Love and Betrayal | Wriolette

Chapter 11: Back to court

"I can explain?" What did he mean he could explain?! Explain what? That he was innocent and that this meant nothing? This was not at all what was supposed to happen. What if..

What if  this wasn't just "some news"?

-

"What do you mean, you can explain?!" Said Neuvillette, a shocked yet angry look on his face as he bended down to try and salvage the plate. Not only had he just gotten the answer he did not at all want, but Wriothesley had broken one of his very valuable dishes!

"Oh god.. Neuvi, I'm so sorry let me help y-" Wriothesley said in response as he lent out his hand, but it was smacked away by Neuvillette. 

"Let me deal with this, and then we're sitting down and telling me what the hell is going on." He spoke, cleaning up the mess. Wriothesley said nothing, and with a distressed look, he made his way to the living room. Neuvillette finished cleaning up the mess and joined him on the couch.

"That was one of my most expensive plates. It will cost me a lot of money to get fixed." Said Neuvillette as he sat down, obviously ticked off.

"Neuvi.." Said Wriothesley, putting his hand on the Iudex's leg, but he dismissed it.

"Well then, explain. Why were your hands on the murder weapon? This isn't just some small little mistake that was missed on your file, it's a big deal!" Neuvillette said, trying not to raise his voice. But he wanted an explanation! 

"Listen, maybe we should talk about this some other time, it's getting late, right?" The Duke said, clearly trying to change the topic. What was he hiding?

"If you don't want to talk about it now, this matter will be brought up in court." Said Neuvillette, thinking that mentioning court would get it out of him. But to his surprise..

"Fine. Court." Spoke Wriothesley, sternly. To him, anything in the world would be better then confessing right to Neuvillette. And he was willing to go back to court since fingerprints simply weren't enough to prove him guilty with all the other proof they had of the decided murderer.

"Sorry- What?" Neuvillette said, a look of shock arising on his face. He didn't think he would oblige so easily.. But he knew that it needed to be done. Something so serious couldn't be left undiscovered, and if Wriothesley wasn't going to tell him upfront, then they would have to do again what they did 20 years ago.

"Fine then. I will arrange the date. Until then, I don't think we should be in contact." Said Neuvillette in a no longer straight up angry tone, but one mixed with anger and solemn.

"Right then. I'll be off." Said Wriothesley, returning the tone of voice. They both didn't want to leave eachother.. but with everything that just happened, and the chance that Wriothesley had something to do with the murder, they couldn't be around eachother. After all, in court they are opposing parties. And so the Duke left, returning to the fortress. The rest of the night for the both of them was not pleasant. They were both nervous about court, and confused as to why the situation had come to this..

-

A couple of days had gone by, and so came the date of the court. And as they both made their way there, making eye contact as they walked in, they couldn't help but feel upset that they weren't doing this together.

"Good Morning, your grace" Said Neuvillette as they both walked into the Opera Epiclese. Your grace.. he hadn't called him something so formal in ages.

"Morning, Iudex." The Duke spoke back, clearly returning the tone and attitude of the situation. They both walked to their assigned areas and so, the hearing commenced. As they both sat there getting ready, they wondered how it had come to this. Everything was amazing, just for it to fall apart in the matter of days. But it had to be done.

"Sir Wriothesley, you are here today to address the situation at hand. It has been recently brought to my attention that your fingerprints were found on none other than the weapon used to commit the murder your former foster parents, and not the fingerprints of the decided murderer. In this hearing, we will go through events that were brought up in court when the original trial commenced." Spoke the Iudex. His voice was stern and serious as one's voice should be while in court, but Wriothesley wasn't use to such a serious tone.

"Sir Wriothesley, please stand." Said Neuvillette as he glared at the Duke. He proceeded to stand up from his seat and make his way up.

"Please repeat the order events which occurred on the night of the murder." Said Neuvillette.

"Right.. Well, first off, me and my other former foster siblings were returning from the work our parents had put us to, and we went along to our respective duties assigned by my cruel parents.. we were forced to clean the house and work constantly. It was practically torture, the hours we were put through.. we were truly treated like livestock, rarely being fed or cared for at all." Wriothesley said. He shuddered at the thought of going through that, but he continued on. 

"As me and one other of my siblings were the only ones working on the inside of the house at that time, while the rest of my siblings worked outside, I heard yelling coming from downstairs in the living room. It caught me completely off guard.. I had no idea what it could be. As I was scared, I decided to stop what I was doing and reach for a knife for protection that was next to me in the kitchen, and make my way into the living room. There, I saw one of my former foster brothers, on top of both of my parents with.. blood on his hands. They were still alive, but he had somehow managed to beat them badly. He then saw me.. and walked over to me smiling. He said that he was doing us all a favor. Then, well, he took the knife from my hands. And finished the job right in front of me. It was quite traumatizing.." Said Wriothesley in a shaky voice, finishing his speech. Neuvillette felt horrible for the Duke.. having to go through all that must have been truly awful, and he could understand why his former foster sibling were to commit such crimes.

"Thank you, Sir Wriothesley. I understand that must have been quite hard for you. Now, allow us to analyze the events provided." Spoke the Iudex. "First off, you stated that you returned from your forced working, and continued to do so with your other siblings. You then stated that as the rest of your siblings worked outside, you worked inside with only one of your siblings, is that correct?" Said Neuvillette. He needed to go over each thing said to find any loose ends.

"That is correct." Responded Wriothesley. He needed to play it safe, so he decided that the short and simple answers were the way to go. The minute this was over he wanted to run into Neuvillette's arms and leave all this behind them. But that was a bit unrealistic at the moment..

"You then said you heard a scream coming from downstairs in the living room, indicating you were working upstairs. But you then said that you stopped what you were doing and reached for a knife that was next to you in the Kitchen, but you had just stated you were upstairs. Did I miss something?" Said Neuvillette, staring at him with a smile like he had won.

"Ah- Right.. Well um.." The Duke said at a loss for words, stuttering and mumbling, looking for an answer. "You see, with so many foster siblings, the house was very large, and we of course had more than one kitchen!" Exclaimed Wriothesley with a little nervous laugh, knowing the Iudex was getting closer to the truth.

"Okay then." Neuvillette said, clearly very unconvinced. He knew damn well that there wasn't a kitchen on the upper level of the house, he just needed the house description that was previously written to prove it. He ordered one of the guards to fetch the file that held it, and carried on. "We shall proceed. You then said you walked into the living room where you saw your former foster brother on top of your former foster parents, blood on his hands and all over the place. Then, you stated that he walked over and stated that he was doing you and presumably your other siblings a 'favor'. Is that right?" Said Neuvillette. He knew he was getting somewhere, he just needed to go over it a little more..

"Yes, Iudex Neuvillette." Said Wriothesley. So far, he hadn't said anything to make him seem guilty, and he thought he was on the right tracks.

"You stated that he then took the knife from your hands, and finished the job, right in front of you. If such events occurred, then how come his fingerprints were not found on the murder weapon? That is the reason you are here today, after all." Said Neuvillette with a cocky smile, knowing he was just one step closer to cracking the Duke. The expression on Wriothesley's face was of course, not the same.

Oh. Fuck.