I Became a Leader in a Wretched Prison - Chapter 197

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 197

“…I say, Marquis Pontos.”

The chairman of the meeting asked with a slightly frowning and tense expression.

“…Surely, you’re not saying you would dare question the Imperial Side’s fault?”

Why was the procedure that should have naturally been conducted in the trial over ten years ago omitted?

All the major nobles were seated in this place. And that wasn’t all….

Most of them briefly glanced sideways at one spot. Toward the person who was currently maintaining silence.

At the gentle smile that appeared on his face, they quickly turned their gazes away as if by prior arrangement.

In any case, Marquis Limnades wouldn’t have made up nonsense in such a place.

He wasn’t that kind of person either.

The character that Marquis Limnades had built up—rigid to the bone and pursuing justice—made the nobles trust this uncomfortable truth.

“Why is there no answer? Really, are you saying you would question the Imperial Court?”

“What if I were?”

“You’ve gone mad.”

The chairman clicked his tongue. Pontos briefly showed a good-natured smile.

Thanks to his naturally impressive appearance, despite most of those present being of the same gender and advanced age, it had the effect of lightening the atmosphere for a moment.

“I jest. How could I dare question toward the place where His Majesty the Emperor resides in all his dignity? There must have been some… mistake.”

Due to that mistake, his younger sister had lived as a criminal for over ten years.

The meaning Pontos wanted to convey was well transmitted to the nobles.

“For instance, someone might have incorrectly conveyed His Majesty the Emperor’s will…? His Majesty might have commanded it, but it could have been omitted.”

In any case, it meant he wouldn’t question the current Emperor.

“…Rather than just talking like this, please demonstrate it directly first before saying such things, Marquis.”

Someone pointed out in a sharp voice.

“Of course, it can be conducted at any time.”

Pontos replied in a leisurely voice. Once again, a sharp voice was heard.

It was a clear, ringing tone.

“However, even if we conduct Truth Detection… would it be of any help?”

All eyes turned to one noble.

It was a count from a house who usually didn’t view Pontos favorably, who went around calling himself their sole rival.

“I mean… isn’t that right? Let’s say we determine innocence or guilt again. That’s only possible with someone in a normal state of mind.”

The count skillfully cast his gaze.

The returned Marquis Limnades’ daughter, ‘Minte Limnades,’ was not mentally sound. No, wasn’t she mad?

The count was asking Pontos this.

Even if you conduct Truth Detection on a mad person and it truly comes out as innocent, can you believe it?

Pontos’s gaze was unexpectedly calm. Though that didn’t mean his insides were calm as well.

“Why do you deliberately spread rumors that she’s mad? There’s no need to go that far….”

“No, just let them talk as they please.”

His younger sister had anticipated even this situation.

“Because that’s exactly what I want.”

What on earth could she be thinking?

Pontos had heard the plan, but even after hearing it, he remained half-doubtful.

However, one thing was certain.

What was happening now was his younger sister’s revenge.

Making things go as that child desired. This was the only thing Pontos wished for.

“Excellent. Since everyone seems to agree, I’ll arrange for a Truth Detection session.”

“Wh-what?”

“Weren’t you saying we should at least test her, even if she’s insane, since you know she’s innocent or that something’s fishy?”

The Count who had brought up Mint’s condition cleared his throat with a cough.

Though he called himself an old enemy, in the end he was simply displeased because Pontos had exposed his corruption long ago.

“However, I never expected there would be someone who dared call a child of Limnades an idiot.”

“…When did I ever go so far as to call her an idiot. Ahem!”

Silence fell for a moment. While everyone was choosing their words.

Clap clap.

Cheerful applause could be heard. The owner of the sound was one of the figures who had been quietly looking down from the platform until now.

“Oh my, exactly.”

There were two chairs placed on the platform.

“It would be nice to try it once.”

Among them, the person sitting with crossed legs in a slightly crooked yet still elegant manner was none other than Second Prince Hades.

“I’ll also cast a vote for the Truth Detection side.”

Hades’s eyes narrowed into long slits.

“I wonder why they didn’t go through Truth Detection procedures in the last trial. That should be the most important thing in a trial.”

Hades’s voice was excited, like someone who had heard an amusing story.

His red eyes crinkled playfully as they turned toward one place.

“Don’t you think so, big brother?”

In the seat next to Hades, on another chair on the platform, sat a man with a large build.

The man was as tall as Hades but had a small face relative to his physique, maintaining a truly upright posture.

His clothing showed leisure with just one button loosely undone, and cleanliness beneath that.

His blonde hair was styled neatly upward except for some strands left hanging down.

His bright blue eyes, resembling the Emperor’s, were looking downward.

Sitting there as if he were a person created by fusing two incompatible words – neatness and arrogance – was the Empire’s Crown Prince, Deflon Carkeya.

Unlike Hades, who had a cold feeling when not smiling, this man had a gentle impression like an autumn wheat field.

Soon a clean and gentle smile befitting his appearance appeared on his lips.

“….”

However, he said nothing in response to Hades’s question or to Pontos’s proposal.

He was someone hiding an identity the nobles could never imagine. In the past and present, he was a serial killer who enjoyed eccentric behavior and murder.

“The Alpeion Ducal House also agrees.”

In the silence caused by Deflon, a voice filled with cold air cut through the quiet and flowed out.

It was Duke Alpeion, Helios, sitting leisurely with his arms crossed.

He had likewise maintained silence throughout, but his presence alone was no less than the princes on the platform.

He was the target everyone had been glancing at without daring to look directly.

“I heard rumors that the serial killer who murdered my father was that young lady.”

His sharp gaze swept over Pontos and the assembled crowd. There were quite a few who flinched under Helios’s stare.

…The rumors had certainly spread, but to think he would point it out so directly in this place.

“I was already having doubts about my father’s death anyway.”

The Emperor’s watchdog and loyal hound. As Alpeion and Limnades were called this, there existed an invisible bond between the two houses.

In a way, it was also an untouchable territory.

Breaking this, Helios had drawn his bow in what amounted to a provocative demonstration.

“We should determine the truth together.”

“…”

Whether she really was the murderer who killed my father or not. Helios’s voice seemed sharp yet utterly relaxed.

But the content was nothing short of murderous.

Now all eyes turned to just one person. Since those who had maintained silence had each spoken in turn…

Crown Prince Deflon smiled even more gently as the crowd’s attention gathered on him.

“What matters is the truth.”

His emotional voice, the respectful endings that seemed to honor everyone. Yet he maintained his dignity and pride.

This was precisely why Deflon was expected to become a wise ruler.

As he graciously summarized the situation.

Deflon’s blue eyes briefly fixed on Pontos and gleamed darkly.

“Whether they’re insane or an idiot.”

The Crown Prince returned to his gentle expression and smiled like a painting.

“An opportunity should rightfully be given.”

* * *

“What brings you to this mansion?”

Pontos’s words contained both sullenness and welcome simultaneously.

He gazed at his younger sister sitting on the sofa.

The sky was a quiet night.

“Oppa, it’s been exactly three days since you went to the Noble Assembly, right?”

“…I’d appreciate it if you’d pick just one – oppa or the formal address. But yes, that’s right.”

Mint nodded slightly. Her expression lightly ignored Pontos’s complaint.

“Then it would be today.”

“Today?”

Pontos started to ask back, then soon let out a sigh with a “hmm.”

“…More importantly, do you really have to speak in that… posture?”

“What kind of position?”

He had a complicated expression.

“Must you really…!”

“Be held like that?”

“Yes!”

That was right. Currently, Mint was not sitting alone.

Behind her, Helios was pressed close, holding her tightly in his arms.

To be precise, it was a situation where Mint was sitting on Helios’s lap as he held her close.

When Pontos pointed this out, Helios’s eyes sharpened.

Mint patted Helios’s knee as if to say it was fine.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Don’t bite.”

“…Who’s biting whom? I had no intention of biting.”

Following Helios’s incredulous voice, Pontos also pressed his temples firmly and said.

“Right, like anyone would let you bite them?”

“Don’t mind him, Oppa. Um… yes. Think of him as my comfort doll.”

“…You mean the Duke?”

This was ridiculous.

There were other things to call a doll.

If they made a doll that huge and with such murderous eyes, it would surely receive countless complaints from children.

At this moment, Pontos wanted to speak for all the young children in the Empire.

No, this wasn’t the time to be having such a conversation.

“So what’s happening today?”

“Ah. Today or tomorrow.”

“Hmm?”

“Or at most… by the day after tomorrow?”

So what are you talking about? It was the moment when Pontos’s handsome brow furrowed even more.

“Oppa, they’ll attack one of us two.”

The corners of Mint’s mouth turned up.

“The Serial Killer.”

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