I Have A Damn Family Again - Chapter 69

Chapter 69: CHAPTER 1 (3)

“…What?”
Flora was completely taken aback by Carsein’s sharp dismissal.
She had anticipated some scolding, but never imagined he would cut her off so abruptly, refusing to even hear her out.
“Why? Why don't you need my help? I can be your witness at the trial! We can end this once and for all!”
Flora pleaded, her voice trembling.
Carsein, with his signature icy smirk, delivered another blow.
“How can I trust you?”
“What?”
“Your testimony during the Shapel Forest incident branded me a criminal. How can I possibly believe anything you say?”
Flora was about to retort angrily but Carsein didn't give her a chance.
“Are you going to say you didn’t know Theo Ramstear that well back then? That this time it’s different because you know the truth? That you had no idea Emma was such a horrible person?”
Flora flinched, her shoulders slumping.
“Don’t try to manipulate me and just go home, you stupid little brat. I've had enough of being framed because of your lies.”
“…What?! Do you really think I’d side with Theo and Emma now?”
“Yes.”
A single word. A sharp, decisive affirmation.
Tears welled up in Flora’s eyes.
“B-But I’m here to help… I’m telling you, this time… I’m on your side…”
“I don’t need it. Flora Bagrand.”
As her words were cut off once more, Flora recalled her conversation with Camilla.
-Lady Flora, I believe I understand what you are trying to do. Please allow me to speak frankly, even if it is presumptuous of me.
-What is it?
-If you are trying to win the young master’s favor, you will never succeed.
Flora had flinched at those words. Because… that was exactly what she was trying to do.
-I wasn’t exonerated; the young master merely showed me mercy and spared my life.
Camilla had explained that her sins were unforgivable.
That she would have to carry that burden for the rest of her life.
That the young master’s mercy was a chance for redemption, nothing more.
Her words, spoken in a flat, emotionless tone, had felt like a slap in the face.
-What are you saying? Are you saying that trying to help Carsein is wrong?
-I’m afraid so, Lady Flora. The young master has already shown you mercy countless times.
-If I help him now, I can make sure this never happens again! I can promise him that I won't do anything like that ever again! Why are you saying these things to me?!
Flora had stormed out of the room, fuming.
Just you wait, she had thought. This mess was her fault, and she would fix it.
However, reality proved Camilla’s words true.
Tears streamed down Flora’s face.
“B-But this time I’m telling the truth! I’m really on your side! I know Theo and Emma are bad people! I really do!”
She cried out, hoping her words would reach him, hoping they would change his mind.
“I won't do it again…! I promise I won’t do anything bad to you ever again…! So please… I…!”
“I don’t need it.”
Carsein’s voice was cold, sharp, and final, like a blade severing all ties.
He drew a line once more, a line that separated them, a line that excluded her.
“I’m just a commoner brought here by the mentally unstable Duchess. I’m not family; no one cares about me. It must be unbearable for them, having a filthy, lowborn creature like me polluting the noble halls of the Duchy.”
He used his social status as a weapon, drawing a line between them.
He painted himself as an outsider, someone who had no place within the esteemed Bagrand family.
“Perhaps, like some have suggested, I covet what doesn't belong to me. My very presence must disgust the servants and knights, seeing their master treated as an equal to a commoner.”
He weaponized the prejudices she herself had fostered, solidifying the line between them.
He justified their actions, portraying himself as deserving of their disdain and cruelty.
“And that’s where Theo Ramstear and Emma Urnen come in. They see a commoner, a liar, a troublemaker who causes nothing but chaos, and decide to act in the name of justice. They rally the servants and knights to their cause, and…”
“What… What are you saying… What are you saying…!”
Flora finally understood.
The three lines he had drawn, the meaning they held.
Carsein continued, his voice devoid of any emotion.
“So, you see, you have nothing to do with this, Flora.”
He was saying that Flora Bagrand had no part in this.
That she had no testimony to offer at the trial.
He had drawn a definitive, impenetrable line.
“N-No… That’s not… How could you… You know… You know what I did…!”
She reached for him, her voice choked with sobs, but Carsein simply stared at her with indifference.
“Where’s the proof?”
Scars that had long faded couldn't prove her past cruelty. Her fleeting, venomous words couldn’t be used to condemn her for the systemic torment she had inflicted upon him.
The pain she had caused no longer held any significance.
And his silence, his refusal to speak of her actions, became an insurmountable wall.
At that moment, Flora Bagrand was completely excluded from the trial.
As if nothing had ever happened.
As if it had never been.
“You have nothing to say at the trial.”
Like a shadow consumed by the setting sun, leaving behind no trace, Flora lost all power, all agency.
-Thump, thump.
Carsein’s footsteps echoed down the hallway, erasing everything in their wake.
Flora, now a mere spectator, sank to the ground, tears streaming down her face.
Trapped behind the lines he had drawn.
As Carsein’s figure disappeared from sight, Camilla, who had witnessed the entire exchange, whispered softly.
“That wasn’t what you should have said, Lady Flora. What you needed to say to the Young Master was…”
────!
Flora’s sobs echoed through the hallway.

***

“This is the room.”
Three knights appeared before Emma’s solitary cell.
The heavy iron door creaked open, and for a moment, Emma thought she was finally being released. But then…
“Drag her out!”
Panic surged through her as she struggled against the knights’ grip.
“W-What is the meaning of this?! How dare you treat me this way!”
“Save your breath and come quietly.”
“I am the Head Maid of the Bagrand Duchy! I am Lady Flora’s nanny! I am not someone you lowly knights can manhandle!”
The knights scoffed at her empty threats.
“We’ll see about that. You’re more likely to be a criminal than a Head Maid.”
“What… What did you say?!”
She was about to unleash another tirade but then she noticed their attire.
‘They’re official knights? Why?!’
If Theo Ramstear had successfully expelled Carsein and sent for her rescue, she would have expected apprentice knights, or at most, trainee knights.
But official knights…?
‘This… This isn’t right! Something went wrong!’
It meant that everything had gone awry.
“Emma Urnen, you are being transported to the courtroom!”
“Move it! Now!”
“Wait! Stop! Stop it!”
“Hurry up!”
“Aaargh! My hair is caught!”
Emma shrieked as her hair got tangled in the bars of her cell.
The knights, paying no attention to her cries, dragged her towards the courtroom like a sack of potatoes.
Her screams continued, a mix of genuine pain and the knights’ deliberate roughness.
By the time they reached the courtroom, Emma was a pathetic sight.
Her hair was a tangled mess, her clothes were stained and wrinkled from being dragged across the floor.
The once-pristine Head Maid, who had even enjoyed the luxury of servants while in solitary confinement, now looked like a common criminal.
-Thud!
“Ouch! That hurts!”
The knights practically tossed her onto the floor before marching away without a backward glance.
Theo, sitting next to her, clicked his tongue in annoyance.
“Get up, Head Maid. This isn’t the time to be wallowing.”
“Theo Ramstear? You bastard…!”
Emma was about to lash out but Theo quickly covered her mouth and pulled her to her feet.
“It hurts! Didn't you see me fall just now?”
“Damn it, we don’t have time for this! Cooperate if you don't want to get screwed.”
“What…?”
“Let me make this clear: we need to work together to bury Carsein in this courtroom. Otherwise, we're both dead.”
“You mean… We’re the ones being accused?”
“Exactly!”
“But why?! I was locked up in solitary! I had nothing to do with this!”
“That’s why I’m telling you, he knows! Somehow, he figured out that you were the one behind it! That you orchestrated the whole thing!”
“What…!”
“Shut up and listen to me! It’s do or die now. If we can’t reduce our sentences, we’re both finished!”
As soon as Theo finished explaining their dire situation, the courtroom doors swung open.
Emma’s blood boiled as she saw Carsein enter, surrounded by a throng of people.
However, her lack of understanding of the gravity of the situation blinded her to the danger they were truly in.
─Her Imperial Highness, Princess Arsienne, presiding judge, has arrived!
‘W-What?! Princess Arsienne?!’
Only then, hearing the name of the judge who would decide their fate, did realization dawn on her.
This wasn't someone she could bribe her way out of.
The power she wielded within the Duchy meant nothing in the face of this judge.
A chill ran down Emma’s spine.
Theo was right.
‘That little wretch… He’s trying to destroy the Duchy!’
Everything had gone downhill since that commoner’s arrival.
Her plans had been thwarted time and time again.
If she failed to get rid of Carsein, she would lose everything. She couldn’t lose the comfortable life she had built for herself within the Dukedom.
She was trapped, and there was only one way out.
She had to turn the tables during the trial, secure her release, and then eliminate him.
Fortunately, the trial presented her with the perfect opportunity to frame Carsein and clear her own name.
She glared at him, her lips curling into a mocking smile.
However…
“We will now commence the trial of Carsein, for issuing excessive punishment against the knights of the Duchy, and Theo Ramstear, for stealing the belongings of his master, including his fiancée’s handkerchief.”
“…?”
The trial began, its focus completely unexpected, wiping away Emma’s smug confidence.
-Whirr.
The Judgment Orb hummed to life, signaling the start of the trial.

***

As I entered the courtroom, Theo and Emma were already seated.
They were both a mess.
Theo was bruised and battered, his clothes bearing the marks of fists and boots. Emma’s hair was disheveled, her meticulously maintained appearance ruined, her once-pristine uniform now bearing the marks of being dragged across the floor.
They looked more like common criminals than a knight and Head Maid of the Bagrand Duchy.
They glared at me with murderous intent, their lips curled into mocking sneers.
‘You think you can win this trial? ’
Of course, they did.
They had already defeated Carsein once before.
‘But will you be so confident after this?’
─Her Imperial Highness, Princess Arsienne, presiding judge, has arrived!
At the mention of Princess Arsienne’s name, Theo's eyes widened in shock, and Emma practically jumped out of her seat.
“We will now commence the trial of Carsein, for issuing excessive punishment against the knights of the Duchy, and Theo Ramstear, for stealing the belongings of his master, including his fiancée’s handkerchief.”
As Princess Arsienne announced the charges, Emma frantically whispered to Theo, her voice laced with panic.
She was probably asking him what was going on.
And who could blame her?
Unlike previous trials, she couldn't complain about an unfavorable agenda. Princess Arsienne was an Imperial Princess, and challenging her judgment would be akin to questioning her competence.
Tension filled the air as representatives from both the Bagrand and Theresia families took their seats.
This was an unforeseen risk, a nightmare they hadn’t anticipated.
‘But I can’t afford to be complacent either.’
Theo Ramstear was well-connected; he had influence, and that influence had brought allies to the courtroom.
Carsein, lacking knowledge of noble etiquette and social dynamics, was an easy target for criticism and intimidation.
In the end, I was alone.
I had to prove my innocence on my own, to face these deceitful individuals and expose their lies, all while adhering to the rules of this twisted game.
-Hum.
“The Judgment Orb has been activated. Before we proceed, both parties must swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”
““We swear.””
Princess Arsienne, after a brief pause, formally commenced the trial.
▶The trial has begun!◀
▶Failure to achieve the required completion rate will result in your defeat and return to the ducal manor!◀
[ Target Completion Rate: 100% ]
Returning to the manor…
That was a euphemism for death.
Failure in this trial meant certain doom.
“Your Highness, may I present my argument first?”
“Hmm?”
“I am not objecting to the retrial. However, if the focus remains solely on that aspect, my argument might get buried. I request the right to present my case before proceeding with the deliberations.”
“I see. What are your thoughts, Carsein?”
Princess Arsienne turned to me.
Granting me the first turn meant handing me the initiative, the power to set the tone of the trial.
But it was a shallow tactic.
The party presenting a rebuttal always had the advantage of dismantling the opponent’s arguments, pushing them into a corner.
“I have no objections, Your Highness.”
“Very well.”
Princess Arsienne signaled for the trial to continue.
“Firstly, Trainee Carsein received excessive support during his probationary period. Although our actions were excessive, we had reason to suspect foul play. And he was the one who created this suspicion in the first place. We were obligated to take stricter measures.”
Theo Ramstear presented the evidence he had gathered: my pouch and the bag I had brought with me to the training grounds.
He opened the bag and pulled out a few items.
“This was confiscated during our investigation. As you can see, he possessed items that trainees are prohibited from having. Our actions were justified to ensure a fair evaluation.”
Murmurs of agreement rippled through the courtroom.
“Well, it makes sense. With the support of the Bagrand Duchy, he obviously had access to more resources than the other knights.”
“Training is about enduring hardship. With so much support, he could never experience the pain of blisters and calluses.”
“Imagine the bleeding and torn skin… How could he possibly train properly under such conditions…?”
-Ding!
Choices appeared.
I had to counter the shift in public opinion.
I had already met all the conditions, so there weren’t any detrimental or death flag choices.
But if I had to choose…
‘This one’s the best.’
[ 2. From the very beginning, I was determined to train with the same intensity as the other knights— ]
-Whoosh.
‘What? Why did the choices disappear?’
-Slam!
Suddenly, a woman’s voice boomed through the courtroom, silencing the murmurs.
“What do you know?! You know nothing!”
Pink hair, a furious expression, and blazing blue eyes.
It was Claire.