Chapter 227: 227

There was a silence that seemed to stretch until eternity, before Belice announced her decision. “Here is my verdict. Alexcent Frostin du Skad, I hereby sentence you to death.”

“Your Majesty! You can’t!!!” Gen yelled, rising to his feet. His protest went unnoticed from the cheering that erupted from Cameron and the priests of the Grand Temple.

Alexcent calmly accepted the decision. It was the short and precise trial he wanted. Everything was over. He felt relieved that he could now be free from the pain.

“Your Majesty, could you wait on making the sentence final, for a moment?” Duke Roden had risen to address the Empress, his face serious. His sudden words brought a silence to the court and everyone focused their gaze on him.

“Wait, Duke Roden? Do you not agree with my decision?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I do. But…”

“But what?” Belice asked, angry that she had been second-guessed.

Duke Roden took a deep breath before answering. “I think you should know why Sir Skad had to kill High Priest Celios.”

“What?” Cameron bolted to his feet, furious.

“What do you mean?” Belice asked.

“Your Majesty, please look at these documents.” Duke Roden handed a file to the secretary, who passed it over to Belice. The room was silent as she reviewed the contents, her face becoming angrier as she looked at page after page. She began rubbing at her temples as her lips trembled in outrage.

The documents listed dates and monetary amounts, clearly showing the money Celios had been stealing from the temple donations. The pictures were even worse. They were so horrible and dirty she could barely look straight at them.

“Are these documents real?” Belice asked Duke Roden.

“Your Majesty, it’s no surprise that you doubt the documents. The photos were taken by magical means, which means it would be impossible to fake. You know this to be true.”

In all of the photos there was Celios, naked and engaged in s*xual orgies both with other priests and with children who lived at the temple as disciples. Holy men sodomizing both boys and girls. Belice thought she was going to be sick. She glared with disgust at Cameron and the other priests. Cameron stood confused, unknowing to what the documents contained.

“As you can clearly see, there is a report about how Celios provided young disciples to various nobles as s*xual toys, using the excuse of divine power ceremonies. As the head of the nobles, I will ensure that the guilty parties are brought to justice. Your Majesty, I beg you consider Celios’ actions before finalizing sentencing.” Duke Roden sat back down, satisfied.

“There is no way! The divine power ceremony is not used like that! Duke Roden is lying!” Cameron was red in the face from fury of the allegations.

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“No? Can you say that after seeing this dirty and horrific evidence?” Belice threw the photos at the priests. The sheets of paper flew around the court like flower petals in the wind and fluttered to the floor.

Alexcent glared back at Gen without a word. He knew where these documents had originated from. Gen could feel the chill from that stare and did his best to keep calm.

Cameron did not know how to respond. It was clear that the High Priest had been a sinful and evil man, but even Celios couldn’t be condemned like this without a fair trial. If Duke Skad didn’t get a proper sentence for murdering the High Priest, regardless of Celios’ actions, then this trail would send a clear message about the position of the temples within the Empire.

“The fact that Duke Skad killed the High Priest does not change! If you want to discuss the High Priest’s crimes then you must do it in front of the law! The merciless slaughter of Celios was not right!”

“Silence, Cameron!” Belice shouted in rage. “From now on, no one speaks without my permission!”

Belice turned to Duke Roden. “Where did you get this information?”

“It came from the household of Duke Skad, Your Majesty,” Duke Roden replied.

Belice knew if she asked Alexcent, he would deny everything, so she turned to the next best source. “Gen!”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Gen answered, rising.

“I give you permission to speak. Tell me everything!”

“Thank you, Your Majesty. As you can clearly see, Your Majesty, the High Priest’s crimes are great. I felt that Duke Skad would have an unfair trial if all of the information was not known, so I provided Duke Roden with this evidence.”

“By the looks of it, your investigation had been going on for some time. What is your reason for only revealing it now?” All of the actions involving Amethyst and her brother would have bee avoided had she known these details earlier. She felt a twinge of resentment at Gen for not coming forth sooner.

“Your Majesty,” Gen explained, “the High Priest was the Guardian of the Goddess, and loved by the citizens. It would have brought chaos to the Empire, had I revealed his actions before the proper time. I continued my investigations until I knew I could condemn him without destroying the peace of our lands.”

“You make an excellent point, Duke Roden. What are your thoughts on the situation at hand?” Belice asked.

“It is true that Duke Skad killed the High Priest, Celios. Duke Skad should be punished severely for his crime. However, Celios’ crime was also enough for the High Priest to be executed, which Duke Skad has taken care of. Of course, to execute Celios without a trial is against the law of Empire. Duke Skad should have an extreme punishement, but execution seems to be too harsh.”

“Is this your personal opinion?” Belice asked. “Or all of the nobles in agreement to this?”

“The noble’s agreed for me to represent them, so my decision stands as the decision for all, Your Majesty.”

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