A short time before Christina and Duke Huguenot were summoned by Francois, Rio and the others had left the Ricca Guild and boarded a carriage back to the castle. Stewart and Duke Gregory were also heading from the Ricca Guild back to the castle on their own carriage at the same time.
As soon as they reached the castle, both parties immediately went to King Francois’s office, as there was no other way of settling the situation that had gotten out of hand.
“Why are you here?!”
“What’s the meaning of this?”
“This slave belongs to our family!”
Rio tried to feign ignorance of Latifa’s identity, but Stewart refused to accept that. He had been so agitated, nothing Rio said could reach him.
Since the situation couldn’t be resolved by both parties discussing things themselves, Liselotte suggested they return to the castle and have King Francois make an impartial decision.
Duke Gregory agreed with Liselotte’s suggestion. The original plan had been for Stewart to check Rio’s face, so why was Stewart making such a fuss about this? He wanted to use their travel time in the carriage to get the details from Stewart.
Francois, who had been doing paperwork in his office, invited them inside after hearing there had been an incident. Thus, everyone was gathered once again in King Francois’s office.
Currently inside the room were Francois, Rio, Latifa, Liselotte, Miharu, and Aki, as well as Duke Gregory and Stewart. Rio and Liselotte sat beside each other on the sofa, while Stewart and Duke Gregory were seated similarly across from them. King Francois was positioned between them, creating a U-shape seating formation.
As for Latifa, she was seated on a chair placed behind the sofa Rio and Liselotte were sitting on, with Miharu and Aki seated on each side of her.
“What on earth happened?” Francois asked, immediately requesting an explanation once everyone was seated.
“We were in the middle of shopping at the Ricca Guild when Duke Gregory and Duke Huguenot’s son approached Sir Haruto,” Liselotte said, acting as Rio’s witness.
She too had asked him about the circumstances on the carriage ride over, after which she had deemed Rio and Latifa innocent and decided to protect them. In a rare show of anger, Liselotte’s tone of speech towards Stewart and Duke Gregory was notably harsher than usual.
“Then, Lord Stewart suddenly started claiming that Lady Suzune was a slave of the Huguenot family. He seemed too enraged to discuss things properly on the spot, so I suggested we bring this case to Your Majesty for arbitration.”
Once Liselotte finished giving her summary, she glared at Stewart sharply in objection. Stewart looked daunted for a brief moment, but soon retorted in anger.
“O-Of course I’d be enraged. A slave from our family was freed without our permission!”
Unexpected as it was, now that he had a chance to censure Rio, he couldn’t back down anymore.
“I have never seen a werebeast before, but I have heard that they all have animal ears and tails. I do not see such traits in Haruto’s sister Suzune. Do you have any proof of your claims that she belongs to the Huguenot family?” Francois asked, glancing at Latifa as he addressed Stewart.
“The fact that the girl is terrified of me should be more than enough proof. She illegally escaped her slave status and is now trembling at the thought of the consequences,” Stewart said smugly.
While it sounded like good reasoning at first, that was no more than his own subjective view. He hadn’t provided any objective evidence to his claim. Stewart seemed to think that was enough to win the argument, but this wasn’t just a verbal quarrel. There was no way an accusation with no evidence could convince Francois.
“I’m sure you know already, but Haruto is a noble of our kingdom. Defaming his sister’s honor is equal to defaming Haruto’s. I will ask once more. Do you have adequate evidence to back up your claim? Are you aware you are already defaming Haruto and his sister at this very moment?”
Will you be prepared to face the consequences if we discover that you’re lying? That was what Francois was asking implicitly.
“A-Are you accusing me of lying?” Stewart recoiled with an offended look.
“I’m saying the truth cannot be confirmed without proof.”
“If you need proof, then I’m a witness!”
“But Suzune has no traits of a werebeast. You said your slave was a werebeast.”
“I-I know she has no traits of a werebeast, but all her other features are identical. Enough to conclude she’s the same person.”
“Even so, as far as I’m concerned, that’s just your mistaken assumption.”
“In that case, please confirm it with Amakawa himself, Your Majesty. Ask him if Suzune over there was actually a slave of the Huguenot family before,” Stewart said insistently.
His encounter with Latifa had created an unexpected commotion, but it was too late to turn back now. There was nothing he could do but push on forward.
Hmph! Let’s see if you can lie to the king through your teeth. The moment you do, your sins will become that much graver. Once the king has lost trust in you, I’ll expose your past. It’s a two-pronged approach.
Besides, Stewart was certain of his success. He believed Latifa to be a weakness he could use to bring about Rio’s downfall.
“If this is the truth, our kingdom cannot turn a blind eye to the situation. I advise you not to brush this off without consideration, Your Majesty,” Duke Gregory said, speaking up for the first time to support Stewart.
“Very well,” Francois said with a sigh. “What is the truth, Haruto?”
“May I say something before I answer the question?” Rio said slowly.