Chapter 84: The Trial of the Servant (Part Three)

“The Lady Arlecchino has voluntarily confessed. Therefore, she is guilty. At last, the final verdict shall be rendered by the Oratrice.”

A heavy burden in Neuvillette’s heart gradually lifted, and his mood relaxed somewhat. As he pronounced the judgment, he turned his eyes toward the Oratrice’s ruling. His dragonlike vertical pupils widened little by little as he continued slowly, “According to the verdict given by the Oratrice, Lady Arlecchino is... not guilty.”

His voice was stiff and awkward; speaking these words seemed difficult for him. Neuvillette frowned, glanced at Furina upon the high dais, then at the Knave, and an unusual thought slowly took shape in his mind.

Could they have arranged this deliberately?

Was this all just a fabricated script?

It was not only him who was confused. Even Lyney, seated in the dock, grew puzzled in turn. He looked at the Knave and said in a voice bright with surprise, “Father, you’re innocent. The Oratrice has already delivered a just verdict!”

“You underestimate her too much.”

The Knave’s gaze remained as cold as ever. It seemed the Oratrice’s result had not surprised her in the least. Deep down, she had always known that whatever answer she gave, Furina would have a corresponding response.

Rumor had it that the Oratrice had been created personally by the Hydro Archon, so manipulating the result it delivered might be the easiest thing in the world for her. No matter what choice I make, the Oratrice can always answer in the opposite way, making the whole affair all the more theatrical.

I should have thought of that. If I had realized it sooner, perhaps I would not have hesitated so much.

“Underestimate her? Father, aren’t you innocent now?” Lyney asked in confusion.

“Innocent?”

The Knave gave a cold laugh. She looked at the naive Lyney and did not answer directly. Instead, she sighed and turned to look at Furina on the other side of the platform, and a new thought slowly emerged in her mind.

Perhaps the script Furina had written did not lead to only one fixed future.

After I make a different choice, a different future will appear, and I will encounter different events. If I refuse to confess, perhaps the Oratrice will declare me guilty and sentence me.

But if I confess now, then the Oratrice will declare me innocent. If I am innocent, how will she continue with the rest of the trial? How will she maintain the drama and create more scenes centered on me?

In her uncertainty, the Knave’s gaze unconsciously drifted toward the bewildered Lyney beside her.

Lyney? Lyney!

Suddenly, a bold idea flashed through her mind. Furina may not be judging me, but she can continue judging Lyney! That is her backup plan. That is the backup she prepared in advance!

Yes, that must be it. Because she has thought through every possibility, she must have prepared for every possibility. If I choose not to confess, then Lyney is safe. If I do confess, then Lyney will be made to stand in my place and be judged by her, forcing me to taste an even deeper despair.

And it is not only Lyney. There are also the other children of the Hearth. After I was arrested, they did a few things that were just a little too bold. If she chooses to look the other way, then they will all be fine. But if she decides to be serious about it... I am afraid most of the children in the Hearth would be taken away.

And I, Arlecchino, the Knave, would go from a father with children to a pitiable empty-nester.

Furina, how vicious you are!

Below the platform, murmurs and sighs rippled through the audience.

“Ah, this really is the first time I’ve seen this. The result given by the machine is actually different from the chief justice’s.”

“Though the Harbingers have done all sorts of wicked things, Lady Arlecchino doesn’t exactly have a bad reputation. Maybe there’s some hidden misunderstanding here?”

“That’s possible too. Lady Arlecchino is so beautiful and so well-proportioned; how could she possibly be a bad person? I rely on her to fall asleep every night.”

“Brother upstairs, did you just expose something?”

“Uh, cough cough. Let me state in advance: I’m not obsessed with looks, and I’m not a degenerate. My gender is attack helicopter.”

“Oh, I get it. You like planes, and you also seem to be beating your family every day. How obvious.”

“Beating my family?”

“Plane domestic abuse is just...”

“Cough cough!”

Furina suddenly coughed twice in an exaggerated manner, then rose gracefully from her own exclusive throne. She looked toward the Knave with gentle, benevolent eyes, and the meaning of goodwill was obvious, almost unhidden.

At the same time, she could not help thinking to herself: The Knave actually trusts me this much? With Lyney’s testimony helping her, she simply confessed outright, without even considering her own safety.

I had Lu Mingfei kill her several times!

And she still willingly confessed...

Arlecchino, she really is such a good person!

However...

That straightforwardly friendly gaze looked far less friendly in the Knave’s eyes. That spotless expression of goodwill even made Arlecchino feel somewhat sick. She truly did not understand: Furina was such a vicious person, so how could she act so calmly, so shamelessly, putting on such a performance there?

She was just like an innocent white lotus!

And yet her heart was so dark.

Despicable! How despicable!

But even knowing the truth, what could the Knave do? She had no choice. With the two dragon sovereigns guarding Furina, and with the children of the Hearth as hidden leverage in her hand, if I do not cooperate here, I may really end up becoming an empty-nester.

Sigh...

Under such thoughts, a somewhat unnatural smile slowly forced its way onto Arlecchino’s face as she responded to Furina. This was the part she was supposed to play right now.

“Mmm~”

Furina nodded in satisfaction, seeming to indicate that she understood Arlecchino’s feelings. Though she felt the other woman’s smile had seemed a little stiff just now, that was only natural. After all, the Knave was not the sort who smiled easily, so making her express goodwill so directly was already asking much of her.

The fact that she could smile at all was already quite...

“She really is a good person!”

Furina sighed inwardly once more, then quietly withdrew her gaze and turned to the audience members looking at her with expectation. With an air of having foreseen all of this long ago, she spoke proudly and self-satisfiedly:

“Ladies and gentlemen, I know that many of you are filled with questions right now. Why has the Knave, who attempted to assassinate the Hydro Archon, been declared not guilty by the Oratrice? Why is this different from how the story was supposed to go? Is there some special reason behind this?”

“I understand your thoughts, and I will answer all of them for you. After all, the Oratrice was created by my divine power, so I should know every answer.”

Standing at the center of everyone’s attention, with countless expectant gazes fixed upon her, Furina had experienced this feeling many times before.

But this time was different. It was not the same!

In the past, she had known confusion, lacked power, understood nothing of the Oratrice, and did not know how to play the role of a proper Hydro Archon. She had even been doubted by ordinary Fontaine citizens.

Now, she would hold everything!

The Oratrice was hers!

The chief justice, Neuvillette, was hers!

The hidden dragon sovereign, Nidhogg, was hers!

The accused, Arlecchino, was hers!

Everyone here is one of mine! Hahaha!

This is the fully realized Focalors, the fully realized Furina, the complete Seven Archons of the world, the complete me! Hahahahaha! This feels incredible! I have never spoken with such confidence before!

“Was this also within Lady Furina’s expectations?”

“Nonsense. She is the Hydro Archon of Fontaine. How could she not know even such a small thing? The Oratrice itself was created by Lady Furina!”

“Is that so? I almost forgot. Lady Furina likes to perform in dramatic form because she is a deity who loves drama, not some ordinary celebrity!”

“Let’s hear how Lady Furina explains it first. As for this assassination of the Hydro Archon, I don’t think it was fake. Lady Furina has no reason to stage such a big act just to deceive us. If that were the case, it would be far too vile.”

“Exactly, exactly. I’m really curious too.”

“Attack helicopter, stop talking. Go beat your family!”

“.Damn it, next time I’ll say I’m a truck.”

“Then besides being able to carry things, what use are you?”

“Then a sedan?”

“It can only carry things, and not as much as a truck.”

“Fine, I’ll say I’m a carriage!”

“Hmph. No horse, so you can’t even move.”

“!!” He quietly drew out a small knife.

“First, the fact that Lady Arlecchino attempted to assassinate the Hydro Archon is real.”

Furina looked at the audience below, at their astonishment, their certainty, and their anticipation, and the smile on her face grew ever more radiant. She continued, “But how could she, merely a Harbinger, possibly succeed in assassinating a god? I am the deity of Fontaine, possessed of immeasurably powerful strength. How could I be successfully assassinated by an Executive?”

“So I began to wonder: why did Arlecchino want to assassinate me? Was she perhaps using this assassination attempt to hint at something to me? That may have been her true purpose. As for why the message took the form of an assassination attempt rather than a conversation...”

Furina slowly shifted her gaze to Arlecchino, smiling as she motioned for her to continue the explanation.

You come here to dig a pit for me, and I still have to help patch up your story?

The Knave could not help clenching her fists again.

“Father, this is a good chance.”

Lyney gave a soft reminder, but all he received in return was the Knave’s cold glance.

He did not understand what his father was thinking. Furina was clearly just expressing goodwill, clearly giving her a chance to explain. All of this was so Father could shed the charge against her. Why was Father so unwilling to accept it? Could it be... that she felt her pride had been hurt? Because this was Furina’s pity and charity?

Perhaps so.

Though the Knave was deeply displeased, under the coercion of Focalors and Nidhogg, she had no choice but to explain, “Because I once doubted the Hydro Archon’s strength and abilities. After all, in the years she has been in Fontaine, she has never once shown her divine power. In matters of consequence, a test is necessary.”

“Oh, yes, that’s it!”

“Lady Furina really has never actively displayed her strength before. It makes sense that she would be questioned. The Hydro Archon is so powerful that such a test would pose no threat to her at all, which is why the Oratrice judged her not guilty, right?”

“But something still feels off to me. No matter what her purpose was, the end result is that Arlecchino attempted to assassinate the Hydro Archon. Since the deed was done, there should at least be some punishment, shouldn’t there?”

“Uh, would you care if an ant tried to assassinate you?”

“An ant can assassinate me?”

“Maybe Lady Furina had the same reaction at the time? So she declared her not guilty and even brought the case out here, probably because she found it rather novel. After all, she had never been assassinated before. The number of people who have attempted to assassinate her is fewer than the things the Traveler has said.”

“Nonsense. Our lady has the gift of the gab!”

“That’s clearly emergency food!”

“Oh ho ho ho, so someone actually dares to question my strength as Focalors. Interesting, very interesting. I never imagined anyone would think such a thing.”

Furina laughed so hard that her whole body trembled, her eyes full of disbelief, as though she truly possessed the might of the Seven. The atmosphere in the hall also gradually grew lighter. Furina was the exalted Hydro Archon, and that was something everyone assumed as a matter of course. Now that impression had once again been confirmed in such a bizarre-seeming way, and even the audience found it especially amusing.

The way they looked at the Knave also changed. It was the expression reserved for someone who actually dared to assassinate a god. Everyone can be wise after the fact, especially those who love nothing more than watching a spectacle. Their mockery was especially vigorous. Amid their whispers, the Knave seemed to have become nothing more than a brawny woman with no brains.

Ah, so that was why the Hydro Archon was so wise!

In some respects, she had already won far too much.

Sigh.

Neuvillette sighed helplessly, then turned to Furina with renewed seriousness. “Lady Furina, I believe today’s trial should not merely be a farce, should it? There ought to be a more important message hidden within this matter—namely, the message the Knave wished to convey to you. That is the real point you meant to express, is it not?”

Furina gradually reined in her smile, then looked toward the audience with solemn seriousness and continued, “That’s right. This is the point I wished to make. Judging an assassin doomed to fail is merely a side act, an interlude, of this trial.”

“Next, I want to ask you, my dear people: are you willing to believe the prophecy that Fontaine will be swallowed by the sea? This seemingly absurd prophecy has, little by little, begun to come true. Signs of the rising tide are starting to appear. Oh, my people, do you feel fear?”

“The prophecy that Fontaine will be submerged?”

“That prophecy is real...”

“No, no way. It should be fine, right?”

At this point, unease also began to stir within Furina’s heart. Focalors had said she already had a way to resolve Fontaine’s prophecy, and that Furina only needed to play the role of the Hydro Archon properly in public, without letting anyone discover a flaw.

If she said there was no problem at all...

Then it should really be no problem, right?

The disaster will pass!

It certainly will.

End of chapter.