Chapter 392. Sentence (1)
Translator: Aura / Editor: HB168
The murmurs of the audience disappeared and the courtroom became incredibly quiet.
The audience’s gazes simultaneously fell on one person. Sovieshu. His face seemed to be covered by a thin layer of ice.
Rashta didn’t stop there. She pointed a finger at Sovieshu and exclaimed,
“His Majesty claimed that Empress Navier was infertile and forced me to have a child with another man to hide the fact that he is castrated!”
The murmurs that had disappeared suddenly returned. A commotion spread throughout the courtroom like wildfire.
I pressed my lips together tightly and tried to keep my expression serious. Clearly I shouldn’t laugh in this situation, but it was difficult.
I felt a gaze on me. It was Heinley. When our eyes met, he quickly looked away.
However, as I watched him, his shoulders shook and he shifted back and forth in his seat. He seemed to suppress his desire to ask me if Sovieshu really had problems with his manhood.
I preferred not to answer that question, so I pretended not to see him.
However, the person sitting on my other side…
“Is it true?”
“Mother! You know she didn’t mean that.”
“I’m just curious.”
I didn’t expect my mother to ask that, but then I remembered that she once advised me that if Sovieshu brought a woman as a concubine, I should look for a man who was more endowed, vigorous, handsome, and younger, and take him as my lover.
Come to think of it, doesn’t Heinley fit the bill perfectly?
Although Heinley is not only my lover, he meets the necessary requirements to my satisfaction.
Surprised by my realization, I stared at Heinley, while my mother pinched me repeatedly on the arm.
I whispered in my mother’s ear so Heinley wouldn’t hear,
“He’s not impotent.”
“So, he’s not castrated?”
“Mother. You should use proper words.”
“Does his manhood have trouble getting up?”
“…”
“Is there something wrong with my choice of words?”
When I tried to answer, Rashta’s loud voice caught my attention again.
“His Majesty forced me to have a child with another man! It was all done on His Majesty’s order!”
“Silence!”
The High Court Judge shouted angrily, with his face completely red.
Although he had treated her politely as the Empress of the Eastern Empire thus far, he seemed to have completely exploded upon hearing Rashta claim Emperor Sovieshu is ‘castrated’.
The audience also began to shout at her to shut up.
Rashta was determined not to give in, so she took off one of her heels and slammed it against the stand platform to silence the audience.
When everyone was baffled into silence, Rashta hurled her shoes at the audience and pointed at the commoners.
“Shut up! I am the one who has the right to speak because I am standing here!”
The commoners fell silent in fear, and a young lady who was nearby dropped her fan.
Sovieshu looked genuinely surprised. He fluctuated from anger to embarrassment constantly.
Heinley clicked his tongue and whispered,
“From the moment she called me a liar in front of everyone I’ve thought she had a lot of courage.”
… Come to think of it, it would have been unthinkable for anyone else to call me ‘sister’ knowing that I was the Empress, especially if that person had no power.
In any case, this type of courage was not praiseworthy.
“Your Majesty, are you trying to drag Emperor Sovieshu’s reputation because you are in danger?”
The Judge’s voice was calm again. He was a man who took pride in his work. He must have lost his temper fearing that Rashta would ruin his work.
“Of course!”
When Rashta admitted it, even the High Court Judge hesitated.
Rashta looked around mockingly and said sarcastically,
“If I wasn’t the only one who did wrong, why should I be the only one to bear responsibility for the crimes? The accomplices must be dragged in. Would anyone present here be willing to die alone when it is unfair?”
“…”
“In the time that Empress Navier was married to Emperor Sovieshu, she was never able to have a child, but she became pregnant as soon as she married a man from the neighboring country. I, as you all know, have already had two children. So who has the problem? Isn’t this proof that Emperor Sovieshu is seedless?”
The audience looked at Sovieshu in astonishment at Rashta’s coherent words.
However, this wasn’t a matter that could be talked about openly. Besides, even if Sovieshu really was infertile, there was no way to determine that for sure. People could get into trouble if they were caught whispering about the Emperor’s possible infertility, so everyone just watched in silence.
“It got good.”
Heinley murmured.
Truth be told, I was also enjoying seeing Sovieshu put on the ropes like this for the first time… should I feel guilty?
Sovieshu just stared at Rashta blankly. His impassive attitude seemed to say, ‘let’s see how far she goes with her nonsense’. He gave the impression that he didn’t care at all about Rashta’s words.
But Sovieshu and I spent many years together andI could tell that he was really angry.
If he tried to intervene or deny Rashta’s words, it would only make the situation worse and damage his image, so he controlled his expression and remained calm.