What Your Majesty Desires - Chapter 4.5

“You can’t just press it like that.” “Oh, I’m sorry. I’ll take the tree out first. I’ll quickly.” “Leave it.”

If he pulled out the tree stuck in his heart, he would die. Of course, even if he didn’t pull it out, he would eventually die in a few minutes. Gathering his fading consciousness, he squinted and looked up at the face of the sobbing child. Her blonde hair sparkled like light in the sunlight. Her blue eyes, filled with tears, were also mysterious and beautiful. Even if it was the last scene he saw before he died, it wasn’t too bad.

“Why aren’t they coming? Wait a minute. I’ll go quickly.” “Don’t go.” “Huh?” “Stay with me.”

He had never thought about his death, but he didn’t want to die alone. “Will you hold my hand?” “Yeah, yeah.” “If I don’t wake up when you try to wake me later, tell my parents that I’m sleeping.” “Okay.”

At most, 1 minute. He thought it would be about 5 minutes at most. But strangely, with a tree stuck in his heart, he lived for several more days in the child’s parents’ mansion, and even after returning to the Gler Empire, he barely managed to survive as if he were about to die. Enduring the pain of the tree’s roots digging into his heart every day. Wondering how he was still alive in this state. He survived for a whopping 13 years.

‘Is that child doing well?’ Whenever his body deteriorated rapidly, he thought of the child. It was due to the manipulated memory that he didn’t seem to be in pain when he was with the child. But he couldn’t send anyone to the child’s house. If the fact got into Cauluss’s ears, he couldn’t guarantee the child’s safety.

‘Was it because they resembled each other?’ The reason why he couldn’t take his eyes off Marilyn during the day. If that child had grown up as she was, she would probably look similar to Marilyn by now. But she couldn’t be that child anyway.

“This is?” But then, something caught his eye as he was lost in sentimentality. He slowly approached the mirror and looked closely at the edge of the tree stuck in his chest. His eyes narrowed more and more. What is this?

‘Could it be?’ Shaking his head, saying it couldn’t be, Hernis carefully wiped away the blood on the tree. Could it be that this small thing here. Light green. Soft. ‘Is it sprouting?’ A bud sprouted on the tree.

The next morning. Hernis, who hadn’t slept a wink all night, was changing his clothes with the help of the knights. “Did you sleep well?” Jerome came into the bedroom and bowed his head to him.

He hadn’t slept well at all. But if he said that, Jerome would arbitrarily conclude that he couldn’t sleep because he was bothered by sending the princess to the dungeon, so Hernis kept his mouth shut. “Your Highness, there is news.” Jerome’s expression seemed bright, whether he knew his troubled heart or not. “I found the confirmation of the princess’s abdication.”

As expected. He found it. Hernis knew that Jerome would definitely find the confirmation of abdication. Because Jerome didn’t want him to marry her. “The escort knight was right. It seems that the confirmation was prepared in advance with the intention of abdicating Marilyn as soon as Talia’s engagement ceremony was over. Deborah also signed below.” “I see.”

With calm eyes, Hernis skimmed through the contents of the abdication confirmation. There were no problems in terms of content, form, or handwriting. “The royal marriage is off the table.” For some reason, he felt annoyed. He wanted to end the prophecy easily, but now he had to go the hard way, so he couldn’t help but be annoyed. “What are you planning to do with the princess now?” He hadn’t thought about it. “Let’s go.” To the trial.

Hernis left the room first. He could hear Jerome’s footsteps following right behind him, but Hernis didn’t slow down. “By the way, about that princess.” He didn’t hear it. “She said she was weak, but she must have been very sick overnight.” “Sick?” He stopped walking for a moment and looked at Jerome. “She seemed fine yesterday.” Hernis looked flustered.

It wasn’t that he didn’t like the news that she was sick, but he just didn’t understand. “She seems to have caught a cold. Her whole body is burning with fever and she has difficulty walking alone, so the soldiers are helping her to the courtroom.”

“……” He wasn’t bothered or upset. He really didn’t care. “What should we do?”

“……” He was standing there indifferently.

Anyway, the abdication confirmation was found and she was so sick that she had difficulty walking alone, so it was okay to just remove her from the list of royalty. But if he said this. “Perhaps, is it a pity to kill her?”

“……” It seemed like he was hoping for her safety.

“Because the Emperor and Empress have been hush-hush about it, there are not many people in the castle who know about the existence of the Second Princess. If you just say the word, we can put her aside now.”

“I don’t care.”

Hernis, who had made up his mind, turned his head away as if he was annoyed. Yeah. It would be better to just kill her. Rather than being bothered like this.

“You’ve come, you’ve come, Your Highness.” When Hernis entered the courtroom, the Chief Justice stood up hesitantly to greet him. Until yesterday, he was a loyal servant of Rodri, but today he would pronounce the death sentence on Rodri with that mouth.

“This way.”

As Jerome guided him, Hernis sat in the plaintiff’s seat. It was only called the plaintiff’s seat, but it was actually a side seat in the row where the judges sat. At the same height as the Chief Justice, Hernis indifferently looked around the defendant’s seat and the audience seats. Rodri, who was completely intimidated.

Deborah, who was angry. And next to her, Marilyn, who looked exhausted. She was barely sitting on the chair, and Marilyn’s eyes were almost closed. He didn’t want to look, but he kept noticing her struggling to raise her head, which kept falling down.

“Rodri La Benellosi.” The trial began. At the Chief Justice’s call, Rodri stood in the prisoner’s seat first. Rodri’s clothes were torn in places overnight, and his white, sparse hair was pressed down, making him look shabby.

“Does the defendant admit to leading a fraudulent royal marriage with the neighboring Gler Empire?”

“No, absolutely not. I tried my best to faithfully carry out the royal marriage with the Gler Empire, but my daughter suddenly died.” That was exactly what a fraudulent marriage was.

“The purpose of the fraud was confirmed to be to lure Prince Hernis to Dextin Castle under the pretext of the engagement ceremony and exchange him for a part of the Gler Empire’s territory and the prince. Do you admit it?”

“No, you have to say something that makes sense. If Talia hadn’t died, the engagement ceremony would have been held as planned, everyone here.”

“There are five noble families who have submitted statements about this.”

“What?” Rodri, speechless, stared at the Chief Justice with his mouth wide open. When did they flatter Rodri so diligently, but as soon as something happened, they changed their faces overnight to save themselves and went under Hernis.

“Okay.” If you say so, then that’s how it is.

“Do as you please.” After uttering a word weakly, Rodri strode back to the defendant’s seat. It was convenient that he went back on his own since he had nothing more to say anyway.

Next, Empress Deborah stood in the prisoner’s seat.

“Let go of this! What crime have I committed? Huh?” As expected, the Empress was very noisy.

“Dextin is a sacred land that the goddess Nike especially cares for. Do you think you’ll be safe after touching it?” Because the Empress was only shouting nonsense without admitting her crime, the Chief Justice quickly read Deborah’s charges and ended the order.

“Defendant Marilyn Benellosi, come forward.” At the Chief Justice’s call, Marilyn stood up. But she soon collapsed because she didn’t have the strength.

When Marilyn couldn’t properly support herself, the soldiers grabbed both of her arms almost as if they were lifting her and moved her to the front of the defendant’s seat platform.

“The defendant was adopted by Rodri when she was seven years old. Is that correct?” “Yes, it is.” The surroundings immediately buzzed at Marilyn’s answer. Hernis frowned at the sight of the nobles of Dextin craning their necks with more curious eyes to see the face of the Second Princess, whom they had only heard rumors about. Seeing that they were all comfortable, he didn’t care if they all died today.

“The defendant has taken bride lessons instead of the deceased Princess Talia with the intention of swapping brides for the royal marriage with the Gler Empire. Is that true?”

“……Yes.” What? Her small voice, which answered ‘yes,’ entered his ear and echoed softly. ‘She took bride lessons to marry me?’ She did? It was something he hadn’t heard until he entered the courtroom today.

The fact that he might have met Marilyn at the engagement ceremony if Deborah had been a little more daring made him feel strange. It was a very bland assumption that would never have happened in the end. Just thinking about it made his heart beat faster.

This heart, which had always maintained its composure even during the war.

“That means you were involved in your adoptive parents’ fraudulent acts. Do you admit it?” “I admit it.”

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