On June 18, 1558, it was sunny. Santa Maria Cathedral.
The clerk of the court walked into the courtroom holding the sword of Zhen Guo, and sixty judges dressed in black entered the trial hall, followed by jurors, prosecutors, deputy prosecutors, and auditors... The queen did not appear at the trial scene, but the clerk brought the country to the court. The sword is solemnly placed on the wooden table in the middle of the court, symbolizing the empire and herself.
The hall was eerily silent.
The Roland Empire has never been stingy with wielding knives on its princes and nobles, but there has never been a trial of such an astonishing scale.
The people involved account for almost half of the imperial nobles, from the Heinrich family who have been entrenched on the pillars of the empire for hundreds of years like poisonous snakes, to the East Berkeley nobles known as the "Imperial Hyena", and those who wear religious robes... From east to west, from ancient to new.
This unprecedented trial will begin with a single person.
Otto Heinrich.
He was the queen's mentor, ended the empire's three-year throne struggle, personally pushed a forgotten princess to the throne, served as the empire's minister of state, and became synonymous with power for a long time. For better or worse, he has left his mark on the history of the Empire.
Now that such a person is going to court, people are either gloating or panicking, and will always feel an indescribable tremor.
The person being interrogated seems to be in better condition than most of the people present.
Heinrich walked into the courtroom through the still morning fog.
He was wearing the familiar black double-breasted robe with delicate silver snake embroidery on the cuffs and neckline. In some tacit mercy he was unchained, and if he had not gone straight to the dock one would hardly have realized his prisoner.
Standing on the dock, Heinrich did not look at other people, and bowed to the national sword symbolizing the queen.
"Otto Heinrich, lord of the lands of Anid..." Judge Boyer with a wig had no expression on his face and a solemn voice, "Her Majesty the Queen and the Roland Parliament have decided to form a high court of the Empire to try you, the court Your complaint will be heard impartially... I now, on behalf of, and on behalf of, Your Majesty and the Reichstag, indict this Court against Otto Heinrich for high treason and other serious crimes.”[1]
The church bell rang coldly, and the trial officially began.
Ambalo stood in the witness box, his eyes fell on the judge's seat.
Ambalo didn't know if Heinrich subconsciously raised his eyes when he walked in, looking for the queen. But the queen did not appear in court, which is really the best result...
Whether it's for him, or for her, or for anyone else.
Amidst his thoughts, Ambalo heard the judge pronounce his name.
He shifted his gaze to Heinrich.
Heinrich sat calmly on the dock, no matter how many complex gazes cast by the people around him, hated, angry, accusing, gloating...all remained indifferent, as calm as if this was not a trial against him, but As usual, attend an ordinary imperial meeting.
Ambalo couldn't help overlapping his figure with the queen's.
Quiet yet powerful... Scarred yet indestructible...
"Ambaro Heinrich!" the judge called out to him twice.
His anomaly caused a murmur of murmurs, and Ambalo woke up suddenly, standing up hastily.
Heinrich turned his head and looked over.
Ambalo used to hate his eyes, the kind of eyes that make it hard to tell what emotion he is in. When the half-brothers met in the corridor when they were young, the elder brother who was regarded as the pride of the family swept lightly at the illegitimate younger brother, not to mention disgusted or happy. In his youth, when the young family leader made every decision, no matter how much profit or danger was involved, it was just that indifferent.
As if nothing mattered to him.
It's not that it doesn't matter, it's just too sober.
Heinrich was imprisoned in Wyhall Prison as a "traitor", and Ambalo, who took over his sword, had faintly become the new leader of the family. The two-headed snake family and the Roland Empire have developed together for hundreds of years. Even in the face of unprecedented crises and heavy losses, they still won the opportunity to meet Heinrich.
Ambalo asked what he should do next.
Those moderate clansmen who followed him thought that he was extremely courageous, and thought that he was amazingly adaptable. After judging that the rebellion of the radicals would be difficult to succeed, they immediately betrayed the East Berkeley nobles and the Old Gods, and won hope and a new life for the family. way out. They entrusted their trust to him and looked forward to his next move to lead the family out of this serious injury.
Only Ambalo knew that all of that was just Heinrich's terrifyingly sophisticated plan.
This person sinks the family's ambition into the turbulent sea with one hand, and at the same time gives the family a chance to get rid of the ancient fate. Only he knows what to do next.
Father's expectation many years ago was right.
Otto is the real pride and glory of the Heinrich family.
"Accuse me."
Standing in the dark cell, Ambalo heard Heinrich give the answer.
"I accuse the defendant of committing the crime of treason," Anbalo heard his own voice dryly, and his eyes flicked from the faces of the other clansmen accompanying the hearing, and from the nobles who seemed to be wearing masks and thinking about themselves Skimmed, "March 14, Defendant Otto Heinrich sold Imperial Secrets to the Free Commercial City...April, Defendant Presided over a Plot to Murder the Queen..."
"On my life and soul, what I say is true."
After finishing the last sentence, Ambalo was as tired as if he had just experienced a life-and-death fight. He finally turned his gaze back to Heinrich, and Heinrich glanced at him indifferently.
Ambalo no longer thinks his gaze is indifferent...he's just sober.
Sober was too scary.
After Ambalo, many people made accusations one after another. When it was the turn of the new Admiral Abigail, she leaned forward and gave up speaking. The judges didn't hesitate and passed over this little episode. As the accusation progressed, in the auditorium, some people's faces became paler, and some people also faintly showed uneasiness.
They could only force themselves to wait calmly.
"Gentlemen, with my good conscience and the highest justice, I come to the conclusion that Otto Heinrich was directly involved in and led a conspiracy against the Reich and an attempt to murder the sovereign who owed him so much. He is Undoubtedly a traitor, an attempted regicide, a man whose crimes are cleared only by blood. I advocate the death penalty for him only on behalf of the Supreme Court." The trial lasted into the afternoon, and Judge Boyel rose to announce, "Now, Otto, you have the right to request this."
Heinrich, who had remained silent all this time, finally stood up.
He bowed toward the desk where Judge Boyer sat—the one on which the State sword hung—and straightened up.
Everyone's hearts were lifted tightly.
Heinrich looked up.
The sun passed over his cheeks, it was a very handsome face, with distinct features, the bones were obviously undulating due to thinness, and the light and shadow left by the sun passing by was classical and quiet. If the surname "Heinrich" with too many scandals and crimes is discarded, noble ladies and ladies will be happy to kiss and caress gently, but after adding the surname "Heinrich", they suddenly become A dreadful coldness.
... Once... A long time ago, there really was a pair of hands with skin as transparent as snow that gently touched those undulating lights and shadows.
But that was also a long time ago, long enough to be buried.
Only occasionally, when the slightly cold wind blows, I will suddenly think of it.
"I didn't ask."
Heinrich's hand hanging by his side was hidden under the sleeve of his robe.
"I am unforgivable."
……………
The audience was in an uproar.
The jury was equally stunned, unable to believe what they had heard.
Although... Although there are too many evidences to prove Otto Heinrich's treason and regicide, in fact, they don't feel so firmly in their hearts that Otto Heinrich will admit the crime-to be straightforward, they Didn't think Heinrich would die at all.
Otto Heinrich had the queen's shadowy patronage—according to the long-standing trial procedure, in cases involving treason and other high crimes, the defendant was absolutely prohibited from having a defense lawyer. [2] But the Queen made an exception and granted Heinrich two defense lawyers.
In addition, Ambalo and others have contributed to the containment of the coup.
—What a joke, no one would believe that Ambalo and others betrayed the East Berkeley nobles out of loyalty to the Queen! Isn't the usual trick of the two-headed snake family "never put all eggs in the same basket"? Ambalo's accusation, in their view, was nothing more than a ploy by Heinrich to preserve his strength. No one at all believes that one head of a two-headed snake can truly separate from the other.
Regarding this trial, many people have already prepared how to use the queen to protect Heinrich and limit the power of the royal family.
Unlike last year's God's Judgment, the victory of the decisive battle in the Sea of Heaven allowed the queen to establish an indestructible authority in the army. God's judgment only kept the queen's crown from falling, but the rising sun from the sea of heaven gave the queen an invincible sword. Anyone walking on the street will hear the voice of people chanting Her Majesty the Queen.
It was an overwhelming sound, a sound that made all those who cling to the old glory fear from the bottom of their hearts.
It can be said that they are the ones who sincerely hope that the Queen will choose to shelter Heinrich.
Since they can't fight the sun, the best way is to make the sun stained with dust.
But, Heinrich, how could Heinrich...how could he plead guilty so easily
"No! It's not true!"
In astonishment, they heard the voice of someone more frightened than themselves.
Several representatives of the East Berkeley nobles sat slumped, their faces pale, their lips trembling, and they couldn't believe what they heard.
The composure they had before the trial began was gone from them.
These rebel nobles of East Berkeley, known as the "Imperial Hyenas," were arguably the last to want Heinrich to be sentenced to death—more sincerely than anyone else. As long as Heinrich is not dead, they can kill him without pleading guilty, and they will have a chance of life.
Now, it's all over, all over...
Heinrich, he's crazy! He must be crazy! Otherwise, how could he have admitted all the crimes without any objection
His guilty plea sentenced them to death.
It's all over.
Amidst the din, the judges and jurors in the hall were dressed in black and stood like a flock of crows. Heinrich looked at the sword symbolizing the Queen.
His father's blood was on the back of his hand again, and it crawled coldly like a snake.
He is Otto Heinrich.
He is unforgivable.
… … … … … … …
July after the Great Judgment was stained red with blood.
The executioners in Gelt City worked the hardest this month, and the once noble heads rolled down one by one, and they were crying or hysterical when they were dying. Otto Heinrich's execution day was a somewhat cold morning, and there was still a slight mist between the sky and the earth.
The soldiers parted the crowd and Heinrich made his way through the invective.
The mist was vaguely present, and he was vaguely in a trance.
It was as if time was going backwards, and her phantom seemed to be walking beside him, so everything became very peaceful. Their footprints overlapped on the same road, and he was going to the guillotine where she had once boarded. He really wanted to turn his head and look at her face, the face he didn't have time to see at that time.
… Otto.
Someone vaguely called his name outside the fog.
Probably Ambalo.
Leave Gelt, and go West, to all the barren and inconspicuous places, where all dirty or evil past is washed away, the time of vipers and seas is over.
… Otto.
Father's voice was distant and soft.
The flickering candle, the stooped and dry old man, the astonished and puzzled eyes... Otto, my son, how can you have nothing? ... this is my son, he is the pride of the family... sorry father, he ended up being a disgrace to the family, he ended up with nothing.
… Heinrich… Patriarch…
And many people, many voices.
Among the clansmen who died because of his decision, some of them were very young, and some of them didn't know why, so they were gently abandoned and submerged into the raging seabed. Those ordinary oarsmen who didn't know it, those who were indirectly and directly sacrificed by him, the guilty and the innocent, their bones were layered and intertwined.
With so much blood on his hands, coiled like a snake, he has long been unforgivable.
So many things gradually fade away, and time is finally compressed, leaving only the silhouette of the seaside.
… The princess was standing on the beach in a snowy white dress, her ankles were soaked in the icy water, glowing a light red. Behind her was the gradually rising sun, and the moment he found her through the sea fog, he only felt her as a fleeting ray of light.
……………
Thin, hazy light fell through the narrow high windows into Santa Maria Maggiore.
The queen sat alone, wearing a simple long dress, too simple to be a queen. The crown weighed on her hair, and the ruby shone faintly in the dim light. She folded her hands and put them in front of her lower abdomen, her slightly upturned face was as expressionless as the statue she was watching.
The angels looked down indifferently from the dome.
Mrs. Kelly stood quietly outside the church door without going in.
When the judgment issued by the Supreme Court was delivered to the queen, the queen picked it up from a stack of documents, looked at it calmly, paused, and then signed her name like signing an ordinary document.
Faintly came a prayer from nowhere:
… O God, please hear my pleas… please give me rest… please love me, ease my anxiety, and rescue me with your love and forgiveness…
Mrs. Kelly seemed to have a thick sea fog floating in front of her eyes again.
She seems to have returned to that day.
Through the window of the attic in Reef City, she saw Heinrich, who was just a silent youth at that time, taking the princess back to the castle. The young man who was always hidden in the shadows, stepping on the morning sun, the princess curled up in his arms, resting her head on his shoulder. They didn't know what they said, she raised her head and smiled at him, and he also smiled rarely.
She saw it in the attic, was taken aback for a moment, and couldn't help but also laughed.
They walked through the rose garden to the little chapel in the castle.
When she found the past, she saw the young man and the girl sitting side by side on the pews of the church, listening to the priest praying together... The priest said that God would bless the world with happiness and happiness... Their shadows tilted, overlapping on the ground.
… O God, with your mercy and forgiveness, protect us, make us happy, make us joyful…
The church bell rang.
……………
The morning bell vibrated the air and scattered the last fog.
Heinrich looked up, the sun was rising and it was printed in his pupils.
Adele, my dear student, the sun has risen and all the gloom should be gone like a puff of smoke.
Adele, my dear student, I wish you success and glory from now on.
I also wish you happiness and happiness.
Adele...
Adele.
The crow fluttered its wings.
The author has something to say: Heinrich and the Queen will have a modern campus in 1551
[1] Refer to Judge Bradshaw's trial words.
[2] In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, in treason and felony cases, the trial procedure absolutely prohibited defense lawyers from intervening.