A Murder Trial

Minutes earlier…

Rows of townspeople and knights were gathered in the Audience Chamber of the archduke. They were gossiping about the heinous crimes committed by the captured man named Polieus. He claimed to be a sorcerer studying the stars when the victim ran into him in the hills of Ellis Plains last night.

Polieus made use of his stature as a sorcerer to fend off the victim from ruining his study. However, the victim went to attack him in blind rage due to his intoxication. The sorcerer then pushed the victim to the ground and hacked him to death. That was the stand he was making.

However, the knights who went to investigate stated that there was no evidence that the victim was intoxicated. Neither was Polieus in possession of anything that would denote his claimed profession. Moreover, why would a sorcerer be out in the middle of the night with an ax at the ready?

"Today, we bear witness to the trial of Polieus in light of the murder of Adaram." The assistant seneschal announced to the public before turning to the throne of the archduke where he sat. "Your Grace, before you kneeled Polieus."

'That's a sorcerer?' The archduke frowned at the picture before him.

He then leaned against the seat and stared at the purple spots on the body of the heavily-bruised man. It was evident that a fight ensued last night, and this man before him won it. However, whether he was attacked or he planned to murder still wasn't clear to everyone. Not even to the archduke.

"Say, sorcerer, why would you read the stars on such an uneventful day?" The archduke spoke louder, sending the gossiping people into silence. He then eyed the defendant who couldn't keep his head down in submission.

The defendant gave up and lifted his head. "Your Grace, I am no master of the stars. I was practicing my skills. It was particularly starry last night. I figured I should train my foresight and fortune-telling. I swear, Your Grace… I didn't mean to kill Adaram. He attacked me first."

"Then, what are you a master of? Magic? Enchantments?…summons?"

"Summons!" Polieus quickly answered, his body becoming tensed and agitated. "I can summon creatures, Your Grace! With the right—!"

"Summon something for me then." The archduke leaned on his fist as he moved his body to the side. He then waved his other hand forward. "Someone, give him what is necessary for a summoning. If you can summon something for me, I will release you."

Polieus didn't really rely on his luck. He figured the Archduke would be bluffed by his words of promising power, and yet the latter actually asked him to summon something right then and there. If he was allowed to prepare beforehand, he could have arranged for a dog or a rabbit at least.

What incredible luck did he have that a woman suddenly plunged through the ceiling minutes after his ceremony? Since she had come, he was going to be released, right? However, he didn't think the woman herself would probe into his actions.

It's good that the archduke shushed her right after.

"Your Grace, I will be taking my leave now." Polieus turned to the knight's vice commander and raised his wrists as if showing off the cuffs. "Vice Commander, if I may…?"

Artie Shen, however, was engaged in a deathly glare with the archduke. She realized that she had spoken too bluntly. Then again, she had a bad feeling about the man who was about to be freed. Her gaze broke off from the archduke's eyes and landed on the defendant.

By then, her dark eyes unknowingly glowed white faintly.

["I'm about to be free after making sure that man was dead. How good of a feeling was it to chop at him until he stopped breathing. Everyone thinks I'm just defending myself in the fight? Well, that bastard Adaram can only meet me in Hell."]

'Is this his conscience? This is more like his inner thoughts… vilest and purest thoughts...' Artie Shen bit her lip before she moved to get off of the archduke. However, her knee was clawed at by the archduke to prevent her from rolling off of him. 'Wait, what is he doing?

'I have to convince this man to spare my life? Hmph, he's just an arrogant fellow! He might be totally my husband material, but I won't be able to live it down if a murderer escapes punishment because of me!' Artie Shen chose to sit up, the archduke using an arm to support her back.

After a momentary confused gaze at the archduke, Artie completely forgot about the touch and turned to the man whose cuffs were about to be unlocked. "Oh, dear summoner, can you humor a question from… your summon?"

"Huh?" Polieus looked up at the throne, but his eyes were on that woman on the lap of the archduke. 'This woman dared to question me?'

He had no choice but to answer since the vice commander stepped back and kept his keys. "What is it that you want me to answer?"

"How many times did you strike at the victim?"

"Huh? I don't know; I didn't count. Why are you asking me this?"

The assistance seneschal then stepped in since he was also representing the knights who made the investigation. "Your Grace, Miss… the victim's body was close to mutilation." He continued to recount the injuries found in the body of the victim, drawing a very gruesome picture.

Since the archduke didn't stop the woman from speaking again, he figured it was the will of the archduke to have the questions answered.

Artie Shen frowned again. "...don't you think that's… too much for self-defense? If he didn't want to kill the victim, he should have left when the victim fell to the ground. Based on the laws from where I came from, it stops being self-defense the moment you continue to attack a downed aggressor.

"So… tell me, summoner… what were you hiding in the hill? What did the victim see you're doing?"

"What I'm doing?" Polieus twitched. ["I was only cleaning up an earlier crime! Damn, why should this woman have to ruin it all for me?! No matter, I can just bluff my way out of here again. I'm pretty sure the archduke would be too dumb to realize what I was doing."]

"Like I was saying earlier, I was only studying the stars from the hills! There is nothing else that I am doing. My actions might have been too much, but—"

The archduke interrupted him again and waved his hand. "Send him back to the dungeon. Captain, investigate deeper. If you find anything strange in the hills, show me. Until then, this case would be on hold. Dismiss."

Artie Shen was shocked. She was in the middle of showing off, and this rascal actually cut her off as well? She then puffed as she glared at the archduke. "You shouldn't dismiss a case like this. This is a murder trial. You need to correctly convict the culprit."

"I have something more important to deal with than a small case. Besides, we will arrive at such a step after all. Otherwise, you wouldn't be able to prove that he's hiding something." The archduke picked her up as he got to his feet and walked off, his court sending him off with a salutation.

"Something is more important than your constituents' rights?"

"Yes." He coldly gazed at her face. "You."