"Then show us?!!"
Matilda yelled.
The guard placed his hand in his pocket, and brought out a small plastic bag, then raised it up for everyone to see.
"This is the emperor's ring!! He never goes anywhere without it!!! When he was... In the act! He dropped this without knowing!!" He said, and continued:
"He also said he will be visiting her family!!"
"Why would he do that?" The guy who sold the starship to Sunny asked with a frown.
"Young master Tyson! You already saw miss Bella's dagger... She Injured him! I think the king wants to kill her family for revenge!" He said, his tone deep.
"...?!!"
"I disagree!!"
A man stood up:
"I know my nephew! He won't do all this!!" He turned to Matilda:
"This is Because of you!!"
"Me?"
Matilda was stunned.
'What is this old fool doing?!!' She thought inwardly.
"If you have quench his sexual urges! He won't have resulted to this?!"
"....?!"
"....!!"
The man's word not only stunned Matilda, but everyone in the courtroom.
"How do you know about our private matters?!" Matilda asked coldly, but the man just scoffed.
Seeing his attitude, She took a deep breath, and calmed herself, then say:
"Uncle... I know you and your nephew are close, but this isn't what you should be saying outside! And besides... If he needed pleasure, why didn't he just ordered or buy a sex slave! Does he have to go to the extent of raping someone?! And even killing her after he was done?!" She asked, as tears rolled down her cheeks:
"I know I haven't been a good wife to him, I am a bad wife, who even denied her husband his right! I know I was wrong, this is my fault!" She said, as more tears ran down her face.
"Don't cry empress, this isn't your fault... The emperor committed this abomination, and he will be punished by the law!" Joshua said.
"You!! That is your childhood friend you are talking about!! Don't... Don't you know him?!!" The man yelled.
"Lord Vancouver! I know he is my best friend! But If I look down on the rules that govern us, how can I... The commander stand tall before the people!" Joshua asked with a frown.
"You!!"
Vancouver wasn't giving up:
"How are you even sure this is his ring?!! A ring can be forged! Can't it??"
Everyone in the room nodded slowly, and started whispering amongst themselves.
'I knew something will ask this.' Matilda thought and gestured to Joshua with her eyes.
"Good idea!!" Joshua said, and added:
"This will tell us the truth!"
He snapped his fingers and a device appeared before him, which he took, then turned to the people:
"This here is a device made by the research team! It can detect the fingerprint of any object!!"
He walked towards the guard, who opened the bag, and dropped the ring in the device, making sure his hand doesn't touch it.
Joshua closed the device, which looked like a hard disk, and after tapping on the keys on it, a holographic image of the king appeared before everyone! Blue hair and golden eyes.
"...!!!"
"Impossible!"
Vancouver stumbled backward in shock.
"It is really the king!"
"I don't know he was such a bastard!"
"Sweet Bella... Ah! What a wicked man."
"I don't get... Bella, have been with the majestic for more than a year... If the King liked her, he should have just asked, or forcibly take her as his concubine."
"Yes! And Bella cared for him more than a wife, even if she won't like it, she won't fight back!"
"That is a valid point! She risked her life for him in the past, and even vow to never harm him... The blood stain on her dagger means she did."
"You men are weird! A woman was raped and murdered, and you are saying she should have kept quiet and what?! Enjoy it?!!" A woman yelled at them, and turned to Matilda:
"Empress, I am deeply sorry for this! But look around... The one who did this is absent! Doesn't that mean he is guilty?!!" She asked.
"Yes! Where is my nephew?!!" Vancouver asked coldly.
"Attention!!"
Everyone turned their heads to the door, seeing three guards in armor, walking inside, their faces indifferent.
"Any news!?!!" Joshua asked.
"What news?" Vancouver asked with a frown.
"When he mentioned the emperor went to Bella's home, I sent a signal to the closest soldiers to investigate it! They are here for it!" Joshua explained.
Vancouver frowned:
'Even if the guard is the closest, it will take an hour to travel back here, and ten minutes to receive a message through the transmitter... Something isn't right here.' He thought.
"Empress! Commander! We just returned from Miss Bella's home, and..."
"What happened?!!" The old man yelled.
"Her family are dead... Her mother and younger sister, who was just 16 years old were raped and killed... While her father was beheaded."
"....?!!!"
Silence!
After a whole ten seconds of dead silence, Joshua asked:
"What about her younger brother?"
"The kid wasn't amongst the bodies, but we saw a blood trail... It led to a hill, and below the hill was a moving river... We suspect the boy was killed and threw inside the river... We are still searching if we can see his body." The soldier said.
"....…...?!"
Matilda collapsed on the ground, her face blank:
"I... I married a beast! A Beast!" She muttered in horror.
"Lord Vancouver! Do you have anything say?!" Joshua asked with a cold expression, his gaze fixed on the ground.
Lord Vancouver stood up from his seat, and walked towards the door... His two personal guards following behind him.
He walked past Joshua and stopped, then looked at them over his shoulder, his golden eyes filled with a chilling coldness.
"I will only say something when I see my nephew." With that said, he walked out of the courtroom.
Everyone in the hall stared at one another, then turned to Matilda, who sat on the ground, crying.
"The empress is so depressed."
"Marrying such a man... What a pity."
"He is even worse than the Wendigos."
"What can anyone do? No one knows his whereabouts."
"Then we must search for him, even if we have to place the whole nations on his back! We will!!" The old man yelled and turned to Matilda:
"Empress!! Give the order!! The emperor must be arrested to face the court, and get the rightful punishment! No matter what happens!! Bella and her family must have justice!!"
"Yes!!"
"I agreed!"
"Same here!!!"
"Me too!!"
Matilda smiled inwardly, but said aloud:
"If my husband dies... I will be next, and will be removed from this position." She said in a low voice.
"That won't happen, Empress! The emperor committed this sin! Not you!! So I will wholeheartedly support you!!" Joshua quickly said, placing his clenched fist on his chest, and bowed his head.
"Yes!!"
The soldiers behind him all yelled in unison.
"I accept!!"
"Same!!"
The old man and woman quickly yelled.
The others looked at one another, thinking about the pros and cons on this decision, but seeing the look on Joshua's and the other faces, they slowly raised their hands:
"I accept."
"Same."
"All hail empress Matilda!"
"All hail the queen!"
Matilda moved her grateful gaze all over the people and nodded slowly, then said in a low choked voice:
"I... Empress Matilda, make a degree... The emperor, my husband must be arrested and place in jail to face justice for his crimes..."
'Hahaha! If only they can find his body... Now I can openly hunt you down... That is, if you are still alive.' She thought, lowering her gaze to Bella's lifeless body:
'You helped me more than I expected... But the only pest in my way is... Lord Vancouver.... I will have to think of a way to deal with him.... Sunny and Bella are weak, so I can easily take them down... But Vancouver is far from weak... He is one of the powerhouses in star nation... I must think of a way, and fast!!' She thought.
_____
[Back To Sunny.]
[Second-strongest faction in the Pirates' planet.]
A young man stood in front of the city gates, his arms folded as he watched the starship flying towards them... Behind him, on the wall were men and women, all armed with guns and swords, even cannons.
The young man watched as the starship stopped twenty meters from the city's gate, and landed on the ground, then six figures walked out... Heading towards them, completely unarmed.
"....?"
With confusion, he stood there, waiting.
_
"Blood eye? If I may ask, what nonsense is this?! Do you think you can take over my territory?!" He asked the moment they got into hearing distance.
"Lord Nicolas... This is my King." Blood eye's introduction shocked both Nicolas and his soldiers.
"Your king??" He asked in mild confusion, then turned to Sunny, Josephine and Nioh.
"Aren't you Nioh?" Be asked with a frown.
"You know me?" Nioh asked in mild surprised.
"The whole black Market and dark web knows you! You stole something precious from the three-eyed nations, and those guys place a bounty on your head, worth five billion! Order... Capture alive... You are the second biggest target on the dark web." He said with a predatory glint in his eyes.
".......?!!!"
Nioh was speechless.