Harem System In A fantasy World

In front of the entire court, Boris examined Elion.

Not his mind, though. That was unnecessary, and Elion had agreed to no such thing.

Instead, it was closer to an appraisal, similar to what could usually be achieved using a Status Check Glyph like the ones used at the academy, except this was an in-depth body check.

Of course, regardless of the man’s spectacular appraisal ability, he would not be able to see anything Elion didn’t want him to.

Everyone waited with bated breath as Boris closed his eyes for several long minutes.

A deep frown marred his rough face throughout the entire examination, while a deadly silence settled over the court.

Elion was perhaps the only one waiting patiently. After all, he already knew there was nothing for him to hide in this regard.

Eventually, Boris opened his eyes and removed his palm from Elion’s chest. The faint glow that had been pulsating around his hand faded as well.

He stepped back, still frowning.

Everyone stared down at him, some almost glaring, their unspoken questions practically weighing upon the man.

"I found nothing connected to demonic forces..." Boris finally said, but he wasn’t done.

"I did find a contract, though..."

"I told yo—" Dawncrest immediately began to shout, but Boris cut him off.

"The contract is a beast contract. Nothing unusual there." Dawncrest’s expression immediately fell and darkened considerably.

The situation had just become even more precarious for the Duke.

By this point, many of those seated throughout the terraces had already begun shaking their heads, including several who had agreed to side with Dawncrest if the situation came to it.

After all, they had only agreed to support him if it turned out that he was actually in the right.

They couldn’t blatantly defend a lying and guilty man now, could they?

’At this point, all we can do is try to reduce the severity of whatever punishment he is told to serve...’

Kletis thought with a quiet sigh.

Even then, most of those willing to step in would essentially be putting themselves at risk by doing so, which meant Dawncrest would end up owing a great many people.

But the nobles gathered here were starving wolves, and none of them would willingly pass up such an opportunity.

And just as expected, when Liora’s turn came to be examined, Boris found nothing of the sort that the pair had been claiming.

There were only mild traces suggesting that her mind had been breached at some point in the past, but Elion easily pointed out that they could have created that particular effect themselves.

After all, Dawncrest had just gone through the trouble of explaining exactly what the Blossom family was capable of.

A sombre silence settled over the court. Liora and Duke Dawncrest’s faces had both gone ghastly pale.

Everything had come to light.

Elion couldn’t help but laugh lightly, and although everyone could hear him clearly in the pin-drop silence, no one blamed him or even attempted to tell him to be quiet.

They probably assumed he was simply relieved. But Elion genuinely found the entire situation funny.

’How foolish...’

They had really planned to bullshit their way through this from beginning to end.

Was this seriously all their plans amounted to?

Wendy was the first to break the silence.

"Duke Dawncrest."

Cain didn’t answer immediately.

His hands were clenched tightly at his sides, and whatever confidence he had possessed earlier had all but vanished.

"Duke Dawncrest," Wendy repeated, more firmly this time. "You claimed that demonic traces had been discovered within Lady Liora’s mind, and yet, Lord Boris has found nothing of the sort."

Cain swallowed.

"That was what I was informed."

Elion almost laughed again.

’Of course.’ Now that everything was falling apart, suddenly it was information he had merely been given.

Boris folded his arms.

"Well, whoever informed you was wrong."

The bluntness of the statement was quite funny as well.

Elion glanced toward Liora.

"And considering Lady Liora herself admitted that she has no memory of me doing anything to her, I think that settles that." He said.

Cain suddenly stepped forward.

"It settles nothing!"

Elion let out an exasperated sigh.

The man’s shamelessness truly knew no bounds. Surely he wasn’t still hoping to get something out of this.

Cain’s face reddened.

"I have other witnesses!"

He turned toward the councillors.

"Everything I have presented does not depend solely on Lady Liora’s testimony! There are others who witnessed his behaviour at the academy. Others who can testify to his violent nature, his unnatural abilities, and the events surrounding his disappearance!"

His voice rose.

"He even brainwashed my poor friend Gale’s daughter with his demonic techniques! Imagine that! She disowned her own family because of him!"

He pointed an accusing finger toward Elion.

One of the councillors frowned.

"You have already presented claims before this court that have now been independently disproven. Whatever testimony follows will be judged with that in mind."

Cain gulped, but he nodded, perhaps accepting what little chance had just been handed to him.

And so, Mira’s father and mother were brought forward.

Elion shared a brief smile with Mira’s beautiful mother as he took his seat beside the bored Zenith.

"Mister and Mrs Gale," Wendy began. "Is it true that your daughter was brainwashed or otherwise manipulated into disowning herself from your family?"

Gale was sweating buckets.

He kept dabbing at his matted brow with an already soaked cloth, while his shifty eyes darted around the court suspiciously.

His wife seemed to have given up hope as well, having completely abandoned the little pretence she had been putting on earlier.

"I-I can’t say for certain..." Gale’s quiet answer was followed by murmurs that quickly exploded into an uproar.

Cain Dawncrest gave the man a sharp glare that made the sweat pouring down his face increase in volume.

How could he suddenly say he wasn’t certain?

Who among them hadn’t seen his wife sobbing when she first entered the court? And why did she seem perfectly fine now?

By this point, everything was becoming painfully obvious. They had been trying to put up a front so that the court would feel pity for them when they were eventually called to come up.

Wendy sighed, shaking her head. She looked back toward the councillors.

No doubt Dawncrest would argue that he still had more people to call forward, but as far as she was concerned, there was very little left to address.

Wendy spoke, addressing the councillors. She bowed briefly before straightening.

"I have judged that we have obtained enough information from both parties to come to an informed decision."

She spoke casually, and the councillors nodded, though not all of them seemed happy with how things had unfolded.

For what reason, Elion couldn’t tell.

Elion let out a breath, all but sinking into his seat as he relaxed.

The Gales were told to return to their seats. Mira’s father had been quite fortunate that he had chosen to withdraw before saying anything that could be used against him.

Dawncrest did attempt to say that he still had more to present, but he was ignored.

It was clear that he was simply wasting everyone’s time now.

After all, they had given him the chance to turn things in his favour even after Elion’s display, and he had failed to deliver. Giving him any more chances would be a sign of blatant favouritism.

After a brief back-and-forth between the six councillors, without allowing a single word to escape their vicinity, the lanky man who seemed to be their leader addressed everyone once again.

"Before we settle this matter, is there anything the defendant would like to say or request?"

Elion raised a brow as he got up from his seat.

’Oh?’

He didn’t really have anything to say, and suddenly being put on the spot once again had come as a surprise to him.

Why would they need any more input from him?

But after giving it some thought and thinking about how best he could use this chance, a melancholic smile played across Elion’s lips. He bowed lightly, placing one hand against his chest.

"Since the councillors have handed me this opportunity, I will speak..."

He paused.

"Well, you see, as you all know, because of the Duke’s shameless accusations, my reputation has been damaged a great deal. I had only just begun to enjoy my time at the academy when he acted so shamelessly on behalf of his son."

Elion placed a palm against his brow, a terribly distressed expression appearing on his face.

"Can you imagine? The Duke even dared to strike me down in front of hundreds of thousands of people during the academy tournament, almost killing me instantly, and no one even did anything about it."

His expression became even more sorrowful.

"Not only that, he recently burned down the only place I called home."

Elion let out a shuddering breath and even allowed a single tear to roll down one side of his cheek.

"A great deal of stress has been placed upon my poor heart over these past few months..."

He allowed his voice to break slightly.

"I only ask that justice be served rightly."

With that, Elion quietly returned to his seat.

Zenith glanced down at her thighs, her shoulders trembling terribly with her hands balled into fists.

At first glance, one would have thought that she was very furious, but in truth, she was struggling to hold in her laugh.

After all, how could she not laugh after witnessing such a spectacular display from her husband?

The congregation, however, gave Elion a series of pitiful looks, feeling genuinely sorry for him.

Despite the brilliant display he had put on in his defense earlier, none of them had forgotten that he was still simply a young man who was supposed to be an academy student.

He must have become very emotional after securing a very unlikely victory for himself.

The councillors themselves were briefly stunned into silence. They all suspected that Elion’s little performance had been exactly that...

...A performance.

But the same could not be said for those gathered throughout the terraces. To them, Elion’s distress just now had looked one hundred percent genuine.

Cain, meanwhile, looked as though he was about to pop a blood vessel.

Regardless, the lanky councillor nodded solemnly.

"Very well, then... Your request has been heard. We shall now pass our judgement."

"Wait!"

Dawncrest suddenly shot to his feet and pointed toward Liora.

"It’s her fault! She misled me with her words and lies! You can’t blame me for this! I was simply concerned about the kingdom and the academy!"

"Huh!?"

Liora’s head snapped up as she gave the Duke a stunned, betrayed look, no doubt wondering how this had suddenly become her fault!