System vs Rebirth

Chapter 1552: Testimony

Inside the grand hall, there were five grand judges who had been invited to the royal hearing. A lot of witnesses, from nobles to wealthy merchants, were present.

They wanted to know what was going on as well, considering this hearing was to reveal everything about the Supreme Devil Organization.

"Duke Lorelei." The grand judge in the middle called the person who needed to testify.

"I, Evan Lorelei, solemnly swear that I will tell only the truth." Duke Lorelei raised his hand.

Once he swore, Duke Lorelei took a seat.

The grand judge started the hearing. "Duke Lorelei. The Supreme Devil Organization, how did it form?"

Evan simply told them the same thing as what Conrad said in the Demon Banner Army.

The people were shocked to find out what was going on within the royal family, but there were a lot of questions remaining.

"Duke Lorelei. You mentioned earlier that His Majesty Oliver was taken over by the demons. How could it have happened? Does this mean the royal guard has failed its duty?"

"No, Your Honor." Duke Lorelei shook his head calmly. "The real reason he was taken over was because we trusted the wrong people."

"The wrong people?"

"Yes, Duke Raymond." Duke Lorelei nodded and gave a signal to the assistant next to him.

The assistant stood up and brought two papers and presented them to the grand judges.

"This is the document that proves His Majesty Oliver met Duke Raymond one day before his changes began. On the second paper, you will find an order from an unknown source. I was able to recover that piece of evidence from Duke Raymond’s personal office.

"The royal guards have tried their best to protect the king, but the one who harmed His Majesty was none other than His Majesty’s personal tutor, Duke Raymond.

"Even the royal guards couldn’t remain in the presence of the two most important people in this kingdom, especially knowing that the two had a very close relationship."

The grand judges couldn’t help but agree with the testimony. The king could dismiss or ask people to vacate the room, so there was nothing the royal guard could do.

But they could only vacate the room if that person was important or had a very close relationship with the king himself.

After making sure that there was no threat, they vacated the room. But it turned out Duke Raymond was a hidden danger that brought the change to the king.

"Still, doesn’t this mean the royal guard have failed in their duty for failing to protect their master?"

"You can see it that way, I guess. However..." Duke Lorelei asked for a paper, which had the drawing of a human anatomy. "To become a demonic human, you have to let the demon in its original form enter your body. The demon will mainly reside either in your chest or your brain and destroy your spirit seal.

"However, Duke Raymond was not a spirit user, so there was no way to figure out whether he had become a demonic human or not."

The grand judge squinted his eyes. "How about the third prince?"

"After tracking everything, we assumed that he became a demonic human from Year 1035 to Year 1037. We are still unsure of the exact time of his change, but during this time, the third prince became more violent, which also caused the downfall of his political rival, the former second prince."

The grand judge continued, "I heard that the Ardagan family was also involved in this. I do find it a bit strange. The Ardagan family, specifically Count Luke Ardagan, and Duke Raymond should be enemies.

"Yet, you claimed that the Ardagan family had helped His Majesty Oliver."

Duke Lorelei nodded. "Please take a look at this."

He started drawing a line on the board and put the timeline. "From the year 1035 to 1037, the third prince became a demonic human. On the other hand, the Ardagan family was originally supporting the fourth prince.

"But in the year 1038, the Ardagan family switched sides to the third prince. This was the decision of His Majesty Oliver. To avoid suspicion, His Majesty left no record.

"As for your question, His Majesty must believe that relying on the Ardagan family was a good idea.

"They had the means and motives to do so. We got proof that the Supreme Devil Organization was infiltrating the Ardagan family, which showed a much deeper conspiracy in it. Ever since Count Christian Ardagan, Luke Ardagan’s father, married his second wife, the Ardagan family started to decline at a very fast rate.

"After some investigation..." Duke Lorelei took out several documents. "We found out that his second wife, Maria, was a member of the organization.

"Knowing this, Luke Ardagan took over the family to prevent it from falling apart. Luke Ardagan had a clear grudge toward the organization, the motive.

"And he rebuilt the Ardagan family until it became the wealthiest family in this kingdom, which showed the means.

"Because Count Luke and Duke Raymond were on the opposite side, His Majesty Oliver believed Count Luke was a perfect person to monitor the third prince’s movement, which was why in the year 1038, the Ardagan family joined the third prince’s faction, which we already knew about."

The grand judges were exchanging looks. The presentation was acceptable because they could see the proof as well.

"Before we continue, I would like to ask you, Duke Lorelei. Where did you get the proof from?"

"The proof has been gathered from a lot of sources. But a lot of them came from the nobles in the royal faction. However, most proof originated from the documents we seized from the Supreme Devil Organization’s headquarters that the Demon Banner Army took down previously."

"If I’m not mistaken, it was a joint operation between the army and the Ardagan family, correct?"

"Correct."

"I happened to hear something about the Ardagan family, specifically a man known as Laufey Ardagan. The traitor of the Ardagan family."

"Traitor?" Duke Lorelei tilted his head in confusion.

"Isn’t it correct, Duke Lorelei?"

Duke Lorelei chuckled. "Laufey Ardagan could be anything but a traitor, Your Honor. If I have to give you my opinion, I would even call him a hero."