aris is in a bad situation. When a crisis occurs, someone can be pulled in like a lifesaver, but it may not create an escape route when cornered.

“Lies. I’ve seen that woman at the tavern.”

“I’ve seen her too. I don’t know about the man, but she used to hang out with her friends, right? Why lie? Is there something fishy going on?”

Aris’s face turned pale.

“No, what I meant was that I haven’t seen that man at the tavern!”

The employee quickly spoke.

“You can ask the neighboring shop owners if I worked at that tavern!”

“Shut your mouth!”

“Aris Dorensia, please be quiet.”

The detective silenced Aris, who was cursing.

I took advantage of the moment of silence and spoke appropriately.

“I believe the man who was with Miss Aris committed the murder of Lady Emelene.”

“Don’t make baseless accusations!”

“I’ll request the evidence I submitted in advance.”

Ignoring Aris’s words and continuing, she widened her eyes.

The detective brought a small box in front of me. When I opened the lid, a small knife appeared.

Wearing the white gloves received from the detective, I took out the knife.

After waiting for enough attention from the people, I spoke.

“It’s the knife that was stuck in Lady’s chest. Just to be sure, I inquired at all the nearby weapon and furniture shops. The result revealed a surprising fact.”

“What did you inquire, and what did you find out?”

I turned to the curious face of the judge.

“I inquired about the origin of the dagger and found out that the murderer is not from the kingdom.”

My statement caused a great stir.

The audience poured out various speculations, making the surroundings noisy in an instant.

“Quiet, quiet!”

The judge, who silenced the people, sharply asked, “What does that mean?”

“At first glance, this dagger looks ordinary. I also didn’t think it was strange at first.”

I slightly raised the dagger so that everyone could see it.

“But if Lady Emelene really made an extreme choice, then why would she buy such a primitive dagger? That small question occurred to me.”

“…….”

“Lady Emelene liked flashy things, even small ornaments. But this, as you can see.”

I lightly tapped the edge of the dagger with my gloved finger.

“It’s not like her.”

“Continue.”

“But the weapon and furniture shops couldn’t tell me the distribution route of the dagger. I could only find out at the last place. The owner of the furniture shop said that the material of this handle is made from a type of wood that doesn’t grow in the kingdom.”

The dagger’s handle, emitting a reddish light, was shown to the judge.

“It’s made of ironwood. Very dry and hard. Is it a wood you’ve never heard of? Of course, it’s natural. It’s a wood that doesn’t exist in the kingdom.”

“…….”
“It’s a plant that thrives in very dry and hot environments. Like…”

I looked around.

“Like a desert.”

The courtroom became so quiet that not even a breath could be heard.

In the spacious room, only my voice echoed.

“As you know, the kingdom has little interaction with the desert. Then, what does this dagger symbolize? How did Lady Emelene obtain it and use it to commit suicide?”

With Giovanni’s help, I summoned the wanted merchant as a witness. When he testified that my words were true, a commotion erupted, unlike the previous murmurs.

Various accusations were hurled at Aris.

“This foreigner!”

The accusations reminded me of the past, making my heart feel guilty. It was as if they were cursing me.

Closing my eyes, I placed a hand on my pounding chest.

“It’s over.”

Perhaps the imperial spy didn’t know.

In the empire, where incidents like this were common, a dagger that looked ordinary and was nothing special was unavailable in the kingdom.

“You made a mistake.”

And that mistake was haunting Aris.

“Quiet!”

Despite the judge’s command, the people didn’t easily calm down.

Aris, standing next to the detective, repeated, “It can’t be true,” with a vacant expression on her face.

“You probably don’t want to believe it. In your life, you’ve probably never experienced such a failure.”

After all the detectives and guards were mobilized, the once boisterous courtroom finally became quiet.

“I will deliver the verdict. Aris Dorensia is sentenced as the suspect for the murder of Lady Rozalina Emelene Lorenst.”

Only then did Aris, who understood the situation, let out a loud cry, but unlike the first time, no one felt sorry for her.

The trial was over.

With my victory.

The taste of the first victory against Aris was truly exhilarating.

It felt like the bitterness accumulated over ten years was finally fading away.