I sipped my tea as if I were idling as any other lady would, just like anybody would expect.
What would a lady who has been raised with needlework and other elegant things do other than that when it came to this situation?
She had been suddenly accused, obviously she wouldn't be worried because of her rich family.
But I wasn't that ignorant and naive girl everybody thought I was.
Even if I were protected by my family, they still served under the Royal Family.
And the next monarch in line would be Albert, my own fiance.
Usually there would be no better matches for the future King other than me, since I had been raised to fulfil this role.
But everybody knew how Albert had been spending more time with Ivy recently, and how he started showing her favoritism that had never been shown with me.
Ivy would pose a threat to my future, because Albert would be the one handing me power.
They thought that I would obviously get jealous and poison her.
Its a reasonable assumption, who else could have done it?
But that was my question too.
I had been long suspecting the Temple since a few days ago, but its quite apparent why they decided to poison Ivy.
If I were framed, Ivy's reputation and status would rise.
And the Temple needed a saintess as of the moment, Ivy was the perfect person for it.
But to be honest, sending a priest, even a lower rank one..........it was a very bold and rash act.
Did they really expect me to shut my mouth about it, and be the loyal dog to whatever their scheme is?
The Temple surely can't be that stupid, right?
***
I walked in the court steadily while ignoring all the judging eyes on me.
It was a rare sight to see a noble, much less one my position in court.
Its not that nobles didn't commit crime, if they didn't commit more.
But with money and power, you could bribe anybody.
If that didn't work, a few sprinkles of blackmailing would do.
But my father wasn't like that.
While he stood in a position higher than most people, it came with risks.
But he had always been a loyal servant of justice, so he wouldn't cover up any crimes.
Not even when it came to his family, but somewhere inside me I was well aware that he trusted I hadn't done these kind of things.
I didn't dare to look up, especially at the position of the judge.
It would make me look like I was hoping for my father to be there, and save me.
I could already tell that my father wouldn't be the one sitting there, but if this one was fair and all, I didn't mind.
I gulped as the session started, and prayed mentally that the judge wasn't one of those people who hated my father and my family's immense power.
The creators wanted Roselyn to be a full-on selfish and cruel villainess, with only a lot of power supporting her from behind.
Perhaps if Roselyn had a normal background, she wouldn't be anything special much.
Perhaps she wouldn't have grown up as such a self-centered girl, because her luxurious upbringing definitely affected her personality.
But she needed to be the 'final boss' of the game, while also being a very disliked character.
They made her supposedly intelligent and strong, but jealousy blinded out all 5 senses.
She didn't have very good self control, because nothing in her life hasn't been hers with a flick of a finger.
She probably had never felt jealousy in her life until her fiance was taken away.
The judge's voice interrupted my thoughts, and my shoulders stiffened as the trial began.
When the time came, I stood up told them about the priest handing the bottle to me, which eventually was placed into Ivy's hand.
Now, obviously I wouldn't say this without preparing beforehand.
I needed some help on my side, but that priest was currently present as well.
Its not like refusing my sincere invitation would have done him any good, either.
He would have to face court sooner or later, without doubt.
Running away now wouldn't have saved him in the long run.
I caught him staring at me from the other side of the room, and I smiled as courtesy.
He quickly turned his head away as if he had seen a ghost, and that confirmed that he was scared of me.
'If you're so scared now, wouldn't you have rethought your actions before that led to this?', I wanted to scream at him.
The priest, to my surprise, didn't deny anything but opened his mouth to speak.
"I indeed passed the bottle to Lady Villinie, on the behalf of her father."
My eyes slowly shifted over to Ivy's father, who had actually come to this trial.
I had originally forgotten he was there, but he looked as if he hadn't had a wink of sleep since forever.
He must have been worried sick for his daughter, who fainted from poisoning and was currently rehabilitating.
Even in this state, he wanted to go to court to avenge his daughter?
Shouldn't he be staying at the hospital where Ivy was being treated, at her side?
But no, he came here to set judgement on the person who harmed her.
That person being me, of course.
Truth is, I wasn't a saint who would willingly take the blame for something I hadn't done to ease someone else's suffering.
Because no matter what, I knew that I wasn't the one who attempted to poison Ivy.
I did feel sympathy for Ivy and her father, but this had nothing to do with me.
And plus, I was too busy defending myself to be support them.
The judge was handed a report on evidence, and his eyes quickly skimmed through it.
Why didn't he read this beforehand?
He slowly bent over to whisper something to the investigator.
"Are you sure that the evidence mentioned has been double checked?"
Although they were far away from me, a bit of unnoticeable magic would do the trick.
Perhaps, was he rereading the papers once more?
But what was the reason for this? Its as if he still can't believe whatever's written on there.
Isn't the fact that the water was poisoned an obvious fact?
The judge looked quite old, so surely he must have gone through endless trials and seen many things similar to this if not worse.
At first he opened his mouth and hesitated to speak about the evidence.
But since he saw our anticipating faces, he knew he had to tell us.
"The evidence shows that..........Lady Castria's water was not poisoned. She also has no sign of poison in her body."