Her voice alone sent a shiver down their spine and shut them up as she hummed in deep thoughts, "Interesting. The papers states the the former candidate Flamme was a prodigy in botany and magic. What was it that Flamme did after he picked up the book?"
The lawyer had his assistant bring out the book in a plastic bag, "We brought it in as evidence, ma'am. According to my client, he became engrossed with it after he picked it up."
Peony sighed as she rubbed her temple, "Of course he did…"
Axel's lawyer stepped up, "If I may, ma'am, the case of last night's event does not have anything to do with the defendant's past."
There was a moment of silence when Peony raised a brow, "I believe you must have not been notified properly. This is not a trial regarding that incident specifically. This is the trial that determines the next headmage and judge of the council of magic."
Her words shocked them as Axel sat there in confusion. He probably can't even imagine what she was talking about as she sighed and turned to the other lawyer, "You, tell me what this trial is about."
Already feeling her sour mood, the lawyer hurried nervously, "Yes. Th-this is the trial to determine the next headmage. Due to the conflict last night. The headmage and the president of the council of magic has agreed to move the trial date to take place as soon as possible. Hence, the current judge sent a letter for all representative of each pivotal arcane school to step in as their school's representative should their headmage be unable to arrive on time. All investigations were conducted since before the conflict began. Due to safety protocols from the attack of the city hall, it is deemed necessary for the next headmage to be chosen right away as a result of the deteriorating health of the current headmage."
All eyes turned to Axel as Peony continued, "Wait for your turn. Now…"
Ignoring his shocked expression and the soft chuckle in the background, Peony huffed in disdain, "It should be obvious by now, but let me tell you something that you should have known long ago. Keep your hands to yourself and don't touch what is not yours. This rule was made for more than just keeping children from disrespecting others! Honestly…"
She grumbled with disdain and brought the orb forward before bringing out an identical one and made a copy of the recording. She placed the recording on the pedestal and handed the other back to the lawyer. She played it again but stopped when the mysterious man looked up. She frowned with annoyance, "Well. Does anyone know how to use dispel magic?"
A headmage in the back raised a hand, "Although I know the spell, the magic itself is harder to cast when the target is a recording. Most are unable to do this without precision, skill and large quantity of magic."
She raised a brow, "Interesting, the Nevermind. I'll do it."
She touched the recording as her finger entered through it like water. With a swift motion, she opened a small hole and give a swift blow. Like dust, the man's disguise was blown away revealing a young teenage boy with a tattoo of a snake on his face. Rollo was shocked upon seeing him. Concerned, Trein whispered to him, "Is something the matter?"
Rollo hesitated but softly whispered, "That tattoo. I remember. When that incident happened, there was a couple people in the magic police with those tattoo."
His words brought a stir as words of distrust and horror filled the room. Peony's sharp cold tone cut the tension like a sharp blade as she said one word, "Order…"
Surprised by her control over the people, Trein began to understand why the fairies respected her as well as how she gain control over the chaos in the city hall. No matter the situation, she had remained calm and collected. Assessing the situation and weighing all the options, she makes a logical decision as well as trusting her own instinct and listening to the words of others.
Relieved to know that child had gained control of the chaos of this city, he reassured Rollo, "Take a deep breath. The headmage is back and Miss Xue has regain control of the situation. Those people will not be able to lay a hand on you or your family now that they are here."
"Family…" Rollo thought to himself as he recalled the faces of his uncle and aunt. A pang of guilt came as he thought of his younger brother and the parents he no longer remembered.
"I want to hear everything." Rollo declared solemnly as he sat on the sofa with his uncle and aunt.
"But yesterday…" his aunt hesitated.
"Come now, honey. Rollo is ready now. We just caught him off guard last night. Think about it. Wouldn't you be shocked when the first thing that came out of your parents mouth be 'You're adopted and are our nephew'?" His uncle reassured her.
"To be fair, that really was a terrible way to start a conversation." Rollo agreed nonchalantly.
"Geez, you boys…" His aunt took in deep breath before explaining everything to him. Turns out, his real mother was his aunt's younger sister. However, his mother who was a talented mage at the time agreed to a marriage proposal with his father who did not inherit any magic from his side of the family. Unlike his grand father, this father was much more ordinary and lacked much talent. To feed to his growing ego and pity, his mother was forced to seal away her magic and later gave birth to Rollo. Worried he would become the target of abuse from his father just as he had towards her, she asked her father in law to seal away his magic temporarily and keep him out of sight from his poor excuse of a father. However, things took a turn for the worse when his younger brother was born with the ability to use magic. Their father began to explode more often and, to protect them, she sent the two to their grandfather hoping he would be able to protect them. However…
"Although we've told her she should just divorce, she didn't want to, thinking she require a man in the household to protect you and your brother. However, when we managed to convince her, we learnt that your grandfather passed away and your father found the two of you in the headmage's home. We tried to hurry and catch up to you two however, we never found you till we receive a police call that a baker found you and contacted them. Your mother broke down when she found out the man had basically took the life of her youngest child. We told her that you were still alive and she ran out the door barefoot. However, when we discovered you were left unresponsive and in a daze, we could tell she lost it. She left you in our care and vanished. We called our relatives to help us find her, but we didn't find her till the next day. She took the man who ruined her life with her into the waters. They were both found in the outskirts of the city…"
As his aunt took in a deep breath with teary eyes, she calmed herself and continued to hand him a crumbling piece of paper, "This is what was found in your old home after the incident."
Rollo looked down on the crumbled piece of paper in deep thoughts before opening it to take a quick glance. Then he closed it again in deep thoughts before tearing it apart.
"Rollo!" Her aunt looked to her in disbelief.
Rollo stated firmly, "All she said was to live for myself. Since that's how it's going to be, then this is my family now, mother. I will decide what I want to do in the future."
"The trial tonight. You don't seem upset hearing that road is closed." His uncle frowned, "We're going to attend."
"You're certain? I'm fine with not being the headmage, but…" Rollo looked to him in disbelief, "However, this may become sensitive matter…"
"This is a family matter." He clarified, "And we're going to be there with you. Besides, we should have actively sought you out to explain everything instead of sitting here twiddling our thumbs."
"Just let me know if things doesn't line up. I'll have our bags packed in a jiffy-" His aunt began only to be cut off by her husband.
"I doubt Rollo will just runaway from his problems."
His aunt hesitated, "I figured not… But still…"
His uncle patted his back and gave him a big confident smile, "You may not want to depend on others for your own problems but remember that we are always here waiting for you if you need us."
He leaned in and whispered, "Also, remember to write back to your mom once a week. It feels like she may just end up barging into your school if nobody's home by dinner time."
In the end, he still didn't understand why someone as calm and composed as his dad ended up with his worry wart and expressive mother. He agreed to find a counselor with his parents but that all won't take place until this trial is over and now he's learning that his father's crime and his are all connected to some snake tattoo?! Honestly, it was embarrassing to have such a man as his father, but he was more bewildered to learn that there was others who looked out for him!
As he thought this, he looked to Pierre curiously wondering if that was why he enjoyed the taste of those crossaints. Did he perhaps imprinted on the taste of it?
Suddenly, loud stomps could be heard in the halls as Peony glared at the door, "Zhang Li? Tell them to keep it down."
"Yes." She nodded and disappeared from the room surprising the others.
As soon as she left the room, the stomps all stopped much to their confusion. However, ignoring this too, Peony frowned, "Looks like the case is not so simple. Rollo's side may take a seat. Next…"
Her eyes shifted towards the Axel Trill who was still supefied by the matter before quickly speaking up, "Axel Trill, ma'am."
She raised a brow, "What? You're not going to use your title now, headmage?"
She sighed as she sat back in her seat and began, "For this trial, I had to go through an extensive amount of research for your case. We will go into depth after a break."
There was a moment of silence to which one of the headmages stood up, "However, these trials do not have breaks due to concerns of schemes."
Hearing this, she frowned, "Of course not, but you look around you right now and tell me. Who do you think will be the most likely to start tampering with evidence, provoking the candidates and factions, and start making a riot? Since we are all here today, I expect everyone is respectful enough to have a seat in this hearing. We don't need a child to start wandering in here screaming and kicking a tantrum, correct? Hmph, despite this, are you trying to tell me none of you can be as mature as an eighteen years old teenager?"
"But the law says there are no breaks during hearings."
"And that's because when the law was established a century ago, magic was far less understood as it was today and magicians misusing their magic was not uncommon. Today, however, magic is much common and known. If you're going to complain about a change, go give a lecture about it to our jurors and the staffs outside! That's if they can continue sitting up straight for another hour."
Looking to the jurors of elderlies and adults, the headmage of another arcane school shut up. However, she did not wait for him and declared, "The second part of the hearing will commence in fifteen minutes! If you don't want to come back, then that's fine. I'll just contact your headmage and the council of magic for your absence."
She took her papers and left the room, leaving the others in disbelief.