ICM Chapter 120

“I, I… it’s not my fault…”

 

“Don’t even dream of lying. You know better than anyone what situation you’re in right now, don’t you? I wouldn’t lose anything by handing Lady Schwern back to Marquis Maiheller just like this. I can protect Ashika well enough with my own power.”

 

I just want to clear her dishonor as quickly as possible.

 

“If I confess… can I live? It was an accident. But who would believe that?”

 

From a humble family background, all alone in the world. Such a woman had killed the sole heir of a marquis house.

 

Marquis Oclein was so enraged that he had declared territorial war against Duke Igraine’s house even without being certain of the real culprit. Glenoa wouldn’t even get a chance to stand in court.

 

As if anticipating resistance, Drushia remained calm.

 

“I promise you’ll receive a fair trial. So confess the truth as it is.”

 

“…Sob… it’s unfair. Why did I end up like this…”

 

“It’s not me you need to convince, but the people of the Noble Council. Save your tears for there.”

 

At Drushia’s signal, the knights helped Glenoa to her feet.

 

“Wh-where are we going?”

 

“I told you. I’m giving you a chance.”

 

Before she knew it, Glenoa was being led down the mountain by the knight’s hand. Drushia pointed to a carriage waiting halfway up the mountain and said:

 

“It’s a place where Lady Schwern must confess the truth. And there’s also someone there from whom you must beg forgiveness.”

 

Glenoa climbed into the carriage in a half-dazed state. The carriage that departed at dawn took a brief rest midway, then headed toward the capital’s city center in the evening.

 

****

 

Marquis Oclein’s petition to reconvene the Noble Council meeting was rejected. However, another Noble Council meeting was called. This time it was at the request of Talion and Igraine.

 

As dusk fell, far fewer nobles gathered for the urgently convened meeting than had attended the previous one. The Emperor naturally indicated his absence by not responding to the Noble Council’s communication. Marquis Maiheller was also nowhere to be seen today.

 

“What’s happening with the territorial war? Why is there no word?”

 

“Unless they’re insane, who would wage territorial war against Talion? Even His Imperial Majesty wouldn’t want that, would he?”

 

When territorial war ends, the territory becomes the winner’s spoils. The Emperor, who is already wary of Igraine and Talion, would never allow such a thing to happen.

 

The meeting room was chaotic with the nobles’ murmuring voices. Amid all sorts of speculation, the face of Marquis Oclein, sitting to one side, kept flushing red.

 

The commotion that had been reluctant to subside suddenly stopped dead. It was because of one person who entered the meeting room.

 

“Huh? Who is that?”

 

“I’ve seen her before.”

 

A woman they didn’t know by name but who had attended several high noble gatherings. While the nobles were puzzled, Marquis Oclein shot up from his seat.

 

“Lady Schwern?”

 

When their eyes met, Glenoa’s already pale face turned blue. With the desire to flee, she turned around again. However, Talion’s knights blocked her path outside the door.

 

“Please let me… No. This isn’t right.”

 

Kalf caught Glenoa as she struggled not to enter.

 

“A public setting is actually safer. Lady Schwern, don’t you have a promise to keep?”

 

“What is this about? Lady Schwern has no qualification to attend a Noble Council meeting.”

 

Someone who recognized Glenoa raised an objection. It was Drushia, who had entered behind her, who answered that question.

 

“The one who raised the issue was Marquis Oclein, and this is Igraine and Talion’s answer.”

 

The nobles were bewildered, and Marquis Oclein froze in shock. The moment he recognized Glenoa’s face, a terrible thought flashed through his mind.

 

“Please give Lady Schwern an opportunity to speak.”

 

The meeting hadn’t even begun yet. At Drushia’s demand, the murmuring people’s gazes focused on them.

 

There was no corner for Glenoa to escape to. The eyes full of suspicion felt like blades cutting her to pieces.

 

‘Why do I have to end up like this?’

 

She had always lived under gazes of favor and admiration when people’s attention was focused on her, always on stage. It wasn’t her fault, yet Coral, who had been the real culprit behind everything, had put on the mask of a victim and become the noose around her neck.

 

“Lady Schwern.”

 

Amid all the jumbled emotions, an urging voice flew at her.

 

“It, it was… self-defense!”

 

Glenoa, who had been pushed to the center of the meeting room, collapsed right there.

 

“What is this supposed to mean?”

 

People looked bewildered. The first to understand was Marquis Oclein.

 

“You, you… you…”

 

His trembling hand pointed toward Glenoa. Glenoa squeezed her eyes shut and appealed her innocence.

 

“Coral was trying to knock out Lady Igraine and drag her away. He threatened me with a sword when I tried to stop him!”

 

“That’s a lie! Don’t defile my son’s honor!”

 

Screams erupted from various places.

 

The nobles recalled the broken engagement incident that had occurred between Igraine and Oclein several months ago. And they remembered that the woman who was trembling and appealing her innocence was Glenoa Schwern, who had been at the center of that broken engagement incident.

 

Marquis Oclein shouted with a face red with rage.

 

“That woman is a whore! She seduced my son and blackmailed him using a child as leverage! She’s the woman who ruined my son’s life!”

 

“It was Coral who planned it all. There’s evidence, there’s evidence!”

 

Glenoa fumbled inside her coat with trembling hands. What she pulled out was a small bundle of cloth.

 

“Coral threatened me with this… with this!”

 

Her hands were shaking so much she couldn’t even unfold the cloth completely. Something fell from the cloth bundle as Glenoa’s hands lost strength and it opened up. Clang. With a small collision sound, silence descended upon the meeting room.

 

It was a dagger. A small dagger no longer than the palm of a hand. It was the murder weapon that hadn’t been found at the scene.

 

People’s gazes moved back and forth between the blood-stained dagger and the cloth piece that still bore dark reddish stains. The nobles sitting in the front seats of the meeting room craned their necks to examine the dagger.

 

“There’s a crest on the dagger.”

 

Someone recognized the dagger. Marquis Oclein, who had been sitting in the front, shot up from his seat and rushed to grab the dagger. Kalf quickly blocked his way.

 

“It’s a conspiracy! That woman fabricated this to insult my son!”

 

The people who had been bewildered for a moment understood why Marquis Oclein was raging.

 

“It’s Oclein’s property.”

 

At someone’s remark, ripples quickly swept through the meeting room.

 

The dagger Glenoa had produced bore the Oclein family crest. While it was a self-defense dagger that nobles carried around, in reality it had more decorative meaning. In the capital, nobles rarely faced life-threatening situations.

 

As a result, they carried them around like luxury items, decorated with gems, delicate craftswork, and family crests. In principle, they couldn’t be brought into the Imperial Palace, but Coral had attended the gathering with the dagger on his person.

 

That’s why Erwin had thoughtlessly taken the murder weapon from the scene. If it was confirmed that Coral had been carrying a weapon, the Imperial Palace would be turned upside down. If this incident led to interrogating the workers inside the Imperial Palace, it would be disadvantageous for the Maiheller side who had given the orders.

 

But what came back to Erwin was his father’s sharp rebuke. Receiving orders to dispose of everything problematic, Erwin swallowed his anger and withdrew.

 

And the dagger that Erwin had carelessly thrown away was found by Shafri and handed over to Drushia. That’s how the murder weapon ended up back in Glenoa’s hands.

 

“It’s fabricated. You’re the one who concocted this! No one believes a murderer’s words!”

 

As Marquis Oclein raged wildly, Count Lutenun, the meeting moderator, stepped forward.

 

“Marquis Oclein, please calm yourself. It’s not the Marquis but the court that will verify Lady Schwern’s claims.”

 

“There’s no need to go to court. This is something my family must handle!”

 

“Lady Schwern has the right as a noble to stand in court.”

 

No matter how lacking in backing, a person listed in the noble lineage couldn’t be punished arbitrarily by an individual or specific family. This was especially true for cases with major repercussions.

 

“I’ll petition, I’ll petition His Imperial Majesty!”

 

“Imperial law doesn’t allow it. Marquis Oclein, please calm your excitement.”

 

“She’s the woman who ruined my son’s life! The murderer who killed my only son!”

 

“The murderer isn’t me, it’s your son!”

 

Cornered, Glenoa glared with bulging eyes and screamed.

 

For a moment, the nobles fell silent. The argument between both sides was reaching an extreme. They held their breath, watching what revelations might follow.

 

Glenoa glared at Marquis Oclein who was one-sidedly condemning her.

 

“Do you think the Young Marquis died in a carriage accident, my lord? Do you really believe that? How could you never once have doubts?”

 

Coral’s jealousy and sense of inferiority had existed for quite a long time. He had been angry that despite being superior to his brother in every way, he couldn’t inherit the title, and he felt ashamed that he had to submit humbly to Ashika because of it. There was no way Marquis Oclein didn’t know this.

 

“You… you’ve gone mad. How dare you say such outrageous things…”

 

“Who investigated the carriage accident? Wasn’t it Coral?”

 

Speaking ruthlessly, venom dripped from Glenoa’s eyes.

 

Marquis Oclein, who had turned deathly pale, couldn’t continue speaking for a moment. At the time when he was in shock from his son’s death, it had been Coral who handled the accident.

 

“I clearly heard him say that the Young Marquis’s position would become his. The people Coral met with while in the territory weren’t nobles either. Why didn’t you think to be suspicious of that?”

 

“…No. Don’t insult my son. Don’t pin disgrace on him!”

 

“Then investigate it! The one who was truly murdered unjustly was Young Marquis Oclein!”

 

Glenoa shouted back defiantly. Marquis Oclein screamed and stormed out of his seat. As he charged forward cursing, Kalf blocked him and Glenoa screamed and curled up.

 

“Marquis Oclein, control yourself!”

 

“Guards! Call the guards!”

 

“Everyone please calm down. Please maintain your positions!”

 

The meeting room became pandemonium. The door opened and guards who had rushed in urgently dragged Marquis Oclein outside. Glenoa met the same fate.

 

At Drushia’s signal, Kalf followed behind Glenoa as she was dragged away by the guards.