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Chapter 6 - The Trial
Lata arrives before a huge set of doors—the doors to the courtroom. She hesitates to enter, despite having waited for this day for many years. Perhaps it's her nerves, but Lata can't help but feel like these huge sets of doors symbolise something foreboding. After all, they did symbolise that in the original story. But then again, everything isn't exactly like the original story, which makes Lata both a little relieved and even more nervous…"..."
Lata stares at the doors some more before heaving a long sigh and deciding to finally enter. If she dawdles any more, she'll be late and miss her own court case.
She's about to enter the courtroom when she notices something pink approaching from the corner of her eye. She turns her gaze to meet a pair of pink eyes. It's Madelief.
Both ladies stare at each other, a bit dumbfounded at the sudden meeting.
Madelief is the first one to recover and sports a seemingly neutral expression as she speaks up, “Greetings, Lady Zelenka. I did not expect to come face to face with each other before even entering the courtroom.”
Lata nervously laughs and greets her back. “True. Also, greetings to you as well, Lady Gerber.”
“But,” Madelieif continues with a noticeably unfriendly smile, “you really seem to be cutting it close with your entrance. I would’ve expected you to be the most punctual of all people, considering the situation.”
“Ah, well, I was just about to go in!” Lata hurriedly turns around to face the doors again and is about to enter before deciding against it and turning to face Madelief again.
‘I don’t know if this is a good idea, but I need to do this for my conscience.’
Lata nervously addresses Madelief again, “Before that, um…”
“What?” Madelief asks as she’s a bit curious at Lata’s odd way of acting.
Lata takes a deep breath and bows before Madelief while also apologising to her, “I’m sorry! About everything!”
The one at the receiving end of the apology narrows her eyes at that, obviously not buying whatever the former is offering. “This is not going to get you out of this trial.”
“I know, and I didn’t apologise with that intention in the first place!”
Lata stands up straight again.
“With what intention are you apologising with then?”
“Regret. I’m regretful about my actions.”
“Well, I’m not accepting your apology!”
“I completely understand! Well, then, I should enter the courtroom now. As you said, I—of all people—can't afford to be late.” Lata turns around again and finally enters the courtroom, leaving Madelief standing alone with a face that’s a mix of displeasure and confusion.
“If you regret your actions, you shouldn’t have done them in the first place…” Madelief mumbles to herself before also entering the courtroom.
***
Lata approaches the defendant’s table, where she’ll be spending her time for the next few hours. As she comes nearer, she sees Janthe’s father, Duke Fiala, and the defence attorney he hired to represent both Janthe and her, already sitting there. There’s a distinctive lack of Janthe at the table, though.
“Greetings, Lady Zelenka,” the defence attorney stands up and greets the arriving Lata.
“Greetings, Duke Fiala and Sir Blackthorn.”
The Duke simply nods at the greeting without saying a word.
‘Ever so stoic, Duke. I can hardly believe that he’s Janthe’s father with how different they are! Janthe’s so outgoing while he’s so distant.’
“Um, I’m wondering where Janthe is?”
“At home,” the duke bluntly answers.
Sir Blackthorn sports an awkward smile. “We thought that it’s probably better for her to stay at home today.”
“Ah, okay,” Lata nods understandingly as she recalls the last meeting she, Janthe, the Duke, and Sir Blackthorn had when preparing for this court case. Janthe had claimed to want to take all the blame onto herself. The other three people, for various reasons, obviously couldn’t let Janthe do that and tried to talk her out of it, but to no avail.
‘It probably is better for her to stay at home with this mindset.’
Soon the King and Queen enter the room, making the chatter in the courtroom fall into silence. They join the judge at his table.
After checking that both the defence and prosecution are ready and that the King has given his permission, the judge declares the court proceedings open.
The prosecution starts with presenting their case and calling various witnesses, including—to Lata’s surprise—Randa! She hadn’t taken part in the court proceedings in the book!
The change made Lata nervous… Actually, she’s been nervous even before that. For a while now, it has seemed like the main focus has been on her instead of Janthe, unlike in the book.
At first, Lata thought that it was because she was the only one physically present in this courtroom, so it was easier for the witnesses to recall her parts of the bullying… But as time and testimonies went on, she noticed more and more oddities. Her role in the bullying seems to be growing and getting bigger with each new testimony.
‘This isn't good! If I end up being the main culprit of the bullying, then I’m definitely ending up as worm food! Unlike Janthe’s family, mine isn't important and powerful enough to protect me from this kind of fate!’
Lata gulped as she listened to Randa’s testimony. She didn't have a good relationship with her, and with the track record of the previous testimonies, she wasn't surprised when the other lady started to mainly blame her for bullying either.
After Randa's testimony came the defence’s turn, and it completely devastated Lata.
She already had an inkling, but when Sir Blackthorn didn't defend both her and Janthe like they had discussed previously but instead defended only Janthe, she knew that she was done for.
Duke Fiala had pulled strings behind the scenes and made sure that he saved both his daughter AND his reputation… at the cost of Lata.
‘He probably even believes that I AM the actual culprit. And someone who tried to drag down his perfect daughter.’
‘...’
‘I should've listened to my father and gotten a defence attorney of my own as well… Even if I can trust Janthe, she's not the one who calls the shots in her family…’
“Lady Zelenka, do you have anything to say?” The judge looks at her with a cold gaze.
“...No.”
Lata hangs her head in defeat, and tears start to swell up in her eyes. She sees no point in trying to defend herself if the whole thing is rigged from the start. It would be just a waste of everyone's time.
“I see. In that case, Lady Lata Oihana Zelenka, the court finds you guilty of harassment of Lady Madelief Alyssa Gerber, and you shall receive capital punishm-”
“W-wait!” Suddenly, a voice loudly interrupts the judge.
Everyone's gazes in the courtroom look towards the source in shock.
It's Madelief.
A quiet murmur starts to envelop the room as everyone starts to wonder about Madelief’s sudden interruption. Why would the victim stop the culprit from getting their just deserts?
“That..” Madelief, wearing an expression that could be described as a mix of annoyance and worry, continues after a short pause. “I'd like her to receive another punishment. Capital punishment is a bit… drastic.”
“But Madelief, dear, why do you say that?” The Queen asks Madelief in bewilderment. It was she who asked to give no leniency in the first place!
Madelief, wondering why she interrupted as well, speaks up again: “While I would like for her to reap the consequences of harassing me, her current trial isn't fair.”
“Not fair? How so?”
“She's currently being tried for harassing a royal family member, but I'm NOT part of the royal family. I’m only engaged to someone in the royal family at this point in time.”
“But Made-” the Queen starts to protest but stops as soon as the King places his hand on hers.
“Just let her, my Queen. If that's her wish, we should respect that.”
“...Fine.”
The King turns to look at the judge and says, “As you can see, the circumstances of the trial have had a slight change, so I’ll give you a few minutes to take that into account and change the verdict accordingly.”
“Ah, understood, your majesty!” Albeit being baffled by the sudden turn of events, the judge quickly agrees.
Lata, the one most baffled by the sudden turn of events, just stares at Madelief, mouth agape. The latter, being still unsure as to why she stepped in, just averts her eyes from Lata.
“Ahem!” The judge clears his throat, partly to dispel any awkwardness he's feeling and partly to get Lata's attention. The judge succeeds with the latter part as Lata snaps out of it and quickly turns to face him again.
“Lady Lata Oihana Zelenka, while you may not have harassed a royal family member, thus escaping capital punishment, you still harassed a future royal member; thus, you will be stripped of your title and be banished from the capital and its surrounding areas. You'll be given 10 hours to leave. ”
“I understand.” Lata slightly lowers her head and places her right hand over her heart as she accepts the verdict. She can feel the anxious thumping of her heart slowly calm down.
The judge, after getting approval from the King, declares the trial finished. The murmuring starts up again as people move to leave. Various things can be heard from the crowd: some seem to be dissatisfied by the sudden turn of events, others praise Madelief for being so kindhearted and taking the word of law so seriously, and some have simply started to discuss where they should go for an afternoon tea.
Lata, before starting to leave as well, takes a final look at Madelief, and her green eyes are met by a pair of pink ones to her surprise. Madelief narrows her eyes in annoyance while presumably mouthing something along the lines of “be grateful” and “I better not see you again”, after which she turns to leave.
‘Be grateful? Honestly, I am!’
‘...But, I wonder, what made her step in? In the book, Madelief was quite jaded at this point, and she actively wanted the result to be capital punishment for both Janthe and Lata, so why didn’t she want that now? Is it because the bullying wasn't as bad as it was in the book? Or she mainly wanted Janthe to get the punishment this time, but seeing the proceedings go a completely different way made her step in?’
“Hmm…”
Lata stands there a bit, pondering, before giving up as she's no mind reader and way too fatigued by the trial, and decides just to leave.
***
When Lata arrives at the Fiala estate, accompanied by a royal guard, she quickly gathers her things, changes into a plain commoners dress she had prepared beforehand—shocking the maids at her preparedness—bids a tearful goodbye to everyone in the estate, and, finally, gets one last scolding by her mother.
‘I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I'm going to miss her scolding…’
Soon after, Lata leaves the estate and arrives at the train station. She would've liked to go and see Janthe for the last time, but the guard stopped her from making any other trips, so she came directly to the station.
‘I guess I'll send her a letter later…’
As Lata makes her way to the train platform, she’s suddenly stopped by a familiar voice.
“Lata, please wait!”
She quickly turns around to see the owner of the voice, and she smiles.
“Janthe!”
Janthe quickly exits her carriage and hurries over to where Lata is standing, completely ignoring any etiquette rules she may be breaking by running like that.
Once they're close enough, the two women clasp their hands together.
“I thought I wouldn't be able to see you before leaving…”
“I apologise! My father locked me in my room for the duration of the trial! I left for your family's estate the moment the door unlocked, but when I arrived, I had just missed you and, and-”
“It's alright, Janthe,” Lata gently squeezes the other’s hands. “I thought something like that happened. I'm just happy that I get to see you before I leave!”
“Lata…” Janthe looks at her with tears now streaming down her cheeks.
Lata gently wipes them away with her hand and continues, “But Janthe, I would like you to promise not to act like that towards Lady Gerber anymore. I just want you to lead a happy and carefree life.”
“...I promise," she sniffles as she agrees to Lata's request. “In turn, you have to send me letters. Often!”
Lata chuckles, “I was planning on doing that all along!”
Janthe finally smiles as well after hearing that, but she suddenly exclaims out loud, “Oh no!”
“What's wrong?” Lata looks at her questioningly.
“I was in such a hurry to get to you, I did not get you a farewell gift!”
Lata starts to laugh at the absurdity of the sudden topic change: “You don't have to worry about that! Your presence is a gift enough for me!”
‘Still…Ah, I know!” Janthe lets go of Lata's hands and quickly unties a ribbon from her hair, undoing her hairdo in the process, and places it in Lata's hand. “I know you usually do not wear violet items, but it is just a ribbon, and I do not want you to leave empty-handed.”
Lata accepts the gift with a soft smile. “It's about time I broaden the colour choice of my wardrobe anyway. Perhaps a nice violet ribbon is a good start!”
Both women beam at each other, but they’re interrupted by an awkward cough. Their gazes fall onto the royal guard that they had completely forgotten about.
“The train is about to depart.”
“I understand,” Lata turns to face Janthe again. “I have to leave, but before that, can I get a hug?”
Janthe, a bit surprised but also happy, complies with the request, “Of course!”
The women have a short but tight hug before reluctantly separating.
“Goodbye then. I'll write you a letter whenever I can.” Lata quickly turns to leave, fearing that lingering any longer may just keep her here.
Janthe, seemingly wanting to hold onto Lata but holding herself back from it, gives her a sweet but slightly teary smile, “I'll come visit you as soon as I can!”
Lata smiles brightly, albeit with some tears of her own, "I look forward to that!”