His Highness's Second Wife
His Highness’s Second Wife Chapter 94

“Let’s go, Your Highness.” The shackles clicked around Kassian’s hands and the soldier pulled his chain, leading his way from the room where they let him wash up and change. The moment he stepped into the corridor, a group of soldiers surrounded him without saying a word, each of them avoiding his eyes.

The Captain of the Imperial Guard was waiting in front of the doors of the Judgment hall along with the Minister of Justice an old man with a surly expression and long, drooping eyebrows that made him look like he was literally always judging you. Kassian almost smiled – he and Yulien used to mock the old minister all the time when they were younger.

As the doors opened, Kassian moved forward on his own, glancing around while trying to hold back his scowl. The Judgment hall was even more crowded than usual, with dozens of nobles sitting or standing in the boxes rising on both sides of the room. A platform with several chairs stood in front of the space where the criminals were usually tied, one of the chairs rising higher than the others and currently holding the frail body of his father.

The Emperor looked like a shadow of himself, pale and unhealthily thin, with limp hair that looked like it was going to fall off any second and eyes foggy with sickness ever.

Yulien sat on his right with a reserved smile on his face while the Empress fidgeted on the left, eyes red and puffy despite the heavy makeup.

Her usual calmness was replaced by a mask with so many cracks, even Kassian could see how close to becoming unhinged she was. The fire in her eyes, fueled by her grief and anger, burned brighter than away.

The guard made him stop in the middle of the room, attaching his chains to the metal bar rising from the floor. Once he was done, he flashed Kassian a quick, apologetic look and walked

The Minister of Justice walked a few steps in front of Kassian, tapping the floor with his walking stick. Everybody reluctantly quieted, and he faced the Emperor, bowing as low as his ancient body allowed him. The Emperor waved with his hand sluggishly, giving him a sign to continue. He barely looked awake, let alone interested in what was going to happen. He probably had already decided Kassian’s face and this entire fiasco was just for show.

Kassian moved his attention to his brother, who flashed him a quick smile before focusing on the Minister who had resumed the trial. The old man’s frail, breathy voice filled the room effortlessly as he summarized the witnesses’ accounts they must have heard before bringing him in. Apparently, the two witnesses claiming to have seen him murder Rissen were a maid and a guard both stationed at Rissen’s chambers that night. The guard who somehow survived the me by pretending to be dead, and the girl who had the time to hide under her master’s bed and not make a sound while people got butchered in front of her, both claimed he personally killed the second prince.

After the Minister finished recounting the testimonials for his benefit, even though they all painted him as a scrupleless murderer, he glanced towards the Captain. The latter strode to the table that had been brought in by one of the stands, picking up something from it. Kassian immediately recognized his sword even before the Captain brought it before him.

“Is this your sword, Your Highness?” He asked, raising the weapon high enough for Kassian and everyone else to see it.

“Yes,” Kassian replied stiffly.

“This weapon was found in Prince Rissen’s room.” The captain announced, turning his back on Kassian and facing the Emperor. “However, my conclusion is that this weapon was not used to kill His Highness. The wound on the body suggests smaller, thinner blade that sunk into the neck from the side,” he raised his hand and pointed with it to the side of the neck. A few nobles winced, as if imagining the wound appearing and b***d gushing everywhere. “So we concluded that a dagger of a sort was used to murder His Highness. We haven’t found the weapon yet.”

Kassian almost scoffed. Why would he need a dagger when he could snap Rissen’s neck just as easily with his bare hands? These testimonies had so many holes in them, it was a miracle they were still talking. When he looked towards the Emperor and saw his expression, however, he was reminded that it didn’t really matter what all those witnesses said.

“Do you have anything to add, Your Highness?” Kassian opened his mouth but noticed Yulien shaking his head barely noticeably. The Minister of Justice waited for a while, then nodded and turned towards the Emperor. “If this is the case, then you have heard everything we’ve gathered, Your Majesty. Please, give us your fair judgment.”

The Emperor perked up for the first time since Kassian had walked in, straightening up in his seat. He was just about to speak when the Captain cleared his throat.

“Apologies for the interference, Your Majesty, gentlemen, but there is a new development since this morning. And another witness.” He said.

“May I report?” The Emperor scowled but, after a brief consideration, gave him a sign to continue. On the night of the attack, we were able to apprehend one of the rebels, alive. He refused to talk at first, but after extensive questioning, he cracked. The two investigators, His Highness, The Crown Prince, and I, all bore witness to the confession.” Kassian blinked in surprise. Confession?

From a rebel? So far, every single one of them refused to talk no matter the manner of questioning or torture and sooner or later ended up killing themselves or getting silenced. How was Yulien able to make this one talk?

Kassian looked at his brother, who kept his eyes on the Captain. He couldn’t have made up the statement, that was too risky for him. He could never take sides or show favorability and siding with a criminal now could be detrimental to his position. Or was he thinking that with Rissen gone and Kassian behind bars, the Emperor would let him do whatever he wanted just because he didn’t have any more legitimate options for an heir?

“The rebel confessed that the goal of the attack was to take the whole Imperial family out in one go. They knew they could not get to His Majesty, but they could hurt him by hurting his sons – and weaken the Empire so their next attack would destroy it completely. They were supposed to kill Prince Kassian in the commotion while he was drugged by the champagne, but he proved himself a harder opponent to handle, so he managed to escape them. They also sent a smaller group to the crown prince since they didn’t expect much resistance considering his poor health condition.

Prince Rissen’s death was supposed to be tying a loose end.”

“Tying a loose end?” The Emperor asked in a hoarse voice, his brows furrowing.

“Yes.” The Captain nodded, taking a deep breath. “The rebel claimed that Prince Rissen and Her Majesty had been working with them for the past year, providing information as well as financial support that was used to fund the uprisings and help infiltrate the capital through bribes, threats, and murders.”

“Preposterous!” The Empress shouted, jumping to her feet. “Not only are you smearing my son’s name days after his murder, but the lies you’re spewing are so otherworldly, nobody is going to believe something so stupid!”

“l am just relaying his words, Your Majesty.” The Captain said with a calm tone. Kassian glanced at the Emperor who was frowning, then to Yulien who looked like he wanted to smile but was forcing himself not to.

Don’t react, Yulien had warned him before the trial. Seeing how the Empress was so quick to defend herself, even he could tell she looked suspicious. With everything that had happened and this sudden development… she was slipping.

The Empress’s gaze stopped on Kassian, and he allowed himself a slight smile. Her eyes widened and her fists balled into fists.

“My son is dead!” She shouted, pointing at Kassian. “And he is responsible! He should be his way to the gallows, not looking this smug! This rebel must be one of his men, twisting the truth to slander me!”

“Your Majesty, please calm down and allow me to finish the report.” The Captain said with a cold tone, looking at the Emperor. The latter seemed even tenser than before, tapping with his fingers on the chair’s armrest. He looked at his wife and she slowly sat down, still fuming. The Captain continued. “The rebel also said they had agents planted in the castle among which several maids and guards which regularly fed them information.”

The crowd started to whisper again, and the Minister knocked on the floor with his walking stick to quiet them. “He named the two witnesses from earlier as two of them.”

The whispers returned, but this time, amount of knocking made them stop.

“Quiet!” The Emperor shouted, falling into a coughing fit immediately after. The hall quieted, everybody staring at him while he struggled to catch his breath. When he finally did, his eyes were bright red and his hands were shaking. He returned his attention to the Captain. “Are you saying that the rebels are trying to frame Kassian for Rissen’s death?”

“This is what the rebel said, Your Majesty.”

The Captain replied politely. “After not being able to eliminate him on the spot, this was their plan B.

“So you expect me to believe a foreign criminal, one that is clearly an enemy of the Empire, just because he could string a tale and lie well enough to fool you? Where is the evidence? It’s just his word against my own subjects. Give me proof or don’t bother prolonging this trial with useless things.”

The Captain pursed his lips, glancing around as a wave of discontent made its way to people’s faces, but nobody dared to speak this time.

“Yes, Your Majesty.” The Captain nodded. Bring in the last witness.”

Kassian frowned, looking over his shoulder as the soldiers by the door pulled it open. Two figures were standing outside, waiting, and as he recognized them, his eyes widened. Raena walked in first, her expression one of nervousness and fear.

She was wearing a flattering white dress and her hair was carefully arranged in waves falling over her shoulders, making her look so innocent and fragile that he took a step towards her without realizing it. The chains rattled in the quiet room and her eyes darted towards him, hardening in an instant. She quickly looked away, stopping by the Captain and giving him a fearful look. He gave her an encouraging smile and Kassian narrowed his eyes at him while Raena turned towards the platform, curtsying with shaky feet. Blaine stopped a couple of steps behind her, hugging a big pile of papers as he bowed.

Kassian realized his mouth was dry and even when people started talking, he couldn’t look away from those thin shoulders trembling under the pressure. She shouldn’t have been there, not with the danger of her other identity exposed, not with the Empress, who knew her secret sitting right there. He looked up at his brother, prepared to glare at him, only to replace Yulien staring him down with a tense expression.

Keep your mouth shut, his eyes were saying louder than the voices around him. He focused his attention back on Raena, who had just started speaking, her voice cracking now and then. Despite her uneasiness and fear, the words coming out of her mouth sounded confident and carefully picked.

“A few months ago, while I was on a walk with my maid in the city, a woman approached us.

She didn’t look like she knew my real identity and she just offered us to taste her food. I agreed and the food she made was better than anything I’ve ever eaten. She suggested we opened a restaurant so more people could eat the food and because it was going to be a great success. I thought it was a good idea and gathered the money and bought the place. She said she’ll take care of everything. All I need to do is eat great food whenever I want and spend the money however I want. She even gave me servants – three Craidal slaves that promised to play with me and keep me safe at all times.” She stopped, looking down at her hands before taking a deep breath. “At first all was great, and I really liked it, but then every time I would go to the restaurant she would ignore me because she had meetings and most of the people were really scary-looking, so I didn’t say anything. I would complain to the servants she gave me – they came to live with me but they would defend her and say I should be a good girl and do as I am told.”

Raena stopped again, making a longer pause this time

“I went to the restaurant one time without telling anyone, and I saw her talking with a group of men about some kind of plans in the palace. She said that she had arranged everything and that all that remains was for them to do their jobs and kill everyone in the palace. They caught me listening in and she threatened to kill me and my whole family if l ever said anything to anyone.” Raena looked up towards the stands, her eyes searching until they landed on her father and brother, who were sitting on the front roll in one of them. Ramor looked like he wanted to jump down and shield her while her father was pale and tense, staring between him and Kassian with an unreadable expression. Raena looked back at the Emperor. “The servants she gave me changed, too. In front of the others, they were quiet and obedient, but they watched me all the time and every time l tried to get close to someone and ask for help, they would interfere and hurt me afterward.”

The sound of sniffing came from Raena, and Kassian continued to stare at her, wondering if she was really crying.

“I was scared, really scared.” Raena sobbed. “l tried to ask for help from my husband several times. The first time they told me to ask for a divorce or they will kill my brother. The second time they attacked our residence and started killing people and even tried to kidnap me.”

Raena dropped to her knees out of a sudden and a few people gasped in surprise as she kneeled, putting her head to the ground.

“I was scared, Your Majesty, I was very scared! But if I had found a way to say anything, maybe those people wouldn’t have been hurt” She continued in a muffled voice. The urge to go pick her up from the floor made Kassian squeeze his hands into fists, glaring at the chain. He knew she was pretending, and he knew most of her words were a lie- just like about anything in this stupid trial – but he still didn’t want to see her kneeling in front of those people or shedding tears for them.

They didn’t deserve any of that, and she didn’t deserve to humiliate herself for him.

He looked up at the stands and realized with surprise that most of the noble’s faces had softened, their eyes just as angry but no longer looking at him. Her brother even looked like he was about to cry himself.

“Raise your head.” The Emperor said and Raena hesitantly sat up. “So you’re saying this Madam Lydia orchestrated everything? The woman with the veil?”

“Y-y-yes, Your Majesty.” Raena sniffed. “I don’t know how much she was involved in exactly, but she said she had connections everywhere, so even if I was at the Imperial Palace and I tried to say something, there were powerful people there who would kill me on sight.” She raised her hand and wiped her eyes. “After the attack, she fled, and so did the servants she gave me. I went to sir Blaine immediately and told him everything. He had been spending this whole time going over everything Lydia had access to, and he said she was right in the middle of it and that it wasn’t my fault, but.”

Raena lowered her head and started sniffing again, so Blaine moved forward, offering the pile of papers to the Captain.

“This is everything I could replace – all the money Madam Lydia had swindled from the restaurant she managed, all the correspondence we found from her to other people including people in the palace.” He looked up and for a moment Kassian thought he was looking to the Emperor, but then realized he was not. “Including Her Majesty, the Empress.”

All eyes turned to Tassia as she trembled in her chair.

“Impossible! I never had anything to do with Craidal, let alone having secret correspondence with that woman! I barely knew her!” she snapped, turning towards the Emperor. Those are lies! They are trying to frame me!”

“Among those papers is Her Majesty’s special permission for the name of the restaurant as well as a document making Madam Lydia and”

Her Highness’s Secret Place’ sole caterer for the Imperial Palace’s events. There were several other favors given by the Empress, including permission for hiding her identity when visiting the palace. Why else would Her Majesty go out of her way to help a woman she didn’t have a close relationship with?”

“I didn’t!” The Empress hissed. “It’s all her!” She shouted, pointing her finger at Raena who flinched and curled up as if the Empress had brandished a whip at her. “I know Madam Lydia’s identity and it’s her! That little witch is actually Madam Lydia! She is playing you all! My son was murdered because of her! She is in allegiance with the rebels, not me!”

“Didn’t you say you weren’t that close, Your Majesty? How come you know her identity?” The Captain asked, frowning. “And if you knew her identity until now, why haven’t you shared it with us? We’ve been looking all over for her but since we don’t know her face, it has been impossible to replace her.”

“My son was murdered!” Tassia shouted. “Excuse me if! had something else on my mind! The fact remains is that those two,” she pointed at Kassian and Raena, “are trying to frame it on me when they are right in the middle of it! And it’s all because of this man!” Her finger moved to Yulien, who reacted with a confused expression.

“It seems the case might be a lot more complicated than we thought, Your Majesty.” The Captain said while the tension in the room continued to grow. “Perhaps you should hold back your judgment until all the facts have been gathered.”

The Empress opened her mouth as if to object when the Emperor started coughing again, his body shaking heavily and eyes opening so wide, they looked like they were about to fall off their sockets.

“Get a doctor!” Yulien shouted, crouching by the Emperor’s chair. “Quickly!” The doctor, along with several guards, arrived almost immediately and carried the Emperor out with Empress following after them almost immediately. The nobles in the room started talking one over another, making the whole place buzz with their voices.

“Quiet!” Yulien shouted after turning to face them. “Sentence will be postponed until the Emperor is well enough to give it. Trial dismissed.”

He didn’t wait for a reaction, but instead turned on his heel and disappeared through the door behind the platform. Kassian tore his eyes from the door, searching for Raena just as Blaine was helping her to her feet.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness,” the Captain of the Guards whispered while releasing his chain from the metal bar. “Wait just a bit more. Everything went according to plan.”

Kassian’s eyes remained on Raena, who glanced at him as she passed by him. Her eyes were red from the crying and her cheeks were pale, but he could swear she gave him a pleased smile before turning towards the doors where her father and brother were already waiting for her. Kassian shook his head and turned to look at the Captain, who gave him a weak smile.

“Don’t worry. You’ll be a free man soon.”