CHAPTER 86……………………………………
“It’s because you were away from this land.”
I lifted my head slightly, and above me, Tailrin’s blue tail flickered gently.
“Why are you showing up only now?”
“Isn’t it because you used up all your strength? And besides, there was the Sun and Fire people too. I told you to gather your power earlier, but you didn’t—so now I have to endure this humiliation.”
I cut off Tailrin’s grumbling and asked,
“Does my exile in the desert have anything to do with what’s happening now?”
“The water energy has weakened. On this barren land, life struggles to survive, so all this chaos is happening. Half of the spirits already belong to you. You are now the very power of water protecting this land.”
I finally understood why the atmosphere had grown so tense.
“Then why am I being called a witch?”
That question was answered, unexpectedly, by someone I hadn’t anticipated.
“Then why didn’t you listen to me?”
Hubert approached the transport carriage as it entered the palace, looking at me with a pitiful expression.
I met his gaze calmly.
Karsatuna’s claim that he was trying to rescue me from prison probably wasn’t true.
“He probably just wanted to make a good story out of me again.”
Either way, there was no reason left to look favorable toward him.
Not only Aris, but Hubert too—I wanted them both ruined. Facing him like this was a bit disappointing.
When I remained silent, he stepped closer.
Soon, the familiar scent of his perfume reached me.
“Igre—”
“Don’t call me that.”
“Why not?”
“It annoys me.”
“Why are you mad at me? I’m the one who should be angry.”
Hubert glared at me, exasperated.
“This is absurd…”
“If you had listened to me and behaved, you wouldn’t be in this mess. I told you to avoid the prince.”
“Are you saying this is all because of the prince?”
“Yes. You got on the wrong side of His Highness by getting close to some imperial prince.”
“……”
“The atmosphere is dangerous. I can’t even guarantee what will happen to you.”
“You always talk as if you’ve done some great thing for me before.”
I snickered, and Hubert leaned his face closer to the bars.
His beautiful, striking green eyes shone seriously.
“This time, I can do something. I’ll petition His Highness. To spare you the worst punishment.”
I already guessed what the worst punishment might be.
The special carriage I jokingly called the “guillotine express.”
This was the same transport I was in.
First they called me a traitor, now a witch.
“So that’s why one shouldn’t speak carelessly.”
I let my thoughts wander, then fixed my gaze on Hubert, waiting for my answer.
“You want something in return, right?”
He hesitated briefly, then broke the silence:
“It’s not that I want something… I just want a contract.”
“A contract?”
“To write down, on paper, that I can trust you again. It’s nothing special. Just a vow that you’ll dedicate yourself to me. Like before.”
I kept staring silently. He softened his voice and coaxed me.
“It’s largely your fault I can’t trust you. But I’ll give you a chance. If you swear to live again for me—”
“……”
“Igre?”
“I told you not to call me that.”
I scowled, and Hubert furrowed his brows.
“I see you still don’t understand the situation…”
“I refuse.”
“What?”
Hubert’s eyes widened in disbelief. I repeated myself clearly.
“I said I refuse.”
His smooth, composed face went blank. A guard approached and whispered something to him.
“My lord, time is up.”
“Wait! Hold on! Igrene! Are you serious?”
The carriage began to move. I could hear Hubert’s footsteps behind me, but soon the guards held him back.
“How can I trust you enough to sign a slave contract?”
I scoffed, but it seemed the guards blocked him from hearing me properly.
“Igrene! Igre!”
I cut off his shouts and looked ahead.
Drroll… drroll…
The carriage entered the royal palace tribunal. Unlike the worn transport, the tribunal’s entrance was smooth and clean.
The carriage wheels slid across the marble floor.
Soon, a massive door adorned with carved eagles appeared, and the guards signaled from inside.
With a heavy creak, the doors began to open.
Light poured through the gap. The entryway was dark, and I couldn’t immediately open my eyes.
Once my eyes adjusted, I took in the vast tribunal, imposing like a solemn monster.
Drroll…
Countless sharp eyes pierced me.
They watched, analyzed, and seemed to dissect me with each movement.
The gaze I had felt as a traitor was one thing, but now, accused as a witch, it was as if their eyes alone could shred me.
The tribunal’s stare was quieter than outside, but cold as a serpent.
Outside, the anger had been raw; here, it threatened to strike at the slightest weakness.
Reaching the top where the presiding judge sat, the guards pulled me from the transport.
Thunk!
“Ay!”
My knees struck the cold, hard marble. Pain shot up, making me frown.
“Igrene Lorenst.”
I lifted my head at the judge’s solemn summons.
Lowering my gaze slightly from the dome-shaped ceiling, I saw the judge with glasses staring coldly at me.
The royal tribunal was larger and grander than the place where I had faced Aris, and the judge looked experienced.
In an even tone, the judge began:
“From this moment, the criminal’s sins will be declared.”
As the royal family had directly accused me, there would be no questions or answers.
The judge began recounting my life.
“The criminal was born in Amtein, the underground world of Liorrsa. Exposed in her earliest years to many sins, despite her pure body. Guided by her repentant mother, she entered the Lorenst household, but her father, notorious in the kingdom, returned her to Amtein.”
I had been only a babbling infant then.
My mother resented my father for being wicked and taking me, but he claimed he could not bear to see me crying without milk in the mansion.
And I believe him.
I pictured my father outside, peeking in anxiously, worried about me.
“When the criminal was ten, her father, Jaeger, left her at the Lorenst household.”
Perhaps from worry, he fell ill and died young.
He thought it better for me to be with my mother than alone in Amtein—but he could not have foreseen that her hatred would reach me.
“The criminal’s mother took pity and raised her, and the benevolent count and countess permitted it.”
“……”
“Yet the criminal committed many sins despite all this kindness.”
“……”
“She entered the royal household undetected, defiling holiness, and her accumulated wickedness has spread illness across all of Liorrsa.”
“……”
“Thus, we announce the criminal’s sins to the world.”
It sounded almost artificially scripted.
Tailrin growled in my ear:
“You were born at the very bottom of this land. Yet you shattered the evil magic of the traitors. Only you can punish these shameless fools.”
“Please explain how she is connected to the current events.”
Someone raised a hand.
The investigator assisting the judge stood and addressed everyone loudly:
“When the criminal was ten, the previous Countess Lorenst contracted pneumonia. At fifteen, the Lorenst count’s gem merchant business failed, and their finances declined. At seventeen, the disease in the former Countess’s lungs led to her death, despite her previous health.”
“That’s why…”
Because no doctor had been sought, no one noticed the Countess’s weak lungs.
When Baron Bakenin’s business failed and finances worsened, the Countess’s illness deepened. I had secretly sold jewels I had saved, bought medicine, and administered it myself.
Some servants mocked me, thinking I was trying to curry favor.
“Later, Rosalina Emern became the second Countess. She was known to be wary of the criminal, often telling her maids that the criminal would ruin the family.”
“……”
“Even she recently returned to Marta’s care.”
“My, it all fits together now.”
The man asking questions shook his head.
The investigator continued loudly, as if not finished:
“Not only did the criminal harm Emern, she framed Aris Dolensia for it. The royal princess title, meant to signify trust in the Lorenst household, was to be given to Aris Dolensia, but the criminal intercepted it.”
I couldn’t help but snicker.
“What a convenient narrative.”
“Thus began misfortune not only for the Lorenst household but for the royal family and the kingdom. That misfortune explains the current series of ominous events.”
When the investigator finished, the crowd’s faces went pale.
