Avoid The Lead, No Matter What!

35. The Hearing

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King Vien coldly gazed down at Lady Flora, who knelt before him.

At first, he had been unwilling to believe that Lady Flora had done such a malicious thing... A guard had come running to the Sun Tower- the King's residence, in the middle of the night, with information that Lady Flora had been caught performing dark magic.

King Vien had nearly dismissed the guard, till he heard that Grand Mage Sidian was at the West Wing, and everything was frozen in place, awaiting the King's gaze.

And so he had followed, and he had seen...

Grand Mage Sidian had even explained the magic circle that had been drawn, showing it to him in the book, and explained how the symptoms matched the Crown Prince's illness!

"First, you came between me and my Queen. I forgave you because of your child. Then you broke the Crown Prince's heart, ignoring a child who needed a mother for months on end. Still I forgave you because you reached out to him again.

"Through the years, I've ignored your foolish attempts to discredit the Crown Prince." He smirked coldly when her eyes widened. "You thought I didn't know? That I didn't notice the many times you ran to the Magic Council to incite their doubt?

"Still I overlooked it. What mother doesn't want the best for her own child. But now..."

The energy in the room rose to alarming levels.

"...now you dare to curse the Crown Prince?!" The entire throne room rumbled, and the ground trembled beneath their feet.

Miles away, Celia and Taze witnessed the scene through a mind link, using one of Celia's ice flowers in the throne room, but as King Vien raged, they were flung back by a powerful force, and the ice flower shattered.

Taze quickly shielded them both, moments before they would have crashed into a wall!

"Wah! Father is indeed powerful!"

"Uhm!" Celia nodded her agreement. "How did Vitav manage to subdue him in the past lives?!!"

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After Lady Flora's interrogation, Vitav was summoned for questioning.

He hadn't been found in the Left Wing that night, but several High Mages suspected that Lady Flora lacked the boldness or complexity to plan everything that had transpired. But when the dark mage's mind was read, it revealed that he had received all his orders from her.

This left Vitav as the most likely mastermind, and though the dark mage's memories showed only passing interactions with him, a few members of the council remained suspicious.

But during his questioning, Vitav denied any knowledge of the events. Even when Grand Mage Patiel threatened to forcibly read his mind, Vitav stood firm, his features displaying hurt and disbelief.

"Father! I was raised to be upright, and I've never aimed for the throne! You know that I remained a hidden prince until recently!" He sighed pitifully. "If not for my inability to ignore those in danger, no one would know me to this day. I lived in obscurity for years! If I were behind this, why didn't I kill my brother back then?!"

Real tears began to stream down his face. "I know my mother wronged you and the late Queen, but all I've ever wanted was to be your son! I'm content with never ruling, and I know nothing of this incident!"

"And besides..." He sniffled, wiping his tears. "I- I was out that night!" He said in a nervous rush. "I got carried away chatting with..." He blushed, lowering his head.