Love with a Loss of Innocence

5.

(y/n)'s pov

When I woke up, I was seated in a courtroom. I looked around and realized that I was surrounded by hundreds of people: the citizens of Ellesmere.

Gilda was in the seat at the front. She had an expression of worry, and she seemed concerned. I glanced down and found that I had a name tag on my chest, pinned at the bow of my cloak. It read, "DEFENDANT," in big yellow letters.

I put two and two together and found out this had something to do with the announcement of Prince Phil's death. I obviously knew why they would blame me; it wasn't that hard to find.

Since Asteria and Ellesmere were currently at war with each other, of course, they would think that the citizen from their opponent's kingdom would assassinate the heir. Looking at their perspective, it was certainly a reasonable inference.

The passing of someone of power was a huge disadvantage because now they had no one to take over the area once the king dies.

I heard someone clear their throat and I looked up. It was a male with dark brown messy hair, with white streaks down the middle. I narrowed my eyes. This must be the chancellor of the king.

"Oh, I see you finally have woken up," he said, walking in front of me. He was wearing the crest of Ellesmere on his breast pocket. "My name is Sir Yuugo. I will be your judge. Now, do you have any recollection of what crime you have committed?"

"No, because I haven't done anything wrong," I answered. "I arrived at Ellesmere a couple of hours ago. I wouldn't have poisoned the heir with that time frame."

I heard the government official from before, whose name was Gillian. "She has a point, sir," she whispered.

Sir Yuugo paused for a moment before walking back to his chair. I sat up straight in my seat, ready to face whatever questions they ask me.

"Very well," he replied. "We will now interrogate your witness."

Another person walked up to Gilda, who suddenly looked terrified. Her eyes widened, and I could see her hands visibly shake under the natural light. The person carefully took her hand, leading her next to me. She cautiously sat on the bench, looking down at her hands.

"Gilda, was it?" Gillian asked. "You stated earlier that (y/n) wasn't guilty. Why is that?"

She took a deep breath and started.

"Well, (y/n) first came to Ravaryn City by ferry two days ago. I met her at the inn, and we talked for a few minutes. The next day, we walked to Ravaryn City by foot, leaving around 9:30 am. We arrived here at the town square at ten, think," she explained. I noticed how she spoke with her hands as if her actions would convince the jury a bit more.

"The girl is innocent!" a court member said, calling the attention of everyone in the room. He had red, auburn hair and a scar on his left cheek. "Yuugo, you should know that yourself. The prince was found dead at 9:30 am, and the witness said she and her left the city around the same time."

"Besides, if you kill her now, we may lose potential secrets to winning the war," the redhead pointed out. His place card on the jury seats read Lucas. "And if you ask me, I'm sick of fighting Asteria."

"Yeah, me too!" I heard someone else yell. Soon after, I heard a dozen other remarks about ending the war. It grew so much out of hand that Gillian had to order composure again.

"(y/n), are you who the rumors say?" she asked. "Word gets out quickly here in Ellesmere, and a traveler from an enemy kingdom is a great deal."

"She means if you are the queen that the Crown Prince discarded," Yuugo clarified. "The one who ran away after something tragic happened."