The Circumstances of Being Chosen as the Villainess’s Favorite - Chapter 167

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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 167

‘Lord Evans is also in attendance.’

He occupied the front row of the gallery, his face somehow restless.

…As if there was something weighing on his mind.

That aside.

‘High Priest Evans didn’t attend.’

I narrowed my eyes.

When Seraphina was imprisoned, he had visited so attentively.

But now he doesn’t even show his face?

Just then.

People stirred loudly.

“Look, it’s Lady Lopez!”

“Oh my… did something happen to her?”

“She looks terrible.”

The spectators became wide-eyed like startled rabbits as they looked down at Seraphina.

Seraphina entered, supported by two security staff members.

Gone was the beautiful appearance that had once been praised as the lily of high society.

A gaunt body, a haggard complexion.

Even the way she couldn’t properly support her own body.

The current Seraphina looked beyond withered, so dried up she seemed ready to scatter in the wind.

Seraphina collapsed into the defendant’s seat.

Despite having walked only that short distance, she was already breathing lightly.

And then.

“Who is that person?”

A middle-aged man appeared once again.

He had truly unremarkable, ordinary features.

Dark brown hair fell disheveled over his forehead, and his dark amber eyes held faint wariness and fear.

“Well, his name is Jacob Hobbs… I believe.”

“Hmm, there must be some reason he’s standing in the courtroom.”

Just then, the man Jacob, who had been looking around, made eye contact with Lord Evans.

“…”

“…”

Lord Evans stared at the man with a face that had turned deathly pale.

Jacob squeezed his eyes shut, then turned away from Lord Evans.

At the same time, the courtroom entrance opened.

A resounding cry echoed.

“The great sun of the Empire, His Majesty the Emperor enters!”

His Majesty the Emperor wore an expressionless face.

The commotion in the hall subsided.

Step, step.

His Majesty the Emperor headed toward the judge’s bench.

His Majesty the Emperor, seated in his chair, opened his mouth with a heavy voice.

“Everyone, please be seated.”

People took their respective seats.

And then.

“We shall begin the trial.”

His Majesty the Emperor, after looking around broadly, declared solemnly.

As people each pressed their lips tightly shut.

A cold gaze fell upon Seraphina.

“First, we shall hear from Seraphina Lopez.”

At that call, Seraphina shakily rose from her seat.

“I am Seraphina Lopez.”

After taking a deep breath.

Seraphina continued with a strained voice.

“I promise to speak only the truth faithfully, and I swear to accept punishment if I violate this oath.”

Just speaking those words clearly seemed extremely difficult for Seraphina.

So much so that people unconsciously looked at Seraphina with pitying eyes.

And the next moment.

Seraphina, gasping for breath, dropped a bombshell in the courtroom.

“The ink that had an adverse effect on Her Majesty the Empress… was actually given to me by High Priest Evans.”

“What did you say?”

“What did Lady Lopez just say?”

“High Priest Evans?!”

Instantly, the courtroom became chaotic as if a beehive had been stirred.

Shocked spectators began adding their voices one by one.

Seraphina tried to meet people’s surprised gazes, gripping the chair with quiet strength in her hands.

“What is that…!”

Lord Evans glared at Seraphina with wide, blinking eyes.

“Silence!”

Staff members hurriedly moved around the gallery, quieting people down.

Meanwhile, Seraphina’s testimony continued steadily.

“High Priest Evans… instructed me to use that ink to consistently send letters of regards to Her Majesty the Empress. Also.”

Despite the testimony not being very long, Seraphina seemed to have nearly exhausted her strength already.

Her bloodless face was pale.

Nevertheless, Seraphina desperately continued speaking.

“He forced me to testify that Lady Claudius… had attempted to assassinate Her Majesty the Empress.”

The spectators, with eyes wide open, focused intently on every single word Seraphina spoke.

Seraphina concluded with a strained voice.

“Furthermore, High Priest Evans poisoned me and threatened me not to mention him, using the antidote as leverage. …That is all.”

With those final words.

Seraphina collapsed into her seat.

Meanwhile, the spectators froze at one shocking word Seraphina had uttered.

Poisoned.

In fact, they had no choice.

…Her Majesty the Empress had also been poisoned.

“Poisoned, you say?”

“Could it be that the reason Lady Lopez’s health has deteriorated so obviously is…”

The spectators murmured among themselves.

“That’s a lie!”

The horrified Lord Evans shot up from his seat.

The people standing by for security rushed toward the lord.

“Please be quiet!”

“If you continue to cause a disturbance, we’ll have no choice but to remove you.”

After leaving their warning, they roughly pressed down on the lord’s shoulders and seated him.

Lord Evans sat down, grumbling.

On his face was intense anger, and also.

…Fear that he couldn’t quite conceal.

His Majesty the Emperor opened his mouth to continue speaking.

“Jacob Hobbs. Give your testimony.”

At that command, Jacob’s eyes became complicated.

But that was only for a moment.

His expression became resolute.

“I was a shadow of the Viscount Evans family.”

With bombs dropping one after another, the spectators’ faces filled with confusion.

“No, what on earth is happening?”

“Good heavens, how could this be…”

But Jacob’s words weren’t finished yet.

“The employee who recommended the roses to Lady Claudius, and the person who commissioned Father Pedro’s assassination.”

Jacob took a deep breath and quickly spat out his words.

“Both of them… were me.”

“…”

“…”

As if cold water had been poured over them, everyone unconsciously closed their mouths.

In that quiet silence.

Only Jacob’s words rang out clearly.

“In that process, I used my identity as a commoner belonging to Viscount Evans’ domain, and received help from Lord Evans.”

“No! That’s not true!!”

Lord Evans screamed convulsively.

Of course, he was restrained again and quickly quieted down.

“Also…”

Jacob, who had been hesitating while looking down at his feet, finished his words with difficulty.

“The production of the ink was also carried out under Lord Evans’ instructions.”

The continuous chain of revelations.

The spectators were now speechless.

At the same time, Claudius’s lawyer raised his hand.

“I will submit evidence.”

Evidence?!

Lord Evans’s eyes widened.

I watched the situation unfold with a calm expression.

‘Still, it’s fortunate that Jacob isn’t an idiot.’

Well, of course.

If Jacob had been an idiot, he would have been killed and disappeared without anyone knowing long ago.

Jacob himself probably thought that he knew far too many of the Viscount Evans family’s secrets.

That’s why Jacob had prepared lifelines in advance to save his own life.

…And now he was clinging to those lifelines.

“This is a commission request, and these are ledgers…”

Under the lawyer’s gestures, various pieces of evidence were placed on the desk one by one.

The commission request for ink production.

The permit he had received from Lord Evans while proceeding with identity theft.

Ledgers related to various expenses, and so on.

On top of that, the pills that Seraphina had submitted, which she had received from Isaac, were also presented.

It was evidence that Isaac had forced her to commit perjury by threatening her life.

“Furthermore, given that Her Majesty the Empress’s poisoning symptoms were identical to the symptoms when the previous Lord and Lady Claudius died.”

Claudius’s lawyer pushed up his glasses and looked at His Majesty the Emperor.

“We request that a new investigation into the truth behind the previous Duke and Duchess’s deaths is also necessary.”

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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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