'Why is she suddenly holding a holy relic?' Count Beauport thought as he stared in shock together with the other vassals.
They were agitated as they didn't expect this situation in the slightest.
"Divine Judgment…" Vincent murmured.
Holy relics were extremely hard to find. They were usually found in unexpected places.
Humans could not look for one. Rather, the holy relics would randomly appear on its own.
Once, it was buried under the sea. And at times, it was mixed in the trash.
For her to find such a relic… it could only be considered as a miracle.
The one chosen by the Gods.
Vincent was greatly astonished.
'She never fails to surprise me.'
"The Divine Judgment? I've never heard of such a thing! What could that relic possibly do?" The count asked.
He was trying to conceal his anxiety and delay as much time as he could.
Vincent had already despised breathing in the same air as the count—hearing the count's ignorant words only managed to irritate him even more.
The young lad answered, "When confessing in the face of God, one should always tell the truth. If one tries to deceive God, judgment will fall upon him, and he will be condemned for his sins."
God's Judgment.
In ancient times, the relic was used as a training tool for priests so that they could further obey the doctrine of God.
But in this situation, the holy relic has a different use.
It was to determine who was lying and who was telling the truth.
The vassals were in panic.
They did not know what to do.
'How is this possible?!'
It was like scattering ashes on the already cooked rice.
The tension in the basement was palpable.
Count Beauport spoke, "J-judgment, but how…?"
At that moment, Aria moved her lips.
Lloyd, who was capable of lip-reading, delivered her words to the audience.
"Let's test it, shall we?"
"…..!"
"Ah, that's right. We happen to have someone in front of us that could confirm its effectiveness," he said in a mocking tone.
Lloyd continued to lead the situation in a comfortable manner.
"I'll ask you first, Vincent."
The blonde boy bit his lips.
Aria approached the boy while holding the relic.
Vincent pulled out his hand and held the relic as well.
He was extremely nervous.
"Are you a spy of the gutter rat?"
"…No," he replied in a subdued manner.
Of course, nothing happened.
Vincent was vindicated.
In a matter of seconds.
The situation, which seemed unlikely to be overturned, was easily countered within a snap of the little girl's fingers.
"Have you ever harmed the House of Valentine, or have you ever been involved in a moment?"
"No, never."
The boy responded firmly with a little more confidence than before.
He was shaking before, but he had finally regained his composure.
Tristan, who had been silent all the time, finally spoke, "Why were you in the feeding den?"
"That's… I'm sorry, but I cannot answer that. However, I never did anything that would harm the house."
"Is that so…"
The situation was cleared up relatively fast.
Count Beauport stared at the scene before him. He was too shocked to speak.
'This is preposterous!'
All of his hard work was ruined within minutes!
He couldn't let this happen.
'That bloody blighter pisses me off! Does she have a grudge against my family? Why does she keep interfering with my plans?!'
At first, Count Beauport thought that Aria was of no threat. His son was ripped off his title because of her, but it was alright. It could have just been a coincidence after all.
But he was wrong. He was led to his defeat because he missed the chance to get rid of her beforehand.
Count Beauport wanted to curse at the child, but he couldn't do so with the presence of the three Valentine men in front of him.
'So what if it's a holy relic?'
From everyone's reaction, it seemed that the holy relic was authentic. But the Count was bound to plant seeds of doubt.
'The holy relic could be a children's toy for all I know!'
It was suspicious in the first place!
A holy relic appearing out of nowhere… holding mysterious powers.
After settling his thoughts, the count finally stepped forward.
"But how are we to know if such a relic is indeed real? Isn't it possible for people to pick up a twig, insert divine powers into it, and make it seem like one?" He brazenly asked.
The count had finally succeeded…
Succeeded in proving himself a fool, that is.
Only idiots could not distinguish the difference between a holy relic and a branch.
At his outrageous claims, Lloyd grinned while slowly tilting his head.
He took the relic out of Vincent's hand and handed it to the count.
"Then why don't Lord Beauport test the holy relic himself? Here… try to say 'I am innocent.'"
"I am innocent…" the count said as he pulled out his hand in order to receive the relic.
However, as soon as he made contact with the holy relic, every inch of his body trembled. It felt as if he had just been struck by lightning.
After the shock, his body stiffened, and he immediately collapsed.
"Gasp—!"
The vassals surrounding him started to panic and quickly retreated back.
Moments later, the count finally finished grasping the situation he was in.
No matter how skillfully they tried to dig the trap, it was of no use in front of the relic.
"I… deeply apologize. I apologize and acknowledge that everything was just a misunderstanding," he smiled while breaking in a cold sweat.
Count Beauport had made his choice.
He decided that he must get out of this situation quickly.
"I shall pay for my sins. But please, Your Majesty… he confessed to being in the feeding den. I hope you understand that it was a misleading situation."
However, no one would sympathize with him.
"If that were the case, then why would you brazenly come forward as if you had a virtuous sense of justice and loyalty to me?"
Even a dog would laugh at how ridiculous his words were.
Tristan re-examined the data that Count Beauport presented as evidence.
At first, Tristan was blinded by the feeling of betrayal. So he hadn't been able to scrutinize the documents. But now that the truth had come out, he could see a few loopholes.
For example, everything from Vincent's trivial actions to his major downfall was documented.
"It looks as though you are determined to strike him down even if you get caught."
Had Vincent not been silent when he was interrogated, the Grand Duke would have questioned his vassals before taking their bait.
"Do you have any personal grudges towards the boy?"
"I-I would never!"
Resentment.
Vincent contemplated for a moment, then spoke as soon as he remembered something.
"Oh, since the Count's intelligence quotient is low, I told him to go far away from this place. My words seem to have been quite a shock to him."
The boy looked slightly apologetic.
Well, not really. He did not feel any remorse for the man.
The count replied, finally admitting and reflecting on his words, "I-I didn't understand back then! I just wanted you to face the truth, not hurt you!"
What rubbish!
Of course, he had indeed wished for the boy's death when he heard his presumptuous words.
However, the Count was not so discernable to accuse the Grand Duke's second son just because he got mad.
"Well, look at you now. If you wanted to accuse me as a spy, you should have invested more time."
"…Pardon?"
"What I meant to say is that you shouldn't drop it all at once. You should've made the Grand Duke doubt me little by little. Spilling the small mistakes first until he fully loses his trust in me."
Vincent continued, "I feel like intelligence drops endlessly when I'm in the same space as you, Count."
And with that, Vincent finished his words.
Of course, he understood why the count moved in a hurry. Still, he wanted to irritate him on purpose.
The situation was quickly reversed.
'Why, that rotten one! I know the reason why he crawled into the feeding den with his own two feet!'
But this time, Count Beauport couldn't say anything.
Talking about Vincent's history would not change the situation, and it could only cost him to accidentally reveal his secrets.
"Why do you hold a grudge against me? What kind of relationship do we have that you would pin all the blame against me?"
"This is getting too long."
Lloyd cut off the Count's excuses that he repeated endlessly.
"Just prove your innocence using this," he said before throwing the relic towards him.
The Count stiffened as the relic fell accurately into his arms.
He felt suffocated.
Suddenly, Aria grabbed Lloyd's sleeves.
"What?"
Lloyd frowned in annoyance.
The girl tilted her head so that he could look closely at her mouth.
She moved her lips.
—Manipulation of the law.
"Manipulation of the law…?"
Lloyd conveyed Aria's words as it was, and when he realized what she meant, his expression became cold.
His eyes, which had a calm color like the night sky, gradually started brimming with anger.
"…When revising the new legislation, the vassals used subtle vocabulary or added fake outdated data to manipulate the law," he uttered, words as cold as ice.
The vassals forgot to breathe, and they wondered if they were actually dreaming.
Rather, they hoped they were dreaming.
'This does not make any sense!'
'It can't be…?!'
'How did she find out? She's just a child!'
Nobody noticed their corruption.
They should have never been caught.
However, there was one person… who was suspicious of them and stepped on their tails.
That boy was…
Vincent.
The Second Young Master of Valentine realized that there was something wrong with the law.
That was why he was stuck in the library all the time, reading codification manuscripts.
To pinpoint the differences by comparing the old enactment with the new amendment.
The vassals who participated in the act were inevitably terrified when they heard of the young master's move.
'So they decided to take him down first…'
But how in the world did the young miss figure that out?
'Did the second young master ever talk about it? To the extent that even the child knows?'
'But he shouldn't have known until a lot of evidence was gathered!'
The secretary, Baron Stewart, was confused and gazed back at Vincent.
However, the boy seemed as though he was also surprised.
Thus, the scribe stared back at Aria, stupefied as to how she knew of his plans.
'How in the world…?'
At one point, the scribe met Aria's gaze.
Then, his eyes popped out, and his jaws fell to the ground.
'Surely…!'
The document!