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Chapter 32
Dawn broke. It was the day Lady Lanton’s fate would be decided.
As Karin entered the royal courtroom, she saw the king slumped across his dais.
“We will now begin the trial.”
A long-winded explanation followed.
If Lady Lanton was found guilty, the next proceeding would be a witch trial. There would be an investigation into whether a witch had stolen Lady Lanton’s body or whether Lady Lanton had been a witch from the beginning, and so on.
Since none of it seemed particularly important, Karin let it go in one ear and out the other.
When the king finished his explanation, Marquis Ariella stepped forward to give his testimony.
“It was last week, in the morning. I happened to pass by the vault and felt that something was off. I always set the vault’s combination to zero, but that day one of the digits had been moved to one. Thinking it was suspicious, I opened the vault and…”
True to his reputation as a chatterbox—even by Karin’s standards—the marquis rambled on and on about things that didn’t matter.
“…the Saintess statue had vanished without a trace, and in its place was a horned demon statue! I was so shocked I nearly collapsed. I spent the entire day thinking about it. The Saintess statue couldn’t have turned into a demon statue by itself. Someone must have cast magic on it. But who could have done such a thing? Then it suddenly came to me. There was another person who knew the vault’s combination.”
Marquis Ariella pointed to Lady Lanton as that person.
“She did it out of spite after parting ways with me. There’s a reason the old saying goes that when a Saintess statue is stolen, a witch is nearby.”
The marquis continued piling accusations on Lady Lanton, citing the fact that she lived alone and rarely left her house as proof that she was a witch.
The claims were absurd, but Karin’s stomach twisted when she noticed several people nodding along.
“Very well. Next!”
With the marquis’s testimony finished, it was Lady Lanton’s turn.
“To be perfectly clear, I have never once had a close relationship with Marquis Ariella. I had no idea where the Saintess statue was kept, and I certainly don’t know any dark magic capable of turning a Saintess statue into a demon statue. I swear before the Saintess herself—I am not a witch!”
Unlike the marquis’s rambling speech, Lady Lanton’s testimony was concise and persuasive.
“Do either of you have anything further to add?”
Both Marquis Ariella and Lady Lanton shook their heads.
The king groaned.
“Hmm. Nothing else? Based on this alone, there’s not enough evidence.”
Of course there isn’t.
Just then, Karin spotted a familiar face entering the courtroom and raised her hand.
“Wait. A witness has arrived.”
As she pointed toward the door, everyone’s gaze followed.
“Hello. I’ve come to provide testimony that may help the trial.”
It was Rose.
With graceful steps, she crossed the courtroom and stood before the dais.
“I know who used dark magic on the Saintess statue. That person is…”
People swallowed nervously all around the room.
“Marquis Ariella!”
“Huh?”
“What did she just say?”
Murmurs erupted throughout the courtroom.
The marquis, who had been grinning confidently under the assumption that Rose would support him, instantly went pale.
“The marquis is a dark mage?”
“What nonsense is this all of a sudden?”
As the courtroom descended into chaos, the king struck his gavel.
Bang!
The room immediately fell silent.
“And who are you?”
“I’m a server at the tavern the marquis frequently visits. We see each other quite often.”
Rose answered smoothly.
“I didn’t personally witness him using dark magic, but last night he told me something. He said Lady Lanton irritated him and that he planned to teach her a lesson using his specialty—dark magic.”
The marquis’s face cycled through shades of red and blue.
He shot to his feet.
“W-When did I ever say that?!”
“I was so frightened that I couldn’t say anything…”
“That’s slander! Pure slander!”
The marquis trembled with rage while the king struck the gavel once more.
“Order! Do you have any other evidence? Words alone are not enough. We need solid proof.”
“Wait, there’s another witness!”
“And who might that be?”
The king asked.
Only moments earlier he had been slouched like a wilted bok choy in a hotpot, but now that the marquis was becoming the suspect, he sat upright with renewed interest.
“It’s me.”
At that moment, the marchioness, who had been sitting quietly beside her husband, raised her hand.
“You’re a witness?”
“I swear before the Saintess’s holy soul that I shall speak only the truth.”
Pushing past the marquis, she stepped before the dais.
Her gentle yet powerful voice echoed throughout the courtroom.
“As the mistress of House Ariella, I intended to carry my husband’s sins with me to the grave. But after witnessing this incident, I can no longer remain silent.”
Her husband’s sins?
Everyone held their breath.
“My husband is a dark mage and a demon worshipper.”
“That’s absurd!”
The two guards stationed beside the marquis restrained him as he tried to lunge forward.
Without even glancing at her seething husband, the marchioness continued.
“I saw him conducting a worship ritual with my own eyes yesterday.”
“That’s slander! Slander, I tell you!”
“When he recited his incantation, a crimson demonic mark appeared on his back. I never saw him remove it, so it’s probably still there now.”
“When did that happen?! Go ahead! Check if you don’t believe me!”
The marchioness smiled faintly.
“Well then, seeing it once is better than hearing about it a hundred times, isn’t it?”
Karin walked over and helped the marquis remove his outer coat.
After handing it to her, the marquis confidently lifted his shirt.
“Go on! Take a look!”
A tremendous uproar swept through the courtroom.
“My goodness!”
“I’ve never seen such a grotesque image in my life.”
“A residue of dark magic. It must be.”
The reactions were nothing like what the marquis had expected.
Confused, he stared blankly until Karin brought him a mirror.
“What is that?!”
The moment he looked into it, he recoiled in horror.
Painted across his back was a massive inverted pentagram.
At its center, a horned goat bared its teeth in a sinister grin.
Around the goat’s head spread intricate geometric patterns—similar enough to suggest order, yet impossible to decipher. The image radiated a strange sense of alienness.
It was horrifying, unsettling, and deeply disturbing to behold.
After seeing it, even the king squeezed his eyes shut.
“Enough. Put your shirt down. I don’t wish to see any more.”
Karin agreed completely.
This wasn’t Arken. She was being forced to stare at another man’s bare skin.
It couldn’t be helped, but it still left a bad taste in her mouth.
“I’ve seen many things in my life, but never this.”
“Using dark magic and worshipping demons. That’s a grave crime indeed.”
If things continued this way, the marquis would unquestionably be branded a dark mage.
Hearing the whispers around him, Marquis Ariella finally snapped back to his senses.
“This is ridiculous! Think about it carefully. If I were truly a dark mage, why would I replace the Saintess statue with a demon statue and then report it myself?”
He desperately tried to defend himself, but it was useless.
At this point, the trial was completely in Karin’s hands.
“You said you and Lady Lanton had parted ways, didn’t you? Then wouldn’t you also have held a grudge against her?”
“I may have sent her a few letters.”
“I burned every single one of them,” Lady Lanton muttered.
“Then you resented Lady Lanton and tried to frame her as a witch. The investigation simply exposed your scheme.”
Karin shrugged.
“If you’re innocent, then explain why that mark is on your back.”
“W-Well…”
The marquis racked his brain but couldn’t come up with a convincing answer.
Karin clicked her tongue.
“Exactly.”
“Now that we’ve seen undeniable evidence, I trust no one has any objections.”
The king raised his gavel.
“I hereby recognize Marquis Ariella as a dark mage. Furthermore, Lady Lanton is declared innocent.”
Bang!
With the strike of the gavel, the trial came to an end.
Witches were sent to the stake.
Dark mages were sent into exile.
Marquis Ariella would spend the remainder of his life on a remote island at the edge of the kingdom.
Watching from the rear of the courtroom, Marta stepped forward and fastened handcuffs around his wrists.
Click.
The sound echoed clearly.
The marquis offered no resistance.
He merely stared blankly ahead, muttering in disbelief.
“Why is something like this on my back?”
Half out of his mind, he was dragged away.
“All I did yesterday was drink and go to sleep…”
Serves you right.
You shouldn’t have spent your life behaving like that.
And you definitely shouldn’t have tried to frame an innocent person!
Karin giggled inwardly, feeling thoroughly satisfied.
The palace courtyard.
As the trial ended, crowds poured out of the building.
While searching for Karin, Arken noticed the Marchioness Ariella hurrying toward a horse tied nearby.
As she hastily climbed into the saddle, her bag slipped from her grasp.
The bag hadn’t been properly closed.
Something long and gleaming slid out.
It rolled across the ground and stopped directly at Arken’s feet.
Quietly, he picked it up.
It was the Saintess statue.
“This is…”
“Please give it back.”
The marchioness’s expression was unnaturally calm.
Arken looked from the statue to her and finally understood the truth behind the incident.
His brows furrowed.
“You’re the one who stole the Saintess statue?”
“That man deserved punishment.”
The marchioness dismounted.
Despite being caught red-handed, she remained remarkably composed.
“Roll up my sleeve.”
Arken had no particular reason to obey.
Yet something in her calm voice compelled him.
He reached out and lifted her sleeve.
Bruises.
Red and purple marks covered her pale skin like splashes of paint across a canvas.
“There wasn’t a single day I wasn’t beaten. Verbal abuse, physical abuse… There were countless times when I thought death would be preferable. I only wanted to reclaim my life. To do that, I needed the money from selling the Saintess statue.”
“So you replaced it with a demon statue to avoid your husband’s notice.”
“That’s right. I didn’t expect him to frame Lady Lanton as a witch, but at least it never reached a witch trial, did it?”
“Even so, you shifted the blame onto your husband.”
Arken reached out to stop her.
Or at least he tried to.
“Wait.”
Unbeknownst to him, Marta had overheard everything.
She stepped between them.
“Let her go.”
“Pardon?”
“As commander of the knights, I am granting her release.”
“What?”
Arken stared at Marta in disbelief.
“That isn’t your decision to make. This should be settled through a proper trial.”
“There are some things in this world that cannot be helped.”
Arken frowned.
“What does that even mean?”
“I heard the story. Last time, the reason she came to see me was because of a bet. You only got dragged into it. And this time was no different. You had no obligation to participate in the investigation, yet you still helped the young lady solve the case.”
Marta glanced at the tie pin attached to Arken’s necktie.
The silver accessory gleamed brightly.
“So answer my question first.”
She looked directly at him.
“What exactly is your relationship with the young lady that makes you go this far for her?”
After the trial ended, Karin waited for a long time in front of the palace gates.
Arken didn’t appear until nearly everyone had left the courtroom.
“Did something happen? Why did you take so long?”
“It’s nothing.”
Despite his answer, he looked unusually troubled.
Assuming he had his reasons, Karin didn’t press further.
There was something else on her mind anyway.
‘I wonder if Marta is alright.’
As far as Karin knew, Marta’s past wasn’t very different from that of the Marchioness Ariella.
Considering that the marchioness had no children, Marta’s circumstances might have been even worse.
Seeing the marchioness must have reminded Marta of her former self.
‘Everyone probably has at least one memory they’d rather forget.’
Karin was no exception.
On the ride home, she found herself reflecting on the past.
When she arrived at the estate, she discovered that the dress she had chosen together with Iris had already been delivered to her room.
Iris, surprisingly enough, was quite impatient.
The very next day, Karin received an invitation to Iris’s party.
“Miss, if you’re going to attend the party, shouldn’t you start preparing?”
Marie looked worried.
“It’s fine. I don’t need to.”
Karin shoved the invitation into a corner and paid it no mind.
After all, she was convinced the party would soon be canceled.
And yet, strangely enough, no notice of cancellation ever arrived.
Feeling increasingly uneasy, Karin finally went to the venue on the day of the event.
Then she froze in surprise.
The place was overflowing with people.
