“I could recognize Your Highness just by your expression, laughter, walking posture, and sound.”

Questions filled the faces of those in the room. Veronia’s face was the same. She too didn’t know the detailed circumstances between Julia and Caspian.

‘Julia liked Caspian! They attended parties together as partners multiple times?’

How did those two end up becoming the victim and perpetrator of a violent incident? It wasn’t easy to understand.

“The day before the incident, I confessed my feelings to Your Highness. But Your Highness got angry at my confession. The reason was that someone like me wasn’t suitable for Your Highness.”

Eventually, tears Julia couldn’t hold back rolled down her cheeks. But Julia wiped away her tears nonchalantly as if it was nothing and continued her statement.

“And the next day, the incident happened. I had to become a victim for liking a man who wasn’t suitable for me, for confessing without knowing my place.”

Suddenly the room became noisy. Sighs of dismay erupted here and there. Some exclaimed ‘Oh my!’, ‘Good heavens!’, ‘How could a human do that?’ expressing their anger.

Hot tears kept wetting Julia’s cheeks and her voice trembled terribly, but she didn’t stop her testimony.

“Above all, the hardest thing is the memory of that day. No matter how much I try to forget, it’s not easily forgotten. Remembering my helpless self who couldn’t do anything in the face of ruthless violence is still painful.”

Before long, sniffling sounds could be heard here and there. Those who empathized with Julia’s pain were shedding tears together.

“At the time, there was no investigation, no punishment. There was someone who was beaten, but no one who did the beating. At first, my parents cried and got angry with me, but at some point, they closed their eyes and ears.”

Tears began to well up in Veronia’s eyes too. She thought Julia was really admirable and wonderful for enduring such painful times alone so steadfastly.

“All this time, I chose silence. I thought there was no one who would listen to my story, that my voice was insignificantly shabby compared to the voice of the imperial family.”

Julia was no longer crying. Her eyes, now free of moisture, were shining brightly.

“But now… Perhaps I have hope that someone might listen to my story. So I gathered courage to stand here today. I want to express my deep gratitude to the person who planted the seeds of hope and courage in me.”

As she said this, Julia’s gaze turned to Veronia. Their eyes met affectionately.

The Julia that appeared in Veronia’s sight seemed like a completely different person. The Julia who had been sobbing with her shoulders hunched timidly was gone. Instead, there was a Julia who stood with her shoulders straight, gazing forward with shining eyes.

As Julia finished her testimony and stepped down from the witness stand, people began to applaud her. It was warm applause of support.

But the judge shouted towards the surroundings at the commotion that didn’t suit the courtroom.

“Be quiet! There are still many testimonies to be heard.”

The trial continued. The past victims who had come with Julia took the witness stand one by one to testify about what had happened to them years ago, and they all pointed to Caspian’s group as the perpetrators.

The last one called to the witness stand was Veronia.

“You’ll do well. Don’t be nervous.”

Killian whispered words of encouragement in her ear. Veronia nodded and smiled brightly at Killian. Her smile exuded confidence.

Veronia was no longer nervous. She thought she only needed to add a little since much evidence and testimony had already accumulated. Thanks to this, her heart could feel much lighter.

Standing on the witness stand, Veronia continued her testimony in a calm voice.

“If it weren’t for the guard knight who protected me, I would have suffered serious injuries like Lady Frida Mitchell. Because my guard knight removed the attackers’ masks, I could see their faces clearly up close.”

Veronia raised her voice as she pointed her index finger at Caspian and his group.

“It was them.”

Veronia called out their names one by one. The courtroom began to stir at the testimony that she had clearly seen the culprits’ faces.

“She saw their faces right in front of her!”

“They can’t deny it now!”

“Oh my goodness! How could His Highness the Prince be involved in such evil deeds! Why on earth?”

The room quieted again as the judge shouted once more. Veronia opened her mouth again.

“I even had a conversation face to face with Prince Caspian. I submitted the prince’s bracelet I obtained then as evidence.”

Before stepping down from the witness stand after finishing her testimony, Veronia looked at Caspian. He was glaring at Veronia with fierce eyes.

It was a look that seemed like he wanted to twist her neck right then and there, but to Veronia, it looked too ridiculous to even scoff at.

“You did well.”

When she returned to her seat, Killian welcomed her with a warm voice and touch. Veronia hugged him tightly and whispered ‘Thank you’. It felt like she was able to come this far all thanks to Killian who steadfastly stood by her side.

The judge announced that the trial would be suspended for an hour. It seemed the judges would discuss for the verdict.

Along with the bell announcing the recess, not only the five judges who had been sitting on the bench, but also the foreign judges who had been observing left the courtroom.

An hour passed quickly. The judges who returned to the courtroom read the verdict with solemn expressions.

The guilt of the five suspects, including Caspian, was confirmed and a punishment of 20 years of exile was imposed. That wasn’t all. It was also said that all their rights to inherit titles would be revoked.

“Oh my! Exile!”

“They’ll be living in a prison that’s not a prison. For 20 years at that.”

“With their noble status gone too, this is basically telling them to die.”

Everyone seemed quite surprised at the heavy sentence. It seemed there was no mercy in the sentencing as it was a special international trial. And the most surprised were Sandra and Caspian.

“No, this can’t be. This is absurd! Caspian is innocent… He did nothing wrong! How dare you!”

Sandra shouted in a voice that seemed about to break. Her flushed face looked precarious.

“Such ungrateful creatures! How dare you mock the imperial family!”

Sandra screamed at the top of her lungs. And as expected, unable to contain her anger, she eventually fainted.

Watching Sandra leave the courtroom supported by her maids, Caspian wailed.

“I am a prince of the empire! My elder brother is the emperor, and my mother is the empress dowager! I am innocent! How can the actions of royalty be a crime!”

Caspian yelled angrily, but no one was listening. There were only cold gazes staring at him.

In the end, handcuffs were placed on the wrists of Caspian and his group. They all flinched and shuddered as the cold metal touched their skin.

Watching their retreating figures being dragged away in the hands of soldiers, Veronia thought.

‘If they had been punished like this from the beginning, there wouldn’t have been so many more victims.’

She felt more complicated than joyful about eradicating criminals.

Perhaps he had read her mind. Killian gently put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close.

“It’s all over now. Let’s go home.”

“Yes, let’s go.”

Leaning against Killian, Veronia looked up at him and nodded. The thought of going home with him made Veronia feel like her mind was being ventilated with fresh forest air.

“What about Grandmother?”

Jediel, who entered the dining room, first looked for the Grand Duchess.

“Grandmother said she has a dinner meeting today, so she’s not home. So it’ll be just the three of us eating today.”

“Ah… I see.”

Jediel seemed quite disappointed. Seeing this, Killian smiled gently and spoke.

“I’ll tell the butler to let Jediel know first when Grandmother returns.”

“Thank you!”

Jediel laughed happily, “Hehe,” at Killian’s suggestion. Even Veronia, who was tired from watching the long trial, found herself smiling along at the child’s smile.

Perhaps he had read his mother’s mind. Jediel chattered on without stopping in an especially excited voice today.

He talked about studying with the home tutor, saying addition and subtraction were easy but dictation tests were a bit difficult, and that art class was fun but piano lessons were not fun.

Chewing the last piece of steak, Jediel swallowed with a gulp and said to Killian with a beaming face.

“I’d like the Duke to read me a book before bed today.”

Ah, that’s right! Only then did Veronia recall Jediel saying he’d like Killian to read him a book on their first day at the mansion.

‘I even got permission to give Killian a hint, but I didn’t say anything.’

Feeling like she hadn’t fulfilled her role, Veronia felt sorry to both Jediel and Killian. Seeing Killian’s expression, which seemed touched by the unexpected proposal, made that feeling even stronger.

“Alright. But can I get 1 point for that? No, you don’t have to give it. It’s not like I won’t read the book if you don’t give me points.”

“…”

“I’ve earned 5 points so far, so if I get 1 point today, it’ll be 6 points now.”

Though he said it wasn’t necessary, his blue eyes sparkled brightly with fervent desire.