Love and Betrayal | Wriolette

Chapter 10: Confrontation

"Sorry, did you not hear me right sir? It was Duke Wriothesley's case that had some sort of problem." Said the Melusine, with a look of slight confusion. Neuvillette had frozen in place, the same shocked look on his face, trying to process what he had just heard. Out of all the cases, the one with a dire problem had to do with the one he cared for the most? What could possibly be out of order?

"Um.. Sir?" Spoke the Melusine, now staring at the Iudex blankly.

"Ah, yes. Sorry about that, I just got a bit confused, I suppose." He finally spoke, trying to keep calm. "Just place it on my desk and make your way out. Thank you for bringing this to my attention, I will tend to these matters immediately." Said Neuvillette. He forced a smile as the Melusine walked out of his office, waving her off. And now that she was gone- What the hell!?

He quickly opened the file, reading the report that was left by the Melusine. As his eyes scanned across the paper, they grew wider with each scentence. He read :

In the court case file of Sir Wriothesley, the final verdict that was determined by the Chief Justice Neuvillette, as well as the Oratrice Mecanique D'analyse Cardinale. And although such conclusions come to by the Oratrice are almost never incorrect, something strange was still found in the file. The murder weapon had been found after the judgement of the Oratrice was made, but the fingerprints were still run. And surprisingly, I suppose this information was not seen on the other yearly checks, but it was not the fingerprints of the one decided guilty by the Chief Justice and the Oratrice. Instead, shown on the scans were the fingerprints of Sir Wriothesley.

Neuvillette's heart dropped. What could this possibly mean? He continued reading :

This information must have been simply blown off, as the judgement of the Oratrice has only ever been incorrect 2 times in the history of its existence. But such information is quite important and should be delt with.

Neuvillette finished the report, the look of shock once again plastered on his face. The murder weapon held not the murderer's fingerprints, but.. Wriothesley's? But everything in the case had added up perfectly, and the one decided guilty didn't deny anything upfront! What did this mean? In his overwhelmed state, hevdidn't know who he could talk to or ask for help, as he was the higher up.

And so, not knowing who to bring the situation to, he called an old friend of his.

-

"Wait- So your saying the fingerprints found on the weapon weren't the murderers, but.. Wriothesleys?!" Exclaimed Furina. Neuvillette and her were still close, especially after he had discovered all the suffering she had to endure. And although he knew that she didn't completely understand how the judgement of the Oratrice could be incorrect, he could at least get all of this off his chest.

"From what I've read.. That is correct." Said Neuvillette, still with a puzzled look on his face. He simply just couldn't wrap his head around how such important information had just been discovered, and wanted more than anything for this information to be a simple misconception that would put Wriothesley in no harm. "I just can't quite understand how something like this was missed.. Was the Oratrice's verdict truly incorrect?" Spoke Neuvillette with a worrysome sigh.

"I don't know, but it's not something to ignore. And anyways, it was probably just an error, Right? Maybe the Duke had just touched the weapon beforehand and had nothing to do with it? The child could have been wearing gloves when he committed the crime?" Said Furina. She didn't completely understand the whole situation, but she wanted to help Neuvillette. As one of his closest friends, she of course knew about him and the Duke, and knew how this could be effecting him. "Don't worry, I'm sure everything will work out in the end." She said with a soft smile, trying to comfort the Iudex.

"Thank you for being here Furina. I suppose I will have to confront Wriothesley about the situation at hand.. I appreciate you listening." Said Neuvillette, returning the smile. He didn't know how Wriothesley would react to this information, but if it truly meant nothing, surely he'd react normally.

"Of course! And I hope things are going well between you too." She said as she got up to leave. The Iudex simply nodded with a smile before packing up for the day, a slightly nervous feeling lingering in his chest. He still couldn't help but feel worried that Wriothesley would react poorly, but if it truly had nothing to do with the situation, everything would be fine. So then why was he nervous? He wasn't seriously doubting Wriothesley, was he? He wouldn't do anything like that. 

Right?

-

"I'm home Wrio." Said the Iudex as he stepped foot into the abode. To his surprise, he heard a response coming from the kitchen.

"I'm in here!" Wriothesley shouted. Neuvillette walked into the kitchen, hoping that there wouldn't be a cloud of smoke. He did remember what happened last time the Duke tried to cook.. But he was injured back then, so hopefully an improvement was made since then. And to his surprise, he walked into the kitchen to see a colorful feast waiting for him on the table, and seemed to go a bit red when he saw that Wriothesley was wearing an apron that was clearly.. a bit tight on him. Not like he was complaining though.

"Oh.. You've cooked dinner." Said Neuvillette, eyes no longer on the feast on the table, but rather on how that apron complemented his lovers curves. 

"I thought I'd do something nice and cook for once!" Exclaimed the Duke with a smile. But Neuvillette didn't seem to care for his response, walking over and clearly staring down at him.

"That apron looks pretty good on you." Neuvillette said with a little suggestive smile as he looked up at Wriothesley.

Wriothesley let out a nervous chuckle, going a bit red before saying "Right.. It's a bit small-" He spoke, but Neuvillette had stopped him with a hug him from behind, putting his arms around Wriothesley's waist.

"Well, I like it." He said, embracing Wriothesley and staring into his eyes. Wriothesley became even more flustered than before with the surprise of the embrace. He was just trying to finish up his cooking, but Neuvillette seemed to feel extra affectionate.. so he finished up and hugged his lover back. And to his surprise, Neuvillette pulled him in tighter, indicating that his day probably didn't go so smoothly.. But he didn't mind the hug one bit.

"Rough day, huh?" Spoke Wriothesley, playing with the ends of Neuvillette's hair as the embrace went on.

"Rough is an understatement.." Sighed the Iudex. He was tired alright.

"Okay then, why don't we sit down and eat and you can tell me about your day." He said as he pulled Neuvillette to the table, sitting him down.

They both enjoyed their meals, Neuvillette being surprised as to how good it was. He had really upped his cooking skills since he had last cooked for him. They talked about each others days, but Neuvillette couldn't bring himself to ask him about the whole situation, so he waited until the meal was over and Wriothesley was washing the dishes before he decided to say something.

"Wriothesley. Could I speak to you about something?" He said as he walked over to the sink where Wriothesley stood, cleaning the dishes.

"Course' Neuvi! What's up?" Said Wriothesley with a smile. He was in such a good mood, and Neuvillette didn't want to ruin it with such a serious question. But if he didn't ask him now, then when was he going to? 

"I wanted to talk to you about your um.. Your case file." Said Neuvillette, a serious look on his face. The question stopped Wriothesley in his tracks.

"Uh.. Okay?" He said. It was a strange question for him to be asking a question like this, and naturally, he got a little nervous. Had Neuvillette found out something that he wasn't supposed to?

"Today, the yearly checks of old cases commenced. And a Melusine found something strange in your case, Wriothesley.." Said the Iudex, looking up at him. "Your.. fingerprints were found on the murder weapon." He finally said, letting out a breath, hoping Wriothesley's reaction consisted of confusion and the whole thing just ended up being a misconception. But instead, he heard the crash of a dish breaking on the ground.

"I-.. I can explain."