The sky was already bright, but the light in the dungeon was still dim. Only a beam of light came in from the narrow iron window above the dungeon, reflecting a bright spot on the ground.
The little light refracted on the cold stone floor moved slowly over time, and finally reflected on the face of the black-haired youth sitting against the wall.
He lowered his head slightly, closed his eyes, and his fine black hair fell on his forehead, looking like he was in a light sleep.
When the refracted light reflected on his face, the slender eyelashes moved a bit, and then slowly opened.
Heimos, who woke up from a light sleep, quickly woke up. He turned his head and saw the position of the sun in the sky through the small skylight, and judged the time from it.
Then he turned back and looked in a certain direction.
He thought that the discussion about his guilt had almost begun, and presumably, the person who intended to blame him was among them.
Thinking of this, Heimos remembered the words that his subordinate persuaded him not long ago when he decided to steal the weapon.
At that time, as the priest of the night god, Suojia, who had always been cunning, strongly opposed him to steal the weapon. But he did not listen to his subordinate's words, and stubbornly led his troops to Tozes City.
Before he was imprisoned by the Royal Knights, Suojia came to see him, frowning tightly and sighing.
"His Royal Highness, have you ever thought about who will be the one who will ultimately benefit if you are deprived of your right to inherit the throne?"
Suojia's face looked rather heavy.
"Prince Garlan doesn't have to do anything, as long as he keeps silent, he can become the final victor."
"His Royal Highness, I know that you and Prince Garlan have a very good relationship, but when such a good opportunity is in front of you, no one will let it go."
He said coldly,
"Your Highness, what you have experienced should make you see it more clearly than anyone else - the most untested thing in this world is human nature."
"Everyone is selfish when it comes to their own interests. This is human instinct, and no one is an exception."
…
Waking up from his memories, Huymos looked ahead.
His eyes seemed to penetrate the heavy wall, looking at the place he couldn't see at the moment.
The invisible battlefield.
He could imagine the figure of Garlan standing on the battlefield without swords at this moment.
'No one makes exceptions'...
The corners of Heimos' lips suddenly traced a trace.
Whether it is Suojia who is on the scene at the moment, or the person who secretly blamed him, they must be shocked by Gallan's actions.
…
…
"As Prince Aaron Landis, I reject the proposal of the Chief Secretary."
Garlan's voice echoed in the chamber.
In one sentence, Suojia, who had almost taken that step to the front of the crowd, stopped, and the words choked in his throat.
The words made the old chief director's face froze for a second with a warm smile.
But it was only a second, and it converged in an instant, so fast that people didn't have time to see it.
The chief was still smiling, his wrinkled face filled with kindness.
He looked at Garlan with kind eyes, and there was no trace of anger on his face. He looked at Garlan as if he was looking at an ignorant junior.
"Prince of Garland."
He shook his head slightly and sighed.
"You're too selfish."
Although his face was kind, the chief director's heart was completely different from the expression on his face.
He, and the huge family behind him, held a pivotal position at the center of Aaron Landis' regime.
And over the years, his status has become more and more noble with the growth of time and position.
Therefore, it has been a long time since no one would refute him in public so simply and neatly, which made him humiliated.
- This made him extremely unhappy.
Even the one who embarrassed him was the prince of Aaron Landis.
Prince, Crown Prince.
A word difference, but a world of difference.
The former is just a noble status, but in terms of real power, it is not as good as him as the chief director.
Moreover, even a prince should know how to respect the elderly.
The Chief Secretary thought so unpleasantly in his heart.
However, no matter how dissatisfied he was with Prince Gallan, his face did not reveal the slightest, and he was still amiable.
He said: "Prince Gallan, I know you have a deep friendship with Prince Heimos, but Prince Heimos should be punished for his mistakes, so that he will understand where he is wrong. You treat him well. The cover up is not helping him, but harming him."
He speaks word by word, earnest and sincere, like a simple and honest old man teaching his beloved younger generation earnestly.
Garlan, who was standing in front of the obsidian seat, looked at the chief director, and a part of the light blue cloak that fell from his shoulders was draped on the armrest of the seat.
"I don't agree with you, Chief."
As if he hadn't heard Garlan's words, the Chief Secretary said while shaking his head and sighing.
"I know that you are all still young, and it is inevitable that you will make mistakes, and because you are all princes with noble status, everyone follows you..." He sighed, "However, even if you are a prince, it doesn't mean that you don't need to be punished for making mistakes. "
"If so, what is the majesty of the law of Aaron Landis?"
Allowing the Chief Secretary to say those high-sounding words, Gallan turned his head to look at the Chief Secretary with bright eyes.
"If you make a mistake, you will be punished, that's true."
He said, "However, Chief Secretary, convicting people without any investigation, and making innocent people bear the burden of things he never did. Is this what you mean by showing the majesty of the law?"
"Prince Garland, you are arrogant. Obviously, the soldier talisman has been taken from Prince Heimos, and he admits that he stole it..."
Garlan simply interrupted the Chief Secretary's words.
"He admitted to stealing military charms and selfishly mobilizing the army, but do you have any evidence to prove that he killed the two royal knights with his own hands?"
The old man coughed lowly and winked at the person behind him secretly.
Immediately, some people understood and took a step forward to speak.
"The facts are already clear, only Prince Heimos was there at that time."
"The two royal knights are in charge of guarding the military talisman. Since the military talisman is in the hands of Prince Heimos, it is inferred from common sense that he did not kill him, so who else could it be?"
"That's right, in order to capture the military charm, it is natural to kill the two knights guarding the military charm. Isn't that obvious enough?"
Garland frowned.
"So, your reason for convicting Heimos is 'reasonable inference'?"
His voice suddenly became severe.
"Even convicting civilians requires conclusive evidence, and now facing the prince, you have no evidence or witnesses, so you convicted him on the grounds of 'take it for granted'?!"
Garland's tough attitude froze the atmosphere of the entire council for a while. Someone wanted to say something, but found that Garland's words made them unable to refute.
Before that, everyone took it for granted that killing and seizing the talisman was one thing. Since the soldier talisman as physical evidence was found from Prince Heimos, then the person must have killed him.
That is an inertial thinking.
Even so, there were no stupid people present, and naturally many people would think that Prince Heimos didn't actually need to kill people, it was not good for him, maybe someone was framing him.
However, even if many people knew it well, the key point now is that Heimos did steal the amulet and mobilize the army.
This incident offended the kingship, and it might have made King Camos furious, and Prince Heimos didn't know what would happen to him.
Therefore, even if they knew that something was wrong, everyone couldn't wait to clear their relationship with Heimos in order to protect themselves and avoid getting themselves involved.
In this way, of course, it is impossible for them to speak for Heimos at this time, and it is not bad to not fall into the trap.
And the mastermind behind the scenes naturally seized the mentality of everyone, and wanted to settle the crime at this time in one fell swoop before King Camos returned.
It's just that many people didn't expect that the person who stood up to speak for Heimos without hesitation was actually Garland.
Prince Garland couldn't have been stupid enough not to know what the disinheritance of Heimos meant to him.
Many of the people present were thinking in confusion in the bottom of their hearts.
Why would he do such a thankless thing
…
Are there other plans? What's the bigger benefit
These dignitaries who have been in the center of the regime for too long and have become accustomed to intrigue and intrigue almost all think this way subconsciously.
Seeing that the charge of Prince Heimos had once again become a deadlock, the chief director no longer kept his kind smile on his face, but sank a little.
"Prince Garland, you are arguing."
He lowered his face.
"It doesn't matter if you are fooling around in Tozes City, how can you still let your own temperament come here?"
The old chief director was sitting on the front seat, and being in a high position all the year round gave him a natural power.
When he sank his face and looked serious, the atmosphere around him seemed to be oppressed.
"You know, what you did in Tozes City, Prince, is very inappropriate."
He said solemnly,
"You free the slaves who are the private property of the citizens of Tozes City without authorization, which is equivalent to taking the property of the people for no reason! As a prince of a country, how can you do such an act of oppression to the people?"
The topic that the chief director suddenly mentioned made Kaihos, who was on the side, stunned.
Sure enough.
Cayhors thought.
When Prince Garlan made the decision to release the slaves of Tozes City, he knew that this kind of behavior would definitely arouse the dissatisfaction of the powerful people in the royal city.
Because what the prince has done has shaken their interests.
However, Kaihos felt that this matter should not be very serious.
Because even if they are dissatisfied, these dignitaries will not show it in the short time when the prince returns to the royal city.
And as long as they wait until King Camos returns to the royal city, and let King Camos speak and characterize the prince's behavior of freeing slaves as a special case in a special war, they can relieve the dissatisfaction of those powerful people a lot.
However, unexpectedly, the Chief Secretary suddenly chose to attack at this time, which made Kaihos nervous.
Obviously, the Chief Secretary was warning Prince Gallan with this.
What Cayhorth understood, Gallan also understood.
The subtext of the chief secretary's mention of this incident is to warn him not to meddle in his own business, or he will fall into the ditch.
At the same time, the words of the Chief Secretary also resonated with all the nobles present.
After all, almost all the nobles were extremely dissatisfied with his behavior of freeing slaves on such a large scale.
It was only because of concerns about Gallan's status as a prince that no one wanted to be the first to come forward, and this temporarily suppressed the dissatisfaction.
Now, as long as the chief secretary holds on to this point, these powerful and powerful people will follow the stick and express their dissatisfaction.
Garland pursed her lips.
There was some anger in his eyes.
At this moment, there seemed to be a gust of air stuck in his chest, making him suffocated badly.
These guys who are talking eloquently here, they have no idea how tragic the so-called war is, and what a tragic end will be to the people after the city is broken.
They will only accuse you so proudly and condescendingly in a safe place.
They'll just tell you that you shouldn't do it, you can't do it.
If it doesn't suit them, they will hold on to a little mistake and drive you into a blind spot - after success, they will smugly think that they have become the ultimate winner.
The young man's face was sullen, his hand hanging by his side clenched into a fist.
Only his arms were covered by a light-colored cloak that fell from his side shoulders, and no one could see his clenched hands.
Seeing that Prince Gallan was quiet, the Chief Secretary smiled slightly.
Even if you are a prince, you are only a young man, how can he be his opponent who has been immersed in the center of the regime for many years.
"Prince of Garland."
He continued to speak to Garlan in an instructive tone.
"'The wise prince', that's what the people of the royal city call you."
"It took you eight years to get such accolades from the people, who call you the 'wise man of Shamash'."
he said with a warning.
"Don't be mad for a while and ruin your reputation."
"Even for the sake of your reputation, you should make a decision carefully." The chief director looked at Gallan and said, "So, Prince, please come to a conclusion now."
The courtroom fell silent again.
Everyone's eyes fell on Garlan, whose head was slightly lowered.
In the side hall, the priest of the night god also stared at Garlan without blinking. At this moment, his eyes were extremely complicated.
'People who don't do it for themselves will be punished by heaven and earth. '
Sogha has always thought so.
But at this moment, he was a little confused about his mood. At this moment, what kind of answer did he hope to get from that Prince Garland
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Garlan raised his head.
He said calmly: "I oppose the conviction of Heimos, and I will investigate myself to find out the real murderer of the two knights."
The muscles on the face of the chief director, who thought he had won the ticket, suddenly twitched.
Why is this prince so stupid and ignorant
He stared at Garlan discontentedly.
"Because of your personal relationship with Prince Heimos, you favored Prince Heimos who made a mistake and wanted to exonerate him. This is not what you should do as a 'sage'."
"Since the people say that you have been 'confessed by Shamash with justice and wisdom', then you should not be partial to this matter."
The Chief Secretary's words hinted inside and out.
"Prince Garland, please be sure to clarify your position."
"No favoritism, no regard for identity, to convict Prince Heimos, this is the real wise move-"
The young man raised his eyes, and his golden eyes looked straight at the chief.
"Director, did you make a mistake?"
he asks.
"what?"
"You said it yourself, I am the one who is praised for being wise by the people, and I am the one who is dubbed the 'wise man'."
Garlan stared at the chief.
At this moment, there seemed to be a cluster of golden flames burning in his pupils.
"It only took me eight years to get the people to praise me. Chief Secretary, you have been in power for decades, but you have not won the praise of the people. This shows that you are not a 'wise person'."
"But now, you who are not a 'sage person' teach me what to do to be a 'sage move', don't you think this is ridiculous?"
"you-"
Garlan's words caught the Chief Secretary's breath in his throat.
"Director, as you said, I am a 'wise man' recognized by the world."
Glancing across the crowd, Garlan said in a deep voice.
"That is to say..."
Standing in front of the crowd, the young man waved his hand sharply.
The light-colored cloak that fell from his right shoulder was lifted high and flew behind him when he waved his hand.
"As long as it's what I do, it's a wise move!"
He says,
"I veto the conviction of Heimos!"