Wife of The Demon Prince
Chapter 234: The king’s final decision

Chapter 234: The king’s final decision

One by one the women told their stories, and how the second Prince had tricked them into attending his party. The last woman stepped forward, who Ara noticed was Evangeline’s cousin with how she glanced towards their direction.

She was weeping under the veiled hat, Evangeline’s cousin spoke with a trembling voice, "...I had no idea how everything happened, I wasn’t in my right mind everything was fuzzy...All I know was how I was passed to three men after the second Prince..."

Cassius turned red in rage, "lies! Bunch of liars. These women are lying, this is a conspiracy planned by my half-brother, Hamon!" He barked angrily.

Evangeline’s cousin replied with a noticeably angry voice, "You treacherous monster! Have you forgotten your words when I cried my eyes out in front of you?! Let me remind you then, ’you should be lucky and grateful to have the seed of a royal like me in you.’ Those were your words as you shoved me out of your building!" She reminded him and was even about to angrily attack Cassius, but was held back by the rest of the women in red.

The women’s bravery and testimony made the court room fall into shocked silence, as if they’d been doused with cold water.

Cassius pointed an accusing finger at Evangeline’s cousin, "You are such a big fat liar! I have never come in contact with you not any of these women. Who paid you to defame me? Was it my brother?!" He demanded, still feigning innocence. But everyone in the room was too shocked to defend him of the accusations. The evidence Hamon presented was too clear for them to side with the second Prince.

Cassius was about to speak again. However, Hamon shot a warning glare to his brother, who immediately looked as if he wanted to crawl away and hide in a corner. Cassius still recalled all the whipping he’d received from Hamon, and wasn’t ready to receive another one for disrespecting him. Thus, Cassius shut his mouth and didn’t talk back to the women.

Hamon began to speak, "I didn’t bring the case to court because I wanted to gather all the witnesses and victims before bringing it out."

"That is a lame excuse, Your Highness! You are just trying to avoid your punishment." Edwin rebuked in an attempt to give fault to Hamon’s words, but the crown Prince continued calmly with a hint of disgust in his voice, "Your opinion isn’t needed here, Edwin. I am sure none of the victims here are your family nor related to you in anyway."

Cassius wouldn’t dare do such things to his relatives, so the victims were from other noble households. Hamon raised his voice for all the nobles to hear, "I hope all of you wouldn’t over look this. These women here maybe one of your own, I would advise you to think twice before you defend the second Prince."

"...!"

The nobles who had sided with Merona suddenly went mute. Because the faces of the victims were all covered, the people were forced to use their imagination. Some even began to stretch their necks towards the women. Every man may be indifferent to another man’s suffering, but when it came to their own, they became protective.

There were a number of reasons why Hamon had kept Cassius a prisoner in his residence. One was to distract Merona and have her obsess over the condition of her son, because he intended to attack her by multiple angles, he needed to draw her attention away from his other plans. Cassius’ imprisonment was also a clear message to the officials to know that his position was far stronger than they thought.

Hamon’s plans all went well, and right now Merona’s blood drained from her face. It was no longer possible for her to claim her son was innocent with all these witnesses. ’I am done for!’

Frederick, who had been silently listening, finally spoke with disappointment laced in his voice, "It’s now clear, Cassius is guilty of all these crimes."

"Father! I didn’t do any of this, I was_" Cassius was about to continue to act innocent, but Merona shot him a glare to stay quiet. It was useless to keep insisting that he was innocent at this point.

Merona lifted her head imperiously and faced the king, she wouldn’t allow him punish her son for such a small crime. It was a mistake, and nobody was above that! "Your majesty. No matter what Cassius’ crimes were, he is still a royal, a Prince. It would be best you reconsider his punishment instead of making your decision immediately."

At Merona’s words, Hamon let out a roar of sharp laughter, "Did I hear you right, step mother? If I remember clearly, didn’t someone say even a Prince is below the law."

Those were Edwin’s words, his face turned red in embarrassment mixed with rage, but he stood still without uttering a word.

Hamon’s expression turned serious and asked Fredrick, "Your majesty, do you still remember you gave me the authority to punish the culprit behind the assassination attempt on my wife and I?"

Frederick managed to give a nod, "Cough, Cough, yes, I did."

"Your majesty, the culprit was none other than her majesty." Hamon declared.

Everyone’s eyes turned towards Merona at the same time. Her eyes widened in stunned disbelief, "What in hell’s name are you talking about, Hamon? You are going too far with your accusations!"

Hamon chuckled darkly, "Am I now? Didn’t you and marquis Tudor planned to get rid of me? Don’t worry, I can prove this again." He said, then turned towards the entrance, "Bring them in."

Not long, marquis Favian’s wife, Alison and his assistant came inside the court room. "Hail your majesty!" They bowed.

Alison gave her testimony, she told the king how Merona had promised her husband and daughter if he killed the crown Prince and his wife.

"Ah..." Merona started to panic when all her schemes began unraveling before her. She was already accused of killing the commoners, to make matters worse, she was suspected to being involved in Hamon’s assassination. Her son was also in trouble for serious charges. She couldn’t bring herself to respond to the wave of accusations levied on her.

Merona went mute, and Frederick made his final decision after hearing everything, "Another round of investigations regarding the queen’s crimes shall be taken by the royal investigators!"

The officials gathered were all astonished at the unexpected turn of events. Most had bet on the queen’s victory today, but it seemed the crown Prince had gotten the upper hand. However, Hamon wasn’t done yet, he began again,

"Your majesty, as the crown Prince of Findara, I have another request to make."

"Go ahead."

"For all the crimes the second Prince had committed..." He paused for awhile as his red eyes bored into Cassius’, he then continued, "Cassius should be removed from the list of throne succession. Someone like him doesn’t deserve such a position."

Merona, who had kept her mouth firmly shut, finally burst out in rage, "That is impossible! You can’t do that to him!"

All the nobles stared at the king in anticipation of his final words. Although the formal investigation would take time to be conducted, but the sins of Merona and Cassius were already certain.

Frederick cleared his throat, then spoke with a firm voice as he had already made up his mind, "From now onwards, Cassius will be removed from succession. And all the supporters he’d gained so far, are no longer valid!"

Small, stunned gasps rippled across the court room, but that wasn’t the end, Frederick continued, "The crown Prince’s coronation shall be held three weeks from now!"

The kings final announcement only meant Hamon had won this case. And many of the officials who had sided with Merona turned paled, however no one could oppose the king. And with how the event had turned out to be, they all decided to shut their mouths, before Hamon decided to punish them instead.

"Your majesty, you can’t do this to Cassius, he’s also your son! He deserves to have the right to the throne." Merona raised her voice, but Frederick held up his hand to shut her up as if her loud voice was bothering him, he then gestured to the soldiers, "Please escort her majesty to her residence."

"Yes, Your majesty!" The soldiers marched towards Merona and surrounded her. They did not lay their hands on her, but they would do so if she did not comply willingly, "Please move, your majesty."

Merona grounded her teeth in resentment, with a final glare at the king, she stood up and stepped forward, knowing that resisting would only cause her another embarrassment. Her eyes moved towards Ara, who was beaming, then to Hamon who had a smirk on his face, she clenched her fist tightly, then walked away with the soldiers.

Edwin also followed behind them. However, seeing that he would be left alone, Cassius called out in desperation, "M-mother, What about me?!"

Merona and Edwin, however did not glance back, and hurriedly disappeared from the people’s view, not even looking back at Cassius, who looked like an abandoned child. Cassius turned desperately towards his father as if asking him to save him from returning to Hamon’s dungeon.

Frederick looked at his son’s pleading eyes with disappointment, he then said firmly, "Cassius will remain locked up in the dungeon until the formal trial is held!"

Cassius’ eyes widened in shock, "Father, Please don’t do this to me. Forgive me, I was wrong, I will listen to you from now on, but please don’t let them lock me up in that dark dungeon again. Give me another chance to prove I can be a better Prince!" Cassius pleaded in desperation as he rushed to move toward Frederick, but was immediately blocked by Hamon’s soldiers.

The soldiers dragged him out of the court room, begging and shouting for mercy.

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