Chapter 77

A large number of nobles had gathered in the audience room where His Majesty the King’s order was made.

Because of the summons of His Majesty the King, the nobles from count rank and above were sure to attend, but the nobles of lower ranks were also visiting.

As Cosette enters the audience room, she hears the voices of the gathered nobles talking.

”What is going on with this sudden summons from His Majesty?”

“I’m afraid they haven’t given us any details. I’m sure they’ll have more to say about it now.”

“By the way, the Duke of Dorange is not here yet. He’s busy, too.”

“Absolutely…I wonder what the reason for his busy schedule is. Hoho…”

Some of the aristocrats were anxious, while others seemed to be in a state of gawking, saying they had nothing to do with it.

Some looked at Cosette, who was originally of an age that was out of place in a place like this and looked at her with obvious strangeness.

If her father hadn’t kept Cosette behind him to protect her from the eyes of the people around her, she might have been too uncomfortable to turn around.

Cosette thought she was going to be taken to the witness stand or something, but surprisingly, she was allowed to stay close to her parents.

“Hey, dad. Am I not going to testify as a witness or something?”

I gave a little tug on the hem of my Father’s jacket next to me and gave him an earful.

He bent down a little and put his hand over his mouth and responded so that only I could hear him.

“I asked them to do this for me. Cosette is a young lady before her marriage. In order to protect your honor, I asked that the fact of your abduction be kept as low as possible.”

I see.

So there was that possibility if you ask me.

I was horrified to realize that for the first time since my Father had told me.

I was deeply grateful to my Father for his consideration, and I pulled his clothes on tightly to assert my innocence.

“Fa-, Father! I’m staying clean! I swear to God!”

“I know-, I know. But I’m so relieved. I’m really glad you’re okay.”

Father is a bit taken aback by my momentum.

Apparently, the old samurai doctor who examined me last night was checking all those things out as well.

Tell me first!

Ah, it’s embarrassing.

“Quiet! His Majesty the King has arrived!”

During the audience, the well-passed voice of Count Reinid, the head of the Order of Knights, echoed.

To me, I have a strong impression that he’s George’s father.

Shucks… He’s as handsome as ever!

I forgot the time and place and fawned over him with pawpaw.

Count Reinid is a beautiful man with a dignified and masculine mask on his well-trained tall stature that is only the head of the Order of the Knights.

Unlike the cerebral George, his eyes, which have a light of deep intelligence, are sharp and glare at the hall like a hawk.

For all intents and purposes, my first love in this life is Count Reynolds.

That must have been when I was about twelve years old.

When I went to visit George’s mansion, I happened to see Count Reinid, who happened to be home, and my young heart (in this life) was shot out of my chest the moment I caught a glimpse of him.

The thought struck me, and I proposed to the Count on the spot, but of course he refused.

“Silence!”

Count Reinid’s beautiful voice boomed again.

When the nobles first heard the Count’s voice, the noise of the nobles did not quiet down but grew louder.

But as expected, the hall fell silent at the renewed attention.

”It’s finally quieted down. Really, I can’t hear the Earl well.”

Father chuckled as I gave him an ugly smile.

“It can’t be helped. It’s always the Duke of Dorange who presides over the proceedings in a place of nobility like this.”

I see.

Come to think of it, the duke was the vizier.

Perhaps because it was inevitable that the nobles would make a lot of noise, the Count did not show any signs of irritation.

He was just quietly kneeling and waiting for His Majesty the King to enter.

As I was admiring her kneeling appearance, her mother poked me with her elbow and I hurriedly kneeled down as well.

“Your Majesty has arrived!”

At the sound of his voice, His Majesty the King came through the back door of the audience chamber.

Their Royal Highnesses the Queen and the Crown Prince followed His Majesty into the room and were seated on either side of the throne that His Majesty was holding.

His Majesty’s appearance was similar to that of the Crown Prince, but with a far greater sense of dignity and authority.

All His Majesty has to do is look around the hall, and a tense tension builds among the nobles.

Suddenly, I felt as if His Majesty’s eyes caught mine.

I gulped and hurriedly lowered my head, which had been raised in a hurry.

“Raise your head. The reason we have gathered everyone here today is that the Crown Prince has captured those who tried to stage a coup in our country. Reinid, bring the mastermind here.”

“Ha!”

His Majesty the King ordered the Count in a low voice that echoed in his stomach, and the guards under Count Reinid’s direction brought in the shackled Marquis de Grandshil and the Duke of Dorange.

The aristocrats, who once again began to make a ruckus at the disturbing word ‘coup’, gasped when they saw the two men who had been brought in.

The Marquis de Grandshil’s prized emerald green hair was disheveled and he stared at His Majesty in frustration.

On the other hand, the Duke of Dorange turned his head down as if he was tired and shrank his fat body.

The aristocrats in the hall began to make a noise at the sight of the two pathetic figures, which was different from the norm.

However, with just a glare from His Majesty the King, the hall fell silent as if it had been struck by water.

Count Reinid’s voice echoes in the silence of the audience.

“These two men plotted a coup d’etat and attempted to usurp the throne. The Marquis de Grandshil, the mastermind behind the plot, was found guilty of treason, threats against the Duke delDorange, and misappropriation of the people’s blood money. He was also accused of poisoning the former king and of accumulating ill-gotten gains, as well as of organizing a rebellion under the false pretense of having armed his estate.”

The nobles turned pale at the shocking words of the former king’s poisoning, not to mention the coup d’état.

Some of the delicate ladies even collapsed from the shock.

I was shocked that His Majesty the King had brought up the matter of the former king’s poisoning with such noblemen in the background.

His Highness had previously told me that His Majesty the King might have been involved in the former King’s poisoning.

Bringing up that matter would shake up His Majesty’s throne.

Glancing at His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, His Royal Highness was also staring at His Majesty with wide eyes.

At that moment, one of the brave nobles spoke up.

”Marquis Malfoy…”

I recognized his name from your father’s mutterings.

Speaking of the Marquis Malfoy, the father of Julia-sama in red, the traffic light lady.

I admire him for being able to speak in such a tense situation.

“Your Majesty, your Majesty the former King died of illness… Do you have any solid evidence to prove this?”

His Majesty turned his gaze away from the Marquis’s statement, which seemed to frighten him.

“Malfoy, I didn’t think I would forgive you for speaking out. But I’ll forgive you. I’m sure everyone is wondering about it. I have proof.”

At his Majesty’s direction, what appeared to be some letters were taken out by Count Reinid.

“This is the document found in the Marquis de Grandshil’s house, which is the evidence of the Duke of Dorange’s instructions to poison the former king.”

According to the Count, the maid of honor who was instructed to poison the former king had resigned from the palace and returned to her homeland after the Duke of Dorange paid her to do so.

But naturally, she considered the possibility of being killed by someone in the Duke’s hands to destroy the evidence.

But she had no choice but to follow the duke’s instructions to buy a potion to save her ailing mother back home.

The instructions for the assassination were strictly ordered to burn and dispose of the document after reviewing it, but she had kept it hidden, pretending to burn it.

She sent the money ahead of time and then kept the instructions from the duke in a certain place before she returned home.

She would be killed herself. But I’ll make the Duke a roadblock if I can, she thought.

But in a half-hearted place, the duke would find her.

So she hid the documents in the maze of the royal emergency escape.

As the king’s maid of honor, she knew of course that the maze was there, but the Duke Dorange could not have known.

Therefore, she thought that even if the Duke were aware of the existence of the documents, he would not be able to find them.

She was on her way back home when she was killed by a thug hired by the Duke.

The document had been forgotten in a labyrinth that no one could pass through.

But after ten years, the documents have been found.

By a young girl named Angela.