Capitulo 122

Episode 122

He knew his childhood was tragic and painful.

But I didn’t want to know the details. Hearing such a story would surely weaken my heart and make me sympathize with Raymond.

If I can’t hate him, there is nothing more exhausting than that.

It was purely for my personal reasons.

Raymond also nodded and closed his mouth as if he understood what I meant.

I walked out quietly and went to where the witnesses were waiting.

I asked the Imperial gentlemen guarding the waiting room to check inside.

I thought it would be a burden if I went in for nothing.

Please wait a moment.

The gentlemen went in, checked the witnesses and came out.

They seem a little nervous, but everyone seems fine.

Thank you for letting me know. Wait until the witnesses stand on the stand.

Yes, princess.

It must have been a nuisance, but the gentlemen were smiling.

Come to think of it, the gentlemen who came to the duke’s residence to protect me for a while had a similar reaction.

«What’s so good?»

I bowed my head and walked towards the audience.

* * *

Raymond came out to calm his anxious mind.

Meeting Julius was a psychological burden.

Damn, I’m still shaking as an adult.

Then, even Karina said to do it in moderation.

Suddenly, he wanted to meet people who had undergone the same tests he had, who had agreed to testify.

As Raymond walked down the aisle, he heard a little whisper.

Are you two getting married soon?

Isn’t the engagement first?

Because the nobles are really tired. You can’t get married right away and you have to get engaged in the middle.

They were like royal knights guarding the witnesses.

They were talking about their master.

I’ve never seen His Majesty like someone so much.

Well, it’s because I didn’t really like people in the first place. Isn’t the princess a bit of an exception?

They chatted here and there about the relationship between the emperor and Karina.

It was a pointless story like how well the two of them get along or how much they care about each other.

It wasn’t a conversation.

It was pathetic talk that would have been overlooked if it had been normal.

«What a disappointment.»

I was strangely concerned.

Then the door opened and someone came out.

The gentlemen guarding it greeted him politely, and the blond hair that could be seen through those who accompanied him.

Raymond quickly recognized that he was the Emperor.

«The Emperor even came to visit?»

So much for Karina, who isn’t even his fiancée?

«No, considering there was a mutiny during the hunting competition, this might be nothing.»

He encouraged the gentlemen and left.

Raymond had completely forgotten about Julius.

Returning to his waiting room, he was pensive until the gentlemen came to pick him up.

«Why do I care about a woman like that?»

The Karina Raymond he had seen was a dull person.

She always took a step back from everything and just watched.

Even after being insulted or deprived of a loved one, there were many instances where even her expression did not change.

A dull and simple person.

By now, Raymond knew about Karina.

But Karina, who was like that, began to change from one day to the next.

She was always being dragged by someone, but now she is the first one to step in and control the situation.

«Like a person has changed.»

Raymond recently heard from Freya about the distorted magic.

Maybe she was tainted too?

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have changed so dramatically.

Sir Raymond, it’s time for you to come out.

Oh yes. That’s right.

Raymond awoke to the voice calling him.

«Faced with the job you’ve longed for for decades, I fell into other thoughts. It’s not like me.»

Now it was time to focus on the testimony before him.

But all the way to the courtroom, Raymond’s mind was filled with thoughts of Karina.

* * *

On the second floor, there was no room to be.

Sasha and Lily, and even Fio were in attendance today.

I saw Fio sitting on Lily’s lap, bright-eyed and looking around.

[Lots of people!]

Shh, Fio, you have to be quiet.

People’s attention was focused on the appearance of a little bark as he wagged his tail.

After Andrew showed up last time, my dad even pushed and I got permission to bring my pet.

Awss how cute.

At the attention of the people around him, he was even more arrogant.

I will proceed with the trial.

The judge entered and the packed courtroom fell silent.

As all the witnesses prepared by our side stated that the Cassel family caused them harm, it was the day that Julius, the head of the family, took the initiative.

Perhaps today would be the climax of a long trial.

The door opened and finally the veiled head of the Cassel family appeared.

Julius, who got out of the wheelchair, looked around the courtroom with his sharp eyes, his back erect.

Raymond and Ethan bore an uncanny resemblance.

But his eyes were different.

He was a yellowish amber color, but he was definitely different from the two men who boasted a vivid golden color.

Also, I heard that he was definitely the same age as my father, but he looked like an old man with gray hair.

«Did something happen in the middle?»

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so old.

There seemed to be a lot of people with the same thoughts as me, and I could hear little tidbits of gossip here and there.

It’s been a year since Julius appointed Ethan as head of the household for health reasons.

The coincidence that occurred in just one year was exceedingly excessive.

Are you Julius Cassel?

Even the judge asked because he was surprised.

He nodded without saying a word.

You’re right, so don’t worry too much, judge.

Julius shrugged and finished the witness oath.

Raymond’s lawyer asked Julius with a frown.

Mr. Julius Cassel. According to his answer, Sir Raymond was the son of a distant, very gifted relative who was adopted.

Yes, that is correct.

Are you sure? Isn’t that a child you brought from the laboratory you ran, and not a distant relative?

You keep making absurd claims. We Cassels obeyed the laws of the Empire. If you have nothing but raw evidence, then stop talking.

Julius objected strenuously.

Raymond’s lawyer raised his hand as if in expectation.

I call Sir Raymond and Miss Elaine, his childhood friend, as witnesses.

The judge looked at Julius’ face and nodded.

Elaine, who seems to have grown into adulthood, sits on the witness stand with an anxious expression on her face.

The witness, Elaine Schultz, grew up in a special facility as a child.

Yes, the people in charge of us called it a factory.

May I ask why you call it a production facility?

Julius looked at the witness with an arrogant expression, as if he had to.

He clenched his fists and opened his mouth.

I took small children and tried to amplify their magical powers to produce wizards.

At his testimony, Cassel’s lawyer stood up.

I have an objection. It is absurd to believe without proof a woman of unknown origin.

I overrule. The suspect has already presented relevant evidence.

As if not to waste time, the judge glared at him hastily.

I grew up there with Sir Raymond.

Elaine accurately described the lost laboratory and described the horrible experiments she had been subjected to as a child.

Children living alone in a lonely little room.

Once a week, she had to take an unknown drug or undergo a procedure.

Then came the terrible pain.

Come to think of it, there were many dead children. Among the living children, if they were judged to be difficult to recover, they were discarded.

At Elaine’s cruel words, people began to roar.

Without missing an opportunity, Raymond’s lawyer called another witness.

The witness who came out this time was in the form of a child.

My name is Martin. I am turning 30 this year and will live like this forever as a result of the side effects of the procedure I received at Cassel Family Institute.

Martin’s words were disturbing.

Confirmation from the villagers who saved him made it clear that he had lived as a child for at least 10 years.

I was able to survive longer in the laboratory only because I stopped growing as a child.

The man’s testimony was the same as Elaine’s.

The internal structure and even the experimental method.

It is a nonsense story. There is no real evidence and, above all, who knows if childhood friends would have agreed?

Having said that, Martin pulled a small piece of paper out of his pocket.

Once popular, but now rarely used.

The day the lab collapsed, I secretly took it out. This photo was taken as a commemoration of the fact that I could become the key to eternal life.

In the photo, Julius, the lab director, other researchers and Martin were photographed together.