CH 142

“wait a minute.”

dana, who had only made a short statement throughout the trial, raised her hand. the presiding judge nodded lightly and recognized her right to speak.

“i don’t know how to reveal that i’m me, but dana deniz almost died by rian felice, but she’s alive like this. i indeed entered the grand duchy as a stand-in. but it was just a process, and i’m dana deniz anyway.”

“do you have any evidence?”

“that’s…”

dana brought up the distribution network and goods at the deniz merchants, which she had entered since childhood and the elders who worked with russell deniz.

he nodded at the detailed and specific statement, but it was not direct evidence.

“then why did you go to stand in when it was you?”

“i’ll tell you that.”

leon, who had been silently in his seat, stood up. dana and others saw him with surprised eyes.

leon stepped out and stood in front of the presiding judge. even though he was an unspecified witness, the judge could not refuse and approved him.

“hey, go ahead, your grace.”

“she was wearing expensive clothes when i found her in the mountains. she had no memories of the past at all.”

“well, that’s consistent with witness harbert’s words. the prosecutor also said that rian felice killed dana deniz, who died in the mountains.”

“there was a hand mark on her neck. anyway, she lost my memory and went out of the castle in an accident for a while. at that time, the only thing she knew was my last name.”

later, lisa continued to make remarks about how she ran into dana and was called “sarah” without her memory, explaining what she had done at the deniz merchants.

harbert closed his mouth tightly, perhaps because he didn’t know of lisa’s existence, or whether his statement was overturned and taken for a mistake.

“when you came to the castle a while ago, you must have been aware of her survival, dana deniz. harbert, did you lose your memory?”

“this is so easy.”

when he saw one side collapse without having to touch it, marvin clicked his tongue as if he was amazed and sent a look of sympathy toward rian and harbert.

rian’s side no longer seemed willing to argue.

dana’s unilateral offensive and rian’s meaningless rebuttal continued, and documents appeared indicating the end of the game.

dana took it out and submitted it to the podium where the presiding judge was.

“this is a pledge shared by the tertius’ and the deniz’s. if i’m not really dana deniz, the management dispute at the top of deniz is meaningless in the first place.”

“hmm.”

the presiding judge carefully read the two documents placed side by side.

“the owner of the deniz merchant was the tertius family.”

“that’s right. it’s a management right transferred only from tertius to deniz. re-transferring what has been transferred is not allowed in the first place.”

the presiding judge stroked his beard and made eye contact with dana under the podium. then dana smiled and answered conclusively.

“and now i am a person of tertius.”

* * *

the ruling was not made immediately on that day.

the statements and testimonies had to be reorganized and proved.

after a little longer, they gathered again for a ruling.

as a result, all testimonies could be revealed. the murder of count felice was a little difficult, but lisa asked for old colleagues and asked for stories about the times.

what christine and harbert testified was relatively easy, and it was possible to dig up and recognize more people around them.

their testimony was true.

of course, harbert had to be punished separately because he had perjury to fulfill his greed.

harbert was tied to a gunboat on the spot and sentenced to labor. it was normal to send it to tertius castle, but leon refused, saying he could not take in the trash.

“rian felice was stripped of his title and deprived of his position as a nobleman.”

to deprive the nobility of his position meant an obvious next step.

rian, whose upper body was tightly tied to the rope, looked around him, searching for his savior who might be there.

then, when he saw duke hamilton, he welcomed him and tried to open his mouth.

“he’s the one who fooled and deceived my daughter, so i hope the judge will make a quick decision.”

however, duke hamilton urged the presiding judge as soon as he made eye contact.

“hallucinogens were distributed and used on the royal family of a country, killing his parents who took him in despite his blood…”

the different crimes were recited one after another, and those who heard them were astonished. unlike before, people gathered before the presiding judge who read the judgment.

many people would have sympathized with the results, so there won’t be much gossip about rian felice’s punishment.

leon decided to proceed with this publicly with the approval of the emperor.

“you will be hanged.”

he was sentenced, and leon saw dana’s expression. it was clear that dana loved rian.

so he suddenly wondered if she would be sad about the death of her ex-lover or happy about the death of her enemy.

“it’s over.”

with a light answer, she seemed somewhat complicated and thoughtless.

“the merchant group is the way it was, and you will manage it.”

rian was dragged out to the middle of the court with both hands in front and tied to a rope. people sitting on both sides watched him. leon and dana were between them.

“i will.”

it took a moment for dana to answer like that.

rian, who was passing by dana, suddenly struggled and shook off the soldiers, and rushed toward her. there was a small knife in his hand that he had been holding for a while.

“oh, my god.”

“oh my god! be careful!”

the screams of the surprised people resonated here and there. she saw his expression the moment he ran out. she got goosebumps all over her body.

rian looked at dana with resentment but smiled as if he was happy to go together. but it was short-lived.

rian’s body rolled to the ground with a thud.

“ugh.”

“catch him.”

“ye, yes!”

rian fell off leon’s single kick. when leon ordered coldly, the soldiers panicked and pulled him up roughly.

“are you okay?”

leon looked at her anxiously, and dana managed to nod. she answered, but somehow her hands and feet felt cold.

when rian and the soldiers stepped out of court and gradually became invisible, there were abusive words and beatings.

perhaps the soldiers were venting their anger at the reprimand they were about to face.

“…ah.”

and when even that was not heard, dana, who had been holding out well throughout, collapsed helplessly.

“dana.”

leon hugged dana without saying anything. she endured well pretending to be calm, but she would have had a hard time in her own way.

she was the heiress of a subject who was so precious and no less noble than the spirit of the aristocracy. the series of things she went through could never be easy even for an ordinary person.

in particular, the trial, which took place over several days, exhausted her body and mind enough to dull even the blade of revenge, no matter how advantageous it was.

“did you get surprised?”

whispering in her ear, leon fixed dana, who had no answer, hugged her again, and left the place.

perhaps rian’s hanging would be done publicly, but he didn’t have much intention of showing it to dana personally.

rather, the condition of dana, who he is hugging now, was a little unusual, so it bothered him more.

“lisa, go to the castle first and put the doctor on standby.”

“yes, your grace.”

lisa also ran fast and disappeared on a horse, as if she felt dana’s complexion was not good.

leon hugged dana and climbed into the carriage. dana leaned against leon’s arm with a cloudy consciousness and closed her eyes.