<h4>Chapter 590: Do Go On</h4>
The old man seated in Carl’s chair straightened, his eyes narrowing as she approached. When she reached the dais, she stopped, lifted her chin, and stared directly at him.
"If you’ll excuse me," she said evenly, voice carrying across the room, "this is my seat."
The hall went utterly silent.
The old man’s face darkened, insult dripping from every syble as he snapped back, "How impudent. Do you even know who I am, little girl?"
He turned toward Daniel, fury shing in his eyes. "Daniel, exin this farce. Who is she?"
Daniel bowed slightly, voice oiled with false calm. "Prime Minister, forgive the interruption. She is... merely a girl His Highness took in. She doesn’t know her ce. Please, ignore her."
The housekeeper, silent until now, suddenly spoke from the stand. His voice was rough, but it carried.
"That’s not true."
All eyes shifted to him.
"She is the First Princess of Riverum, legally recognized, officially adopted. Byw, by right, that seat is hers in His Highness’s absence."
The Prime Minister’s brows furrowed deeply. He turned his head, eyes sweeping across the higher ranked officials seated around the hall.
"Is this true?" he demanded.
But not a single one met his gaze. One by one, they looked away, lips pressed tight. Silence stretched like a noose in the room.
Finally, his sharp eyesnded on Daniel. "Daniel," he asked again, his tone clipped with suspicion, "is this true? Did His Highness actually adopt this girl?"
He nced at Nnenna once more, doubt flickering across his face. What ability could she possibly have shown? Everyone in the castle knew how difficult it was to impress Carl.
The chances of winning his recognition were less than five percent, if that. And yet here she stood, unflinching.
"That’s... impossible," the Prime Minister muttered under his breath. But even as he said it, he knew he couldn’t be sure. He hadn’t been in Riverum for almost two years, sent away on an assignment that kept him from knowing thetest changes within the castle.
Not knowing who else to turn to, he asked Daniel again, voice sharper. "Daniel. What is going on here?"
Daniel’s jaw tightened. He thought quickly, his mind racing. If this girl is truly acknowledged, then with His Highness in aa, she’ll inherit authority. She’ll rule.
But if we deny her im... the Prime Minister will take over. That would be far better than letting some teenager hold power over a prosperous kingdom as vast as Riverum.
Daniel’s lips curled into a practiced sneer. He turned back to the Prime Minister and said firmly, "Lord Prime Minister, it is not the truth. His Highness never adopted this girl."
The hall erupted into murmurs.
Daniel didn’t stop there. His gaze snapped toward the housekeeper, voice sharp like a de. "And you, how dare you spread such lies when you yourself are the one responsible for His Highness’s condition? His Highness would never be absent if not for your treachery. You have no right to speak here. You are the one on trial!"
The hall grew tense, divided eyes darting between the housekeeper, the Prime Minister, Daniel, and Nnenna.
"Miss Nnenna, if you would please take a seat," Daniel said, his voice carrying the smooth authority of a man too sure of himself, "if you truly wish to hear this trial. Otherwise, I’ll have you removed from the court. No one here has time to indulge childish tantrums."
The room froze. All eyes waited for Nnenna’s reaction.
She turned around, her eyes paused in the center of the hall, her calm gaze steady on him. Then, unexpectedly, she smiled. "Sure. Definitely."
Her simple reply, given without resistance, startled Daniel and even silenced a few whispers. Instead of storming or demanding her right again, she turned gracefully, walking past the crowded benches. Her steps echoed in the tense hall until she sat, deliberately, beside the defense table, among the housekeeper’swyers.
They exchanged confused nces, clearly unsure what she was nning, but no one dared speak. Their client’s life was hanging by a thread, and thest thing they wanted was to bother with a little girl.
Up on the dais, the Prime Minister narrowed his eyes at her, irritation shing like a de. Bold, are we? He shook his head slightly, dismissing her with the arrogance of an elder.
To him, she was nothing but a stubborn child His Highness had picked up out of pity. If she were truly important, he thought bitterly, he would have heard of her once he got back.
With a curt nod, he gestured for Daniel to continue.
Daniel didn’t waste a moment. "As I was saying," he resumed, his voice steady and confident, "the evidence against the used is overwhelming."
One by one, heid it out. Each piece heavier than thest, the poisoned soup, the testimonies of staff, the timing of the housekeeper’s movements. Every sentence seemed to hammer nails into the coffin.
The hall was dead silent, each servant and attendant hanging on his words.
Nnenna sat perfectly still, her face unreadable, hands folded neatly in herp. But behind that calm mask, her mind was sharp, dissecting every word, every movement.
Her choice to sit with the defense was deliberate, and though no one else saw it yet, she had no intention of letting this trial go the way Daniel and the Prime Minister expected.
The grand hall was heavy with silence, the kind that presses against the skin. All eyes fixed on the dais where the Prime Minister presided, and on Daniel, who stepped forward with the confidence of a man certain of victory.
"The prosecution will now continue to present its case," Daniel announced, bowing slightly before straightening, voice firm. "My Lord—" his gaze flicked to the throne where Carl should have been, but instead the Prime Minister sat.
Then shifted to the gathered nobility—"About two weeks to today, I ordered a sweep of the kitchens. A pinhole camera had been installed to monitor staff movements. The footage was reviewed."
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