The Devil's Betrothed novel Chapter 616

Chapter 616: Slandering My Husband

"So, you accept the accusation, Crown Princess?" the King asked, maintaining his composure.

The King and Queen trusted Oriana and their son to uphold the honor of the royal family.

"I do not accept the accusation as it is entirely false, Your Majesty," Oriana replied, calm and composed.

Everyone was puzzled by the contradiction in her statements. First, she admitted to strangling Grace, and now she denied the accusation.

Luis glanced at the minister standing beside him. The minister was confused as well, but the moment Luis signaled him with his eyes, he regained his composure and stepped forward to speak.

"So, does that mean the Crown Princess implies she can harm anyone as she pleases, without facing consequence and being punished of the crime?" the minister asked. "Let me remind Your Highness of the rules of this royal court and this kingdom: everyone—"

"—is equal before the law of this kingdom. Anyone who commits a crime shall not be spared, whether noble or commoner. The law stands absolute, depicting right and wrong, and it is even above the King himself," Oriana continued, reciting it as if it were an easy poem she had memorized. "I know it very well, Minister of Justice and Law, Lord Daryl. There’s more; do you want me to recite that as well? I don’t mind."

Minister Daryl was taken aback by Oriana’s interruption and the way she recited the law. How come she learned it all so fast when she was raised outside? He composed himself and replied, "As Your Highness knows it so well, I believe she should follow it as well."

"Minister Daryl, are you forgetting something stated in the guidelines of your own department of justice and law?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"The very first rule in the book," she replied. "Do not conclude the result based on hearing only one party. Decisions shall be concluded after the other party explains their side as well. But I see, you have already made your judgement."

"I know this well, Your Highness, and His Majesty already gave you a chance, during which you admitted the accusation."

"I admitted to strangling her, but I did not admit to the accusation," Oriana repeated firmly, "the accusation that I lost my temper without a reason and tried to harm the esteemed guests. I do not enjoy harming others for fun." At the back of her mind, the demoness inside her wanted to say something different. ’If it’s grace, I would torture her just for the fun.’

"And what is the difference?" Daryl asked, perplexed.

She chuckled, "I never thought there would be a day I would be teaching the simple things to the minister of this kingdom himself. But now that we are here, although I am younger than you, Minister Daryl, I will share some of my wisdom, which I have collected while being raised in the wilderness."

Oriana deliberately mentioned her upbringing, anticipating it would be brought up sooner or later.

Daryl’s face showed clear signs of anger. Oriana turned to the King, "Your Majesty, may I?"

"Go ahead," the King replied. "There is nothing more delightful than learning new things from the young ones."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Grace exchanged glances with her father, who offered her a calming gaze.

Oriana turned back to the minister, "I strangled her because I was punishing her for speaking maliciously about the Crown Prince of this kingdom." She looked at Grace, who was shocked by Oriana’s words. "This young lady here was slandering my husband, and as a wife, I did what I did."

"S-Slandering? I did not!" Grace stood up. "When did I ever do it?"

Luis stood up as well. "Your Highness, my daughter has always respected the royal family, and we are loyal servants of His Majesty. I am sure Grace would never do such a thing."

"But unfortunately, she did," Oriana said, her gaze turning cold and intimidating as she looked at Grace. "And as a wife, for what you said to slander my husband, instead of strangling you, I should have beheaded you."

"Father, I did not. She is slandering me," Grace cried out. "Others were there. We can ask them." She then looked at Oriana, "Everyone will know you are lying once they are here."

"Sure. Let’s hear it from them," Oriana said calmly.

Soon, Anelisa, Erin, and Katherin, who had been in a side chamber as witnesses to the incident, were brought into the courtroom. They all stood before the king and bowed.

Grace immediately turned to them. "You three, please tell everyone what we were talking about and let everyone know that I am innocent."

Minister Daryl addressed the three young women. "Lady Erin, you are closer to the Crown Princess than Lady Anelisa and Katherin."

"I am not sure if fulfilling my duty as the Crown Princess’s appointed companion means I am close to her," Erin replied politely.

Daryl didn’t press the point and asked, "Can you three tell us what exactly Lady Grace said that led Her Highness to become angry?"

"Lady Grace was simply telling us about the days the Crown Prince spent in the Northeast territory," Anelisa explained.

"She did it because we insisted," Katherin added. "We all envy her for having spent time with the Crown Prince in the past."

"Erin, are you jealous of Grace?" Katherin asked.

"We should think well of Grace and the Prince," Anelisa said. "She is fortunate to have the Prince’s favor."

"Favor?" Oriana scoffed. "Have you two truly left your non-existent brains behind before entering the Royal Court or drowned them in the tea Lady Grace made you drink?"

The two were shocked at Oriana’s remark. Oriana turned to Grace, "That day, we four heard you loud and clear when you talked about spending a night with the Prince. Do you admit it?"

Grace first looked at Arlan who looked calm as if he didn’t mind what was being said about her and him. He had previously admitted to what he was asked to which boosted her confidence, taking his silence as his approval. Though hesitant about her twisted truth, Grace nodded, "Yes, I do."

"Very well," Oriana turned to the minister, "Mister Daryl, the time Grace and Arlan spent together, Lady Grace was simply twelve years old while Prince Arlan was an adult. Lady Grace is slandering my husband for taking advantage of a minor girl. Such an horrendous accusation on my husband, a Crown Prince of this Kingdom, I would never tolerate it. That was the reason I strangled her right there and then. I can swear in every god’s name that my husband is not that kind of a man. He would never commit such a crime."

She looked around the Royal court, "Do you all believe that the Crown Prince of this Kingdom can commit such a crime? If so, we should punish him for it. Shouldn’t we?"

The entire hall fell in dead silence. Now everyone understood what Oriana meant from the start.

Grace almost tripped on her own feet hearing it. "I... didn’t mean it that way..."

Oriana ignored her and turned to Arlan. "Prince Arlan, what kind of starry night is Lady Grace talking about? Can you elaborate on it?"

Arlan calmly explained exactly what he had told her before. "....Rafal and Imbert were with me as well as my newly appointed knights. They are the witnesses. Also, minister Daryl’s son was with us as well who was appointed to military along with me."

Oriana turned to Grace. "So, this is what happened."

"I was going to explain," Grace retorted.

"But you didn’t," Oriana countered. "You let everyone assume that Prince Arlan did something inappropriate with you." She turned to Anelisa and Katherin, her gaze chilling. "Didn’t you think the same?"

The two shivered under Oriana’s intimidating gaze. Only Erin remained calm and composed.

"We... we did..." Anelisa stammered, feeling pressured under Oriana’s intimidating gaze.

"But it was Lady Grace who said it. It’s not our fault," Katherin added quickly.