Kitanna
Chapter 41: DIVINE MOVE

Chapter 41: DIVINE MOVE

[MUSIC RECOMMENDATION: DIVINE MOVE ~ YANG YOSOEB]

At the judgment ground, Clephas was chained, his uniform was already torn due to the harsh way he was handled. He was made to kneel in front of the crowd that had gathered.

People spat on him and cursed him, but he kept his face on the ground without responding to any of the hateful comments.

Almaria sat down close to Khelan, continuing to watch Kitanna from the side of her eyes. The corner of her lips tugged.

They had made fun of her, belittled her among the palace maids, and they felt she would keep calm about it.

Man-uel, who was sitting behind Almaria, enjoyed the whole scene too. It had been a long time since he had a reason to smile.

The court officials sat in a row, waiting for the judgment to be passed. After many minutes of waiting and the judgment procedure not getting started, the officials began to complain.

"What is going on?" Man-uel leaned forward to ask the queen dowager when one of the palace maids whispered something to her.

"The witnesses had a delay on their way," Almaria answered with a frown.

Man-uel felt uneasy with the reply, but then he turned to look at the princess; she was not with her personal guard, which meant Nix was still busy with the little assignment he had given him. Man-uel grinned.

Khelan noticed that the crowd was getting divided because of the delay. He cleared his throat, "Let us exercise a little patience. The witnesses are...." Before he could complete his sentence, about seven men arrived, including the coachman who had carried Kitanna that night.

"The witnesses are here," Khelan said with a smile before going to sit down.

Almaria noticed from the crowd that the coachman she had paid to carry Kitanna that night was there, and the witnesses here at the moment were not the same people she paid to lie against the eunuch. She turned her head slightly to the side and whispered to Man-uel, "What is going on here? These are not our men!" Almaria’s voice had a tone of urgency in it.

Man-uel opened his mouth to talk when his eyes fell on the royal guard. His eyes widened in shock, as if he had seen a ghost. "Queen dowager, I think we are in trouble," Man-uel whispered, his lips trembled in fear.

Almaria turned to look at who her aide was scared of, standing beside the princess was just Nix. She shook her head in frustration; Man-uel was just of no good use. Almaria sighed.

"We are all gathered here today to witness the execution of the traitor who tried to assassinate the princess a few moons back," the royal secretary read from a large scroll.

"Before us now are the witnesses who saw exactly what happened that night, and also the coachman who carried the princess."

The secretary paused and turned to look at Kitanna.

"Princess Kitanna, please confirm, was this your coachman that very night?" the question was directed to Kitanna, who first turned to look at Nix. When Nix nodded for her to go ahead and answer, she stood up.

"Yes, it is him," Kitanna spoke loud enough for everyone to hear before taking her seat.

"Then we have confirmed the credibility of the testimony which will be given by these men. Let us now start the hearing," the secretary concluded, giving a chance for the witnesses to speak.

Almaria was no longer comfortable with the way things were going, but she could not stop the hearing either because people were already gathered in number.

Man-uel too continued to tremble for a totally different reason. He felt sweat streak down his back.

Nix, on the other hand, was sitting with ease, with a relaxed expression. He moved his eyes to look at Man-uel, who was also staring at him. Nix smirked before turning his face.

The moment Kitanna saw Nix step into the hall, she felt very much relaxed. She was confused about how to do anything because it was too sudden. She had been a little distracted, and Almaria pulled her by the leg. But then Nix had asked her to relax and assured her that everything would be okay.

At intervals, Kitanna turned to look at Nix; she wanted to ask him if he had solved the issue concerning his tribe. But the man had a more relaxed and composed expression like there was nothing to worry about.

Kitanna decided to join in his energy, she relaxed and waited for the witnesses to speak.

The first witness, who was the coachman, bowed to the king and began to speak, "I was on my way to the next kingdom where the princess was supposed to get married when some men stopped us and requested I hand the princess over to them. I asked them who gave such an order, and they said it was someone from the palace."

This caused people to murmur and even curse at Clephas. Clephas continued to look at the ground; he was too weak to make a move.

The secretary signaled for the crowd to be silent and asked the other witnesses to speak.

"I am one of the assassins, and I know the face of the person who paid for the princess to be attacked," said one of the witnesses. This statement created another uproar among the crowd, and the secretary tried to calm them down.

"Is the traitor in this ground?" the secretary asked.

In response, the witnesses, including the coachman, nodded.

The secretary waved for two guards to lift Clephas up, so everyone could see his face.

"Is this man the person who staged the attack?" the royal secretary asked.

The man who confessed to be one of the assassins and the coachman paused for a moment, causing tension in the atmosphere. Then they shook their heads negatively.

This caused the crowd to murmur among themselves.

"Then who was this person if not this man? You are standing before the royal family, lie, and your family will also bear the consequences. Now speak," the royal secretary ordered.

"I am shocked to see another man in chains when the real culprit is standing right there," the coachman and all the witnesses pointed towards the side where the royal family was sitting.

Almaria felt her heart skip when she saw the witnesses pointing at her side. She tried to defend herself, but then something strange happened.

They were looking at the person behind her.

Man-uel shook his head frantically when he noticed everyone was looking at him. He tried to look at the queen dowager for help, but Almaria stood up immediately and moved away from him.

"It wasn’t me; they are lying. I will never hurt the royal family. Someone paid them to lie. It’s him, that blue-eyed guard! I didn’t do anything," Man-uel shouted, trying to deny the accusations.

Khelan ordered the guards to capture Man-uel immediately. He was brought forward and made to kneel close to Clephas.

Kitanna was surprised at the turn of events; she moved her eyes to look at Nix. He still held a calm expression, but this time he turned and smiled at her.

The crowd was confused as to what was happening, not just the crowd. Khelan too, he turned to look at his mother.

Almaria decided to let go of Man-uel, if that would save her own head. She was even surprised when the coachman did not point her, which meant anyone who plotted this wanted to save her own head. And it was definitely not Kitanna, or it means she really lost her memory.

"Mother, did you know this was going to happen? Did you know Man-uel was the real culprit?" Khelan asked.

Almaria, who stood up when Man-uel tried to touch her for help, finally sat down. "Let us wait until judgment is over."

Man-uel tried to release himself from the grip, but the guards did not let him move. "I am innocent. Please help me, queen dowager." He tried to beg, but nobody agreed to listen to him.

Khelan stood up and asked the witnesses, "Are you sure this is the man?" And the witnesses replied with a nod.

"Proceed with the execution," Khelan ordered.

This caused Man-uel to widen his eyes in shock. He could not believe he was about to take the whole fall, while the queen dowager sat down there like it was all his doing.

Man-uel looked around the crowd; it was then his eyes rested on the guard. He was getting punished for crossing the White Lord, and he knew it.

There is a saying, when you are at the point of your death, your life flashes before your eyes. Man-uel remembered how everything started, which caused him to end up where he was.

Man-uel, who had been trailing Nix, had seen the princess leave Nix’s room the day before. He decided to punish the guard by adding poison to his tribe’s water. That way, he would be distracted and absent during the execution, and the princess would no longer trust to him. Maybe Nix found out that it was his doing and decided to make him take the fall.

Man-uel raised his eyes to look at Nix; that was when he noticed Nix move his lips. "Now you know never to cross me," he mouthed.

Man-uel was shocked as the knife slashed him in two. Life left his eyes as he dropped to the ground lifeless.

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