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CHAPTER 28
‘Well, it makes sense.’
He had gone through cruel experiments that could destroy the humanity of both the person doing it and the one receiving it.
But Riana knew something about Grey—even something Grey himself didn’t know.
‘Don’t worry. You’re the male lead of a romance fantasy! Be confident! You’re going to love a woman with all your heart and soul!’
The kind of man who would cut down anyone who hurt the female lead himself.
Just thinking about that pretty pink head rolling around made her anxious. Riana grabbed Grey’s tattered sleeve and urged him.
“If you’re confident, then hurry up and make the promise. You said you wanted the flyer, right?”
“Hah.”
Grey just smirked. Riana, worried he might refuse, swallowed nervously.
“Why are you just laughing? Just hurry—”
“Because it’s funny.”
“What is?”
“You. Are you a yandere or something?”
Riana’s brow wrinkled at the sudden accusation.
“…What?”
“I mean, just now. It sounded like you were scared I might fall in love with you.”
How could anyone take it that way…?
Riana was caught off guard. She felt suffocated by how the conversation had suddenly gone off track. Even her voice showed just how confused she was.
“I just meant don’t fall in love with anyone.”
“Well, you’re the only person I know. Who else would I even love?”
He said it like it was a completely obvious fact. Riana grabbed the back of her neck in frustration.
You? Love me? I’d be lucky if you didn’t try to kill me!
Grey, not knowing how much she was panicking inside, had a slight blush on his ear and looked her straight in the eyes. He clearly wouldn’t say yes unless she clarified properly.
With no choice, Riana grumbled.
“Fine, then exclude me. Happy?”
“Then that means I’m not allowed to love anyone but you.”
“How does that mean that?!”
“That’s even more obvious, Riana.”
Now that she thought about it… it did sound that way. Saying “don’t love anyone but me” was basically saying “just love me.”
“No, forget that! Cancel! Just don’t love anyone at all! No girls, no guys, no animals, no plants, not even objects!”
She was giving up her title as the most cold-hearted person in the Kingdom of Diares—at least for four days.
“……”
Grey still looked like he wasn’t fully convinced, but after a long pause, he nodded.
Worried he might take it back, Riana quickly pulled the flyer from her room and handed it to him.
Then she returned to the Isolation Tower, where she had to spend the night tense and on edge, knowing the real competition had just begun.
Even though she’d been worried, for the next four days, Deborah and Grey didn’t interact again.
And soon, the trial for “the Duke of Droche’s possible involvement in the illegal smuggling of a magical experiment subject” began.
It was held 20 minutes by carriage from the Droche estate, at the Diares Branch of the Magic Association.
Summoned as the defendant, Killian Droche sat back in a chair with his long legs crossed. Even in that plain room, the moment he sat, it felt like the place turned into a throne.
“We will now begin the trial. This will proceed as a summary trial under the Association’s process. The defendant is Killian Marius Droche—Duke of Droche, Duke of Avery, Galanthus, and Marte, Count of Baymer and Enash, Viscount of Serce, Robensk—”
As the introduction dragged on, Killian rested his chin on his hand, clearly bored. Then—
Click! Click! Click!
The sound of shutters went off from the audience section.
The judge banged his gavel.
“Silence in the courtroom! Ahem. Where was I? Ah, yes… Viscount of Revendel—”
Killian uncrossed his legs and brushed back his hair.
Click! Click! Click! Click! Click!
“Ahem!”
The judge scanned the audience with a tired expression before looking back at Killian with what seemed like a glare of mild resentment.
If the Duke had tried to control the press, the audience section would be empty. If he had allowed just a few major news companies, only a few seats would be filled.
But now the courtroom was packed, even beyond the seating capacity. Everyone had brought huge cameras.
The judge spent the whole trial shooting daggers at Killian with his eyes.
‘This is the most chaotic trial I’ve ever seen, Duke.’
Killian, sensing the judge’s glare, smirked—and the shutter noise exploded again.
‘This kind of chaos works in my favor, judge.’
The judge’s eyes dropped to Killian’s outfit.
‘Did he have to dress like that…?’
Killian, who usually wore neat black or dark blue, showed up today in a wine-red suit!
Even though the judge wasn’t a fashion expert, even he could tell Killian looked way more stylish today.
Glossy fabric, a layered vest under a jacket with shiny gold buttons on his chest and sleeves…
‘I happen to believe looking good doesn’t hurt my case.’
As Killian casually raised an eyebrow, the judge felt a headache coming on.
Still, as annoying as it was, the judge also knew this noisy scene actually helped Killian.
Bad rumors were already spreading. To recover his name, Killian needed this trial’s outcome to be widely known. And since he was definitely going to be declared innocent…
But people love scandals and don’t care much about explanations. So the only way to drown out the bad press was to make a huge scene out of the good news.
‘Even so, this is too much.’
Everything else aside—
Click! Click!
Wasn’t it too much that the Minister of Magic himself was in the front row, snapping away at the defendant like a fan?
Despite all this, the trial moved along smoothly.
“—The desert kingdom’s trial found the head of the Malef Caravan and 15 others not guilty, and the witness’s testimony is deemed credible. Therefore, it is hard to say the defendant was involved in the case—”
Right before the verdict, Killian glanced toward the audience. Everyone’s eyes, which should have been on the judge, instantly turned to him.
He smiled.
People of all ages froze, stunned by his breathtaking beauty. Someone even mumbled without realizing it:
“Who did he just smile at…?”
The person next to them nudged them in the side.
“Probably the Minister of Magic! They’re relatives, right? I heard they’re super close.”
“Oh…”
With that, all eyes turned to the 60-something man in the front row, whose eyes were full of tears.
He really did look like the one being smiled at.
“…I’m jealous.”
Multiple people muttered at the same time, then suddenly snapped out of it.
They had just been smiled at by Killian Droche—and they missed their shot while daydreaming!
Shutters went off all around them in a mad rush.
Click! Click! Click! Click! ClickClickClickClickClick!
“That concludes the trial—sigh…”
It was late October, and though winter was coming…
Courtroom No. 1 of the Diares Branch of the Magic Association was burning hot.
Bang bang bang!
As soon as the trial ended, the judge left the courtroom looking exhausted.
Killian stood up, and Kim handed him a coat. Knights quickly surrounded them to protect him.
Meanwhile, Grey was sitting in the witness stand, quietly watching them.
Something felt off.
‘It’s all over now. I just need to get my payment…’
Grey had lived through a lot in his short 23 years. Especially, lots of danger.
The only thing that cursed life had gifted him was an instinct for sensing danger.
And that instinct was warning him now: something was about to happen.
His red eyes calmly scanned the courtroom.
The Duke was safe. The knights were all familiar and trustworthy.
Then what about the audience, now packed and busy packing up camera gear?
Suddenly, time seemed to slow down.
Grey’s gaze was pulled toward someone in the crowd, who was reaching into their sleeve and pulling out a blade—aimed at the Minister of Magic.
“Damn it!”
Grey jumped over the barricade separating the audience without hesitation. The attacker was using magic—he didn’t have time for a smarter move.
Thud—!
All he could do was take the stab instead of the Minister.
That afternoon, news of the trial spread quickly all over the capital—even to the Droche estate.
“This paper is harsh, but their news is the fastest.”
Mrs. Baker gathered the maids, collected half the price of the issue from each of them, and handed out the latest Forsthive Weekly.
Riana was also sitting at the table with the maids in the kitchen.
“What happened? Why hasn’t anyone come back yet even though it’s already late?”
Riana had been expecting Killian’s group to return proudly by now. The fact they hadn’t made her extremely nervous. All she wanted was for the trial to end and Grey to leave.
What if the trial got extended, or they called for a retrial—and Grey had to stay at the estate even one more day?
A day is more than enough time for a man and woman to fall in love. What if Grey started liking Deborah?!
