The King's Mistress

Chapter 142: Truth Hurts

Agnes gritted her teeth, as she attempted to open her mouth to speak, she quickly clenched her jaw instead. Beads of sweat trickled down her forehead as she winced. It was clear to everyone that she seemed to be experiencing some form of phantom pain.

Sierra tried to maintain a neutral expression as she watched the princess twist in agony. Agnes’ hand was still firmly on the Book of Truth. Realizing that it was the cause of her pain, Agnes’ heart grew cold.

"A simple yes or no will suffice, Princess Agnes," she repeated her statement once more.

"I... I... I... am," the truth finally came out of her mouth.

"Objection, your honor. What does this have anything to do with the case at hand?" The prosecutor argued.

"Believe me, sir," Sierra said confidently as she glanced over at him, "this is just the beginning of it all."

Sierra turned to address everyone in the throne room.

"Ladies and gentlemen. I’m here to prove beyond a doubt that I had nothing to do with the assassination attempt. I am the victim of the situation, a victim to the jealousy Princess Agnes harbored against me since I set foot in Vargos Castle."

Everyone in the throne room was too stunned to say anything. They all watched on in awe as Sierra asked her next question.

"Princess Agnes, can you recount what you told the court earlier today? Regarding a recent incident, in which you claimed that I caused you to sprain your ankle?"

"Of course, I can..." as she was about to recount, Agnes took her hand off the Book of Truth, thinking no one saw it.

"Princess Agnes," Sierra stopped her mid-sentence, "Please keep your hand on the Book of Truth at all times. It will help shine light on the truth."

Agnes clenched her jaw. She shakily placed her hand back on as she began to recount her tall tale. As soon as she got to the part where she believed Sierra caused her to sprain her ankle, she could not speak.

The princess writhed in agony, trying to speak ’her truth’ but she could barely get a word out. Her face was beginning to turn beet red and if you were close enough, you could even see the strained veins on her neck.

It took everything in Sierra not to gloat at the situation. The tides were turning in her favor. But still, she had to remain vigilant. Agnes might not be as smart as Cassandra, but she still had a few tricks up her sleeve. freeweɓnovel.cѳm

When Agnes was still unable to speak, Sierra turned back to her spectators.

"As you can see, Princess Agnes is experiencing difficulty in recounting the details. Details that she had only shared with us mere moments ago and there’s only one logical reason for it. She was lying."

The spectators erupted into conversation once more. Their opinions of Sierra were shifting, she could tell. But Sierra knew it was not enough. She had to get them to see she was innocent.

"Princess Agnes," she turned her attention back to her witness who was now shaking in her stand, "Do you have any concrete, real evidence that proves I corroborated with General Leon to plan the failed assassination on King Alistair’s life?"

"I...y...," no matter how hard she tried, she could not get a word out.

The pain only intensified with each passing moment. Finally, she could no longer take it and she took her hand off the Book of Truth. The prosecutor was sweating. Everything he had worked for mere moments ago was now completely useless.

"That’s all I have for Princess Agnes. Thank you, Your Highness, for your time." Sierra declared before she called for her second witness.

Everyone wondered who she would call next.

"I would like to call myself to the witness stand."

Sierra walked up to the witness stand and took a seat. She confidently placed her hand on the Book of Truth as she took out a piece of paper from her pocket. She handed it to the judge and asked him to ask her those questions she’d written down.

After all, it would be odd for her to ask herself questions, wouldn’t it?

"Princess Sierra, please describe to us the events of the night."

Sierra began to recount everything. From the moment she left Celestial Lodge to attend the ball in the ballroom, to the moment the attacks occurred. She carefully crafted her replies to avoid any damning information from being mentioned.

Though it was part of the truth, it was not detrimental to the statements she made.

"What did General Leon speak to you about?"

This was the hard part. Keeping a balance of the details she could and could not share.

"General Leon had always treated me like his own flesh and blood. During our conversation at the ball, we did not speak of any conspiracies against King Alistair. He was simply concerned for my well-being during my time in Drakin. That was all."

The topic shifted to the events that unfolded. Sierra spoke of the first words she said to Ida when it all went down. She had asked her to guide everyone else out of the hall to safety before she drew her own swords to fight off the assassins.

That was the end of the questions she had for herself. Sierra removed her hand from the Book of Truth as she returned to her role as her own defense.

"If I were indeed there to assassinate King Alistair, there were many other moments throughout the night that would have been the perfect opportunity to do so. Why would I waste so much effort and resources to do so?"

She turned to face the judge, glancing momentarily over to Alistair before continuing to address the spectators who had gathered.

"Furthermore, if this was a covert operation, would the assassins truly be stupid enough to divulge who they were working for to everyone and knowingly expose the people who hired them? It just does not make any sense."