Two weeks went by so slowly, and it was finally the date of Sienna’s ruling. She asked Shaylin to dress her up as neatly as possible. Shaylin’s poor workmanship took a long time, but there was no other way.
Sienna didn’t want to look shabby when she was about to stand in front of many nobles. She had not sinned, so she would show her elegance and dignity.
Sienna entered the conference room escorted by the Royal Knights. The conference room was filled with people who came to see what political ripple this would bring, and nobles who came to see what kind of political impact the First Empress had made.
After passing through several people, she saw Carl sitting in the middle of the conference room. He looked at Sienna with a worried face. The sight of him eased her nervousness.
The ruling of the treason was held as soon as Sienna entered the room.
“The First Empress, despite being the empress of the Leipsden Empire, has diverted important documents to the Castro Empire. Even if you’re a member of the royal family, you have to be severely punished for committing such a major transfer of information.”
Many aristocrats nodded their heads as Bronis spoke up.
“Does the First Empress admit to this charge?”
“I don’t accept it.”
Sienna was worried that her voice would tremble, but fortunately, a confident voice came out.
“Look at this. There are clear evidence and witnesses, but she wouldn’t admit it. You have no remorse for your sins!”
The murmur grew louder with his agitation.
“What’s that evidence you have?”
Carl’s sharp voice shut the nobles. The hall quickly quieted down.
Bronis replied, confidently waving the blue envelope and the letter in it.
“Here’s a letter from the First Empress received from the Castro Empire. If you look at the content, it contains confidential information about the Royal Knights of the imperial court and tax-related documents. They even sent information about the date and location of the military drills.”
“So is the name of the first Empress written in the letter?”
Bronis could not immediately answer as if Carl’s question was not within the range of his expectations. Pavenik, who was standing next to Carl, received a letter from Bronis, looked at it and said, “The name of the First Empress is not written here.”
“But… …What’s clear is that these envelopes were found in the first Empress desk drawer. In a drawer locked with a key!”
“Well, who opened the drawer that was locked with that key?”
Carl asked even though he already knew the story. It was to help the aristocrats who were new to the case understand the situation.
“Empress Arya opened it with the key that she had.”
“Why did Empress Arya have that key?”
Carl looked at Arya as if he wanted the answer from her. Arya took a step forward, bent her knees slightly, greeted the emperor and said, “A maid came to me and told me that Empress Sienna said that she was exchanging secret letters with Castro, and asked me to protect her because she could lose her life if Empress Sienna found out that she had learned about it. And then she gave me the key, saying it was proof.”
“Did you, Empress Arya, invade Empress Sienna’s residence with other nobles, believing only in the words of a maid of honor?”
“We couldn’t wait because it was a big issue. This was considered to be a serious matter for the fate of the Leipsden Empire.”
“You could have consulted with me before, but I don’t know why you didn’t mention a word to me.”
When Carl glared at her and said, Arya bowed deeply to Carl.
“I believe I was careless. I was afraid you would make the wrong choice because you care so much about the first Empress.”
Arya cunningly blamed Carl. Carl spoke angrily.
“So where is this maid, whom the empress said was such a reliable witness?”
At Carl’s words, Arya had a knight to bring in a witness. Soon Leia entered with the knights. She bowed politely to Carl.
“I’m Leia, the maid of the first Empress.”
Sienna was furious at Leia. Although she was not as close to Sienna as Hain or Shaylin, she was still considered to be Sienna’s own person, which made her angry that Leia was in fact a person of Arya.
“Yes. You’ve accused the first Empress of treason, haven’t you?”
“Yes, I have.”
“Really? Then tell me step by step. How did you know Sienna was transferring national secrets?”
Leia said in a quivering voice to Carl’s question.
“I cleaned the Empress’ room once. Then I found a letter in an open drawer. The maid who was cleaning with me said it was definitely a letter from the priest Roy, but I read it because it was suspicious.”
“Okay, what was written on it?”
“It said ‘Thank you for giving the Castro Empire the information of Leipsden. Next time, we’d like you to send us the information about the military base and the city’s supply status’.”
Sienna shut her eyes tightly to Leia’s words. Her anger boiled up. The voice of the nobles in the hall grew louder.
Carl said to Leia.
“What a clever maid. There are many nobles who can’t read, but you know how to read.”
Carl came down from his seat and walked to Leia. Then he picked up one of the letters Pavenik was holding and handed it to her.
“Read this.”
Leia’s face turned white at Carl’s words. She grabbed the letter with her trembling hand and held it close to her face.
Her gaze did not linger on the writing on the paper. She glanced sideways at Bronis and Arya’s facial expressions. The act revealed the feeling of embarrassment.
She began to read the letter with a quiver.
“Dear… Dear Sienna…in the Castro Empire…”
On the stuttering voice, Carl clucked his tongue and took her letter away.
” ‘May God bless Sienna. It is now a season where the sun is full and cheers up the earth.’ This is how it starts. Can you really read?”
“I’m sorry. I’ve never learned how to read, but… the letter is true. Please believe me.”
Leia knelt and prayed to Carl.
“Didn’t you say it yourself? That it wasn’t until you read the letter that you realized that Sienna was committing a treason. But how could you understand the letter when you can’t even read? Rather, isn’t it more plausible that you made a false statement to frame the empress?”
Arya stepped up at Carl’s words.
“Your Majesty, just because she doesn’t know how to read doesn’t mean that the letter to prove Empress Sienna’s treason is false.”
Carl shook his head at Arya’s words.
“No. Isn’t this maid in the position where she can put the fabricated letter at will as much as she can see it at will?”
“She’s just a maid. That ignorant maid couldn’t have done such a terrible thing as fabricating letters and framing the empress.”
“She can’t even read, but she claims that the empress exchanged letters in which she sold information to other countries. Do you think this makes sense?”
“…”
Arya bit her lower lip because she didn’t like the situation.
Then, outside, the emperor’s knight, Rufus Kissinger, asked for entrance. Carl allowed him to enter the conference room.
Kissinger strode out in front of Carl with a big bundle in his hand.
“Your Majesty, I searched for the maid’s room as you ordered. And this was found in the room.”
He held out a chunk of gold. Carl scrutinized the gold he had received.
“Considering it’s incised in the shape of large leaves, it must be the gold bullion of the Castro Empire.”
Carl threw the golden chunk to the floor of the conference room. Then some aristocrats examined the chunk.
“This came out from that maid’s quarters?”
“Yes. It was tied up in a bundle with them and kept deep under the bed.”
Leia screamed at their words.
“No! They are not mine!”
Carl looked down at her with a cold face and said, “My knight brought it from four years’ quarters, but would you insist it is not?”
“These were also found in her room.”
Kissinger handed Carl a bunch of letters. One of the corners of Carl’s mouth, looking at the letter, creaked up.
“That girl wasn’t the only one who had transferred information in the imperial family. Castro’s got a lot of nerve having planted spies in the Imperial City of the Leipsden.”
Carl fixed his eyes on the agent, Bronis. Bronis turned his eyes, sweating profusely because it was difficult to determine how the situation was going.
This time, Pavenik stepped up.
“While investigating the maids of the first Empress, we also investigated a maid named Leia. The investigation was about chasing after her origins and past track records, but that maid, Leia, had a lot of strange things behind her.”
“Tell me. What is so strange about her?”