“Yes, judge.”
Count Cartan adjusted his collar and stepped forward from his seat.
“There are no grounds for these accusations!”
“Which parts of the accusations are you referring to?”
“Everything!”
The Count glared sternly at his wife as he shouted. As one would expect of a person accusing her own husband, Josephine was pale. In any case, it was amazing that a wife so attached to her husband, would actually raise a lawsuit against him.
(Most likely, Tullius was pulling the strings here...)
Linus glared at his brother whose cheeks were slightly lifted.
Linus had been observing Tullius ever since his wedding ceremony. Normally, his people kept a watch on him in the mansion, effectively putting him on house arrest. The only other times he could go out was when Linus brought him out for social gatherings. There were no other opportunities he could have had to contact the Count’s wife. Since Tullius was sitting beside her, it was evident that they were in the same camp. But how?
(Also...)
He moved his sights to Uni who was strangely wearing her maid uniform to court.
Her enemy was right by her side and yet she was this composed. The former slave was as brazen as her master.
In any case, what does it mean for Uni to be dressed like that? There were limits to madness.
(It was as if she wanted to tell everybody that she was a maid… Wait a minute)
In an instant, Linus suddenly understood the picture.
“Anyways, why would Madam Josephine be raising such a lawsuit?”
“Simone, that is….”
Linus responded.
“It appears that the maid is now working together with the Count’s wife.”
“She is? How can that be?”
Simone let out a dry laugh. For Anrietta, Josephine should be her enemy who chased both her and her mother out of the family. While Simone did not know more than that, according to the Lavallee’s investigations, it was way worse than that. It was unbelievable that she could work together with such a person.
However, Linus shook his head.
“Do you not understand, Simone? Including the events 11 years ago, the two of them have always been calculating the pros and cons of everything.”
“...What?”
“Just listen.”
He explained to his perplexed wife in an easy-to-understand way.
“First of all, Madam Josephine is putting her son as the head of family, before he is considered useless.”
People were already talking about how stupid and simple Count Cartan’s son was. So if the Cartan's family only has this son as the successor, what will happen when an illegitimate child of an appropriate age was brought into the picture? It would be the start of a major conflict within the family. The illegitimate child may not be a male but even a female would be plenty of trouble. If the husband of the daughter was given the role of head of family, who knows if he might abuse that power? Also, with the Count’s eccentricity, it was entirely possible that he would directly let his daughter become a Count.
Marquis Lavallee had planned to use that as an excuse to push Anrietta to Tullius and have her burden him. However, that plan was not known to Josephine. They needed her to be genuinely shocked when she saw Anrietta and if they collaborated with somebody as egotistical as her, she might have made some absurd demands as part of the negotiations. Anyways, she understood the gravity of the situation and took action.
Josephine was equally the Count’s wife as well as her son’s mother. She endured 9 months of pregnancy to give birth to her son when she was middle-aged. It was not strange for her to choose her son over her husband. Even more so if the person creating the crisis was Count Cartan himself.
“In short, it is about self-protection. On a whim, the head of the family brought back his daughter who she chased away 11 years ago. The Countess position in the family would surely suffer as a result and it was a possibility that the Count would divorce her to protect his daughter’s standing in the family.”
There will not be a happy ending for an old woman on the brink of divorce. She would have to give up on her lavish lifestyle and be looked down upon among social circles. Countess Josephine was known to be very prideful because of how she and her husband rose from the ranks. She would not be able to handle a descent from her environment now.
“Secondly, that maid has an abnormal level of loyalty to Tullius. She was suddenly introduced to her father and the person who killed her mother. And yet, because of her loyalty, she has chosen to ignore it all.”
To top it off, she has obediently assisted the slave murderer in his deeds for 11 years. Even if she was coerced into everything because of the slave obedience spell, she should have gone ill mentally from being forced to do those things. In fact, the majority of servants in the Oubeniel family went crazy and retired from work after catching a glimpse of Tullius’ experiments. Uni was abnormal in being able to remain indifferent while participating in those experiments.
No matter how pretty she looks on the outside, she was a devil abetting his brother in madness. From his investigations, there were many people who disappeared after insulting Tullius. She must have done something.
She made a temporary alliance with her enemy to secure a return to her master. Dragging her father down from his leadership role in the family was probably just collateral damage.
“If they can forget their enmity towards each other, it is entirely plausible that they join hands to bring down Count Cartan.”
This was Marquis Lavallee’s blind spot. He did not expect Josephine to put down her grudge, for her to turn her back on her husband in order to stabilise her son’s future. Now the circumstances are so dire that one might say that their butts are on fire.
It did not occur to him that the quiet maid would have the capabilities to persuade Josephine, who was so obstinate.
“It does appear to make sense.”
“Yes, logically so.”
Linus nodded to Simone’s reply.
He knew that it was highly possible that Josephine and Uni were working together. But whether they had a good chance of winning this lawsuit was a separate matter.
There was nothing to prove the nonsensical charges they were trying to accuse the Count of. If they believed they stood a chance of winning, then that must be one of the few merits of a female — shallow thinking.
Finally, the Count amazingly suppressed his anger and re-organised his rebuttal.
“Firstly, I do not remember corrupting the morals within my family! If they are referring to the case which happened 11 years ago where I kept Anna Marie as a mistress, it was because I wanted her to bear me a successor. As evidence of that, she gave birth to Anrietta before Josephine gave birth to our son. Additionally, is it not the responsibility of the head of family to make sure that there are other successors just in case the original successor is frail and sick? Therefore, even if I hid the existence of Anrietta for 11 years, it is no crime!”
Exactly. Josephine was already 40 and did not get pregnant, that was why Count Cartan tried to bear a child with other women. He had no other benefits to do so. Even if he was blessed with children, infant deaths are common. Even if the Count decided to keep his mistress after his first wife gave birth, it would not be a problem.
Nevertheless,
“Objection”
Josephine raised her hand in the air.
“You have permission to state your objections.”
“Thank you very much, judge. The accused is trying to evade the accusations.”
“What!?”
The Count was dumbstruck.
The judge rang the wooden clapper bell in response to the Count’s shock.
“The accused. The plaintiff has not finished her objection.”
“...Yes. My apologies.”
The Count backed down. Of course, he did not forget to stare daggers at his wife while backing down.
Josephine continued calmly and unperturbed.
“Then I shall continue. The fact is that my husband outrageous actions are ongoing even today.”
“Unbelievable.”
The judge raised his eyebrows. On the other hand, the Count made a soft sigh. He was amazed at the absurdity.
“With much embarrassment, we frequently replace our maids. And the culprit for that is my husband, Pierre Simon.”
The Countess declared aloud. The visitors became boisterous again.
“Have you heard?”
“Yes. It is as though Count Cartan wants to lay his hands on the maids...”
“Don’t be ridiculous. That is just hearsay...”
“...Objection!”
This time, the cry for objection came from the accused.
“The reason for firing all our maids was because of Josephine’s jealousy. Besides, any degrading suspicions are irrelevant!”
Count Cartan spoke without pause. As far as Linus was concerned, Count Cartan was in the right. While Josephine’s jealousy was not as well known as Tullius notoriety, many people were aware of it. From the rumours, any maid that spoke to her husband would have a vase thrown at them and be cruelly disfigured before being chased out.
All this should have been common knowledge to the nobles in the visitor’s gallery.
However,
“Judge.”
Of all times, Tullius decided to raise his hand.
“I am afraid that this back and forth argument is a waste of time for everybody. It would not be good to prolong this judgement, right?”
“Indeed.”
“Then, it would make sense to request for evidence for the Countess’ claims. I believe the burden of proof lies with the plaintiff in such situations.”
Linus laughed coldly.
How shameless of him. He spoke as if he had nothing to do with the Countess, even though he was in the same camp with her. This was just suicide if the Countess was unable to come up with any convincing evidence. That was why he was a person who lets his slaves do everything for him while locking himself up at home. Stupid brother was stupid.
“Certainly, that makes sense. Well then, do you have any evidence, plaintiff?”
“Yes, I shall call my list of witnesses from the antechamber.”
The Countess was completed level-headed.
“Impossible.”
Count Cartan could not hide his indignation.
“I swear! I have never laid my hands on the maids working at our residence!”
“Is that evidence worthy enough to make a judgement?”
Tullius countered.
How could he act like they had a plan? He should not have had any coordination with Josephine. The only link was Anrieta… Uni. Tullius should not have the time nor ability to contact the Countess.
How could he have complete confidence that the Countess has witnesses prepared?
Meanwhile, the trial continued.
“We will now take statements from witnesses. Enter.”
“Yes.”
