HRLR 34

Chapter 34

Having grown up as royalty and endured countless assassination attempts, Abinian was accustomed to sensing the presence of others. Ever since that young man had slipped in wearing a hood, Abinian had been dying of curiosity about what kind of person he was.

An amount of mana powerful enough to blow away not only this courtroom but half the capital if anyone so much as touched a single hair on Radian’s head was constantly circulating through his body.

Despite the chilling aura that made one’s entire body tremble, it was concealed so perfectly that people chatted peacefully right beside him.

When Mikael briefly glanced at him during the trial because of Abinian’s persistent stare, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.

The moment their eyes met—those clear gray-blue eyes—he felt as if tens of thousands of soldiers were charging toward him across a barren wasteland.

He appeared indifferent, but intense hostility lurked behind those eyes.

An ordinary person might have fainted on the spot.

Even Abinian, who had survived the Imperial Palace, found it difficult to breathe and felt his chest tighten.

Though their eyes met for less than three seconds, it felt like an eternity to him.

Only after Mikael looked away and returned his attention to Radian could Abinian breathe again.

At that moment, Abinian suddenly thought that perhaps the secret video of the two of them was not entirely a misunderstanding after all.

Even though tears had formed in his eyes from the suffocating pressure, a laugh escaped him.

Mikael was the kind of man who provoked another male’s competitive instincts.

How had Radian captured the heart of someone like that?

No—he had been captured.

A man with that kind of possessiveness would eventually devour what he desired down to the bone.

In that regard, Mikael and Abinian were very much alike.

Though Radian did not believe it, Abinian had fallen for her at first sight.

When he first saw her, it felt as though a clock inside him had finally started moving for the first time.

He had heard the sound of gears turning that should have been impossible to hear.

When he learned she was married, he had been deeply disappointed.

Then, near the end of the ball, when Radian told her husband she wanted a divorce, he had nearly proposed on the spot without even reading the room.

When he met her again at the tavern, he had been convinced it was fate.

Whatever might exist between those two, Abinian possessed something Mikael did not.

Power.

Even if it was power borrowed from his father’s name rather than his own, it was more than enough to save Radian.

Abinian intended to feed her every bit of that sweetness.

His competitive spirit had been stirred unexpectedly, causing him to become more involved than he had originally intended, but he was enjoying it.

Twenty-three years old.

He had spent long enough living as an idle noble.

If the first sacrifice of his newfound ambition was the neck of the heir to House Scanan, that would not be a bad beginning.

Suppressing the laughter threatening to burst out, Abinian opened his mouth.

“Does the Duke believe that the authority of the Imperial Family and the law are worth less than a single life?”

Gasp.

The crowd immediately turned pale.

What they had thought was merely a petty romantic dispute had escalated into a factional conflict.

The audience contained both supporters and opponents of the Duke’s faction.

The two sides instantly clashed, and the atmosphere in the courtroom sharpened.

“No matter how worthless he may be, he is still my son. My son has always had a loose tongue and a habit of making lies sound like truth. He was likely boasting to a friend as he always does.”

“Ha! You call that conversation mere boasting? Even a passing dog would laugh at that. Wouldn’t you agree, Judge?”

“Y-Your Highness, I…”

“I have already learned through this trial that you are a faithful dog of the Duke’s household, Marquis Rexai Damon.”

“Y-You know my name…?”

“Of course. Should I not know the names of the loyal subjects of His Majesty the Emperor—my father?”

The hidden meaning behind those words made the judge’s thin legs tremble beneath his tunic.

By saying “my father” instead of “His Majesty the Emperor,” the prince was effectively ordering him to conduct the trial in a manner pleasing to him.

Who would have thought Lady Radian had connections like these?

Every word spoken by Prince Abinian Irhen, who was said to have inherited the Emperor’s blood more strongly than any other royal, carried crushing weight.

The marquis, receiving the full force of those words, felt his trousers slowly growing damp.

“I-I…”

“Come to think of it, it seems you need to use the restroom. You should have said so earlier. I shall graciously wait for you, so go and take care of it.”

“Th-Thank you.”

The judge gratefully accepted the obvious order to leave.

Dragging his shaking legs, he staggered out of the courtroom.

Not long after leaving, however, all strength left his legs, and he collapsed to the ground.

If Marquis Iriot regained consciousness before the trial ended, the first thing he would hear would be his own death sentence.

“Ah…”

The judge groaned as he touched his face, which had become haggard in an instant.

“…Given the accuracy of the information presented, I hereby revoke Iriot Scanan’s status as heir and sentence him to lifelong confinement in the western tower of the Imperial Palace.

Furthermore, Marquis Jinadion bears grave responsibility for failing to correct his friend’s wrongdoing and for enticing him through misguided affection. Therefore, Marquis Jinadion is sentenced to sixty years of imprisonment.

Additionally, understanding Lady Radian Scanan’s inability to continue living with a husband who murdered his own family, I approve their divorce and restore her name from Lady Radian Scanan to Baroness Radian Clony.

Finally, House Scanan is ordered to pay ten million gold within seven days to Baroness Radian Clony as compensation and damages.”

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

With every strike of the gavel, the atmosphere in the courtroom boiled with countless emotions.

“Noooo! This can’t be happening!”

Iriot, who had regained consciousness about ten minutes before the verdict, rushed toward the judge, his eyes rolled back as if he were about to burst into tears again.

But the knights blocked his path.

Now that his crimes had been confirmed, Marquis Iriot was officially a criminal.

The judge fled the courtroom the moment the trial ended, moving faster than anyone else for fear someone might stop him.

Everyone stood frozen with their mouths hanging open at the unbelievable verdict.

The charges that had seemed destined to result in Iriot’s execution had taken an unexpected turn.

Thanks to the ingenuity of House Scanan’s lawyers, the narrative became one of poor, unfortunate Iriot Scanan being deceived by the wicked and scheming Marquis Jinadion.

Naturally, Jinadion protested.

But having inherited his title at a young age after losing his parents and possessing little political influence, he was dragged into the mud by House Scanan’s scheme.

The moment his own life was on the line, Iriot betrayed Jinadion without hesitation, claiming Jinadion had persuaded him to do it.

Even Radian could not help but pity the look on Jinadion’s face at that moment.

After that, it became a vicious dogfight.

Without any need for Radian’s involvement, the two men tore each other apart.

The sacred courtroom turned into a battlefield of romantic scandals.

Even the bold noblewomen who had remained until then eventually had to cover their children’s ears and leave one by one.

For Radian, it was not a completely satisfying result, but it was acceptable.

Abinian had done everything he could to push for Iriot’s execution.

The number of nobles he had gathered to his side behind the scenes was considerable.

Unfortunately, perhaps because of his image as someone who had never seriously engaged in politics before, the majority still sided with the Duke.

Even so, after a grueling ten-hour trial, the result was a victory.

Since the trial had been held directly before the Supreme Court of the Kria Empire, there would be no second or third trial.

They had attempted to eliminate Radian in one blow and ended up defeating themselves instead.

Though it was already late at night, the reporters’ enthusiasm had not cooled in the slightest.

At least ten times more recording orbs than before swirled around Radian.

“How do you feel after winning the case?”

“You’ve become the first person to win a divorce lawsuit! Please share your thoughts!”

“Is it true that you can use magic? May we ask what class mage you are?”

“Do you feel any guilt or regret toward the Scanan family, whom you lived with for so long?”

Radian wanted to leave without answering, but the reporters crowded around her, desperate to get even a single response.

Some zoomed in on her chest and exposed skin, recording her with lecherous intent.

For a moment, she regretted insisting on coming out alone after refusing both Mikael’s protection and Abinian’s company.

Still, she was glad she had left Wendy with Mikael.

At least Wendy would be taken home safely.

Radian glared at a reporter who was blocking her path while obsessively filming her body.

“That’s a good question. I’m an 8th-Class Mage, and if you don’t move aside within five seconds, I’m thinking of casting the strongest spell I know right here on these stairs.”

Was she serious?

Several reporters immediately stepped back in fear, opening a path.

Still trying to shake off the reporters following her, Radian pointed toward the sky.

“Look. Hellfire’s coming. Run.”

The reporters stared upward in horror.

Something actually was flying into the sky, making them panic even more.

“Aaah!”

“W-What?!”

Trying to avoid the object soaring overhead, the reporters scattered in every direction.

One reporter—the same one who had been filming her body earlier—was shoved down, and his expensive recording orb rolled away.

“My orb!”

As revolutionary as recording orbs were, they were also incredibly fragile.

The reporter rushed over, only to find it shattered into pieces.

Part of the storage crystal had cracked and turned to powder.

Even slight damage rendered the recordings unusable.

Destroying such an expensive orb practically guaranteed three months of reduced pay.

The reporter’s face twisted in despair.

Boom!

The object soaring through the sky exploded with a cheerful bang and transformed into fireworks.

Only after realizing the beautiful circular bursts posed no danger did the reporters look back toward where Radian had been.

By then, she was already riding away in a carriage she had prepared beforehand, leisurely departing from the courthouse.

“That was Hellfire?”

“Of course not. That was a 1st-Class Illusion spell.”

“…We got fooled.”

“…You figured it out quickly.”

Their foolish conversation drew quiet laughter from nearby onlookers.

Since Illusion Magic could only recreate things the caster had personally seen, those witnessing such dazzling fireworks for the first time could only stare in fascination at the beautiful display.

Inside the carriage, Radian continuously muttered incantations.

She had consumed a great deal of mana while rescuing Wendy earlier, but she wanted to celebrate herself, even if it meant overexerting herself a little.

Watching the fireworks she had created through the carriage window, Radian smiled nostalgically.

Guess all those years of watching the Yeouido fireworks from hotel rooms finally paid off.

The long and difficult road to her divorce had finally come to an end.

It was not the perfect conclusion she had wanted, but it was far better than the previous life where Iriot had burned her alive two years later.

Stretching lazily inside the spacious carriage, Radian recalled how every member of House Scanan had glared at her as though they wanted her dead.

The Radian of her previous life would have trembled under those looks.

But to the current Radian, those stares felt sweeter than any dessert in the world.

Just before leaving, Duke Ait had stopped her.

Mikael and Abinian tried to interfere, but Radian stopped them and stepped forward herself.

The two locked eyes, beginning a silent battle of wills.

‘You must be very pleased with yourself after creating this mess.’

At the blatant sarcasm, Radian smiled brightly and nodded.

‘It’s all thanks to your generous blessing, Duke Ait.’

The Duke’s eyebrow twitched.

He wanted to draw his sword and kill her immediately, but there were too many witnesses.

‘You may think you own the world right now and act as arrogantly as you please, but one day you’ll regret ever being born.’

Grinding his teeth, Duke Ait spat out every word.

Radian struck a cheerful fighting pose and beamed at him.

‘Yes! Do your best!’

The Duke could no longer contain his anger at her shameless mockery.

He slammed his fist into the courtroom wall.

BOOM!

The impact sent vibrations throughout the courtroom.

The force was so immense that cracks spread through the stone wall itself.

Everyone lowered their heads and hurried out, unwilling to provoke him further.

I should have recorded that expression with a video orb.

Radian clicked her tongue regretfully inside the carriage.

A man who had spent his entire life standing above others had finally tasted defeat.

The frustration and fury written across his face had been magnificent.

It was a shame, but it couldn’t be helped.

This wasn’t the end.

She would surely see that expression again.

Still, she had done well.

Radian gently ruffled her green hair.

“Good job, Radian.”

There was still a long road ahead.

But tonight, at least, she decided to rest peacefully.

Watching the fireworks she had created, Radian smiled serenely.

“Please take care of me from now on, too.”