257: 6.17 Confrontation

6.17 Confrontation

The next day, the court hearing had been going on for almost half an hour before Jillian finally showed up. The heated discussion instantly halted as he waltzed in, his chin held high with the usual lofty on his face. He would have made a dashing figure, if not for the doll safely tucked within the crook of his arm.2

Marquis Ouin, who was sitting quite far in the corner, blanched as soon as the Duke stepped in through the door. H—How…? The assassination had failed?! Stupid, useless people! What was the use of six of them if they couldn't even take one person down?! Sweat beaded the Marquis' forehead and his heart suddenly ran cold. Had the Duke found anything out? No, it couldn't be. He had trained the soldiers himself, they wouldn't have sold him out even in the face of death! He tried to calm himself again and again with that sentence.

Jillian dropped to one knee in front of the King and placed his right palm over his chest. "My sincerest apologies for being late, Your Majesty. I have been held back by a few pressing matters."

"Oh?" His Majesty King Emeri replied with an intrigued tone as he beckoned for Jillian to stand up. The corner of his lips twitched imperceptibly as his gaze landed on the doll in the General's arm but in the end, the King decided not to say anything. Not yet. "It's not everyday that a problem crops up enough to keep you occupied. What kind of serious matter might that be?"

"It's a shame." Jillian moved toward his designated seat on King Emeri's right, his eyes surreptitiously glossing over Marquis Ouin's direction and that alone was enough to make the latter's heart tremble. No, it couldn't be… The Duke couldn't have known! "I found out that my stableboy has been working with those who wished for my death."

Gasps and exclamations of surprise resounded through the room. The King's brows furrowed as he lifted one hand to silence the crowd. "And then? Have you found out who's the mastermind behind it?"

"Oh yes. Fortunately, the stableboy has been caught before he could run away and also, I extorted a lot of unexpected information from the assassin." Jillian's lips curled up into a benign smile that didn't reach his eyes. "What do you think I've found out, Marquis Ouin?"

In an instant, all eyes turned to Marquis Ouin who struggled to maintain a calm facade even though he was clearly panicking inside. Calm down, Ouin. The Duke couldn't have meant anything by that! Fortunately, he regained his bearing quickly, courtesy of years of experience being part of the court hearing where heated arguments were commonplace. They were all old, sly foxes here. The more he thought about it, the calmer he was. There was no way the Duke could have gotten his name from his trained soldiers. They would choose to kill themselves first before it could happen.

"Marquis Ouin?" King Emeri looked at him with a frown.

Damn you, Lacrosa! Marquis Ouin seethed inwardly but on the outside, he still plastered a smile on his face. "In response to Duke Lacrosa's question, if you're here, then you must have found out the identity of that obnoxious person."

"Obnoxious, indeed." Jillian let out a brief chuckle and then like a switch, the smile instantly vanished without a trace, replaced by bone-chilling coldness that froze the Marquis' heart. "Then why are you acting like you know nothing, Ouin?"

More gasps rang out. What did the Duke mean by that? Marquis Ouin was the mastermind behind the assassination attempt on the Duke?!

Marquis Ouin stood up and banged his palms on the table, scowling. "What do you mean by that, Duke Lacrosa? You're saying that I am the one who has sent people to kill you? What kind of ridiculous nonsense is that?!" Turning to the King, Marquis Ouin remarked passionately. "Your Majesty, this one has been truly wronged! On what basis does Duke Lacrosa claim my involvement in this matter? He doesn't even present any evidence before tarnishing my name!"

It wasn't surprising for nobility to turn their backs on each other and become passive-aggressive on the court. As long as Marquis Ouin wasn't proven guilty of threatening the monarchy, he would certainly be able to talk his way out. He was sure that the Duke was blundering to trap him anyway.

"Evidence?" Jillian scoffed. "You want evidence? Then I will give you one. May I, Your Majesty?"

King Emeri nodded after a few seconds, sighing.

Hmph, what kind of evidence could he find anyway? Marquis Ouin held his head high, assured that the Duke could never pull anything out. If this was a battle of wits, let's see who would be the last one standing. 

Jillian summoned his attendant who had been on standby outside the gate. The man finished his customary greeting to the King before passing a box to Jillian. 

"Here are the letter correspondences between Marquis Ouin and the barbarians." Jillian passed the box to the King, smirking when he saw Marquis Ouin's thunderstruck look. "The stated date and handwriting in those had been confirmed authentic and eligible. If that's not enough, I also have direct confession from the person working with Marquis Ouin himself. Your Majesty, please grant me permission to allow him on the court. Here, in front of everyone." Jillian finished with a flourishing bow.

King Emeri's face had gotten darker by each second as he scanned through the letters. He waved dismissively. "Bring him in."

Once again, the gate swung open and two guards marched in, dragging a flailing man whose stump hands were tied behind his back. Judging by the emptiness on his trousers, it seemed like his legs had also been cut off. His mouth was stuffed with rags thus he could only let out vague 'mmp-hmm!' sounds. The man looked like he had just gone through Hell and back; his cheeks were sunken and his complexion was ghastly pale. Everyone recoiled in disgust as the man was shoved to kneel in front of the monarch. 

Jillian approached him and held him up by hair, eyes staring at Marquis Ouin whose face had turned a few shades whiter. "Do you have anything more to say, Marquis?"

"You—" Marquis Ouin sputtered. He almost staggered on his feet when he came in front of the throne and dropped to his knees. "Your Majesty, please! There must be some kind of misunderstanding here. Please give me a chance to prove myself innocent!"

"Innocent…?" King Emeri was shaking in anger. He waved the letters in his hand and if the Marquis were within an arm's distance, he would have smacked them to the man's face! Shameless! Things had gotten up to this point and he still dared to claim otherwise?! "If you're innocent then what about these letters, huh? Do you think I am so gullible not to recognize your handwriting? Your courage is actually so commendable, Marquis, to the point where you even dare to collude with the barbarians to lead a siege on the country and claim the throne for yourself!"

The King's furious bellow sent the entire room into a great uproar. Hushed whispers and assessing gaze landed on Marquis Ouin's quivering figure. It was only his thick beard that hid how hard he was pressing his lips together. Marquis Ouin abruptly stood up and pointed at Jillian, furious. All manners forgotten in the face of everyone's deratogary eyes and his own panic. "Where in the damned hell did you get those letters, you brat? How could I do such a blasphemous deed? You—You must have forged it, haven't you?!"

Jillian couldn't help it. He burst into a fit of hearty laughter, so jarring amidst the tense atmosphere. "Ah, my apologies. Your question is just so stupid that I can't resist." His smile deepened when he saw Marquis Ouin's face almost turned purple from rage. "Why do you think I was late, Marquis? I was running everywhere to retrieve these letters before your servants could burn them. If you're not satisfied, I can also summon them here one by one, how about it? But first thing first, let's hear what this man has to say, shall we?" In one rough movement, Jillian yanked the rags out of the assassin's mouth, earning him a few rounds of cough.

"I—" The poor man had just wanted to cry his injustice and bite his tongue to kill himself when his peripheral vision caught sight of a familiar crimson eyes. It was as if he lost control of his body as he could only turn to face the doll that was only a few inches away from his face, horror embedded deeply into his eyes. Tell the truth, a voice inside his mind rang loud and clear. Before he realized what was happening, he had blurted everything out down to the smallest detail, eyes turning dull and empty.

The more he said, the redder Marquis Ouin's face was. He gnashed his teeth and cursed this fool and his ancestors to the moon and back. Idiot! Useless! Exactly what had Duke Lacrosa fed him that compelled him to become so obedient?! Marquis Ouin darted his eyes around helplessly. His closest allies, who had been his partners in crime in the past, all averted their eyes and ignored his pleading look. The other noblemen and ministers were staring at him with such repulsion, the insulting words wrapped around him like a poisonous viper. The King's merciless eyes turned colder and colder as if he was looking at a dead man…

Chill enveloped Marquis Ouin's body and he could feel strength seep out of his body, despairing.

As the assassin finished his testament, the furious King wasted not even a second longer to issue an Imperial Edict that sealed Marquis Ouin's fate. He and the assassin would undergo public execution in a few days and their outrageous deed would be spread throughout the entire country. Not only that, Ouin's noble title would also be revoked from this second onward and his wealth confiscated. His wife and children would be thrown out to the street to bear the family's shame. 

When Marquis Ouin was dragged out by the guards, mind blank and eyes empty, he wondered how… how did everything turn out like this? Everything was supposed to go smoothly. What could have gone wrong? Who had foiled his plan…?

His bloodshot eyes raised to meet Jillian's, filled with deep hatred and animosity only to widen in shock when he caught sight of a translucent figure that was floating behind the Duke. He screwed his eyes shut before opening them again, but the scene in front of him remained unchanged. 

His jaws went slack in fear. All of a sudden, he recalled a piece of information that his men had gathered from the stableboy. A report so ridiculous that he had instantly shoved it to the back of his mind and never revisited it again.

They said… the Duke's manor was haunted.

Marquis Ouin screamed when a pair of malevolent crimson eyes turned to him.

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