How the Prince Makes Friends - Chapter 271
Only Noblemtl
Episode 271
“Comfort for the wronged soul, punishment for the liar.”
Everyone raised their heads at once at the voice quietly echoing in their heads.
It was like a divine revelation heard in a dream, but it brought about a strange belief that it would be so.
Martin looked at the giant scales floating in the sky and began to fear that he had really been thrown before God. Although he would not lie, he could not say that he had lived an upright life up until now.
“What would be good in return for a lie?”
“……!”
Martin looked up at the stage in surprise at the quiet question. When he turned his head, he saw a pure white figure and the demons surrounding him quietly looking down at him.
‘Should we set a price…?’
Martin, who thought that the scales simply determined the truth, dilated his pupils slightly.
“Sir, how about we pull out one tooth for each false letter? I guess we can say about thirty letters.”
At that time, starting with Lycanthrope’s suggestion, the demons next to Taekong began to add their words one by one.
“I think fingernails would be fine. If you go over the character limit, you just cut off an extra finger segment. There are also toes, so it shouldn’t be too much.”
“Taigong, how about pulling out his tongue? Or tearing off his snout. So that he can never open his mouth again?”
“What are you talking about… Taekong, just kill me cleanly.”
Martin froze as he watched the demons spouting out cruel words without hesitation. He really thought that if he spoke wrongly here, he might die.
At that moment, Taekong answered calmly.
“I will do so when you get on the scales.”
“…….”
“Well, I guess there’s no need to put it on the scales.”
“…….”
He added calmly, as if he wasn’t even going to give me a chance to judge, then looked at me and gently consoled me.
“There is no need to be afraid. As long as you do not lie, no harm will come to you.”
“…….”
But Martin still couldn’t answer. People’s words were so clever that they easily crossed the line between truth and lies. Moreover, he was in a position where he had to hide the truth about Baedong and his accomplices, so he was too stung.
If I accidentally tell a lie, I wonder if I should be given a chance to correct it, but His Majesty opened his mouth as if he was troubled.
“Wait a minute, Your Majesty. He is not a criminal, and even if he committed perjury, I do not want to punish him in that way. Can’t we just judge whether or not it is false?”
“Huh? But wouldn’t that be boring?”
“…….”
“I was joking. Don’t be so nervous. I’m just here to help you make a decision.”
As he said this, Taekong lightly snapped his fingers and placed a small scale in front of Martin.
“Answer with your hand on it. If it is true, the scales will tip to the right. If it is false, they will tip to the left.”
Martin swallowed hard and carefully placed his hand on the scales. The silver scales, shining on their own, looked like sacred relics, but strangely enough, the scales did not move when touched.
“John Martin, is it true that the Queen tried to kill the Prince?”
As everyone looked at the scales tensely, His Majesty’s calm question was heard, and Martin opened his mouth calmly.
“…Your Majesty, I do not know your Highness’s intentions. However, I testify that your direct escort knight, who went out with you to rescue the prince at your Highness’ order, aimed his sword at me with the intention of killing me and spoke to me exactly as it was stored in his magical tool.”
Squeak-
As soon as he finished speaking, the large and small scales that had not moved at all began to tilt slowly to the right at the same time. Martin, who had been tense, let out a small sigh of relief.
“I can’t believe it!”
At that time, the nobles who came out to defend the queen began to speak one by one.
“We cannot admit it. We will not deny that the Shadow Knight of the Highness attacked Sir Martin. However, that alone does not confirm that it was at the Highness’s command. Didn’t Sir Martin himself say that he did not know the Highness’s intentions?”
“Yes, I agree with this opinion. In the first place, are the bodies of the knights real? Didn’t you smuggle them away somewhere? And the body of the child that was said to have been found wasn’t a fake, intended to lure the Highness into a trap?”
“And I can’t understand how they attacked the knight in prison in order to destroy evidence and got hit in return. How could that young knight have defeated all the other knights in the first place? It was clear from the beginning that they had planned to trap the Visionary!”
“…….”
At the ridiculous complaint, Sedes opened his eyes squintingly and turned his gaze to the queen.
“Your Majesty, have you no intention of holding the scales?”
“I can’t believe the evil that the Demons created.”
“What nonsense is the queen of a kingdom protected by demons talking about?”
“…….”
“Well, okay. If you don’t like it, then quit.”
Nihil, who was listening to Sedes’ dry attitude, burst into laughter. The prime minister, who was controlling the volume of his voice for the sake of his father’s social status, was glaring at him as if he was going to hit him on the back at any moment, but he seemed oblivious.
“…Your Majesty, please keep in mind that your people are watching.”
How disappointed would they be if they found out that their king was such a shit cat? Huh? The prime minister gritted his teeth and threatened, but the response was lukewarm.
“What if they don’t like it? They can be kings themselves.”
“Seddie, please… No, at least give me some words so I can use some voice blocking magic.”
“How about you just go ahead and do it?”
“…….”
Eventually Abel came forward. It should have been this way from the beginning.
“Knight Evan. Hold the scales and answer the questions.”
“…! Ah, yes!”
Evan, who had been standing there blankly, was startled by the call and stepped forward timidly.
Abel asked a question and Evan answered. The voice of objection continued, but the scales continued to tilt to the right and did not rise. It was the same even when Evan shook it or pressed it out of curiosity.
As the questions continued, the nobles’ opposition gradually diminished.
No matter how much you deny the power of the magic tool, the Grand Duke is the living history and symbol of the Harpens Kingdom, and the one who created the magic tool was none other than his father. Even though he denies it with his mouth, he already firmly believes it in his heart.
“Is it true that you were attacked by the Queen’s knights?”
Evan, who had been answering questions without hesitation, stopped when the question about the raid came up.
“…Well…, I don’t know.”
“……?”
“I… have never really interacted with the Shadow Knights of the Vision. I just assumed it was them since there was no one else who could attack me.”
“How many attackers were there?”
“The final number I figured out was six.”
“The numbers match. Are you sure you killed the attacker?”
“…I don’t know about that either. I had terrible hallucinations because of the drugs, and my memories kept fading… Ah, I remember that the captain came to save me right before I lost consciousness.”
Walter looked nervously at the scales in response. The scales tilted to the right as expected, as if Evan truly believed the lie. Baedong had been right when he told him not to explain anything.
Abel also watched the movement of the scales carefully, and when there was no movement, he asked one last question.
“I heard you’ve reached the level of Sword Master. Is that true?”
“……Me?”
“…….”
“…….”
Creak, rattle.
The scales, which had been tilted to the right, regained their balance. Evan, who had been dazed for a while, was startled by the noise and quickly asked back.
“I think I misheard your question. Could you please ask it again?”
“No. I don’t think you know. There were traces of a sword being fired into the forest where the battle took place. The investigation revealed that Sir Evan’s mana was present. Well, this isn’t important right now, so I’ll check later. Next…, Neil, forward.”
Abel called Nihil after casually spilling the important information. Somnus, who had been sitting on the floor until then, jumped up and snatched the scales. These are mine now.
“Is it true that Neil kidnapped the First Prince?”
Nod nod.
Somnus nodded vigorously. This was the unvarnished truth, and the scales tilted to the right.
“Did Neil save Sir Martin from death?”
Nod nod.
Somnus nodded vigorously again. It was true that my grandfather had saved that poor thing.
“Is it true that Neil-kun provided the magic tool?”
Nod nod.
This is also true. Only my grandfather could make such delicate and perfect magic tools.
However, even though Somnus only told the truth, complaints erupted here and there.
“The scales are tilted to the right and don’t move at all. Does that make sense? They’re supposed to tilt to the left in the first place?”
“If you’re curious, why don’t you try holding a scale?”
At those words, many people came forward saying they would try it.
“Your Majesty, may I check?”
“…Your Majesty, are you alright?”
“Of course. What could be wrong with that?”
Lawrence stepped forward cautiously, taking off his hood. It seemed that now was the time to prove his lie. Lawrence approached Somnus, who was still holding the scales tightly, and held out his hand.
“Give it here.”
Dori dori.
“…? Neil, give it to me.”
Dori dori dori.
But Baedong did not hand over the scales as if they were his. Lawrence hesitated for a moment and then opened his mouth.
“Would you lend me that?”
“…….”
“I’m not taking it away.”
“…….”
Somsom looked back and forth between the scales and herself, then nodded. Lawrence quickly took the scales.
“I will return it after I finish using it.”
But those words terribly tilted the scales. To the left!
“……!”
“……!”
I was surprised, SomSom was surprised, and the people watching were surprised too.
“Baby, you can’t lie.”
“Ah, that, that……”
Lawrence stuttered at Taekong’s gentle words. Somsom started to glare at Lawrence, feeling that she had been tricked, and Lawrence was embarrassed and quickly made an excuse.
“This, this belongs to Taekong, so shouldn’t we return it to him?”
“…….”
“…I’m sorry for lying.”
Lawrence apologized, looking a little sullen, thinking that he was more accustomed to lying than he thought. Som-Som, who had been glaring at me, shook her head helplessly and went back to her seat.
Lawrence felt a bit hurt, but soon he smiled softly and put on his familiar mask.
“It’s been a while, Mother.”
“…….”
“Didn’t you miss me?”
“…….”
His mother didn’t answer. Lawrence took a deep breath and looked away from her. He had a lot of questions to ask, but she probably wouldn’t answer anyway.
“It’s true that Baedong kidnapped me. But I can swear that he didn’t hurt me.”
At those words, the scales rattled and shifted again, tilting to the right.
After confirming that the scales had moved, Lawrence took a deep breath and opened his mouth after a long time.
“These earrings, which I have been wearing since I was little, are actually magical tools.”
“…….”
“My mother strongly advised me not to take it off.”
“…….”
“I took it off once before and got in big trouble.”
After saying that, Lawrence grabbed the balance beam and shook it back and forth. However, the balance, which was tilted to the right, did not move at all as if it were fixed.
Lawrence put down the scales for a moment and put his hand on the earring. The earring fasteners were so tightly fastened that it took two hands to remove them.
As soon as I took off my earrings, my hair color started to fade. People who saw this gasped here and there, but my younger brother encouraged me instead.
“Brother, I think pink looks prettier and suits you better. I’m serious. I can swear on the scales.”
“…Thank you, Ruth.”
Lawrence smiled at Lianus and then lifted the scales again, looking up at the stage.
“your majesty.”
“Speak, Prince.”
“father.”
“……!”
Sedes was inwardly surprised by the informal call, but answered immediately.
“Yeah, Ross.”
“I am your son.”
“That is definitely true.”
Lawrence clenched his scales tighter at that answer, which was given without a shred of hesitation. What could it be that had been bothering him so much?
“My day started with cleaning.”
“What is that…!”
Sedes sat up without realizing it. Could it be that the prince had been being continually harassed?
But the words that followed were not of that kind.
“Because I had to get rid of my hair that had fallen out, my hair that had turned pink when the magic wore off.”
Lawrence said that, playing with his short hair. Rianus said proudly that he could braid hair, but in fact he knew how to braid hair himself. He had always braided his own hair.
My daily routine was to wake up at dawn, comb my hair, braid it neatly so that it wouldn’t fall out, and burn the hair that fell out, using the excuse that I didn’t want anyone touching my hair.
“In my safe…, there is a small brazier. It is also a magical tool. On cold days, I would throw it into the fireplace and burn my hair, but in seasons when the fireplace was not lit, I would use it.”
In fact, Lawrence secretly envied Lianus’s safe, which contained various miscellaneous items. His own safe contained only a hair-burning brazier, a bag of gold coins, and an elixir given to him by the Archduke.
“Your Majesty, I don’t know why you are saying this now.”
At that moment, a man opened his mouth. It was Count Calypse, a vassal of the Duke’s family.
Lawrence turned to him, smiling gently.
“Count Calypse, don’t you really know?”
“Isn’t it such a big sin to hide your hair color?”
“Oh, and?”
“……?”
Count Calypse was momentarily stunned. And then what?
“Surely that’s all the excuses you’ve come up with? How can you perform official duties with that kind of brain?”
“Your Majesty, are you done speaking now?”
Count Calypse jumped up from his seat at Lawrence’s venomous remark. His face turned red and looked as if it would burst at any moment, but Lawrence continued to speak.
“If you just stay quiet, you’ll get halfway there. Or at least learn to be more aware.”
“this person……!”
“They said the child’s body was found.”
Lawrence cut off Count Calypse and got to the point.
“I heard that my mother mistook it for me and fainted.”
“What does that mean?”
“You don’t even recognize your own child? Isn’t that ridiculous?”
Lawrence laughed self-deprecatingly. After all, it was not that he didn’t recognize her.
But Count Calypse became even more angry.
“That child looks exactly like the prince! How could you say such things to your highness the Prince’s heart…!”
“That kid had pink hair too?”
“……!”
“The only people who knew my natural hair color were me, my mother, and her nanny, Madame Sarette.”
“That, that kind of…….”
Count Calypse then looked at the queen with his pupils trembling as if he had just realized something.
“You knew better than anyone that that body was not mine.”
“…….”
“Isn’t that right, Mother?”