♦Chapter 79: A Prologue for a Brighter Tomorrow♦
[]Third Person's POV []
The audience chattered with one another among their seats in that one cylindrical court where the innocence of the infamous Duchess of Shevaria was to be judged, publicly.
Everyone was on their seat, as well as the Emperor that came to spectate the event accordingly since the case involved an issue concerning his younger brother's adopted daughter. It would've been improper of him to not attend this event, so he wouldn't have had any other choice but to drag his feet here if there was an instance that he didn't have an interest over his sibling's matters.
That aside, the public looked forward and held their hopes high for a spectacular show to happen. Thus, they eagerly waited for the main character to enter the scene and expected a lot for the testimonies that her defendant would say when the trial officially begins. However, no matter how much one would define their actions beautifully, in the end its ugliness just shows itself without shame.
They're just a bunch of spectators that set their feet in this place for the sake of their amusement. They're not that interested at the face of justice, instead they came here to watch something of no different from a presentation in theatres. They'd go with the flow of whoever becomes the upper-hand and sneer at the side that was disadvantaged.
Therefore, Fleurette knew-
That at all cost, they must present themselves with various tricks upon their sleeves and prevent the possibility of losing even a single round in this trial. If not, the most effective method would be to impress the judges with perfection, or perhaps, to exquisitely hide the flaws.
That said, there's a saying that no one is perfect. That applies to a person's performance the best.
One step. Two steps.
Eventually, a woman arrived in her best dress, standing out from the flashy, deep red color that devoted itself to revolt the things that stood on its way. Her curly red hair that swayed gracefully on her back matched her outfit quite well. Her aspect was breath-taking that easily carved an extensive impression over the assembly.
Truthfully, red was Fleurette's favorite. After all, it symbolized the word that she liked the most, which was 'Revolution'. Up until now, she hanged her head low at the presence of her fears and always thought that a day like this would never come to her life;
A day where she'd finally have the right to rebel and face her sworn enemy head-on.
But now, she was standing here, brimming with courage. The day that she's waited for so long has finally arrived before her eyes. She warmly welcomed it into her embrace, being tired of having mental preparations, as well as looking away from the cruel reality that she once tried to run away from in the past.
With that kind of mindset, she began to focus on the current situation after taking a deep breath.
"Have you checked enough if the preparations are all done and ready?", she asked the lawyer that followed her from behind.
"Of course.", the man replied with his usual eerie, smiley face.
It didn't take long before the magistrate formally announced to begin the trial.
"The suspect and the defense counselor have arrived in the court."
"The trial will now commence! Both parties, please prepare yourselves."
Having taken those words into account, the atmosphere around the setting became slightly tenser compared to before. Without letting a single second pass to test the assembly's patience, the red-haired woman gazed at the prosecutor with a nod, and got a respond from him with the same body movement. After that, the man went ahead to make the opening statement.
"This is a case about a woman who has attempted to murder my client, Sherryl Faire von Shevaria who is presently known by the name, Melissa Ernel von Shevaria."
"The young lady has come into contact with the defendant for five years long and apparently, they had quite of a well-balanced relationship. However, for an unknown reason, during one of their usual afternoon tea parties, the suspect was said to have threatened the young miss's life, almost leading her to her deathbed."
"In this trial, I, Darriel Mavis, would like to bring justice for my client, Miss Melissa Ernel von Shevaria, and uncover the identities of the persons behind this case."
Several started murmuring amongst their groups in the audience section.
From the prosecutor's opening statement, it puzzled them that he mentioned the word 'identities' which could only mean that there wasn't just one culprit in this issue although it was sort of made clear in the first-half that Duchess Fleurette was to be proven guilty.
Before they could continue the rest of their murmuring, the attorney from the opposite side also began to speak with the sentences that he prepared.
"A pleasant afternoon to all of you, gentlemen of the jury. I am Chandler Eicren, who will play as the defense counselor of defendant Fleurette Ivona y Aubetré von Shevaria, for this case. As the prosecutor has said, Mrs. Fleurette has tried to murder the young lady, almost leading her to her deathbed. However, one thing puzzles me after hearing this story."
"From what I've heard so far, their relationship was quite stable as it lasted for five years long already. And when I interviewed the attendants from the Shevaria Mansion, apparently there wasn't a single moment where they fought with each other, neither was there a tiny sign of them having a conflict over trivial issues."
Hearing the lawyer's story, the magistrate questioned.
"Can you prove that, sir Eicren?"
"Of course.", Chandler confidently replied with the usual smile that he wore on his face.
He, then, presented a certain man to prove his words. And while the person walked toward the jury's view, the defense counselor introduced him.
"This man is Jillian Smith. He is a butler that served under the Duchess' manor, and he's been working there for seven years long."
"It's a pleasure to be here.", the butler said as a word of courtesy. Then without further ado, he served his purpose to be of assistance to the lawyer's claim.
"Just like sir Eicren mentioned, her grace and the young lady has shared a rather good relationship. The young lady would always come and visit when the afternoon comes if she's available and they would often read novels together during teatime. They haven't quarreled for even once so far, to the point that the servants would gossip among themselves wondering what made them so close to one another."
As soon as the butler finished his explanation, Chandler shortly went back to speak of his hypothesis from the information that was presented to the jury.
"From this story, I was ascertained that there were two possibilities for the disturbance to happen that day. First is that the young lady said something that could offend defendant Fleurette-"
"Objection! If your honor says so, we cannot guarantee whether the Duchess possesses a hidden resentment toward the miss either!", the prosecutor interrupted before the defense counselor could finish his statement.
"Sir Jillian, did defendant Fleurette seem to have any sort of behavior that could prove Sir Mavis's claim?", the judge took the lead to question the resident.
"There is nothing of such, your honor. Although her grace had a bad reputation within the servants, there weren't any traces of her detesting lady Melissa as much as we've observed. Neither was there anyone she shared her opinions with.", the butler replied in detail.
Thereafter, prosecutor Darriel continued to oppose with the flow of the topic.
"Even if so, there's a chance that she isn't the kind of person that will openly share her thoughts with others. Or perhaps, she's also one that won't show her true emotions that easily on the surface."
"I'm sure, sir Mavis is aware that speculations won't be enough to prove a man's intentions.", responded, the magistrate.
"Precisely, your honor. Which is why I ask Sir Jillian concerning the Duchess' usual attitude according to his observation. For even something as small as a person's personality can be a key for cases like this, as well."
Perceiving the prosecutor's request, Butler Smith followed his phrase with a bit of a hesitant answer.
"...Truthfully- Her grace is a person with a hard-to-read personality. Her actions are often unpredictable unless a person takes a very close look of it along with something identical to a critical thinking. Although this might be bias for me to say, I believe... anyone who attempt to communicate with her grace will reach the same conclusion."
Having heard of the manservant's phrases, several of the people from the audience seat murmured in agreement to the stated fact since they were those who once held a conversation with the Duchess when she attended in social circles where they were present as well. Thus, this raised the chances of suspicion toward Fleurette.
Allowing a second or two to pass for a brief moment, the prosecutor proceeded to assert and introduced someone that could testify his proclamation.
"Proceeding from that, I would like to present someone who was there before, during, and after the murder attempt."