Chapter 144 Settlements Part 3
“…You really don’t learn your lesson.”
I smiled fearlessly. Before me was Van, in his prison cell.
“Lady Iris, please help me, I was suddenly imprisoned here…what have I done wrong?”
“Do you think I know nothing about what you’ve done?”
I said with a cold smile. Van’s jaw dropped, his eyes wide.
Well, well. Showing his true thoughts so easily was a no-no.
I almost failed to hold my laughter back.
“Seems like it’s very easy for you to switch loyalties to the other side. But because of that, you’ve lured out all the remaining supporters of the pope, even those among nobles. The church itself is quite thankful for that.”
Originally I thought that if something like this happened we’d communicate with Priest Ralph, reminding him to act ahead of time. In doing this we also managed to secure his gratitude to us. One could say that we’d accomplished quite a bit with what we had!
“…What have I done…”
“Do you really need me to explain all of it so clearly? You were fooled by their flowery words and spearheaded the effort to embroil Dawson in this incident, probably with the ultimate intent to accuse me. Am I right?”
He was prepared to spread the word that I’d cooperated with the wicked Boltiques to exploit the people. If Dawson could witness that, then they could prepare to light the fuse for outrage.
Following that they intended to use this incident to expel me from Duke Armenia’s household.
Instead of causing a new incident they made use of something that was already happening. Although some of it was workable, it wasn’t quite enough to convict me of anything.
But if they had managed to stir things up and spread them all the way to Queen Ellia, then we’d be in real trouble.
After all, she viewed me as a thorn in her side. Her influence was also quite impressive.
Even though they weren’t related to this incident directly, if I hadn’t ordered surveillance over Van and Dawson from the very beginning, then it would all have become a lot more complicated. So this time I rewarded the surveillance members with a special bonus.
“The evidence is all here. It doesn’t matter what kind of excuses you come up with. Your father has already been replaced because of his unjust actions, so you’re nothing more than a normal citizen. Your followers have also been arrested and can’t help you with any of this. Did you really think that in your current situation, with no more power than an average citizen, you’d be able to escape unscathed?”
“Please forgive me! They deceived me, used me…”
Van rattled the bars until they creaked, the words pouring from his mouth like blood.
Before that, my guards stepped up and stood in front of me for protection.
“Naturally, this incident will be reported officially to the church and the government through the Armenia family. Whether your punishment is doled out by the government or Duke Armenia’s family is up to the church. No matter what, it’ll no doubt be a severe sentence!”
Saying that, I turned and left.
Van was still shouting and shrieking behind me, but I had no plans on continuing to listen to his wails.
“It’s a relief.”
“What?”
“I thought that seeing him face to face would make my determination waver…”
After all, I was a peaceful Japanese citizen in my previous life.
Although the death penalty existed there, it was ultimately a topic that had nothing to do with me.
I thought that seeing someone I knew bewailing their fate would make me hesitate in condemning him.
But in the end, it didn’t matter at all.
It was only another part of what I had to do.
That’s all I felt.
“It’s great that he was the first one I got to confront.”
I had given him another chance, but he’d given it up on his own.
Not only that, he had returned the favor with more hostility, and no longer merited my mercy.
“Well then, the job is done. Let’s go back.”