Copy Skills with Affinity! - Chapter 31

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Natty

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Copy Skills with Affinity! ◈

Chapter 31: Trial

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Aiden would honestly say that a courtroom was not a place he liked very much.

A natural reaction for someone whose real profession was that of a con artist.

So voluntarily setting foot in such a place was highly unusual for him.

... No.

Considering the recklessness he was showing now, perhaps it was only natural.

Noel kept glancing at Aiden, seated beside her.

The instant he heard that the Prince was here, he had rushed over without a thought for his usual preferences.

And the trial currently underway was exactly the kind that would make him furious. It was to determine the punishment for Sir Levant, who had attacked Katia before.

"..."

What bothered her was this.

Both the Prince and the Minister of Administration had clearly seen her and Aiden arrive, yet neither showed any particular reaction.

It felt as though they had known they would come.

As if they had prepared something in advance.

She really did not like it.

"... Mr. Aiden, are you truly all right?"

Why else would she keep asking him that?

It was not a question one would expect from someone who always charged into enemy lines first without looking back on the battlefield, but Aiden was clearly in a dangerous state.

"I'm not all right."

... Even his answer made that obvious.

"Pardon?"

"I don't like having to sit here and wait."

"..."

While Noel was left speechless, Aiden glared at the Prince sitting on the platform with his eyes closed.

His gaze held compressed, subdued anger.

'At times like this, he has no brakes at all.'

Noel sighed inwardly.

She had only just managed to stop him, telling him that interfering with royalty during official business was itself a serious crime and that he should at least wait until the trial ended.

She had noticed it several times now. He tried to let anything concerning himself roll off his back, yet whenever something happened to someone close to him, he lost all restraint.

"Different genders, but he's quite like Teresa. Don't you think?"

"Like the Lord Protector, who was her teacher."

"..."

Noel unconsciously clenched the hand resting on her knee.

Though she tried not to show it, the sight from last night still clung to her mind like black soot.

'Why?'

According to widely known belief, two conditions were needed for a spirit to manifest in the material realm.

It had to have achieved a certain level of attainment, and it had to retain an intense lingering regret.

And Teresa, appearing as a ghost, had attacked her. As though that had been the regret she had carried in life. As though that was why she had not yet fully passed into the Underworld.

'Why?'

As that thought reached her, her already clenched fist tightened until her knuckles turned white.

What came to mind was the memory of that night.

The words Teresa had left behind when Noel last saw her.

"I'll stay behind, Noel."

"You know it too. You'll become a greater person than I ever could."

"You have to..."

"Protect the people."

"All right?"

She stopped her thoughts when she realized blood was running between her fingers.

"..."

Noel discreetly covered it and closed her eyes.

'This is dangerous.'

... She had to remain composed. Especially in front of the Prince and the Minister of Administration.

There was no telling what Aiden might do, so at least she needed to maintain her calm.

"... Thus, the defendants caused an incident near the Imperial Capital government building on the aforementioned date, and this..."

When she glanced to the side, Aiden was frowning at the Minister of Administration, who was speaking from the witness stand.

... Honestly, Noel fully understood his reaction.

The Minister of Administration. Rad Ilja Barfon.

Outwardly, he seemed completely harmless, but there was something about him.

A hunter. A predator. Or perhaps...

A venomous snake.

Someone who concealed that kind of sinister nature.

And that impression would only grow stronger once one heard what he said next.

"As it happens, the parties concerned are here as well."

Rad's gaze settled on Aiden and Noel in the audience.

"...?"

Noel frowned as he calmly and naturally drew them into the center of the proceedings.

"Then shall we raise an interesting point for discussion?"

Rad continued with the same pleasant smile.

"Those of you who know may already be aware, but there was an interesting incident last night, was there not?"

The moment Noel heard that, her expression froze.

This was certainly not a subject that should suddenly be raised here.

"The arms-smuggling incident at the Imperial Capital docks some time ago. A serious crime scene where even Hellfire Bombs were found. Then there was the terrorist attack inside the Imperial Capital government building, not to mention the Lord Protector's restless spirit that appeared yesterday..."

His fingers drifted gently through the air before pointing to one spot.

It was clearly a gesture aimed at Noel. It was like a staged performance, but...

It held unmistakable malice.

"Do those not all have one common denominator? It seems as though every one of them occurred around a particular person."

... In one sense, she could agree.

It was an interesting point, certainly.

Looking around, the judge, the defendants, and the plaintiffs were all silent. Everyone in the room was focused solely on the Minister of Administration's words.

As if this entire place were his stage.

'Is he really pulling something this obvious?'

Noel stared at the Minister of Administration with an incredulous expression.

At this point, she could understand why Aiden had been glaring at a man he had never met as though he wanted to kill him.

It was as though they had known from the start that she and Aiden would come here, and had clearly laid something out with them in mind.

"... What exactly are you trying to say, Minister?"

When she responded in a stiff voice, the Minister of Administration stroked his chin and slowly opened his mouth.

"It is simply that the origins of every recent incident seem to lie around you, which makes coincidence difficult to believe. Interesting, is it not? Does it not feel as though Lionheart herself is causing all sorts of chaos in the Imperial Capital? Ah, I am not saying that is truly the case, of course."

Rad added with a smile.

"Not yet."

... He was a man exceptionally gifted at infuriating people.

"In other words."

Noel answered calmly. Her voice carried not only anger, but disbelief.

"You are saying that the arms smuggled into the Empire, the daytime terrorist attack on the Imperial Capital government building, and the Lord Protector's restless spirit returning were all events connected to me?"

"I am saying it is possible to suspect as much."

"..."

... It was so absurd that she could not even become angry.

She did not feel there was any reason to respond.

"I believe that assertion is inappropriate for this setting. An accusation carries weight only when testimony follows due process."

"Ah, naturally."

The Minister of Administration snapped his fingers.

As though directing a prearranged actor to begin performing.

"Then please tell us. Sir Levant, seated in the defendant's chair under due process, who was behind the terrorist attack on the Imperial Capital government building?"

"... I acted under Lionheart's orders."

Sir Levant spoke indifferently.

The sentence fell without warning, making everyone present stir.

"And the reason?"

"The motive was that she disliked her husband. It was a political attack."

As soon as those words were spoken, fierce reactions burst from the people around them.

Those who had coordinated their story beforehand were one thing, but shock appeared across the faces of the uninvolved people attending the trial.

This was said during a trial attended by the Minister of Administration and the Prince, by a knight who stood at the center of the Imperial Military and was even a veteran with combat experience.

No matter how absurd it sounded, it could not be dismissed as a complete lie.

Regardless of whether the rumor was true, the news itself was a shocking scandal. It would spread everywhere before long.

That alone would damage her reputation.

"..."

Noel ground her teeth.

The situation was obvious.

Sir Levant had likely negotiated to bear all punishment for those words, while their subordinates would be spared.

Whatever their relationship, Sir Levant cared deeply for their subordinates. It would not have been difficult to persuade Sir Levant.

It was a farce anyone could see through, a blatant, reckless attack meant to pin everything on her.

What infuriated her more was the purpose behind it.

This was not merely meant to damage her reputation.

'I'm not the target.'

When she connected it to the Prince's usual conduct, it was not difficult to read his intentions.

The Prince's ultimate target was not her, but her fiancé seated beside her.

No matter how much attention Aiden had drawn so far, he was an outsider with no foundation at all in Imperial politics.

Everything he had done until now was only the minimum required to serve as Lionheart's husband.

The only reason she had been able to make those around her accept a marriage to such a man was entirely because of Noel's own reputation and connections.

If Lionheart herself had made the decision, then they could not treat that man carelessly.

That was what the other side was after.

He wanted to tear down her social standing in order to drive a wedge between her and Aiden.

"If you spread such false rumors, you may not be able to handle the consequences once the truth comes out."

Then the best rebuttal she could make here was simply to deny it calmly and firmly.

She had not lied about anything in the first place. All she had to do was reveal the truth exactly as it was.

The problem was...

"Ah, but."

There was one point.

One accusation she could not defend herself against.

"Did the Lord Protector's restless spirit not clearly attack you?"

"-"

For an instant.

It felt as though the blood drained from her face.

"Tell us yourself, Lionheart. Would the Lord Protector ever turn a sword upon someone who was not an enemy of the Empire, even by mistake?"

"..."

"One of the heroes who saved the nation, someone who gave her life for the country as if it were nothing. How do you intend to explain that fact?"

In every other matter, the truth was on her side.

But in this one...

She could not offer any answer.

The reason was simple.

She did not know either.

She had no idea why Teresa's spirit had done such a thing.

No, perhaps deep down...

She still harbored the suspicion that what they were saying might be true.

"..."

Such doubt delayed her response, and that brief hesitation immediately became a weakness.

The best lies were those mixed with a small part of the truth.

The expressions of those seated around her changed.

Since she could not immediately answer, they appeared to believe that the Minister of Administration's suspicions might hold some merit.

"..."

The courtroom was as quiet as before, silence filling the room.

But the atmosphere was clearly moving in the direction the Minister of Administration wanted.

Every recent incident in the Imperial Capital was Lionheart's fault.

Even if that could not be proven, this was about to become the moment that made everyone suspect it.

'... This is bad.'

Even with her face pale, that was the only thought Noel barely managed to form.

Because of her mistake just now, the atmosphere had been completely drawn to their side. There would probably be quite a few people who took the Minister of Administration's words as entirely true simply because of how she looked.

Which meant...

It would naturally lead into an attack on this marriage itself. Her actions just now had opened the way for it.

So...

Had one person not suddenly risen from his seat and crossed the center of the courtroom, things might have gone that way.

"But I do feel a little hurt."

Everyone's attention turned to the man who spoke in a low voice.

"Why leave one person out?"

It was an incredibly relaxed voice for a courtroom wrapped in tension.

One could say it felt strangely detached from the situation.

"There is one more person. Your so-called common denominator."

But those who knew the owner of that voice would have judged it differently.

"I was at every place you mentioned. The arms smuggling, the terrorist attack, the restless spirit, all of it."