Chapter 79: Annulment Ceremony (2)
The Judge continued rambling in the imperial hall about how the prince had tried everything to save their engagement. He pushed all the blame and flaws on Aisha. Not just because of her useless rank and purification value, but emphasizing her past behavior as a reason as well.
"There have been rumors that went around the high sectors surrounding Lady Aisha. They were all reported to Her Highness Consort Gabriel, who has verified the truth. If it were mere rumors, the Imperial Palace could’ve purged them. However, they... they contained truths, and there are even witnesses."
Most people in the hall weren’t strangers to the rumors Aisha was involved in. Some believed the rumors, but there were also those who had heard it and let it pass without care.
Now that they were hearing there were all true and even had witnesses to her atrocious actions, everyone began to look at Aisha differently. Just minutes earlier, some sympathized with her--a woman whose engagement was called off--now there were none of it.
Aisha coldly watched on.
Once in a while, Aisha would stare at Soren with something akin to a chill crawling to the tips of her fingers. But afterward, the cool and calm nature of her gaze would return to her eyes.
She had waited so long to hear what they would have to say. But it was only to criticize her publicly and make her completely unable to face the crowd in the future. As time went on, she had come to suspect that the goal Prince Soren and his mother wanted from this was to make her give the money back she’d received from him.
"Even when His Highness came to visit, Lady Aisha had refused to see him at the hospital. And when they finally signed the annulment papers, she had abused his kindness and demanded 30 million from him!"
The instant those words had fallen, the crowd went wild.
"30 million?"
"Is she crazy? Extorting money from the prince?"
"She must be after his money all along!"
"The prince has done everything to keep her to his side, and yet she repaid him by demanding money from him?"
The hall didn’t quiet down for a while, busily discussing the reason and the amount of audacity Aisha had to take money from a prince who had done nothing but cherish and protect her.
"With all these reasons, I hope that the Council Elders and the Emperor approve of their annulment and completely dissolve their engagement that has been agreed on since before their birth!" The Judge finished his speech as he bowed to the emperor. Deep down, he was fully satisfied with his performance.
With everything laid bare for everyone to dissect and place their judgment on, Aisha had completed her image as a despicable woman who had no right or qualities of a future prince consort.
Everyone wanted to know how she would react to this.
And what everyone was curious to see was what the Emperor would do after hearing everything. After all, he was the one who honored the previous consort’s order that allowed this engagement to happen in the first place.
They all turned to look at the Emperor, whose expression was calm and unreadable. They didn’t dare guess what he was thinking, fearing that they would be the ones to receive his punishment instead.
"Lady Aisha Novalis, do you have anything to say for yourself?"
Finally, Emperor Nikulaus spoke from the throne.
Being called by the emperor himself, Aisha knew that she must remain calm. Yet, she noticed a pressure coming from the emperor, who had only spoken a few words. Was he a Sentinel as well? No. She noticed that the pressure coming from the emperor wasn’t the same as the pressure Sentinels could impose on people.
Rather than being a Sentinel, the emperor had the innate qualities of an emperor that made people want to lower their heads and respect him.
However, there was something about him that made Aisha slightly wary of him. It was the way he had looked at her just now. Like someone who had found an interesting toy outside a toy shop’s glass display, finding it pleasant to the eyes.
"If I may say a few things, Your Majesty," she asked him respectfully, subtly turning herself to the guests who had come to watch.
"Your Majesty, I think it’s time to complete the ceremony—"
"I’ll allow it."
Before Consort Gabriel could say anything to stop him, Emperor Nikulaus had already given his permission to allow Aisha to speak.
She glanced at her son, who also frowned and wondered what was going on with his father’s head.
Soren hadn’t expected his father to even speak to Aisha. Truthfully, he didn’t care about the money he had given away to Aisha. Though it hurt his pockets to separate from that big chunk of money, he wasn’t one to take something he had promised to give to someone. It was his mother who wanted to take it back from her.
He gazed back at his mother and shook his head. Since it had come to this, there was no way to stop Aisha from speaking.
Everyone in the hall continued to watch with interest as to what she would say now that her past actions had been exposed.
"I won’t deny the rumors because even if I said they’re not true, everyone will still believe what they want. I cannot stop that. However, I must correct something the Judge had said just now." Aisha’s beautiful, yet gentle voice had been the first to finally break the momentary silence.
At the same time as she spoke, everyone seemed to let out a collective gasp. Even they were unable to deny that she looked exceptionally stunning as she stood there.
Zeke hadn’t left her ever since the ceremony had started. It was less of a ceremony than a trial, to be honest. With how they listed down the flaws Aisha had shown and even said to be witnessed by people, it really made her look like a criminal being interrogated.
Aisha scrunched up her face before speaking again. "I didn’t extort His Highness for his money."
"Oh? Then you didn’t receive anything from him." Emperor Nikulaus narrowed his eyes, slowly moving his gaze to look at his own son, who shook his head. "It seems that my son is saying he has given you, Lady Aisha."
Aisha wasn’t the least bit intimidated. Nodding agreeably, she said, "That is right. He has given me exactly 25 million star credits. He was supposed to give me the remaining 5 million after we had officially broken off our engagement."
"You’re making it sound like you two had agreed on this beforehand."
"That is also right, Your Majesty." She turned to look at Soren, whose face hardened yet couldn’t do anything to stop her from speaking with the emperor present. "That is why I don’t understand why this had been written as a form of extortion when he had given the money as compensation."
Consort Gabriel knew that things wouldn’t look good for her son if this continued as she shot a cutting look at the Judge, who immediately tried to interrupt Aisha.
’Thud’
Before the Judge could even begin to speak, a small device fell to the ground. It spun a few times before it stopped.
"I think everyone deserves to know why he had compensated me for." Aisha snapped her fingers then—
Whiiir
A light exploded from the device on the floor, widely spreading into a holographic screen that everyone could clearly see what was playing in it.
"Your Highness, we can’t do this here."
"Aisha has already left. There’s no need for us to hide anymore."
"But Your Highness, I’m embarrassed..."
"What’s there to be embarrassed? You and I have already—"
’Bang!’
The device playing a scene of a couple meeting each other and entangling intimately inside a room was crushed into pieces underneath Soren’s foot.
The sound of his foot breaking the tiny device into pieces echoed in the entire hall.
"Aisha!" Soren glared at her, his face contorting in unrestrained rage.
What a pest. Aisha slowly looked sideways as he lost his temper in front of everyone.