Rimon Tirel, who was both a secretary and a lawyer, prepared for the trial without a word of complaint despite the overflowing workload.

He collected the operation logs brought from Modesto and the opinion papers from people about Aron’s reputation, and diligently gathered evidence that Aron was the mastermind behind the courtesan’s swordsmanship incident, which was leaked by Schmidt.

It had been exactly one week since returning from Modesto.

It was the day to leave for the capital to attend the aristocratic trial held at the Imperial Palace.

“Rublion, protect mother while I’m in the capital.”

“Yes, sir!”

“I trust you.”

“Yes, sir!”

Rublion, who was tightly disciplined, answered solemnly. I smiled contentedly at the sight.

“I want to make all sorts of requests, but I’ll refrain since it seems you’ll do well on your own.”

Askal openly showed his reluctance to leave and kissed the back of my hand. Then, after fiddling with my hand for a while, he reluctantly let go at Baron Tirel’s words that it was time to go.

“I’ll be back as soon as the trial is over.”

“Have a safe trip.”

“Don’t skip meals and make sure to sleep well.”

“You don’t skip meals either.”

Askal nodded. Then he approached Rublion and kissed his forehead. The child was surprised and exclaimed.

“Why are you doing this all of a sudden?”

“I thought there are times when you’re quite reliable.”

Rublion’s face turned bright red at the forehead kiss he received from Askal for the first time. As if embarrassed, he rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand and muttered.

“Have a safe trip.”

Askal turned around vigorously as if he was finally relieved.

After a long, long farewell.

Rublion and I stood at the main gate and waved our hands until the carriage was out of sight. Gaben said we should go inside, but it was not easy to take a step.

I already missed him even though it hadn’t been 5 minutes since we parted.

I must love him a lot.

The Imperial Palace in the capital consisted of several buildings. There was the Emperor’s Palace used solely by the Emperor, and the Empress’ Palace used by the Empress.

And there were guest palaces used by guests, the main palace where national affairs were handled, and so on, with an uncountable number of buildings.

The aristocratic trial was scheduled to be held in the largest council chamber of the main palace.

‘Is it the Emperor or the Crown Prince?’

Behind the seats of the jury composed of aristocrats, there was the judge’s seat. An imperial family representative was scheduled to sit in that seat under the name of a judge, and it was highly likely that the Crown Prince would come.

“His Highness the Crown Prince is arriving!”

The royal knight guarding the door of the council chamber shouted loudly. Everyone stood up from their seats and bowed their waists to greet him.

“Be seated.”

The Crown Prince, who sat in the judge’s seat, raised his hand to seat everyone. Askal glanced at Aron and his attorney, who were glaring as if they would pounce at any moment, with an indifferent face, and then took his eyes off them.

“Your Grace, first of all, we will defend with as few cards as possible that we have.”

At Rimon’s words, Askal nodded. At the same time, the jury representative shouted loudly that the trial was starting.

“…Thus, the confiscation of the defendant’s title is an act that ignores the legitimacy of aristocratic inheritance. In response, the plaintiff will regain the seized title through a fair trial.”

As expected, Aron’s attorney was trying to take the title of Marquis of Modesto by citing legitimacy. Rimon stood up after obtaining the right to speak.

“The plaintiff must know that the legitimacy of inheritance, which he strongly claims, also includes the duties that must be performed as a member of the ducal family. It is contradictory for the plaintiff to speak of legitimacy and the seized title without properly fulfilling the duties as the Marquis of Modesto, as well as more critical duties. And please look at this.”

Rimon submitted a report on Aron’s reputation that he had prepared.

“The report contains the number of times the plaintiff has been called to the guard and the acts that have lowered the dignity of an aristocrat.”

The jurors murmured. They reacted to the mention of aristocratic dignity.

“Did you say aristocratic dignity? The defendant once assaulted the plaintiff who had nowhere to go.”

“That was just a quarrel between brothers.”

Rimon responded appropriately. Aron’s side countered how they could have fought to the point of making the face look like this, but no one sympathized with those words. It was because the number of times Aron assaulted the people of his territory in the report was more serious.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince, Modesto belongs to the north of the north. It is a place that barely survives by hunting and trading with neighboring territories because crops cannot be grown.”

Rimon submitted documents related to Modesto. The jurors received them with expressions of wondering what this was again.

“It is evidence of the status of the Modesto territory just before the plaintiff left the family and the yearly development of the territory. Unlike the plaintiff, the defendant has consistently provided various support, sadly considering that more than half of the population of the Modesto territory has decreased due to starvation.”

Aron’s attorney could not say anything. Then, the frustrated Aron raised his hand to gain the right to speak.

“I am trying to find my rights and fulfill the duties befitting them, even now!”

His voice rose. The Crown Prince slightly frowned. But Aron had no intention of stopping.

“In the first place, it is wrong for Askal Artenbach to succeed both the title of Marquis of Modesto and the title of Duke of Artenbach. As the eldest son of the former Duke Horte Artenbach, it is right for me to have both!”

The murmuring among the jurors intensified. Rimon refuted as if he had expected this as well.

“According to imperial law, there is a clause stating that if two years pass without fulfilling duties, the title goes to the next highest in the order of succession. Therefore, Askal Modesto Artenbach has legitimately succeeded the title.”

As each claim was blocked, Aron’s attorney lost his will.

Although he received the appointment fee, he had nothing prepared other than the legitimacy of inheritance and the claim to find the rights of the aristocracy, so he had almost given up.

Feeling that, Aron shouted persistently.

“I tried to fulfill my duties, but there is a reason I couldn’t! It was because the defendant prevented me from returning to the family. The evidence is the dignity maintenance fee sent to me every month.”

Askal’s expression froze like ice. I swear on my heart, Aron had never once said he would return to the ducal family.

Rather, he ridiculed the letter telling him to perform his duties by drawing red lines and asking for more money.

It was clearly perjury, but the atmosphere in the council chamber began to flow strangely. One of the jurors raised his hand and asked Rimon what had happened.

“It was to take care of his only blood relative so that he would not lose his aristocratic dignity.”

People nodded at Rimon’s words. Although it flowed into a strange atmosphere for a moment, public opinion returned to Askal. Unable to lose, Aron took out his last card.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince. The reason I had no choice but to file a lawsuit is none other than to follow my late father’s will.”

Rimon and Askal clenched their fists, realizing that what was to come had finally arrived. They were worried that Aron would bring up this matter, and it finally came out.

“My father left a will stating that the title of Marquis of Modesto should be passed on to the eldest son unless there are unavoidable reasons.”

“The plaintiff created the unavoidable reasons.”

Rimon refuted as if he couldn’t lose. However, as soon as the word “will” was mentioned, the atmosphere in the council chamber changed again. Aron’s attorney, who had been still as if dead, stepped forward forcefully.

“The plaintiff is the eldest son of the former Duke Horte Modesto Artenbach. Therefore, he must naturally succeed the title of Marquis of Modesto.”

People whispered. Aron sat down with a solemn face. He seemed quite satisfied with his claim.

“By that logic, shouldn’t the title of Marquis of Modesto go to the Viscount Artenbach?”

The jury representative suddenly threw out an opinion.

“Based on the assumption that the defendant, as the second son of the former Duke, cannot obtain the title of Marquis of Modesto, and excluding the plaintiff who refused the title due to unavoidable reasons, I suddenly thought that it would be right for the current Viscount Artenbach to succeed it. After all, isn’t the Viscount currently the eldest son?”

The story began to flow in a different direction. The people in the council chamber listened attentively to the words of the jury representative.

“The one who best fits the legitimacy of aristocratic inheritance that the plaintiff is talking about is the Viscount. Of course, since he is a minor, his father, the defendant, can arbitrarily hold the title.”

Sweat began to form on the hands of Rimon and Askal. It was because if Rublion was mentioned in the trial, Aron might say something he shouldn’t.

The atmosphere froze coldly. Askal saw the corners of Aron’s mouth curling up.

“By that logic, the title of Marquis of Modesto held by the defendant should be mine!”

Rimon tried to stop his words, but Aron spoke loudly as if he couldn’t miss this opportunity.

“Rublion Artenbach is not the defendant’s biological son!”

At his bombshell remark, the council chamber was turned upside down. The Crown Prince jumped up from his seat as a judge. At the same time, Askal also stood up from his seat and shouted.

“How dare you!”

Aron looked at the furious Askal and realized that this fact was a weakness.

“In fact, the Viscount Artenbach is my son. So, if the title is arbitrarily given to the Viscount’s father based on legitimacy, it is right for me, the child’s biological father, to take the title.”

The jurors whispered to each other and discussed the truthfulness of this statement.

“Is that true?”

When the jury representative asked, Aron answered yes.

The quill pen held in Rimon’s hand was broken in half, and Askal’s expression changed from anger to complete coldness.

“If the Viscount is his biological son as the plaintiff says, who is the biological mother?”

Aron smiled brightly as if he had made it, and opened his mouth.