It was the morning of the second day of Dariel's hearing.
He could feel the loathsome gaze of his blasted brother on him from the moment he walked in till present.
Dariel just ignored him, clearly, he had nothing better to do than to admire his handsome looks that he definitely did not inherit from their atrocious father.
"Alright, we will now begin." Lord Endron stated as the commotion of the others nobilities present discussed what was probably going to transpire today.
It was the latest gossip in town of the two Rivethans fighting each other like commoners in the presence of the king himself.
Some bet that the events of yesterday would be repeated today, while others wagered that Lord Endrick would fight repay his brother for how badly wounded he way yesterday.
"I apologize for the delay, I just had to make sure I read through the report thoroughly." said Phillip and with he raised his head.
"Now, we shall begin starting with how things concluded yesterday." Phillip said looking at Endrick who nodded.
"After further deliberation my court and I have decided that the will you mentioned will not be used to judge this matter." Phillip said as Endrick groaned in disappointment.
"But my king—"
"But nothing, his majesty has spoken, you will not refute his decision." Endron warned.
Dariel found it hard to stop himself from laughing. Endrick heard his snicker and his frowned deepened even more.
"If no one else except your late mother is a witness to the perceived existence of this will, then I am afraid that is not reliable enough." Phillip explained.
"Not to mention that the sole witness to such a will was insane your majesty." Dariel added as Endron shot him a warning gaze that just made him chuckle.
"Moving on, further investigation was carried out, Lord Endron, you may proceed with what you have to tell us all." Phillip said as Endron nodded.
"My faithful members of the king's court, my king, regarding yesterday's discussion of the law of succession, it may be true that the firstborn is to inherit his father's estate, except the firstborn is a daughter." Endrick began.
"However, in our same laws it states that only the son of legitimate wife will be considered to inherit his father's estate, no one else." the smile on Dariel's face dropped.
"My honourable members, may I just remind everyone that my dear half brother here is an illegitimate child, the son of a loose woman, born out of wedlock." Endrick smiled as he saw the outrage present on Dariel's face. "With this position of his from birth, he should have never been consider to inherit our father's estate." and with that Endrick stepped back.
The damage was already done, all that was left was for Dariel to show his true colours, the insanity that he had hidden underneath all those fine clothes and nice shave he had now.
Whispers ensued, it was no secret that Dariel was an illegitimate child, that was one of the reasons why he was first considered an outcast, however, he had grew up under his father's roof, raised along with the rest of his father's children, which made his inheritance more acceptable.
"The only reason I am an illegitimate child is because that man you call a father was unable to keep it in his trousers." Dariel replied.
"He promised my mother riches, he promised her a happy life, and yet when the time came for him to fulfill all his promises, he broke her heart and left her desolate that bloody bastard." Dariel said seething.
"What do you expect from a commoner, clearly she was aware that he would never marry her, she was a loose woman, and that is the truth." Endrick smiled.
"Or why else would she resort to a life of a mere harlot." Dariel clenched his fists. "What other reason would explain how she died while giving birth to another illegitimate child?" he laughed.
Evidently, Lord Endrick's harsh words were payback for the way Dariel insulted his mother yesterday, and everyone knew it.
"Lord Endrick, I believe that is going a bit too far." Phillip said, the last thing he wanted was a repeat of yesterday's unsightly events.
"No sire, I am not. I am only speaking the truth." he replied. "This man you see here standing before you today is the illegitimate child of a harlot!" he exclaimed.
Dariel felt something snap within him, he was about to raise his fist and charge towards Endrick when he suddenly felt a sense of calm wash over him.
There was no need to give Endrick what he wanted, which was his humiliation. Very soon, they would all be the ones humiliated not him, he just had to remain calm until the day of his victory had come.
Endrick who could see the look of insanity in his brother's eyes smiled, mere moments after his smile dropped after he saw Dariel's expression change from a disarray into calmness, which confused him.
"He speaks the truth honourable members, my mother was a harlot, but only after what my father did to her." he stated calmly confusing everyone present.
"I will admit it proudly because my mother was an victim, a victim as I am now..." he stated. "... a victim of this great corruption, because if my title as an illegitimate child is the only thing you have to hold over my head, then you all are corrupt." he said pointing a finger as every single one of them.
"Your majesty, can you see how disrespectful he is?! This is treason!" a man called out.
"No, what is treason is the well known fact that Baron Tron is also an illegitimate child, and yet he inherited his title, maybe because all his other half-siblings are female and would never be heard if they brought this matter to the king's court!" Dariel declared as a man looked down guilty.
Everyone was completely silent. No one dared to speak, who knew if Dariel would reveal their own dirty secrets as well.
"If I am being accused of taking my inheritance lawfully as firstborn, then Baron Tron should be trialed right after me." he added smiling.
Phillip cleared his throat, today's hearing had certainly been more heated than yesterday's.
"Thank you for bringing this to my attention Viscount Dariel, you speak the truth." Phillip admitted. "Baron Tron is truly accused of the same thing you are being accused of."
"For that very reason, that accusation will not be acknowledged." Endrick sighed in frustration as he heard those words.
"I believe that is enough for today, we will meet tomorrow to continue." said Lord Endron, and with that Phillip rose up and left the room.
Dariel did not even waste a minute, he turned his back and disappeared as Endrick seethed.
...
"Can you believe that wretched man spoke of my mother?!!" exclaimed Dariel during dinner.
So much for Angelica hoping that tonight's dinner would be silent.
"That was a really low blow, even for Endrick." Ohara frowned.
Even though Angelica was completely uninterested in this matter, one thing that caught her attention was the mention of her half uncle's name.
She had never heard his name before, it was a taboo in their home, and yet her mother was referring to him using his name so casually, almost as if she knew him well, and what was more surprising was the fact that her father did not seem upset about that.
"You should know that man is as low as low can go." Dariel responded.
Angelica just pretended as if she was not hearing their conversation, she continued eating her meal silently.
"But I really showed that man, I showed them all, if they wanted to accuse me using my illegitimacy." he declared.
"What did you so love?" Ohara asked.
"I reminded them that Baron Tron is also illegitimate, and yet his younger half sisters cannot take him to court because they are women. If they are to convict me of a crime then Baron Tron would have to be as well." he proclaimed proudly.
"You are correct my love." Ohara smiled, she liked how he was angry, which was normal, but he calmed down and did not take out his anger on any of them.
"Hmph! I know a dirty secret or two, if they are going to expose me, then I am going to expose them all." he said resolutely.
"Angelica, you have just been sitting there quiet, do you not have anything to say?" he asked sounding annoyed as she raised her head to look at him.
"I am surprised you have been able to behave as if you do not have the upper hand father." she simply replied and went back to eating her meal.
"Of course I am, the look on their faces will be priceless once they find out." he smiled triumphantly.
"Ohara my dear, what did you add to this fish? It is simply divine!" Dariel smiled. Angelica almost choked on her water.
Did she just hear her father say that the fish was divine? This was coming from a man that loathed fish with all his being.
"Nothing my love, just some fresh coriander I bought from the market." she replied smiling, also surprised. He had to be in such a good mood for him to compliment the fish.
"Well it is delicious, you have outdone yourself." he smiled.
"Thank you my love." Ohara smiled suprised.
"And you Angelica, I commend you, I have not caught you with your ears to the walls as usual." he said as Angelica looked at him, he definitely was in a superb mood.
She said nothing in response, but her mother shot her an excited look, clearly she was delighted with her husband's strange behaviour and proud.
Angelica just ignored her and continued eating, she had a feeling his delightful mood would not last for too long.