Chapter 161: Chapter 161: Downfall, Windfall (XV)

Bang!

“Open the door! Right now!”

Hudson slammed against the door and shouted.

Of course, the door did not open. Instead, the waiting knights ran over and grabbed Hudson.

Realizing he was already trapped, Hudson hurriedly relaxed his expression and began to act ignorant.

“Your Majesty, what is the situation? I asked Your Majesty for a private meeting, but seeing that everyone is gathered here… Is there an important meeting?”

The emperor walked right up to Hudson. Looking down at him, he stated,

“You tried to run away before you even heard what the situation was. It seems you have a lot to worry about, Duke Brions.”

“It’s not like that, Your Majesty. I haven’t been contacted by you, and I’m surprised that they’re all gathered like this. But why are you so stern? Let’s sit down and talk.”

“That will be difficult. I just heard that you tried to kidnap the grand duke’s daughter.”

No matter how hard Hudson tried, the emperor’s reaction was cold.

“Who the hell said that nonsense?”

Hudson complained, nervous; he didn’t know how much they knew and how to get out of it.

‘Albert might have blown my cover.’

It would be a big deal if Albert, who he believed would have committed suicide, had remained alive and betrayed him.

“There is no use pretending not to know. The person who led the kidnapping has already shown me the money he received and the instructions you gave.”

Hudson quickly changed his excuse as he listened to the emperor.

“…That’s right, but there’s a compelling reason for this.”

“Why?”

Deheen was glaring terribly from behind, but Hudson pretended not to notice and continued speaking.

“Actually… There is a woman I was in a relationship with a long time ago. I loved her sincerely, but when she had a child, she secretly left for fear of becoming a nuisance to me.”

“Lover? So did you throw her away?”

When Deheen came forward, angry at Hudson’s bullshit, the emperor stopped him by asking him to listen first.

“The daughter she gave birth to is now adopted by Grand Duke Deheen. I recently found out. It wasn’t kidnapping, I was trying to bring my daughter back.”

Hudson then asserted his parental rights to Esther.

“Your Majesty, I missed my daughter. From now on, I just want to give her the love I hadn’t given and raise her.”

“If everything you said is true, you should make a formal request. Does it make sense to kidnap her?”

“I went to see Grand Duke Deheen, but he was strangely obsessed with my daughter. He would never have given her back normally.”

At the same time, he condemned Deheen, describing him to be a thief who stole his daughter.

“Rather, I’m glad that everything is revealed. Your Majesty, please help me get my daughter back.”

Hudson even shamelessly lamented with tears.

Annoyed at that sight, Deheen grabbed the back of Hudson’s neck.

“Esther is my daughter. Don’t put her name in your filthy mouth.”

“Grand Duke Deheen, I am the child’s father. Of course I have to take her, right?”

Throwing Hudson a look of contempt, Deheen said,

“There are facts you don’t know.”

“What…”

“Esther, she is not only your daughter, she is also my niece.”

“Niece… what…?”

“Catherine is the younger sister of Irene, who was my wife. That means I can also claim Esther’s parental rights.”

“It’s a lie, Your Majesty. It can’t be.”

Since Catherine never spoke of a sister, Hudson raised his voice, rightly thinking that Deheen was lying to keep Esther from him.

However, having already verified the evidence presented by Deheen, the emperor did not listen to Hudson’s excuse and moved on to the next crime.

“This is not your only sin. Isn’t your daughter, who was appointed as a saint, fake?”

“Yes, I knew that a while ago. It was all done by my daughter, Rabienne. Alone.”

The wrinkles on the foreheads of the other family heads deepened at the sight of Hudson casually placing all responsibilities on his daughter.

“Your daughter pretended to be a saint by herself?”

“Yes. I really believed that my daughter would be a saint. Doesn’t Your Majesty know? That oath.”

“Are you sure everything is your daughter’s work? Doesn’t it matter what punishment your daughter receives?”

“…It’s a pity, but if she did something wrong, she should be punished appropriately. Truly, it’s a pity that the child’s misguided greed for the position of saint ruined her.”

With a very distressed expression, Hudson added.

“If necessary, I will send Rabienne away from the Brions family. So please don’t put the blame on the family, Your Majesty.”

Until the end, he did not admit any of his sins and tried to escape.

“Your Majesty, do you need to hear more?”

Deheen interrupted, holding his arm down as he thought he would slash his sword at Hudson if he listened any longer.

“There’s already witnesses, and there’s evidence, so it’s wrong to try to get out, Hudson.”

Elise clicked her tongue, looking at Hudson like he was pathetic.

“I, along with the other three family heads, have made the decision to expel the Brions family from the four great families.”

Hudson’s eyes widened at the emperor’s declaration, and he shouted, “This is nonsense!”

“It can’t be like this. What do you mean, expulsion from the fourth generation? Is that possible?”

“It’s possible with the consent of the other three families and me. So, from now on, the Brions territory and all property will be confiscated by the imperial family.”

Hudson, who was deprived of everything from the territory to his property in an instant, was incredulous.

“Your Majesty! This is ridiculous!! I can’t accept it! I will formally protest! I’ll let the other nobles know about Your Majesty’s arbitrariness…”

He intended to keep screaming, but his cry quickly disappeared because he was dragged away by the knights.

“I will keep Hudson in the imperial prison until the trial.”

“Yes, and since Hudson blames it all on his daughter, how about taking her from the temple and putting her on trial as well?”

Deheen intended to have Hudson and Rabienne face joint punishment, no matter who was at fault.

“That would be nice. I will send a summons request to the temple soon.”

“Your Majesty, what do you plan to do with the temple now?”

At Carter’s question, the emperor tapped his chin. Then he carefully answered.

“I plan to leave it as it is until the epidemic subsides.”

The temple officials would be held accountable, but there might be too much confusion especially with the four great families being reorganized right now.

“First of all, let’s announce throughout the empire the matter of the false saint and the fact that the Brions family will be expelled from the four great families.”

The temple was still hiding the fact that Rabienne was a fake.

Just by spreading the fact, the prestige of the temple would be reduced, and it would not be able to exert as much influence as before.

Soon, a large number of imperial knights under the orders of the emperor set out to take control of the Brions territory.

★★★

Exiting the Imperial Palace, Deheen, Carter, and Elise exchanged their last greetings before scattering to their respective territories.

“We should get together once again after all the affairs of the Brions family and even the temple are sorted out.”

As if surprised by those words, Carter hit Deheen’s shoulder with his fist.

“Why? Are you going to buy me a drink?”

“Yes.”

Although they used formal speech in official settings, Deheen and Carter didn’t care about titles as they had known each other for a long time.

“Wow, the sun will rise in the west. I can’t believe you’re going to buy all the drinks.”

Carter, who was obviously joking, laughed heartily at Deheen.

“There’s nothing to be thankful for. In the future, the power of the three great families will be stronger. I was judging for justice and for my land.”

It was an Elise-like answer that always clearly distinguished between public and private.

“Then I’ll go first.”

After lightly shaking the hands of the two men, Elise boarded the carriage, the hem of her dress fluttering.

Deheen was about to leave, but Carter stopped him.

“Deheen, isn’t the birthday of the daughter you mentioned coming up?”

“Yes. There’s a week left.”

“But why is it so quiet?”

“I wanted to make it fancy, but my daughter said she wanted it to be small because of the epidemic. I’m sorry, but what can I do? My daughter thinks so deeply.”

Carter cleared his throat a few times at Deheen’s words, which were subtly mixed with pride for Esther.

“Then, do you plan on not inviting outsiders at all this time?”

“It’s not like that.”

Deheen glanced back at the Imperial Palace.

He didn’t send an actual invitation, but somehow he had already invited Noah, the crown prince.

“I’m thinking of calling some of the kids who are friendly with my kids.”

“That’s good. Then can my son attend the party too?”

Knowing that Judy and Sebastian were close friends, Deheen readily nodded.

“You mean Sebastian? Of course. The kids will love it if he comes.”

“Haha–ahem, but do you know? I think our Sebastian really likes Esther. I wonder what Esther thinks.”

Carter’s voice was one of excitement, trying to weave Sebastian and Esther, but…

“That little bastard likes Esther? Since when?”

Seeing that Deheen’s eyes were bloodshot, Carter hurriedly waved his hand, thinking that he had said the wrong thing.

“No, I’m just saying… But what did you say? Is he lacking? What’s wrong with Sebastian?”

“All right. If you have other intentions, I hope you don’t come to Esther’s birthday.”

“Huh, this guy is mean. Do you know how excited Sebastian will be to attend your daughter’s birthday?”

Carter had told Sebastian that he would accept the invitation if it was extended. He couldn’t go back without it, he refused to be an incompetent father.

“So… I understand that you allowed it!”

Carter waved his hand to keep Deheen from saying anything else, swiftly climbed into the carriage, and had it drive away.

“This guy, that guy, it’s a mess. This is all because our Esther is so pretty. Isn’t that right, Ben?”

“That’s right.”

Deheen was annoyed, but couldn’t hide a hearty smile.

“I must hurry back and tell Esther the news.”

Recalling Esther’s delighted expression, Deheen abandoned the carriage he rode earlier and mounted his horse.

★★★

Even if one just stayed still, the body would naturally become languid in the afternoon.

Esther was sitting at her desk, looking intently at the ancient book.

She found nothing more, but in case she missed something, she was leafing through the pages.

“Lady Esther, can I get you some dessert?”

Dorothy came up to Esther, tempting her.

“Ah! Today is the day desserts come from the bakery, right?”

“Yes. A lot of the tarts that you like are available.”

“I want some.”

Obeying Esther’s bright words, Dorothy went to the kitchen to get dessert.

But as soon as Dorothy left, Esther’s expression darkened rapidly.

She closed the book she hadn’t really been paying attention to and let out a deep sigh.

“Can I just leave the epidemic as it is?”

Ame: I just realised that the trial will only be in the side stories, so I guess from now on till the end, it’ll be happy stuff!