The Second Life's

XLIX - High Court (III)

“Alright, Marchioness Franklin. Please speak with a duration of five minutes,” said the Supreme Court Justice.

Perhaps Marchioness Franklin would be honest about the problems that befall me. I could see the sly smile of Marchioness Franklin as our eyes met. He had planned everything carefully.

“Can we know that since the generations of the Emperor couple is a woman who comes from the upper class nobles. From recorded history to the present, only women from Duke to Count descent were selected,” said Marchioness Franklin. “Your Majesty the Queen is the son of a Duke, as is the case with Her Majesty the previous Queen.”

“Everything looks good to the point where there is an ordinary noble who dreams of being part of the ranks of women who bear the title Queen,” continued Marchioness Franklin. “Very many problems created by the woman, including harming His Highness the Crown Prince while in celebration of the Hunting Day.”

What's?! Marchioness Franklin's gone crazy, huh?

“Can we know other reasons?” pinta the Supreme Court Justice.

“Good, Supreme Court.” Marchioness Franklin. “In addition to harming His Highness the Crown Prince, he also blatantly attracted the attention of my youngest son. Even he purposely used my son to ask my son to teach him the sword. He must have wanted to tease my son. The proof can be seen during the incident on the night of her engagement party with Her Highness Crown Prince.”

I took a breath to keep my mind calm. The entire audience, including Dad and Jayden, were shocked to hear the Marchioness Franklin's statement.

I must be sad about that.

“Good. Marchioness Franklin can sit back,” said the Supreme Court Justice without any expression. After being invited to sit down, Marchioness Franklin finally walked from the podium to her seat again.

The Chief Justice turned his eyes to me. “For a witness, Charlotte Mikaela Winston, please provide a statement ...”

I turned to Idris as he spontaneously grasped my hand briefly. He whispered to me to speak words of encouragement. I gave her a small smile, then then walked towards the podium and stared at the Supreme Court Judge for a few moments without blinking.

“I, Charlotte Mikaela Winston, will say honestly on behalf of the Goddess of Virtue and ruler of the Vanhoiren Empire,” I said aloud.

“Good, Miss Winston. You have five minutes from now,” said the Chief Justice.

“As Marchioness Franklin explained earlier, the audience must have begun to doubt me as a future Queen. Right now I just want to straighten things out so that there are no more misunderstandings,” I said politely. “The first time, I have not harmed His Highness the Crown Prince at all. What happened to us in Beck's woods was a pure accident. The nobles who did not participate in the Hunting Day certainly did not know the details of the story and only ate gossip talk.”

I quip Marchioness Franklin blatantly.

“Gossip what do you mean?” marchioness Franklin asked in an annoyed tone. He stood up and looked at me with a sharp look.

Nah!

Again the Supreme Court Judge tapped the hammer in his hand for all to calm down again. “I beg Marchioness Franklin to sit and be quiet so that witnesses can talk.”

“Please continue,” said the Supreme Court Justice.

I nodded and smiled. “At the time when My Highness the Crown Prince entered into the deepest part of the Beck forest, we did not expect to meet a Giant Salamander.” I sighed a little because of the audience's unexpected response. They did not believe me, but I continued my testimony as long as there was still time left.

“When fighting the Giant Salamander, it turns out that there was more than one who came to surround us. Fortunately they fled without us knowing the cause,”. “And for my relationship with Mr. Franklin, it is true that I am currently being trained in swordplay by Mr. Franklin. But only teachers and students. I have absolutely no feelings whatsoever towards Mr. Franklin because my heart is only for His Highness the Crown Prince.”

The Supreme Court looks understood. “Alright, Miss Winston. You can return to your seat.”

I'm down. “Thank you,” I said politely and then moved back to my seat.

“You okay?” Idris asked in a whisper.

“Ya, Idris,” I replied in a slow tone.

“I invite His Highness the Crown Prince to give a defense,” said the Supreme Court Justice.

Idris was treated with special care by being left standing in his seat. There was no time limit for him to make a statement. I don't know if I should be happy or envious about this. Besides, Idris is now on my side. I have to keep quiet.

“I will say honestly on behalf of the Goddess of Virtue and also the ruler of the Vanhoiren Empire,” Idris said. “Everything Miss Charlotte said was true. Neither the statement about the events in Beck's forest, nor his relationship with Mr. Franklin who is the youngest son of Marchioness Franklin.”

“Miss Charlotte has helped me out of that distress. I owe him so much. Two weeks ago I dropped off an expedition team led directly by the Franklin family's son. I was hoping that if they found anything related to the Giant Salamander, they would not find any evidence. Finally with a heavy heart I closed the case so as not to add fear to the people of Vanhoiren.”

“Then, for the matter regarding Mr. Franklin's relationship with Miss Charlotte, I can vouch for myself if they don't have any special relationship. As we all know, the Queen has her own palace. And to support the safety of the Queen, there will be the best knight appointed as the Queen's protector,” said Idris at length.

“Until here you can guess the continuation. Yes, Mr. Franklin will be Miss Charlotte's personal knight when he ascends the throne with me as a Queen.”

The cry of surprise sounded. The Marchioness Franklin. He did not even expect that his youngest son would not tell this important matter to himself. I smiled looking at his expression.

“Mr Franklin often goes in and out of the Bronze Palace, the place where Miss Charlotte lives, with my own supervision. Sometimes I also come and watch their practice in the back garden. If you don't believe it, you can check Miss Charlotte's already delicate palm like the other women,” continued Idris. “More or less, that's the statement I can give.”

The Supreme Court smiled. “Alright, Your Majesty. Thanks for the statement. We will discuss this first and announce the outcome of this hearing as soon as possible. The trial will restart after lunch.”

The Chief Justice and his two co-judges came out of the courtroom.