Finally, the day of the trial had arrived.

A vast crowd had gathered in the courtroom.

It was a case in which the Empress herself had accused the Duke de Françoise, her own father and the head of the Empire’s most prestigious family.

Regardless of their social status, everyone’s attention was inevitably fixed on this trial.

After the audience had taken their seats, the accused, the accuser, and their lawyers entered, excluding the Empress.

Finally, after everyone had settled down, Emperor Henry, Empress Ermedeline, and Valliere appeared one by one and took their seats.

Valliere occupied a seat right beside the Emperor. Of course, his seat was one step lower, but in terms of distance, he was in the same position as Empress Ermedeline, right next to her.

Daring to show her face so openly next to the Emperor in such a public event was highly unusual and could be seen as an affront to the Empress, but Ermedeline made a conscious effort to ignore Valliere.

‘Yeah, they’ve been lovers since they were young, right? Their innocent first love. Anyway, once we divorce, they won’t matter to me anymore, so whatever.’

Meanwhile, Valliere found it difficult to suppress the laughter that kept bubbling up.

It was because he had heard the story about Ermedeline’s illegitimate child from Duke de Françoise a few days ago.

Valliere had no intention of letting this trial turn in favor of the Empress, in her own way.

It was highly unlikely, but if she could settle her debt and even make a donation afterward, it would be a significant achievement.

For the sake of her miserable life that she had sacrificed and endured for the position of Empress, that witch must fall, no matter what.

‘The Duke should do it properly.’

Fundamentally, the royal family in Trivian received different treatment from the common people.

The Emperor was considered a divine being who favored humanity among the countless gods worshipped in Trivian. This was why Ermedeline, although she was the plaintiff in this trial, sat separately in the Empress’s seat. The defendant’s seat had only Félio, standing there with an expressionless face.

Ermedeline glanced at Félio, but his emotionless countenance revealed nothing, leaving her unable to gauge his true feelings.

Certainly, this trial was not supposed to be overly difficult, but a sudden variable, Ferdant, had appeared. Ermedeline felt uneasy, not knowing how the Duke would use this variable.

She surveyed the courtroom, briefly glancing at her father, Duke de Françoise, who was in the defendant’s seat. Strangely, his face, which had been sharp until just yesterday when he had threatened her, now seemed filled with an unusual unease.

Although he appeared to be trying to remain composed, his wandering pupils, lost in thought, seemed to be representing his true state of mind quite effectively.

‘Given what he’s done so far, feeling uneasy is only natural.’

Originally, she just possessed this body, with no feelings of attachment or memories of affection for Duke de Françoise. The only memories she had were of the inexcusable acts of that human scum of the lowest order.

He had undoubtedly interfered with the royal family, so once his guilt was confirmed, he would certainly receive a severe punishment. However, she felt no shred of sympathy or remorse.

This man, who not only abused her daughter but also took maids and killed them, and even used his own grandson for blackmail, deserved nothing less than the harshest of punishments from a modern perspective.

It was no wonder the trial proceeded as expected, one-sidedly.

Even if she received the hatred of the entire populace for being immoral, Ermedeline was, first and foremost, a member of the royal family.

No one came forward to support Duke de Françoise as the maids, the guards who had been attacked by him, and even Louise, the chief priestess of the imperial palace, all testified to the Duke’s violence.

Thinking that the trial was turning against him, Duke de Françoise suddenly stood up, despite the protests of his defense team, and began shouting towards the Emperor.

“This is a mockery! Your Majesty! This woman, no, I mean, the Empress Ermedeline, is a liar who speaks falsehoods whenever she opens her mouth! The witnesses must have all been bribed! She didn’t even have the qualifications to be Empress in the first place!”

‘Oh, he’s really letting it all out now.’

Ermedeline had resolved to handle this as gracefully as possible, but when it actually happened, she couldn’t help but feel her heart race.

As far as she had confirmed, even if there was an illegitimate child, it was born before their marriage, so she would face punishment but not the harshest penalty, or so they said.

‘They’ve prepared for some punishment, and they can’t let him get away with it.’

Ermedeline discreetly glanced at Henry, who would ultimately decide her fate.

He had an intriguing expression as he observed Duke de Françoise, but that was all there was to it; she couldn’t get a read on him at all.

‘Why are humans so hard to figure out? Valliere seems like the easiest to deal with, relatively speaking.’

If everyone is harboring ill intentions towards her, it’s only natural to prefer dealing with those whose intentions are more transparent.

Sure enough, as Duke de Françoise began his statement, an undeniable smile of victory appeared on Valière’s lips.

“Didn’t have the qualification? What does that even mean?” Henry asked, and Duke de Françoise started to explain his thoughts about Ferdant, inwardly rejoicing that he was on the right track.

“There is an illegitimate child! It’s about the son she gave birth to before becoming Empress!”

The courtroom began to buzz with excitement at this astonishing statement.

However, the audience did not show much surprise.

After all, it was the immoral Empress, Ermedeline, known as the worst witch in the Empire. Even if the revelation of an illegitimate child before marriage was added to her image, it couldn’t get any worse.

So everyone’s reaction was expected to be rather subdued.

“Wow, being a villain doesn’t always mean being bad. It’s actually quite convenient at times.”

“An illegitimate child… Where is that child now?” Henry asked, and Duke de Françoise, glancing at Ermedeline, replied with a resolute voice.

“He is under my protection and very safely kept,” Duke de Françoise replied.

Ermedeline knew his words were a threat.

However, she couldn’t help but feel a sudden chill when she wondered why, if the child was indeed in the capital, he hadn’t brought the child into the courtroom.

‘Could it be that he’s in a state where he can’t be brought into the courtroom? Barely clinging to life or…’

Based on what she had seen so far, that man was capable of such actions even against his own flesh and blood.

With an unsettling thought, Ermedeline suddenly felt her heart constrict.

Her breath became labored, and as she struggled to breathe, Henry casually turned to her and asked.

“What will you do?”

Henry’s simple question carried a deeper meaning.

Would you continue with the trial, risking the safety of your child? That’s what he was asking.

Understanding his intent, Ermedeline wanted to shake her head, but her heart continued to disagree.

It seemed that as much as she had used other people’s babies as ingredients for curses in her past life, her feelings about her own child were sincere.

Now she understood why the original Ermedeline, despite having the list of so many clients and evidence of the Duke’s wrongdoings, had willingly accepted her fate.

She was an unapologetically wicked woman, but at the same time, she was also just a regular mom.

With the child’s safety not confirmed, she couldn’t continue with the trial.

‘It’s not my child, but an innocent child is being abused anyway’

Finally, the intense struggle between her mind and heart came to an end.

It was time to accept the fate of the antagonist with zero balance in her account after filing a lawsuit against the Duke.

“I, I manipulated it all…”

A faint voice escaped from Ermedeline’s lips as she clenched her heart.

As everyone concentrated on hearing her voice, a sinister smile appeared on Valliere’s face.

“I did it.”

“I can’t hear you, Your Majesty. Please speak louder!” requested the judge.

At that moment, as Ermedeline was about to rise and speak properly, Henry whispered to her.

“I have him with me.”

“??”

Ermedeline, bewildered by what was happening, watched as Henry slowly stood up and looked down at the crowd.

It was a simple gesture, but the Emperor’s aura radiating from his entire being silenced the courtroom in an instant.

“If it’s about that matter, I already know. The Empress disclosed it before the marriage.”

“??”

As Ermedeline turned her head in surprise at Henry’s words, her eyes met Valliere’s, who had been watching Henry as well.

Valliere’s amber eyes burned with an unbelievable hatred.

That intense hatred was undoubtedly directed more towards Henry than herself.

‘They can’t possibly have a terrible relationship, can they? In the novel, Valliere is an angel. She shouldn’t be making such expressions…’

Whether the two women exchanged glances or not, Henry’s words continued.

“Moreover, that child is not an illegitimate child. There was confirmation by the priestess that the child was born within a proper marriage between husband and wife before the altar.”

At Henry’s words, Duke de Françoise’s eyes seemed to bulge out.

“No way!! Ferdant is definitely the Empress’s child born from her affair with the stableman…”

“Whether the other party is a stableman or a farmer, isn’t it considered a legitimate child when born within a proper marriage before the priestess? How could a child born between them be illegitimate?”

“No! You are mistaken! She couldn’t have possibly done that. As soon as he found out about the pregnancy, he got killed.”

“What?”

“I was trampled to death by the horse.”

“Could they have gotten married before the pregnancy?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Why not?”

At Henry’s question, Duke de Françoise seemed to have finally lost his ability to speak. He only murmured his lips and couldn’t say a word.

After discovering their affair, he had cruelly killed her lover, and before that, she had lived a life of confinement within the palace. It was impossible for her to meet the priestess during that time.

“I have confirmation from the priestess, don’t I? Are you suggesting that I am lying now?”

No matter how much the Empress was disliked, accusations of having an illegitimate child wouldn’t benefit the Trivian Empire in any way. Furthermore, it would be a weakness that would provide a plausible excuse for enemies to target the borders.

Realizing the situation, the nobles in the courtroom began to send jeers towards Duke de Françoise.

Henry, who was listening to the jeers with a satisfied expression, signaled with his eyes. In response, the judge declared a short recess before delivering the verdict.

“Your household doesn’t seem to be harmonious either,” Henry remarked casually, sitting elegantly by Ermedeline, who was still clutching her heart.

“Is the child safe?”

Ermedeline was now more curious about the child’s well-being than the outcome of the trial.

To her earnest question, Henry responded with a merciful, almost god-like smile befitting an emperor.

“Whether the child is safe or not… If you wish, I can show you.”

“Is that really possible?”

“If you, as the Empress, show your motherly love for your child to the people, it is possible.”

For a moment, she was filled with joy at the prospect of seeing her child. However, Ermedeline soon realized that her vulnerability had simply passed from one person’s hands to another.

The verdict was as follows:

As a consequence of daring to touch the royal body, a substantial portion of Duke de Françoise’s former assets was confiscated and given to Empress Ermedeline. However, considering his ties to the Empress, his title was not stripped from him, but without land or soldiers, his title was little more than a façade.

In principle, for the serious crime of insulting the royal family, severe punishment would have been fitting. However, as Henry, during his competition for the throne, had committed misdeeds in concert with the Duke, he couldn’t completely sever the Duke’s lifeline.

The sight of the Duke walking out of the courtroom unscathed, despite inflicting harm on the body of the current royal, might have seemed like a lenient sentence to those unaware of the behind-the-scenes negotiations.

However, as the Duke was dragged away from the courtroom, he continued to curse his own daughter until the end. The Duchess and her brother, Ermont, also did not forget to send glares filled with hatred towards Henry and Ermedeline.

From what she heard, it seemed that they planned to rely on their daughter-in-law, Marchioness Ashlan, for a while.

Félio, the Empress’s attorney, naturally argued for the confiscation of titles and severe punishment, but Henry, as expected, did not agree.

Annoyed that the verdict did not meet his expectations despite his best defense, he approached Ermedeline and spoke sarcastically.

“A good compromise. Wouldn’t you be happy to finally get the money you want?”

It seemed that displaying irritation with an impassive face was one of his special talents.