BXBX NOVEL Side Story 3: Judgment Day (III)
Side Story 3: Judgment Day (III)
★★★
Since it was customary for people to throw eggs or stones at public trials…
Amidst the commotion, the trial continued calmly.
“This is not the end of Rabienne de Brions’ crimes. Do you admit to using poison to try to assassinate His Highness the Crown Prince?”
“What? I never did that.”
It was unexpected. Rabienne, who did not know that this would be revealed at the trial, vigorously shook her head in fright.
“I summon the witness.”
Nervous at the word ‘witness’, Rabienne unwittingly brought her hand to her mouth and bit on her fingernails.
‘Witness? Even the person who sold it wouldn’t know that it was me who bought the poison. Since I used someone from my father, there’s no way he’ll come out as a witness. Who the hell could it be?’
After a while…
Rabienne’s heart skipped a beat upon seeing the face of the person who came up to the podium.
“I was a paladin who served Rabienne by her side.”
It was Khalid.
Khalid introduced himself without hesitation, his blond hair as bright as the afternoon sunlight fluttering.
“Speak, witness.”
“Last year, I gave a bottle of drug to Prince Damon under the order of Rabienne, who was the saint.”
“What kind of drug was it?”
“It was a colorless liquid. I was told to never open it, but something felt strange the moment I received it, so I took a little out and kept it separately.”
Khalid presented the judge with a bottle containing a few drops of liquid and an appraisal document of the liquid.
“Check it out and you’ll know.”
In the document, it was written how difficult it was to obtain the poison and where to get it.
It was a poison that could only be obtained from one place, so the source was clear.
Additionally, it was written that the person who bought the drug was a person working for the Brions family.
“It’s certain.”
The judge checked the document and nodded.
Sensing a crisis, Rabienne clenched her fists and shouted at Khalid.
“Khalid, are you betraying me? How could you do this? You’re my paladin! Don’t you have any pride as a knight?”
“I do. I am standing here because I have pride as a knight.”
With frustration evident in his eyes, Khalid glanced at the messed-up Rabienne and let out a deep sigh.
“Do you think you’ll be safe if you do this? You will be charged as an accomplice too.”
“It doesn’t matter. Even if it’s done in ignorance, if one committed a crime, one should be punished.”
“Ha, if it wasn’t for me, would someone like you be able to become a paladin at that age? Know your place!”
Rabienne was now screaming and shouting, to the point her body violently shook.
The more Khalid looked at Rabienne, the more his expression became bitter.
“Since becoming your paladin, everything has been regrettable. If I could turn back time, I would refuse.”
“Someone like you…”
With anger overwhelming her mind, Rabienne was about to scream again, but…
Upon hearing the words of the judge, the emperor stood up and intervened.
“Listen, everyone. Fortunately, the poison was discovered. There is no problem with the crown prince.”
Since the health of the crown prince was also related to the security of the country, the emperor himself came forward to explain.
Only then did cheers erupt from the worried crowd.
“But if it wasn’t stopped, there would have been irreversible consequences. Attempting to assassinate the crown prince of the empire is a serious crime worthy of the guillotine.”
“Guillotine! That’s too much.”
Rabienne had now bitten her fingernails until it bled. Her face ashened as she contemplated.
Noah casted a contemptuous glance at Rabienne, who still refused to repent of her own sins.
Although far away, Rabienne glared at Noah and made excuses.
“The drug was requested by Prince Damon. You can bring him in and ask him. I just did him a favor.”
In order to somehow lessen the guilt, Rabienne implicated Damon.
It was true it was Damon who asked for the poison first.
However, the emperor, who had no intention of making this matter even bigger, ignored Rabienne’s words and moved on.
“Hudson, you probably didn’t know, did you?”
“Yes. That’s right. Assassination of the crown prince is ridiculous. That girl did it alone.”
The drug bought in the name of the Brions family could never be linked to the family head.
Instead of removing Damon’s name, the emperor excluded Hudson.
Although words were never exchanged, there was a brief, implicit agreement between the emperor and Deheen.
“What a foolish thing my daughter did. Please punish her appropriately.”
If the fact that Hudson helped Rabienne was revealed here, the entire Brions family would be sentenced to death.
“Father, you’re really too much. It’s you who got the drug for me. Are you abandoning me?”
Fearful that she would have to shoulder all the sins, Rabienne stomped her feet.
“Don’t involve the family in what you did. You should feel ashamed.”
Hudson’s reaction was cold.
“Ha… haha…”
Rabienne, who had lost her final hope, burst out laughing. Then she stumbled, having felt dizzy for a moment.
“All right. Okay, after a brief discussion, we will make a decision.”
The trial was temporarily suspended, leaving the final verdict.
In the meantime, Rabienne and Hudson fell into the hands of the people gathered in the plaza.
★★★
The shock and confusion of the people gathered in the square were indescribably great.
“Even trying to poison His Highness the Crown Prince, she is truly an evil woman. To think that we followed a girl like that. Everyone has been deceived.”
When Rabienne’s true face was revealed, the people now began to call her the worst villain in history.
“Die, you wicked woman!”
“Give us the real saint!”
Again, the baptism of eggs that had stopped during the trial continued.
Judy was ready to throw eggs, clutching one in each hand.
“This is how you should do it.”
He angled his arm as Dennis advised, and to his surprise, he managed to connect with the third egg.
That egg flew high in a parabolic arc and hit Rabienne in the back of the head.
“Oh my gosh. I did it!”
Judy clapped like a child, and high-fived Dennis and Esther.
The contents of that egg ran down Rabienne’s hair.
“Perfect. She looks very ugly.”
Judy, who couldn’t help but feel delighted at that pathetic appearance, made a peace sign towards Esther.
“That should have been a stone.”
When he thought of how Esther was almost kidnapped, Dennis added that even a stone was not enough.
Pelted with eggs (courtesy of Judy), Rabienne back away and turned around in a huff.
Her hair and clothes were smeared with gooey liquid.
“Don’t throw. Stop! It’s sticky and unpleasant.”
She put up a strong front, but her eyes were full of fear.
She looked very shabby as she crouched in fear of being hit by eggs flying from all sides.
As she was about to cover her face with her arms, she spotted Esther standing in the front row.
“You…!”
Rabienne groaned and bit her lips hard.
Above and below the podium.
Although it was far, it was enough to recognize each other.
The two of them were now opposites.
Rabienne, who always had everything and people’s love.
Esther, who always had nothing and was ignored and bullied.
The changed situation and appearance of the two was very contrasting.
“It’s all because of you. I will kill you.”
Ravienne glared at Esther and pursed her lips.
The whites of her eyes were as red as her pupils, making her entire eye appear red.
A dark, dreary voice flowed out from between parted lips, as if cursing.
Was it because of the shape of her mouth?
It was a long distance, but somehow, Esther could hear her voice clearly.
“How?”
Esther pursed her lips just like Rabienne did.
Unperturbed at the sight of the venomous Rabienne, she calmly sipped juice.
“You… really…!!”
Rabienne’s face turned red as she was ignored by Esther, whom she always considered as inferior.
‘I guess she thinks it’s unfair.’
Esther seemed to know what Rabienne was thinking just by looking at her expression.
‘I guess she is going crazy from her feelings of upset.’
In Esther’s previous repeated lives, that was always her expression and feelings as she looked at Rabienne.
Esther captured every moment of Rabienne’s desperate collapse.
★★★
“I will make a judgment.”
The judge who walked to the front of the podium looked at Hudson and Rabienne and declared.
“The two committed a great sin by challenging the authority of the imperial family and temple. So, first of all, not only is the Brions family excluded from the four great families, but as of today, the family title is confiscated.”
“It can’t be!!”
Surprised by the contents, Hudson rushed forward, but the trial assistants grabbed him and brought him to his knees.
“Hudson and his family, who have become commoners, must live in the territory designated by the imperial family and do labor. You cannot leave the place without permission.”
It was the first time in the history of the empire that a duke was deprived of his title and became a commoner.
Additionally, not only was he a commoner, but he had to do labor like a prisoner.
The people gathered in the plaza gasped at the unconventional results of the trial.
“Considering that Rabienne caused an unprecedented epidemic to break out, she is guilty of disturbing the empire.”
Nervous, Ravienne fretted, fidgeting with her nails, waiting for the judge’s next words.
“As such, she will live as a slave for the rest of her life.”
When Rabienne heard the judge say that she would be a slave, her eyes widened and she slumped helplessly to the floor.
“I can’t do this. Me… a slave?”
She knew she had committed a great sin, she never thought that she would enslave herself.
Shocked and distressed, she ran to the kneeling Hudson’s side and begged for mercy.
“Your Honor the Judge, I admit my fault, but the punishment is excessive. The epidemic happened by accident, and kidnapping and assassination of the crown prince were all attempts. Please. I cannot live as a slave.”
“Do you know how many people have died from the plague this time? If you can answer, I’ll reconsider.”
“That, that…”
Flustered, Rabienne desperately dug her brain, but she couldn’t answer.
She had only been interested in keeping the position of saint. There was no way she would know the number of people who died from the disease.
“See, there is no reversal. After a while, you’ll be branded as a slave right here. We will notify you later where you will be sent.”
With scorn, the judge scanned Rabienne and finished the judgment.
Booooo—
The sound of the trumpet announcing the end of the trial reverberated through the square.
It marked the complete fall of the Brions family and Rabienne.
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