Eliza escaped but because of the betrayal she just experienced, she is hesitating to report the evidences she gained to the Imperial Magistrate.
"Ouchie...", she felt a slight pain on her cheek. It was slightly bruised but she just wiped it with her bare hand.
She is just outside the office of the Imperial Magistrate's Office, hiding and contemplating whether she can trust also Vincent.
30 minutes before her promised time. She saw Vincent and a couple of masked man, who are skilled assassins, went out of the office in a hurry.
"Find her immediately", he commanded and the men immediately dispersed.
"Is he looking for me?", she thought and doubted his trust on him.
"Forgive me, Your Highness. If only that smoke did not occur, I would not have lost her", Gareth said.
"Just bring her back to me immediately", Vincent replied with a hint of annoyance in his tone.
"So, he is also on the Baron's side", Eliza thought as she misunderstood their conversation, so she unintentionally sighed.
"Who?!", Gareth shouted and he was able to immediately capture Eliza despite her attempt to escape when she was discovered hiding in one of the trees outside the office.
"Eliza", Vincent called her with gentleness but to Eliza it seems like he is scheming.
"What happened to your face?", he worriedly asked when he saw the graze in her cheek. He was about to touch it, but Eliza immediately brushed him off.
"Stop the act, Your Highness", she said while fiercely looking at him.
"What's wrong?", he asked, still calm and polite.
Eliza scoffed at him.
"I should not have trusted you", she said and was about to leave but Vincent gently grabbed her hand.
"Eliza, let's talk first. I think you misunderstood something", Vincent said.
"Alright. Go on, tell me. Do you think I will still believe you that you want to solve this case, Your Highness?", she asked.
"I do!", he replied with conviction.
"Then, why are you colluding with the Baron, huh?!", she asked, trying to supress her anger.
"Baron? Are you referring to Baron Davis?", he asked.
"Stop pretending!", she angrily and frustatedly said.
"Eliza, believe me. I do not know him personally", he calmly said.
"I do not believe your lies", she replied.
"Then, what should I do, so I can gain your trust?", he asked after a heavy sigh.
Eliza yielded to Vincent's persistence.
"Make a blood compact with me."
"W-What?!"
Gareth unsheathed his daggers, but Vincent stopped him.
Eliza remembered from a novel that blood compacts were forbidden magic in the Empire. They had been used to execute criminals until the current emperor banned the practice. A blood compact was like any other contract, but the penalty for breaking it was death.
"Just that?" Vincent asked calmly.
"In that way, I can only trust you," she said, trying to suppress her fear that the man before her might be allied with Baron Davis.
"Alright. I will do anything you want to gain your trust," he replied with a smile, drawing his dagger and inflicting a deep wound on his right hand.
Eliza sighed heavily, covering her eyes with her palm, and then laughed at herself.
"W-What's funny, Lady?" Vincent asked, confusion on his handsome face.
Eliza calmed down and looked at him.
"I am not that cruel. Please forgive my insolence, Your Highness. I will accept any punishment from you after we solve the case of the Baroness."
She gave him a deep bow to show her sincerity.
The next day, the Emperor of Eldoria arrived at the Magistrate's Office with grandeur. Eliza watched the parade, disguised as one of the soldiers. She marveled at the magnificent white carriages with golden patterns. Then, suddenly recalling something, she immediately left the Magistrate's building.
As the Emperor took his seat in the courtroom, his meticulously crafted crown sat perfectly on his head, enhancing the aura of power and authority radiating from his shoulder-length black wavy hair. His dark purple eyes pierced through everyone in the room.
"Many nobles are involved. This shows how powerful you are, Baron Davis, doesn't it?" His cool, deep voice carried a tone that left it unclear whether he was complimenting or insulting the Baron.
"I am humbled, Your Majesty. My existence is not as important as yours. However, I just want to see my wife in good condition," Baron Davis replied calmly. His pained expression when mentioning his wife was evident to all. It was well known among both commoners and nobles how deeply the Baron loved and pampered the Baroness. His handsomeness and well-mannered demeanor had won many hearts, only to break them when he married the Baroness.
"Do not worry, Baron Davis. Even the Imperial Magistrate requested me to judge this case to uncover the truth about your missing wife," Emperor Allan said, signaling the start of the trial. "Let's begin the trial!"
"Your Majesty, allow me to begin," Vincent said.
"Go ahead," the Emperor replied.
"Your Majesty, the witness will enter this trial. Please order that no one should go near him or touch anything he presents. Even the Baron himself must refrain, as this could affect the case," Vincent confidently stated.
"Request granted," Allan said, glancing at the commander of his knights.
"The witness is the former heir of the House of Montclair, who was stripped of his title as Young Archduke Montclair, Mr. Samuel Morgen," Vincent announced, causing a stir among those present. Samuel entered, dressed in commoner's clothes, carrying a wagon with a wooden coffin. He approached Vincent, who looked puzzled and nervous about the contents.
The courtroom buzzed with questions about the sudden appearance of the fallen nobleman, given his previous controversy and his relation to the late Empress Kristen. After the Empress's death, all her blood relatives were stripped of their titles and exiled to a barren island owned by the Eldoria Empire. This had fueled rumors about Emperor Allan's deep-seated hatred for Empress Kristen.
Samuel Morgen, the twin brother of Kristen's father, Archduke Isaac Montclair, had been disowned by his family when he chose to be with a maid instead of inheriting the House of Montclair. His story became widely known among nobles and commoners because his disownment occurred on the day he was supposed to marry the sister of the previous Emperor.
"Where is Eliza?" Uncle Sam whispered to Vincent, who shook his head, indicating he didn't know.
"Greetings, Your Majesty," Uncle Sam said, kneeling before him. The Emperor stood up from his seat and helped him to stand.
"No need to do this in the future. Please tell me who is inside the coffin," Allan asked politely, surprising everyone. They whispered among themselves, confused by the Emperor's sudden change in demeanor. Rumor had it he only spoke politely to Lady Arabella Everhart, his rumored fiancée.
"Baroness Katherina Davis, Your Majesty," Uncle Sam replied, shocking everyone in the room.
"N-No... You must be kidding me?!" Baron Gerald Davis exclaimed hysterically, trying to approach the coffin, but the Imperial Knights surrounded it.
"She is my wife! How dare you—" he shouted, but was interrupted by a familiar song. His face paled, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
"Where is it? Who is singing that song?!" he screamed, frantically. Suddenly, a group of child beggars entered the courtroom, singing the children's rhyme "Humpty Dumpty" as they encircled the Baron.
"Stop it," the Baron murmured, as if haunted by a ghost. His complexion turned ghostly pale.
When the beggars stopped singing, he looked at them, noticing one holding a bundle of ash-blonde hair and a gold ring set with a high-quality pink diamond.
"W-What..." He violently grabbed the items from the beggar. "How did you get this?!" he demanded, shaking the child's shoulders.
"Baron Davis! You are hurting the child," Vincent said, stepping forward to intervene, but the Baron drew a gun, making the other beggars tremble in fear.
"Say it! Where did you get this?!" Baron Davis asked furiously.
"From a nobleman, my Lord! She asked us to sing this song and deliver these to you. Please let go of my sister," the older brother of the beggar pleaded.
"A nobleman? What does he want?!" the Baron demanded.