Veronia visited the Richter Viscount family. As she sat waiting in the reception room, the door soon opened and the Richter Viscount’s daughter entered.

The woman with neatly arranged brown hair looked somewhat pale. She seemed nervous.

Veronia immediately stood up and greeted her with a smile. Trying to break down the wall between them, she made an effort to speak in as cheerful a voice as possible.

“It’s nice to meet you, Julia. Thank you for seeing me.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Lady Nia. I heard you got engaged to Duke Drea last week. Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

After a brief greeting, a moment of silence fell between the two as they sat facing each other.

Julia was carefully observing Veronia’s mood. She must have been very curious about the purpose, since someone with no connection had suddenly asked to meet.

But she seemed to have chosen to wait quietly rather than asking about the purpose first. So Veronia spoke first.

“One of the ladies who came as part of the Hisrik Kingdom’s delegation became a victim of an assault.”

At Veronia’s sudden statement, Julia’s blue eyes wavered. The hand that had been resting demurely on her knee gripped her skirt tightly. Veronia watched Julia’s reaction closely, missing nothing.

After catching her breath for a moment, Julia opened her mouth. Her pale face was full of concern.

“…I read about it in the newspaper too. She’s staying at Duke Drea’s mansion, right? How is she doing?”

“Her arm is broken, but she’s receiving good treatment. The arm will heal soon, but a wounded heart will probably ache for a lifetime.”

“…I suppose so.”

As Julia nodded slowly, tears began to well up in her eyes.

Seeing this, Veronia felt a deep ache in her heart. She was worried that what she was about to say would touch Julia’s wounds, making her lips stiffen and her breath catch.

‘But… I have to bring it up. That’s why I came here. I expected it wouldn’t be easy from the start…’

Veronia encouraged herself and made an effort to move her lips.

“I read in a newspaper article from a few years ago. You also experienced something similar in the past.”

As soon as she heard those words, Julia’s eyes widened. The sight of her slender fingers trembling was truly pitiful.

Thump thump, Julia’s heart began to race loudly as if it were sprinting. She focused on slowly exhaling and inhaling again, trying to regain her composure.

It had already been more than 5 years ago. She thought no one would remember it anymore, but that wasn’t the case. Someone who wanted to talk about that incident had appeared right in front of her.

She wanted to run away and hide somewhere immediately. She thought she had overcome it a lot, but apparently not. Julia thought herself pathetic for not having improved at all, remaining exactly where she was.

A long silence followed, but she didn’t seem inclined to speak. Although Veronia couldn’t get any answer from Julia, she couldn’t give up. It was too early to give up now. Veronia opened her mouth again.

“I’m truly sorry. I anticipated that just hearing about this might be very difficult for you. I thought it might hurt you, but… still, I came to ask for your help.”

“…”

“There shouldn’t be… any more victims like you or Frida. I want to catch the culprit. The perpetrator must receive punishment befitting their crime.”

Sob… Julia finally burst into tears. She tried to hold back her crying by gritting her teeth, but it was impossible.

“But it seems that only victims like you are being punished now. Even though you did nothing wrong. That’s too unfair and frustrating, isn’t it?”

“…So what exactly do you want me to do?”

At last, Julia spoke while wiping her tears. Her voice trembled, but her gaze looking straight at Veronia didn’t waver at all.

“A special trial will be held. Please testify about the culprit then.”

“A trial will be held? Is that possible?”

Julia asked with surprised eyes. It was a look that couldn’t believe the words coming out of Veronia’s mouth at all.

‘Well… At the time when Julia had her accident, there wasn’t even a proper investigation, let alone a trial.’

Veronia recalled the situation at that time, which was described in just two lines in the original work.

Julia had seen the culprit’s face, and the crime scene was overflowing with evidence to support her testimony.

But the imperial family’s subtle and powerful silencing operation overcame all of that. In the end, Julia’s assault case concluded with a short article tucked away in a corner of the newspaper.

“This time they messed with a noble lady from another country. Not only the Hisrik Kingdom, but many foreign countries are watching this incident.”

“…”

“So they can’t cover it up cleanly as if nothing happened like before. The trial will definitely be held. If you testify about what you experienced and what you know then, it will be a great help.”

Julia bit her trembling lower lip hard. She bit it so hard that her lip turned white.

“But… I’m not confident. I’m scared.”

“I know. I understand.”

Veronia nodded and spoke in a gentle voice. But Julia shook her head as if she couldn’t believe even Veronia.

“No. You don’t understand. I’m the one who experienced it, not you. I’m the one who suffered that terrifying violence!”

“…”

Julia’s excited face began to flush red and blue. Her voice became more and more agitated, and her tightly clenched fists trembled.

“So how can you fully understand me? The pain and fear I went through… You don’t understand, that’s why you’re making such a request to me now.”

At Julia’s sharp reaction, Veronia kept her mouth shut. She couldn’t refute Julia’s words. After all, she had stirred up Julia’s pain for the sake of achieving her own goal.

Julia frowned deeply and shook her head as she continued speaking.

“You say what wasn’t possible then is possible now? Is that really true? …Well. Even if a trial is held, that’s fine. But will those who committed crimes really be punished?”

“We’re gathering evidence. If you testify, that possibility will increase even more. So…”

She was about to say “please help,” but Julia cut off Veronia’s words and spoke again.

“Do you think there will be judges who can properly reprimand those great people for their wrongdoings? I don’t think there will be.”

It was a voice full of conviction. As she said, true justice had disappeared from this world long ago. Julia firmly believed that only justice for the strong had survived, crushing everything else.

The gazes of the two women tangled in mid-air. Julia’s eyes were trembling very precariously, unlike her confident voice. In contrast, Veronia’s eyes were calmly settled.

Finally, Veronia slowly opened her mouth, hoping that her sincerity would reach Julia.

“Everything you said is correct. I can’t fully understand you. Of course. I’m not a victim of violence.”

“…”

“So it will be impossible for me to completely understand the pain of the victim of this incident… Miss Frida. But you’re different, aren’t you? You know well the pain and despair that Frida must be feeling. Isn’t that right?”

Julia couldn’t give any answer. She just glared at Veronia while clenching her molars tightly.

Veronia put strength into her lower abdomen and uttered her final words.

“It doesn’t have to be this time. It’s okay if it’s not in 1 or 2 years, but 10 or even 20 years later. I hope that someday… you’ll be able to testify loudly in front of people.”

“…”

“I hope that in the end, you’ll be able to overcome your pain and confidently point your finger at the culprit.”

Tears began to well up in Julia’s eyes. Her tear-filled eyes sparkled as they caught the light.

“There might not be many people who will listen to you. But I hope that at least you will lend an ear to your own voice.”

“…”

“And please remember that I’m also among the few people who will listen to your voice. And Frida too.”

Veronia, who had now approached Julia’s side, gently held her trembling hand.

“If you need someone to listen, you can come to me anytime.”

Sob, Julia finally burst into tears with her head bowed low. Seeing her trying to sob quietly, as if she couldn’t even cry freely, made Veronia’s heart ache.

After leaving the Richter Viscount’s residence, Veronia set out to find another victim. It was a list compiled by combining information from the original work she had read and what she had learned through newspaper articles.

But they all showed similar reactions to Julia. They were still trembling in fear and were crushed by a sense of helplessness that no matter how hard they tried, nothing would change.

She had expected that persuading victims to testify wouldn’t be easy, but she didn’t know it would be this difficult.

‘I don’t want to go back without any results like this.’

The thought that she hadn’t been useful today brought on a wave of depression and fatigue at the same time. Still, she wanted to be useful in at least one way before returning home.

Veronia opened the side door connected to the coachman’s seat.

“Donald. Please take me to Cadelli village.”

“Understood, my lady.”