I Married the Mad Duke Who Killed My Husband - Chapter 73
“Oh my…!”
“I thought they looked too similar, and indeed…”
We had given much thought to Lorang’s first statement. But isn’t it more striking to give a taste of the climax first, rather than explaining everything in detail, as in novels or movies?
We used the fact that he was a commoner unfamiliar with imperial etiquette to replace the introduction with the main point.
As intended, the courtroom erupted into a commotion, and the nobles, forgetting they were in the Emperor’s presence, began to chatter among themselves. The First Prince glared at Lorang, biting his lip hard enough to draw blood.
“Silence.”
But all of this subsided with a single word from the Emperor. As the Emperor frowned slightly in annoyance and rang the bell, the courtroom fell back into silence.
“Explain in detail. From the winter of your sixteenth year, as you told the Duke and Duchess. Of course, everything must be true, unless you want your head to roll immediately for insulting the imperial family.”
“Y-Yes. I swear to speak only the truth, Your Majesty.”
Though his voice trembled, Lorang acted diligently, just as he had during the mock trial.
“I grew up without a father, and in the year I turned sixteen, I lost my mother, my only family. I had to actively seek a livelihood, but being still at an age to hold dreams, I ventured into the cold streets with only charcoal and paper.”
He turned his gaze from the Emperor to the Empress, but there was no returning glance. Lorang’s voice gained a bit more strength.
“It was the third day since I had rushed into the streets, and I was growing weary from hunger and cold. A beautiful woman sat before me. …That woman was Her Majesty the Empress sitting right there. Though at the time, I merely thought her to be a high-ranking noble.”
“Wait. If this was 27 years ago in winter, wasn’t it right after Her Majesty the Empress’s ascension? My mother held her ceremony in autumn, and grand celebrations were held throughout the empire. I find it hard to understand how you couldn’t recognize her even upon seeing her up close.”
The First Prince counterattacked Lorang’s words before the Empress could. He seemed determined not to miss even the slightest gap, but this was all within our expectations.
“As I mentioned earlier, my mother passed away that year. Coincidentally, it was in autumn. I was devoted to my mother’s treatment, but in the end, she passed away, and I was preoccupied with her funeral afterwards, unable to pay attention to other matters. If it’s a sin to have neglected the empire’s joyous occasion due to personal circumstances, then I suppose I’m guilty.”
Lorang’s voice gradually stabilized as he fluently delivered the answers, as if solving exam questions from a pre-marked answer sheet. It seems the all-night practice paid off.
“Continue.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. She…”
“It’s Her Majesty the Empress! Use the proper title!”
“First Prince. Don’t interrupt unnecessarily. I’ll allow it, so speak comfortably in this court. Use the title you used to call her.”
“…!”
When Lorang referred to the Empire’s Empress as ‘she’, the First Prince stepped forward again, bristling, but this time he was stopped by the Emperor.
The Emperor also knows. If what we’ve presented in this trial proves to be true, the charge of insulting the imperial family towards the Empress or the First Prince wouldn’t stand in the first place.
Conversely, if we lose, we’ll lose our heads anyway, even before the charge of insulting the imperial family.
“Sh-she… approached alone, without any attendants or maids, but had an extraordinary aura and dignity. As she was my first customer, I put all my effort into drawing her portrait, and in return, I received an amount of money beyond my station. A purse full of gold coins in a red silk pouch. …I still have that pouch from back then.”
To ensure Lorang’s narrative flow wasn’t interrupted, Cassion stepped forward and presented the red silk pouch that would serve as evidence. Only after the Emperor silently gestured to receive and examine it did Lorang’s words continue.
“Knowing my place, I tried to refuse, saying it was too much, but she said it was payment for the portrait and also a sponsorship for the future.”
“Gasp.”
Sounds of inhaled breaths were heard throughout the courtroom.
Most nobles and royals don’t directly engage in sponsorship, instead instructing their subordinates to do so. Cases like Lorang’s, or mine and Jenin’s, were rare.
But the Empress met Lorang directly and promised sponsorship. The large sum she mentioned and the promise of future sponsorship at this time implied… Many realized it meant not just sponsorship for art but also for pleasure.
“Yes. As a boy about to turn seventeen, I wasn’t unaware of the implications. However, I was very hungry, cold, and tired. The woman handing over the pouch with her delicate hands was beautiful. I accepted the sponsorship.”
“Speak precisely. Was it merely sponsorship for your art? Or was it payment for your body?”
At the Emperor’s nonchalant tone, treating him like a male prostitute from the streets, Lorang’s face instantly flushed red. Being the crybaby he was, tears welled up in his eyes, perhaps feeling shame at the attention focused on him, but this only made him appear more innocent.
“It, it was payment for my body, Your Majesty.”
“Was it just for that one day?”
“No. Thanks to her spons…orship, I was able to spend that winter warmly and welcomed my seventeenth year. Until then, I met her about once every ten days to spend time together.”
“You still didn’t know the woman’s identity by then?”
“No. The more time I spent with her, I gave not only my body but also my heart, falling deeper, and she never said anything about her position or name. I just thought she was a young lady of about a viscount’s rank out for amusement, so I clung to her. No-noble ladies often keep concubines, so I thought that much was…”
“Oh my! I cannot accept this. This is an insult to the entire nobility!”
“I-I’m sorry. I’ll correct myself.”
For the first time, there was a protest from the audience. A lady who had been listening intently stood up, huffing as if her feet were on fire, but she blushed and slowly sat down under the suspicious gazes of everyone.
Although Lorang apologized reflexively, overwhelmed by the atmosphere, his words were true. It was a world where high-ranking nobles, more often than not, kept lovers separately, regardless of gender, due to frequent political marriages rather than mutual desire. Moreover, wasn’t Lorang beautiful to anyone who looked at him?
Even now, it was easy to imagine how much more beautiful he must have been at seventeen.
“That… ahem. Although the intervals between meetings grew longer over time, our encounters continued until the early winter of my seventeenth year. She was usually expressionless, but sometimes she would enter our meeting place with a despairing look, as if everything in the world was tedious and heavy, and on those days… on those days…”
“Continue speaking.”
“On, those days. …We didn’t use protection.”
Someone let out a faint scream, and the First Prince’s face turned so dark it was hard to tell if it was blue or red.
A relationship that often occurred without protection throughout the year when he was seventeen.
The twenty-five-year-old First Prince, born the following year when Lorang turned eighteen.
The timing matched perfectly.
Ironically, in the courtroom filled with people’s shock, only the Emperor and Empress remained expressionless.
“And then came the winter when I met her again. A year had passed, so I thought it was time I should know about her. Thinking that this feeling couldn’t be one-sided, that even if it was pity, there must be some feelings for me, I asked for her name and wished for her to make me her lover… but what I received were words of farewell.”
Lorang’s head drooped. Even though we didn’t instruct him to, it seems he’s getting immersed in recalling that time. Unexpectedly good at improvising.
Fortunately, Lorang is doing well on his own without me, Cassion, or the Second Prince needing to intervene and help.
“No, it wasn’t even a farewell. I was abandoned. As soon as she heard my request, she showed an expression I had never seen in that year. It was contempt. The place we used for our secret meetings was locked, and she never came again. She never called for me either. Only one letter came.”
As if gathering courage, Lorang lifted his head to look at the First Prince but quickly lowered it again upon meeting his fiery gaze. It seems he’s not ready to face that look yet. What a shame.
“The letter that came with money told me to leave the capital. It said my life couldn’t be guaranteed otherwise.”
“Did you comply and leave obediently after receiving that letter?”
“At first, I couldn’t accept it. Perhaps because I was a bit more reckless in my youth. But as I rushed out onto the streets, feeling angry and confused… I witnessed continuous celebrations. They were celebrations congratulating the Empire’s Empress for conceiving an imperial heir. And in the midst of the bustling crowd, I saw her standing far away on the castle. It was a great distance, and she looked completely different from when she met me, but… how could I not recognize a lover I had been meeting for a year?”
“……”
“Only then did I realize the truth and fled. I hastily packed only my art supplies and left the capital. That’s how I settled in Lirento. …That is all I have to say.”
Silence fell. Lorang finished speaking and turned towards us, not knowing what to do next, but I just shook my head. He stood there awkwardly for a bit longer, and only after the silence did he move behind us, hurriedly leaving the podium as the Emperor made a heavy gesture.
‘Well, did I do well?’
‘Shh.’
Although he did better than expected, I stepped on Lorang’s foot and gave him a warning look as he tried to confirm, despite still being in court.
…Now it was the Empress’s turn to speak. She ascended to the podium with the same quiet and expressionless demeanor as when she entered.
“…I acknowledge my meetings with Lorang.”
The courtroom erupted into an even greater commotion than when Lorang claimed to be the son. This time, even my eyes couldn’t help but widen.
