Congratulations to Ochixxx, Mystery_Rose1, Wriolleteshiper, and AquaJasper for guessing the identity of the mastermind!
Now the last part of the story has started!
Prepare yourself for the finale!
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3rd Person POV
"So what do you think about it?"
"About what?"
"This trial, you morron. What else?"
"I thought that you were talking about Monsieur Neuvillette's horrible mood in the past few days."
"The what now?"
The two Fontainians stopped in their track, both looking at each other completely confused.
"Monsieur Neuvillette is in a bad mood? He is capable of being in a bad mood?"
"How can you not know about it?! Riche has been complaining about it for days now! He said the whole Palais Mermonia is like a mouse trap ready to snap close as soon as you make a wrong move."
"My mind has been preoccupied with this trial, okay? Now spill it. What happened?"
The man sighed looking at his clueless friend.
"A few days back Monsieur Neuvillette had a select few members of the Gardes and the Phantom called into his office. That's when everything started apparently.
Within the next few hours, twenty or so people were rounded up and locked in holding cells with 24/7 monitoring. If that wasn't enough, there was another group escorted from Meropide to the surface and locked up along with the others.
That was before the announcements were made for the Trial of the Masses."
"So those people that were rounded up were probably the people that are a part of that organization, right? I don't see how this would put Monsieur Neuvillette in a bad mood."
"Have you not seen the list of people that are being charged?"
"I have. What of it?"
As if to prove that he had indeed seen the list, the man pulled out a copy, waving it in front of his friend.
The piece of paper was quickly yanked out of his hands as the other pointed to the name on the top of the list.
"This one."
"Yes? What's with that guy?"
"Ugh! You idiot! Tsk! Nevermind! You'll find out later."
And with that, the man shoved the paper back into the other's hands before storming off towards the Opera.
"Hey! Hey! Wait a minute! Wait for me!"
He ran after his friend only to find him staring forward blankly a few steps away.
"What now?"
"Are we early?"
"No. Why?"
Instead of answering, the other just pointed forward to-
"Monsieur Neuvillette? If he's outside then we might really be early."
"You are most definitely not early." A cheerful voice came from behind them.
The two turned around to see...
"Miss Clorinde! Miss Navia!"
The two women were dressed more formally than usual. Only right for the occasion.
"If we aren't early then why is the Chief Justice still outside? He is usually the first one to arrive." One of the two men pointed out.
"We aren't early, but a certain someone seemed to be running late." Navia chuckled.
"He is most likely waiting for Duke Wriothesley to finally show up." Clorinde explained plainly
"Duke Wriothesley? Oh! Right! Those two are married!"
That was one of the most popular topics these days.
The Iudex's marriage.
There was no one in Fontaine who didn't know about it.
There was also no one in Fontaine who didn't share the same opinion on it.
If their Iudex got married, they should at least hold a wedding!
The people of Fontaine should not have their number one bachelor stolen away so suddenly and not even get to see a wedding happen!
If the Iudex got married, wouldn't they all need to cut back on the staring less they wish to anger the Duke?
That is precisely why a petition was started and sent to Lady Furina, not a day after the article's release.
We demand a wedding! The petition read.
Signed by everyone in the court.
Well, everyone except a few who did not support the marriage.
But those were few and far between and we quickly squashed by the opinion of the rest.
Since the Iudex hadn't gotten married in the past 500 years, everyone had all but given up anyway.
Now that such news was released, they just wanted to see the wedding.
It's not like they had any chance against Duke Wriothesley.
In what could they possibly be better?
Wealth?
Authority?
He's got it all.
Looks?
Find one besides the Iudex who can beat him.
Yeah, it was a lost cause from the start, so everyone just gave up without much hesitation.
But the wedding!
The wedding had to happen!
Even if they had to drag the two of them to it!
The people of Fontaine refused to miss out on seeing their Iudex dressed in white even if that was the last thing they did!
No way in hell!
Lady Furina seemed to agree with her people.
At some point, there were even rumors that if the two wouldn't, she would instead organize a wedding and drag the two of them over.
However, these rumors quickly died down. Whether it was because they weren't true or because someone had suppressed them, was unknown.
"Look. There he is." Navia pointed out with a smile.
And sure enough, there came Duke Wriothesely.
Very, very late.
It looked like he wasn't even given the time to explain himself as Neuvillette grabbed his hand and started pulling him towards the Opera Eclipse.
"We should go as well, Navia. Monsieur Neuvillette wasn't in the best of moods to start with. I doubt it will get any better if we are late too." Clorinde interrupted their little staring session.
It was now that Navia along with the two men realized that if Duke Wriothesely was considered late, they too would be such should they not hurry up.
The two bid the women goodbye and sprinted towards the Opera, leaving behind a giggling Navia.
"You are too cruel, Clorinde. Wriothesley was supposed to show up two hours earlier and the two of us just one hour early. Even if they get there now, all they can do is sit around in silence." She chuckled.
"They deserve it. Who asked them to stand around gossiping? Now shall we go, Navia? We wouldn't want to draw the Iudex's ire onto ourselves, now would we?"
Navia took Clorinde's outstretched hand with a smile, but that smile quickly morphed into worry.
"Will everything be alright?"
"Of course. Don't you trust the Chief Justice?"
"I do. It's just... I fear that he will do something drastic if provoked too much." Navia pointed out.
"Isn't that why Wriothesely is around? We even had him sit next to Lady Furina just for this. His face should be enough to keep Monsieur Neuvillette's mind even just partially occupied." Clorinde chuckled.