For the heart - Chapter 55

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 55

 

* * *

 

It took just over three months to conquer all of the Six Small Nations.

 

When they first set out, they had expected it would take at least five months. The distance alone required over a month of travel.

 

“Your Highness! Sniff sniff, I missed you so much.”

 

Emil ran up and hugged Casian as he entered the Western Palace.

 

“Get off.”

 

“Ah, why? Do you know how worried I was? You seem to have returned safely, so I just wanted to hug you a bit.”

 

“I’m fine, so get off.”

 

“Tsk.”

 

Emil pouted and pulled away from Casian.

 

He quickly followed behind Casian as he strode inside and quietly closed the door.

 

As soon as the door closed, Casian asked in a low voice.

 

“How did the task I gave you go?”

 

“Who am I? Aren’t I Your Highness’s one and only attendant and capable right hand?”

 

Emil was quite spirited after such a long time.

 

“The task you assigned is perfectly prepared! Please come with me tomorrow.”

 

* * *

 

The next day, Nina realized the situation was taking a turn for the worse.

 

“Why did you kill Count Puaco’s daughter?”

 

“I didn’t kill her.”

 

Bang!

 

The Emperor slammed his hand hard on the study desk and glared at Nina.

 

“There’s a witness in prison right now who saw you jumping from Michelle Puaco’s bedroom window that day.”

 

“I was at the Imperial Palace at that time that day. It absolutely couldn’t have been me. The hair found in the young lady’s bedroom too,”

 

“Silence!”

 

Seeing the Emperor cut off her words and turn his head away, Nina understood his intentions.

 

‘So I’ve outlived my usefulness now. He’s trying to frame me for murder for Count Puaco’s sake.’

 

This was happening just one day after returning from achieving continental unification.

 

When she should be praised as a hero of Arsed, she was about to be imprisoned as a murderer for a crime she didn’t commit.

 

“I am innocent. Please conduct a proper investigation, Your Majesty.”

 

“When it’s crystal clear that you killed Count Puaco’s daughter, what more investigation could there be!”

 

Nina looked straight into the eyes of the Emperor who was glaring at her.

 

Under Nina’s direct gaze, the Emperor breathed more roughly and clenched his fists.

 

‘How can she resemble him so much? Her eye color is the same as her mother’s, but that unbreakably straight gaze is too identical to my brother’s, and it makes me feel sick.’

 

Nina looked at Rayner’s eyes filling with contempt and said.

 

“I know very well how deeply Count Puaco is involved with the Imperial Court. But I cannot appease his anger by admitting to something I didn’t do.”

 

“We will proceed with a trial using all the evidence. If you feel wronged, make your defense at the public trial that will be held in the town square.”

 

“A public trial? What do you mean?”

 

“You say you didn’t kill her, and Count Puaco says you did, so we’ll reveal the truth clearly before everyone. There’s nothing better than a public trial for that.”

 

Putting Nina, an Imperial Princess, on trial publicly meant bringing down both her status as Imperial Princess of Arsed and her position as Knight Commander.

 

‘So he’s already secured enough evidence to frame me for murder.’

 

Nina bit her lower lip hard. She bit so hard that the metallic taste of blood spread in her mouth.

 

She didn’t think she would actually be executed. Her body wouldn’t die anyway.

 

However, if she was imprisoned for murder, she couldn’t estimate when she might be released.

 

If that happened, it would be as if her path to finding the truth about the oracle, her heart, and her father who might still be alive would disappear.

 

“I also need time to argue my innocence,”

 

“It’s already too late. The court has already sent word about the public trial date. It will be held in the town square the day after tomorrow, so know that and go prepare.”

 

* * *

 

With the situation worse than she had expected, Nina immediately sought out Casian.

 

Right now, if there was anyone who could help her even with the smallest thing, she had to accept that help.

 

“The person who will testify isn’t dead yet, so I need to meet him directly.”

 

“No. Since the trial date has been set, you can’t meet the person who will testify as a witness. The guards absolutely won’t allow it. It’s illegal.”

 

“Hehe!”

 

Nina and Casian turned their heads toward Emil, who had laughed in this serious situation.

 

“Your Highness, shall I repay some of the debt for all the meals I’ve received from Tila at the Satellite Palace?”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“I’ll make it possible for you to meet that man who’s imprisoned.”

 

Nina blinked at his confident appearance as he thrust out his chest.

 

“How?”

 

“Hehe. Just trust me. There’s no business like illness, you know? Hihi!”

 

And that night, Nina was actually able to enter the prison with Casian.

 

While Nina and Casian were away conquering the Six Small Nations, Emil seemed to have been poking around everywhere.

 

“Cough, I can’t give you much time.”

 

“Understood.”

 

“It’s the prison at the very end. His condition isn’t very good. *Cough cough*, he seems like someone who’s lost his mind, so I really don’t understand how he can stand as a witness…”

 

The guard who had been coughing dryly pointed to the prison at the very end and then left entirely.

 

When they went to the front of the cell, just as the guard had said, the man’s condition was truly strange.

 

“His eyes… are clouded.”

 

The first thing that caught their attention was the man’s eyes.

 

It looked exactly like when Baraguz and Kushis had been under Desmorak’s spell.

 

Casian also immediately guessed why this person had become like this upon seeing that appearance.

 

“This is Desmorak’s doing.”

 

Nina silently nodded her head.

 

“From Michelle Puaco’s bedroom window… I saw Princess Nina Arsed jumping down…”

 

The man, staring up at empty space with vacant eyes, was pacing and continuously repeating only the same words.

 

Nina focused intently on the front of his disheveled clothing.

 

Even in the darkness, she could glimpse traces near his heart area.

 

“He definitely removed that man’s heart and cast a spell on him for perjury. Just like he did to Kushis.”

 

“That crazy bastard…”

 

Casian’s face contorted with disgust.

 

He had expected that it would be Desmorak who helped Lillien. It would have been him who created false witnesses with money too.

 

He also knew that Count Puaco, whose eyes had gone mad from losing his daughter, would definitely find the man who had informed him of that fact and then disappeared.

 

But he had thought they would try to eliminate that witness, not that they would cast a spell to make him commit perjury.

 

‘Ha, so this is how they’re playing it.’

 

Though his condition was poor, the moment that man testified at the public trial, Nina would become not the heroic Sirin Sword before the people, but a villainess and murderer who had privately killed a noble young lady.

 

Nina’s face darkened as she lowered her eyes and let out a heavy breath.

 

Why is nothing ever easy for me?

 

I gritted my teeth with the thought of finding my heart and achieved continental unification.

 

Now I finally know what went wrong…

 

‘Will I end up imprisoned like this without being able to do anything?’

 

A thick tear streamed down from Nina’s eyes.

 

A large hand gently grasped Nina’s chin and lifted it up.

 

“…Why are you crying?”

 

“I can’t see ahead. It’s pitch black. It feels like this is the end.”

 

Chuckle.

 

Casian looked at Nina like that and laughed lightly. Then he gently wiped her cheek where the tears had passed with his thumb.

 

“I told you I have good eyes, didn’t I? Don’t worry. Even if it’s pitch black, I’m here beside you with my keen eyesight.”

 

“If I’m charged with murder and go to prison, I won’t be of any help to the alliance I made with you. The recommendation of a princess locked in prison would have no power whatsoever.”

 

“Oh my. That would be quite troublesome.”

 

A light of resentment filled Nina’s eyes.

 

So he has nothing to lose in this situation.

 

And since he returned to the Imperial Palace having achieved the merit he wanted, has my value now decreased?

 

Unlike me, who was only serious, Casian had a carefree attitude. It even seemed like he was trying to tease me in the midst of this.

 

“The day after tomorrow at the public trial, when that man commits that perjury, I will—”

 

“Actually, this works out well.”

 

“What?”

 

“An eye for an eye, perjury for perjury—that’s how we’ll handle it.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————