BXBX NOVEL Chapter 103: The Verdict
****COURT OF TRIALS****
"Now, let the trial of Crown Prince Alois Henri de Stellarus inside this courtroom begins!"
As the Emperor\'s voice resonated within the whole courtroom, the spectators didn\'t breathe a single word as per the orders coming from the Emperor and they didn\'t want to disobey it, lest they wanted to be punished for a treason.
The case for this trial is about the sudden demise of the Third Young Master from the Chevalier household, the Marquis household and known as the war hero\'s household.
Ezekiel Zephyr Chevalier, the third son and the illegitimate child of Marquis Augustus Rynus Chevalier.
His sudden demise became a sensational news within the whole Empire, especially within the noble society.
However, most of the commoners and other noble households didn\'t know the exact details on how the Third Young Master met his end.
From what most of them had heard, the Third Young Master was on his journey to attend at Lumen Academy, and he was journeying for more than three days and all of a sudden, some news came back to the Chevalier household about an accident carriage that happened, and the Third Young Master went missing from that time.
"—According to the report that was provided, the Third Young Master was rescued but was found battered and barely hanging on to his life. The healers tried their best to save him but at that moment, before his life nearly ended because of too much blood had lost to him, a piece of a ripped golden cloth was slipped through his hand and that cloth had the symbol of the Crown Prince\'s Palace, a golden crown with an oak leaf."
The one who made that statement and presented to the court was none other than the Prime Minister of the Royal court, who as one of the trusted subjects of the Emperor and was also part of the Imperial faction.
However, even though the Prime Minister is from the Imperial faction, he is known for his fair judgement when it comes to matters within the Empire.
The reports that the Prime Minister presented came from the investigation team from the Chevaliers and it was examined by the Royal Inspectors to verify its information and they were the ones to inspect the Third Young Master\'s body and the one who oversees from that investigation is none other than the Marquis himself.
When the news about the Third Young Master\'s situation had spread within the whole Empire, the Marquis, who suddenly vanished after that scandalous affair happened within his household, now appeared at the day where the Third Young Master died.
Others didn\'t know what kind of reaction the Marquis had upon learning that his third child died. Others stated that the Marquis must have been relieved because the stain of his household\'s name is finally gone while others stated that the Marquis, although cold and heartless sometimes but he wasn\'t the kind of rotten person who would be happy when his child died.
Others conclude that he was devastated since no matter what happens, the Third Young Master might be his illegitimate child, but he was still the direct bloodline of the Marquis household.
Right now, the Chevaliers, are now standing at the other side while watching the trial happens and none of them didn\'t utter a single word the moment the trial starts but the spectators could tell that the Chevaliers aren\'t in a good mood either.
Especially the Marquis and his heir apparent, both of them are glaring daggers at the criminal in charge of this case who stood at the center of the trial courtroom.
"Is there anything else that you would like to say, Crown Prince Alois?"
The Crown Prince, who didn\'t speak at the beginning of the trial and only held his head high with his calm and indifferent gaze as he looked at his Father Emperor, who only looked back at him with his eyes devoid of life.
Alois could only clench his fists as he didn\'t want to make a scene within the courtroom and as much as he is pissed off because of these absurd accusations that was pinned on his head, acting recklessly wouldn\'t do him any good.
\'Just how in the hell that ripped golden cloth is within the Third Young Master\'s hands?!\'
Alois thought as he frowned while thinking of any possibility of who framed him and dared to pinpoint the accusations towards him.
"Why don\'t you speak now, Your Highness, the Crown Prince?"
Alois snapped from his thoughts when he heard the familiar cold voice coming from the other side of the courtroom where the Chevaliers are seating right now and the person who speak is none other than the heir apparent of the Marquis noble title, First Young Master Altron Zerux Chevalier.
The Crown Prince looked at the other person who stepped forward in his direction and stopped three steps away from him and Alois almost chuckled because of the unconcealed wrath coming from those cyan-colored eyes of his.
Alois took a deep breath as he speaks; "This Prince would only say one thing; the Third Young Master\'s demise isn\'t my fault, and this Prince isn\'t an idiot to make an enemy to the Chevaliers and I would be digging my own grave if I have done that."
Alois explained in a calm and firm statement that makes Altron chuckle because of that absurd statement of his.
"Really? Then, why is there numerous spies within our household and most of them have the Crown Prince\'s symbol within them. Not only that, but the Chevalier\'s Hall of Legacy seems to be missing something inside and there are traces of your symbols around the area!"
When Altron said those words, the Crown Prince almost paled and would have stumbled on where he stood if he hadn\'t stopped himself from shaking as he didn\'t want the spectators within the courtroom to see something odd about him.
After Altron said those words, he walked circles around the center of the courtroom while looking at the Crown Prince with immense hatred coming from his eyes.
"Also, there is an odd maidservant from that time where that maidservant dared to disrespect my little brother for purposely spilling its drinks into him and my little brother seems like asking that maidservant\'s a question in a cryptic way that I don\'t even understand but at the same time, already had a gist about that situation."
The First Young Master continued his speech while the Crown Prince could only listen to whatever Altron was saying and Alois almost lashed out because there are some statements that could be traced back to him within those situations.
\'But that doesn\'t mean that I\'m the one who killed that brat! I admit that I\'m not that kind of a person but that doesn\'t mean I would make an enemy of a household that\'s one of the pioneer households of this Empire!\'
Alois thought as he glared at the First Young Master who keeps on spouting nonsense that wasn\'t even related to the case.
"Also, I remember that you invited my little brother to be summoned at the Royal Palace with the golden envelope. I remember what state my little brother was at that time. I believe that you need to explain yourself about this situation, Crown Prince."
Altron said as he looked at the Crown Prince with a firm determination on his cyan-colored eyes.
Alois gritted his teeth as he speaks; "I don\'t know where you found such absurd claims about me sending some spies to sniff around within the Chevaliers, but this isn\'t related to the current case where I am being accused of a crime that I didn\'t commit!"
He denied all allegations that was thrown into him and it\'s true that he is innocent in this matter!
While the courtroom is now under turmoil because both parties are giving each other insights into the case, none of the people within the courtroom noticed two silhouettes within the highest grounds of the courtroom.
Those two are none other than the Empress and the Queen, who were watching the whole spectacle, and the Empress couldn\'t help but glare at her own son because of what she is hearing right now.
......
"The Third Young Master from the Marquis Chevalier household and Aryna\'s only child, Ezekiel Zephyr Chevalier, the news reached within the Royal Palace about his sudden death and the criminal in charge is none other than Crown Prince Alois, your son."
When Empress Raziah heard those words coming from Queen Eula, she felt her knees crumble on her seat, and she almost stumbled down if it weren\'t for Queen Eula assisting her.
\'W-what? What is she talking about?\'
If others heard Raziah\'s thoughts, they will think that she is just avoiding topics or would just brush it off as if it\'s nothing.
However, that was not the case.
Ever since Aryna died, the Empress never bothered to learned about the happenings within the noble society and their activities, even in the socialite world where the Empress should be the leading figure in her generation, but she decided to let go of that spotlight and retreat from her own Palace and only doing her duties as the Empress of the Empire and assist the Emperor if necessary.
And this actual fact wasn\'t that well-known within the Empire, and they only concluded that the Empress had a frail body so that she decided to stay in her Palace and tend to her duties as the Empress of the Nation.
The only people who knew the whole truth were none other than the Emperor and Queen Eula themselves.
And Eula knew that the Empress didn\'t know about this matter either, just looking how pale, she is right now, and the Queen clenches her fists that almost ripped the hem of her dress, but she calm herself down.
Before Queen Eula could speak any further, she noticed how the Empress stood from her seat and said coldly;
"Let\'s go to the courtroom where the verdict would pass on."
[END OF FLASHBACK]
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