“Ah… It seems my story wasn’t interesting to you. Then how about this? It will be even more interesting.”
Jieselgrante added with a sweet smile.
“It’s about when I was forced to kneel before the leader of the barbarians.”
When she finished speaking, there was no smile left on Jieselgrante’s face. She was looking straight at the Empress.
“H-How on earth did you know about that, young lady…!”
The Empress exclaimed in shock, her eyes wide open.
It was certainly an uncharacteristic reaction for the Empress. Not only did she stutter, but she also admitted to it without any evidence being presented.
It was immediately clear how psychologically cornered the Empress had become while isolated in prison.
But as if she had never shown her bewilderment, the Empress suddenly changed her attitude and said,
“…I don’t know where you heard such strange stories, but even in my current situation, if you spread unfounded rumors…”
Jieselgrante cut off the Empress’s lengthy explanation.
“It was the Marchioness Ratse back then too.”
She knew well that interrupting someone else’s speech was quite rude behavior.
But having suffered countless times from the Empress while living as Trinity, she felt no guilt whatsoever.
“The reason you sent the Marquis and Marchioness Ratse to the west under the pretext of a vacation this time was probably not much different. The purpose would have been to contact the barbarian leader. Of course, the situation would have been quite different from last time.”
“…”
The Empress, who had been rolling her eyes quickly as if at a loss for words, soon opened her mouth as if she had found an excuse.
“Young lady? Don’t you think that’s quite a leap? Why would you think such a thing…”
Jieselgrante interrupted the Empress’s words again without hesitation.
“The only one who knows that Princess Trinity was once forced to kneel before the barbarian leader is herself. Even her maids don’t know. Because no one else was there.”
“…”
“Who else might know about that incident?”
Jieselgrante, who had been slowly blinking as if pondering, opened her mouth again as if she had just thought of something.
“…Right. There would be the barbarian leader, Princess Trinity herself, and the person who gave the order.”
Then, as if she no longer had any intention of denying it, the Empress shrugged her shoulders.
“Calling yourself Trinity, I don’t quite understand what you’ve been saying all this time… Anyway, why bring up past stories now? What, do you want an apology from me? For instigating the assassination of Princess Trinity? No, before that, it’s none of your business.”
“I don’t need an apology. I already know you won’t give one.”
The Empress looked at Jieselgrante as if asking why she brought it up then.
“Empress, I thought about what would be most painful for you.”
Jieselgrante stopped there and closed her mouth. The Empress stared at her intently with anxious eyes.
“It’s losing everything.”
“…What?”
“High status, vast wealth, family that makes you shine.”
“You, what are you trying to do to Joshua?”
The Empress, who had been glaring as if upset, soon regained her composure and sneered.
“Ah, now I see what you’re up to. You’re trying to make me confess something. Using Joshua’s well-being as leverage, right?”
The Empress, who had been glaring at Jieselgrante with a malicious gaze, suddenly took a step back.
That was probably because there was no emotion that could be read from Jieselgrante.
No sadness, no resentment, no anger, not even sympathy.
“No, so tell me what you want from me?”
The Empress was excellent at reading people.
She would first read what the other person wanted, then imply that if they acted according to her instructions, there would be a reward.
That’s how she had easily manipulated others.
As such, it was most important for the Empress to figure out what Jieselgrante wanted.
“Nothing. Nothing at all.”
But Jieselgrante wanted nothing from the Empress.
This meant that in their relationship, the Empress could never gain the upper hand.
“I will definitely reveal what you’ve done in front of everyone. And you will pay the price for your crimes. In the way you hate most, Your Majesty the Empress, no, mother.”
“…”
“This is the least I can do as someone who was your daughter for a while.”
With those final words, Jieselgrante turned around.
“Wait! Hold on, Lady Amaterasu! We still have things to talk about.”
“…”
“No… Tri! Trinity! Fine, I’ll confess. The deal with the barbarian leader was to kidnap you. Because Joshua could only inherit the throne if you were gone.”
The Empress’s voice continued from behind. But Jieselgrante didn’t look back and kept moving forward.
“Wasn’t that what you wanted? A sincere apology from me for that incident? Isn’t that why you came to see me? No, wait, I said…”
Jieselgrante didn’t know at this point.
That Cabelased, worried about her, had come to the prison and ended up overhearing her conversation with the Empress.
[This is the timeline separator]The assassination of the Emperor. As it was a major incident that attracted all public attention, the trial proceeded quickly.
The appearance of the Empress, dragged out by knights, was more miserable than ever seen before.
This was because there was no family left to take care of her.
Her husband, the Emperor, had been dealt with by her own hand, and her son and the Marquis Antares were also imprisoned like her.
The nobles she had been friendly with all turned their backs on her. They pretended not to know her, afraid of being tainted even slightly.
“My, just look at that appearance. I suppose they don’t even give water to wash in prison?”
“That looks like the dress she wore at the late Emperor’s funeral last time… It seems they don’t even give her clothes to change into, let alone water.”
Criticism erupted from here and there towards the Empress walking into the courtroom.
It could be said that they were now venting the anger they had been suppressing all this time.
As the five judges took their seats, the trial officially began.
“We will now begin the trial of Patricia Antares, Empress of the Peisis Empire. Please be seated quickly, everyone.”
As the Empress’s biggest crime was the murder of her husband, the Emperor, it seemed they decided to use her maiden name.
The judge seated in the center enumerated the Empress’s crimes.
Many crimes committed by the Empress over the years were revealed in addition to the Emperor’s murder.
And the first to be called as both witness and suspect was the Emperor’s personal physician.
After that, Baron Cyprus, Marquis Antares, and the Empress’s maids were called one after another.
The last person to appear in the courtroom was Baroness Oppenheimer.
She quietly handed a parchment to the judge. The judge began to read aloud the contents of the parchment he received.
“Having had my tongue cut out and arm broken by the Empress, I was unable to speak or write, and thus could not express any opinion in the previous trial. But now that my arm has recovered and I can write…”
The last words of the parchment handed by Baroness Oppenheimer were this:
“I did not kill Princess Trinity. The person who can prove this fact is none other than Lady Greykin.”
At the request of Baroness Oppenheimer, Lady Greykin appeared as a witness.
Seeing Lady Greykin, whom they thought was dead, walking in alive, her family members wept.
Lady Greykin, who smiled slightly at her family as if apologizing for deceiving them all this time, began her testimony.
“As you can see now, I was very much alive. The reason I had to hide the fact that I was alive even from my family all this time was because of the Empress.”
The courtroom became noisy again.
“You say you had to hide because of the Empress, but why was that necessary?”
Lady Greykin answered the judge’s question.
“The Empress needed to silence me to cover up the murder of Princess Trinity. I suspect Baroness Oppenheimer is in her current situation for the same reason.”
After finishing her words, Lady Greykin turned her head towards where Baroness Oppenheimer was.
The two had gotten along well as Princess Trinity’s maids for quite some time. As such, she seemed to feel pity.
“I’ll ask one more question. Then are you saying there is some correlation between Princess Trinity’s murder and the Empress?”
“That’s correct.”
As Lady Greykin answered immediately, the Empress, who had been keeping her mouth shut until just now, came forward with a rebuttal.
“This is all slander!”
“…”
“You’re all being fooled, I tell you! She may be wearing the shell of Lady Amaterasu, but that girl is Trinity!”
The Empress pointed her finger at Jieselgrante while shouting and making a fuss.
The judges exchanged glances and shook their heads.
It seemed they had judged that the Empress had gone mad.
Jieselgrante took in all of this situation with emotionless eyes.
And she was certain.
That Patricia Antares would now be recorded as the first Empress to stand trial in the Peisis Empire.
For the crime of murdering her daughter and husband, though the daughter wasn’t her biological child.
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
