Chapter 142 : A Perfect Victory
Aracila’s aim in branding Travis as a would-be regicide was precisely this: to goad him into dragging his mentor, Fernando, into the open.
When Damian had first revealed that Travis was the true culprit, Aracila’s mind immediately flashed to Fernando’s behavior during the Magic Tower’s council meeting. He had attacked her with a relish that suggested premeditation. Considering he already had a loyal faction of mages behind him and had swiftly pushed for her expulsion, it was clear Fernando had been involved from the start.
It wasn’t surprising. As mentor and protégé, it was hardly shocking that they’d conspired together. Thus, to bring Travis down, Aracila knew she had to topple Fernando as well. Otherwise, Fernando’s influence would linger, continuing to hound her. He could easily prop up a new protégé to challenge her or, given time, even reinstate Travis in the Tower.
She had to uproot them both, leaving no room for resurgence.
“What are you talking about, Travis? Conspiring with you?” Fernando bellowed, his face a mask of panic.
Sweat drenched the back of his neck in an instant, driven by the fear that he, too, could be implicated in the charge of attempted regicide. Better to abandon Travis now than defend him! he thought. Though he knew Travis’s true target had been Aracila, not Princess Gloria, the fact that the princess had been gravely injured made it impossible to take his side now. With their family’s history laid bare, their claims would be dismissed as excuses, and Fernando risked being branded a co-conspirator.
“Fernando, how can you do this? You know full well I targeted Aracila!” Travis cried, his face etched with betrayal.
“I know nothing of the sort! I had no part in this!” Fernando shot back, shamelessly glaring at his protégé.
A tense silence hung between them until Aracila’s clear, resonant voice cut through. “If Fernando speaks the truth, then Travis is lying to cover up his attempt to kill Her Highness.”
Her words were calculated to drive a deeper wedge between mentor and protégé, goading Travis further. She knew that once he realized he was being thrown to the wolves alone, he’d inevitably spill whatever secrets or evidence he held.
With a faint, almost playful smile, she looked at Travis, whose expression suggested he was on the verge of collapse. “Is it permissible to lie in this sacred courtroom?”
“I warn the Tower’s side,” Schneider interjected sternly. “False testimony in this courtroom will face severe consequences.”
The warning bells in Travis’s mind rang louder than ever. If this continues, I’m done for. Attempted regicide was a grave crime, and as the illegitimate son of a mere viscount, he had no one to shield him.
Travis turned a pleading, tearful gaze toward Fernando. He had believed, however faintly, that his mentor would protect him. But that trust was now utterly shattered, and with it, Travis’s restraint vanished.
“Your Honor, my words are the truth! It’s Fernando who’s lying!” he shouted, leaping from his seat and rushing to the judge’s bench in desperation.
Aracila, as if scolding him, said, “But Fernando says otherwise.”
“I’m telling the truth!” Travis insisted.
“Do you have proof?” she pressed.
Travis hesitated, thinking hard, then nodded frantically. “There are letters—letters between me and Fernando discussing this plan. I kept them, and I can submit them as evidence!”
His final words were directed at Schneider.
“Travis, you wretch!” Fernando roared, springing to his feet, his voice thick with rage.
He hadn’t dreamed that this vile, petty man would have kept every letter. Common sense dictated destroying such incriminating correspondence, didn’t it? The realization that he’d misjudged his protégé, who now clung to him like a tiger cub refusing to let go, sent Fernando’s blood pressure soaring.
“You dare drag me into the sordid crime you committed out of your own incompetence?” Fernando spat.
“You’re the one who spurred me on!” Travis shot back. “You threatened me time and again to get rid of Aracila and take her place!”
“When did I ever say that, you fool? I took in a half-wit like you, raised you, and this is how you repay my kindness?”
The jab at his illegitimate birth snapped the last thread of Travis’s rationality. He had expected Fernando, at this point, to confess the truth and clarify that they hadn’t targeted the princess. But seeing his mentor abandon him to save himself, even as Travis faced mortal peril, ignited a resolve to drag Fernando down with him, even if it meant his own end.
“Master of the Tower, I have something to say!” Travis whirled toward Philip, who stood silently, leaning on his staff with both hands.
“Fernando has long wanted to oust both you and Aracila!” Travis declared. “He built a faction and ordered me to eliminate Aracila so that, in time, he could drive you out as well!”
Fernando’s relentless targeting of Aracila stemmed ultimately from his grudge against Philip, who had surpassed him to become Master of the Tower. Once Philip retired, Fernando had vowed to place his own protégé in the seat of power, erasing Philip’s legacy entirely.
As the Tower’s internal conflicts burst into the open, the courtroom erupted in unabashed murmurs. All eyes turned to the mages, who could no longer hide their rattled expressions. Pointing at them, Travis continued, “Every person sitting there was bought by Fernando to help remove Master Philip and Aracila!”
“Shut your mouth!” Fernando roared, leaping up. In his fury, he unleashed an attack spell aimed at Travis.
Boom!
Philip’s defensive magic intercepted it.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Philip’s voice, usually gentle and warm, rang out cold and heavy as ice.
Stunned by his authority, Fernando faltered, stammering.
“Master of the Tower…” Fernando stammered.
“Not only did you disrupt the Tower’s order with your greed and muddy its waters, but you would also forsake your duty as a mentor and attack your own protégé?” Philip’s voice was icy as he fixed Fernando with a piercing stare. That single glance carried more weight than a hundred words.
Under the crushing pressure of that gaze, Fernando’s mouth opened and closed uselessly before he clamped it shut, realizing no excuse would suffice.
“Order in the court,” Schneider commanded, striking his gavel to quell the chaotic atmosphere. Turning to the Tower’s side with a grave expression, he continued, “Fighting is strictly prohibited in this courtroom. However, since the Tower’s representatives have caused a disturbance with their internal conflict, I will restrict their right to speak as a penalty.”
With that, the Magic Tower was silenced, unable to raise further objections.
Aracila returned to her seat, her gaze settling on the now-quiet opposition. The mages who had once gloated with smug triumph as they ousted her now wore expressions heavy with dismay. The sight was both satisfying and pitiful, and Aracila turned her impassive face back to the judge’s bench.
Schneider raised his gavel once more to deliver the verdict. “I hereby rule that, upon review of all testimony and evidence, the Magic Tower’s wrongful dismissal of Lady Aracila Vandemir is confirmed. The Tower is ordered to immediately reinstate her and pay compensation for damages. Furthermore, I mandate a reinvestigation into the lamp explosion incident.”
Bang, bang, bang!
The gavel’s sound echoed sharply through the courtroom. As Aracila looked at the stunned mages, a faint smile curled her lips.
It was her complete and utter victory.
Stepping out of the courthouse, Aracila was greeted by warm sunlight. Spotting two figures lingering near the entrance, she broke into a wide grin and raised her hand, calling out, “Hey, you two!”
“Senior!” Sally and Rudy rushed toward her, their faces alight with excitement. Aracila opened her arms, welcoming her juniors warmly.
“You were waiting for me?” she asked.
“Yes, we wanted to congratulate you on the trial’s outcome,” they replied.
Both had watched the proceedings from the gallery, thrilled by the way Aracila had methodically secured her victory. Their enthusiasm was infectious, and Aracila took their hands, her voice warm with gratitude.
“Damian told me everything—how you two played a huge role in uncovering the truth about the lamp incident.”
When she’d been abruptly expelled from the Magic Tower, Aracila had been so blindsided that she hadn’t had the chance to look after her juniors. She knew they must have faced countless difficulties in her absence, yet they had tirelessly investigated the incident on her behalf. Their loyalty touched her deeply, filling her with genuine gratitude.
“Thank you both, truly. And I’m so sorry—you must have gone through a lot because of me.”
“No, Senior! You were wronged and cast out. Helping you was the least we could do!” Sally said, waving her hands emphatically.
“And compared to what you went through, our struggles were nothing,” Rudy added, shaking his head.
“Still, I heard you were demoted to the lowest ranks,” Aracila said, gently patting their shoulders. “At least let me help you get into someone else’s lab.”
Sally and Rudy exchanged a glance, their expressions turning serious as they shook their heads firmly.
“You’re like a mentor to us, Senior. How could we do that? They say you only have one true teacher under the heavens,” Sally said.
“We still remember how you reached out to us when we had nowhere to go,” Rudy continued. “We could never betray someone like you.”
To Sally and Rudy, Aracila was more than a senior—they owed her a great debt. In the Magic Tower, new mages typically joined a senior’s laboratory to learn the ropes. But that required being chosen, and those not selected were left to do menial tasks while awaiting another chance.
When Sally and Rudy joined the Tower, they were often dismissed as poor commoners with no connections. Unlike others who had received magical training from a young age, they lacked formal education, making them unappealing to senior mages. As their peers were picked one by one, Sally and Rudy remained behind, unchosen.
“Should we just go home?”
“Yeah, let’s do that.”
They had been gazing bitterly at the empty room, preparing to leave, when a clear, bell-like voice stopped them.
“You two, where are you going?”
Turning around, they saw a mage with strikingly beautiful features standing before them.
“Have you been assigned to a lab yet?”
“…No, we haven’t.”
“Then come with me. I’ve been looking for people to join my lab,” Aracila said, her bright smile almost spellbinding.
Sally, captivated, nodded eagerly. Rudy, ever the more cautious of the two, hesitated and asked, “Who are you?”
“Me? Aracila Hugo.”
“Why would you want to take us on?” Rudy pressed. The surname suggested nobility, so why would she take an interest in commoners like them? His question carried a hint of wariness, but Aracila answered with a breezy confidence.
“Because I think you two could be polished into shining gems.”
“Us?” Sally said, incredulous. “We started learning magic later than most and never had proper training.”
“Exactly. That makes it even more impressive. You got into the Magic Tower on raw talent alone,” Aracila replied.
Her words struck a chord, stirring the hearts of two young mages who had endured far more criticism than praise, constantly pushed aside and overlooked.
“And most importantly,” she continued, “to my eyes, you two shine the brightest. So, come with me. What do you say?”
Aracila’s grin was radiant, sweeping away the shadows cast by their status as poor commoners. At her second offer, even Rudy couldn’t resist and nodded in agreement.
From that moment, Sally and Rudy resolved to trust and follow Aracila unwaveringly. She had seen their potential first, believed in them when no one else did, and they vowed never to betray that faith.
So, their efforts in the recent trial were simply a repayment of the trust she had extended to them.
“We’ll always follow you, Senior,” Sally said.
“To me and Sally, you’re the only senior we respect,” Rudy added.
“You two…” Aracila’s eyes widened, touched once again, before she reached out and playfully ruffled their hair. “Alright, then. The three of us are in this together, to the very end.”
“Absolutely! We’d follow you into the depths of hell!” Sally exclaimed.
“Just say the word, and we’ll go anywhere with you,” Rudy echoed.
Bright laughter burst from all three, as clear and warm as the sunlight pouring down around them. Their faces, free of worry or doubt, glowed with the same radiant warmth.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ✧: *. ꕥ .* :✧ﾟ. ───
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