Please Vote for Your Knight! Chapter 53

Kusto raised his head again.

“I couldn’t just leave them to become slaves. So I set them all free. I didn’t take them to the lord.”

“Then why were you sentenced to death?”

Edith asked.

Kusto looked at Thierry Born, who was sitting across from him.

“That’s something only Lord Pius knows.”

“May I speak now?”

Thierry Born asked.

Edith nodded.

“Kusto is playing with words.”

He wore an expression of such pitiful sorrow that it was almost laughable.

Thierry Born was attending this hearing today by imperial decree.

At first, he had been irritated at being dragged here, but his thoughts soon changed.

‘Foolish Princess.’

She probably thought that if he were summoned by imperial decree, the pressure would force him to tell the truth.

But she was mistaken.

What kind of fool would believe the word of some former slave over the lord of Pius himself?

This was the perfect opportunity to make a fool of not only the princess, but the entire imperial family.

He smiled triumphantly and held up a document.

“As you can see from the execution order, Kusto colluded with pirates and accepted bribes.”

It was a document that had never existed at the time.

It had been hastily fabricated after Edith left.

Edith stared at him in surprise.

‘Why? Did I catch her off guard?’

Thierry Born felt smug inside.

But outwardly, he grimaced as though his heart were breaking.

“Kusto killed all the hostages I specifically ordered him to bring back alive. My precious people!”

Tears streamed down Thierry Born’s cheeks.

It was an extraordinary performance.

‘If this were my past life, I could’ve swept the acting awards with this.’

Edith was disgusted.

But she maintained a neutral expression as best she could.

“Then let us hear the opinions of the debaters.”

The masked debaters raised their hands one after another.

“My lord, why do you think Kusto would kill innocent hostages?”

“For fun. Kusto has always been violent. He was so delighted whenever he exterminated pirates that people nicknamed him a ‘monster.’ I should have realized it back then…”

“What do you think of this testimony, Kusto?”

Another debater asked.

“It isn’t true.”

“If it isn’t true, are you saying that Kusto wasn’t the one who killed the hostages?”

“They weren’t killed.”

“What?”

“The hostages are alive.”

Murmurs spread throughout the hall.

The questioner asked in confusion,

“Where are these hostages supposedly alive?”

“That…”

Kusto let out a small sigh.

“I don’t know.”

Jeers erupted from parts of the audience.

“You should at least pick the right place to lie.”

“He can’t even come up with a decent story.”

There was no question that the situation was unfavorable for Kusto.

Even the knights sitting in the very back began whispering among themselves.

‘Why in the world did Her Highness hold this debate?’

‘This is nothing but a trial to condemn Kusto.’

‘If that was the intention, she could have simply excluded him from Cartamen and let the law take its course.’

The knights were going mad with frustration because they had no right to speak.

And Kusto Marie was just as desperate.

‘At this rate, our Kusto… he might die!’

Not just be eliminated from Cartamen—he might actually be executed!

Kusto Marie glared resentfully at Thierry Born.

Just then, Thierry Born, having wiped away his tears, shouted at Kusto.

“The hostages are alive? Then bring my people here! My people whom I so desperately wanted to save! If they’re alive, bring them here right now!”

It was a desperate cry.

Anyone listening would have been convinced that his heart-wrenching grief was genuine.

Kusto Marie’s hands trembled.

‘We’ve… lost.’

There seemed to be no way for Kusto to escape this trap.

Thierry Born finished speaking and broke down sobbing.

He looked every bit like a lord who deeply loved his people.

When the jeers and murmurs finally died down, leaving only his sobs echoing through the hall, one of the debaters quietly raised a hand.

Then they spoke.

“They’re here.”

Kusto flinched and looked at the person.

They were wearing a black mask.

But something about their voice and build felt strangely familiar.

‘Could it be…?’

At that moment, the debater removed their mask.

“My lord, here I am. One of your people.”

“!”

Thierry Born, who had been sobbing, turned around.

He looked bewildered.

Although he called them his people, he didn’t know each and every one of their faces.

But Kusto recognized her.

She was one of the people who had cried tears of gratitude after he saved her.

“Tessa!”

Kusto shot to his feet, calling out the villager’s name.

The woman called Tessa nodded and smiled.

“Lord Kusto, it’s been a long time. And you too, my lord.”

Kusto Marie covered her mouth with both hands.

‘No, no, no, no way… F-fucking hell…!’

Kusto and Tessa looked at each other with joyful expressions.

Edith calmly asked,

“Tessa, please introduce yourself.”

“Yes. I lived in a coastal village in Pius before I was captured by pirates. I was one of the hostages who was taken away, and I was about to become the lord’s slave.”

“W-What are you talking about?!”

Thierry Born shouted.

“You still have the floor, Tessa.”

Edith said sternly.

“But she’s lying—!”

“We will know who is lying after we hear everyone’s testimony.”

Edith’s tone was firm.

Thierry Born had no choice but to shut his mouth.

Tessa continued.

“It is well known that the lord uses people taken hostage as slaves. If you were to go to the lord’s mansion right now, you would probably find many unfortunate people who weren’t as lucky as I was.”

“As lucky as you?”

Edith asked.

Tessa nodded.

“Yes. Lucky enough to meet Lord Kusto.”

Tessa smiled at Kusto, tears of gratitude sparkling in her eyes.

“If Lord Kusto hadn’t set us free, we would have become slaves too.”

Suddenly, Tessa lowered her head.

“But even after we heard that Lord Kusto was going to be executed because of us, we couldn’t come forward. We were afraid that instead of saving Lord Kusto, we would be dragged back to the mansion or killed alongside him. But now, I want to step forward. I don’t want to be a coward anymore.”

“D-Don’t you dare lie! Do you really think spouting such nonsense will somehow bring back the souls of the other hostages who died at Kusto’s hands?!”

Thierry Born shouted again, unable to contain himself.

Just as Edith was about to stop him, someone in the audience suddenly jumped to their feet.

“Those souls have returned here.”

And then, people began rising from their seats one after another.

“Here too.”

“I’m here as well.”

“My family was saved by Lord Kusto too!”

Countless people stood up.

More than a third of all those in attendance.

Kusto’s eyes widened.

“You’re…!”

Every one of them was a hostage he had set free.

Tessa smiled brightly.

“Lord Kusto saved us. Lord Kusto isn’t a murderer. He is our savior.”

The hall erupted into murmurs, and soon, a thunderous roar of cheers followed.

The other spectators, who had been too stunned to speak, and even the knights watching from the back rows—all of them finally realized the truth.

“Lord Kusto isn’t a murderer. He is our savior.”

At the same moment, Tessa’s words were broadcast throughout the empire through the video orbs.

Every plaza in the empire was swept up in cheers.

Edith looked warmly upon the hall, heated with excitement, and the delighted knights sitting at the very back.

And then she looked at Thierry Born, who was completely at a loss in despair.

‘Thierry Born, you thought you had set a trap for me.’

But this was the trap I designed to catch you.

‘A trap to save innocent people.’