"Who is this?" the King asked, observing the man in dark clothes and long dark hair that had almost turned gray. Unlike other criminals, his body was wrapped in chains, with his hands tightly bound to his sides, as if to restrict any movent.
"He is Eamon, Your Majesty," Arlan answered respectfully. "He is Luis’s close confidant, known only to those whom Luis deeply trusts." Arlan turned towards the group of ministers those favoured Luis. "You all must recognize this man, don’t you? If you don’t, you should be disappointed to know that Luis doesn’t consider you trustworthy enough to let you see him."
The ministers recognized Eamon but remained silent.
Arlan scoffed. "It seems like you all recognize him. After all, he’s the one who carried out all the illegal dealings for Luis while successfully erasing any traces."
"We do not know him," one of the ministers claid.
"We?" Arlan turned to him. "Shouldn’t you say ’I do not know him’? Why are you speaking for others, minister, as if you’re all in this together?"
The ministers exchanged uneasy glances, fear of exposure evident in their eyes. Lord Ahren and his allies who sided with the King, smiled, ready to watch the unfolding drama.
"But I claim I do not know him," Luis said, turning to the royal court. "Has any of you ever seen with him?"
None of the ministers spoke despite they knew Eamon. Luis had always kept Eamon a secret, never showing up with easily. Despite being around Luis, no one could see him, as he appeared and disappeared without seeing by anyone.
Looking around the silent court, Luis offered a wicked smirk to Arlan. "See, no one has seen him with ...."
"I have seen him." A confident voice echoed through the chamber, and everyone turned to the source of the voice.
Erin stepped forward and bowed to the King. "Your Majesty, I have seen this man with Marquis Mortir the night they stayed in the guest mansion of the Ahren estate. That night, I went to put calming essence in Grace’s chamber and found Lord Mortir with this man. I overheard them talking about so young girl who they claid had sothing they wanted. They also ntioned a woman nad Edna, whom they were searching for, cursing her and calling her a witch."
When Erin said this, the most shocked person was Oriana. Edna? Luis Mortir knew her?
"Lady Erin, what are you talking about?" Luis exclaid, knowing Erin was not lying but hoping his denial would be enough.
Erin calmly looked at him. "Lord Mortir, I am telling what I saw that night. You were clearly with this man."
"No, I was not. I was alone, taking a walk as this old age cannot let sleep."
"You were with him," her voice was firm and confident. "I am sure I am not mistaken."
"What proof do you have?" he demanded.
"What I have seen and heard is the proof itself," she said firmly, looking straight into Luis’s eyes. "My words are the proof because my father taught to never lie, unlike your daughter, who knows no bounds of lying and lacks the dignity of a woman," Erin said bluntly. "I stand by what I said."
Luis was enraged, as she striked where it hurt him the most. His pride wounded by her words attacking his cherished daughter. "You..."
"Not just , but even my bodyguard was there that night and he saw both of you," Erin interrupted him. "I can call him here to verify."
Luke was there, and Erin was sure he had seen them clearly, so once again she was not lying.
"No one was there other than you. You are the only one who saw us," Luis spat out angrily.
"Well, my bodyguard was left behind in the dark corner, so you didn’t see him. But thank you for admitting that I saw you and this man, that I am not lying. You just said ’us.’"
Luis went silent and stiff in his place, realizing he had been tricked by this young girl into admitting it. "I didn’t an us..."
Erin ignored him and bowed to the King. "That’s it, Your Majesty," she said before returning to her place.
Oriana looked at her in shock. Erin was truly sothing, and most importantly, loyal to her. Walys and Euron felt nothing but pride at this mont. They hadn’t known why Erin cared about Grace’s sleep enough to go there that night, but her actions had turned out to be a great help.
Rafal turned to look at his sister, who offered a light smile and remained quiet.
"Thank you, Lady Erin, for coming forward and helping with this important matter," Arlan spoke, looking at her appreciatively.
In response, Erin offered him a respectful bow.
Arlan continued, "Luis, if you are not satisfied with your own admission, I have more proof to show that this man is related to you."
Luis regained his composure. "Prince Arlan, as you claim that he works for , whatever wrong he has done has nothing to do with . He must have acted on his own for his own gain and is putting all the bla on to protect himself. I have done nothing wrong. I am not sure what cris you are even talking about."
"Luis, you have committed so many cris that the list is too long to address all at once. Rest assured, you will get answers to all of your questions." Arlan turned to the King. "Your Majesty, the reason this man could be around Luis all the ti but was never seen by anyone is because this man is a wizard."
Arlan’s declaration shocked everyone present, except for Oriana, who could already see the traces of darkness around him.
"A wizard?" one of the ministers exclaid. "How can that be? Aren’t those just myths now?"
In response, Arlan looked at Imbert, who signaled one of his knights to step forward with a whip in his hand. The next mont, the whip slashed across the wizard’s back, almost drawing blood. But there was sothing more to see.
As the whip struck his skin, the wizard scread in pain as if his soul was being tornted. Visible darkness began to surround his body, his eyes turned pitch black with no trace of white, and a sh of dark blood veins appeared on his face, making him look terrifying.
"This is his true appearance, a wizard" Arlan said, turning to Luis. "Now do not claim you are unaware he is a wizard."
Luis stamred. "No... I am was truly not aware..."
Arlan ignored Luis and addressed the King. "The girl Luis was talking about, according to what Lady Erin said, is Oriana. The other woman he ntioned, nad Edna, served Oriana’s mother, Amaya Verner. Edna disappeared the sa night the previous Queen was murdered. She was one of Luis’s accomplices, planted by him close to the royal family, and helped him assassinate the Queen—my mother. Not just the Queen, that Edna had even caused the demise of Amaya Verner."
The court was stunned into silence. Oriana felt a rush of emotions—shock, anger, and a sense of validation. The pieces of the puzzle were finally falling into place. This man, Luis Mortir was the reason of the suffering of both families since the start.
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