"Hello? Alexander."
Mario looked at Alexander, who was alone, and approached him.
Mario's task today was to extract answers from Alexander regarding the various questions his father harbored.
If necessary, he had to force Alexander to speak, even if it meant tying him up and pulling out his fingernails or gouging out his eyes.
By the way.
"Did you come alone? Are there any escorts?"
Alexander, who had come alone with such boldness, made Mario flustered and had no choice but to ask abruptly.
Mario, fearing that the child would be scared, had his subordinates wait outside and told them to come when he gave a signal.
This was because torture was not his area of expertise, and since it could be detrimental if Alexander had a stubborn personality, he naturally intended to reassure him and try to persuade him first...
"I'm meeting with my older sister, so I wanted to talk quietly. She told me to wait outside."
Even though he shook his head at Mario's sudden appearance, Alexander replied steadily.
"I see."
After all, it's not a secret meeting, but a meeting at Christa's invitation.
You probably can't even imagine what's going to happen, poor guy.
"Haha."
At Alexander's somewhat wary eyes, Mario smiled brightly and spread his arms as if he were harmless.
"You don't by any chance not know who I am, do you?"
"I know."
"Yes, yes. Christa is a little late. I stopped by on the way to where you met here today."
Mario pulled out a chair from an outdoor table and sat down, saying.
"Sit down. I'm busy, so I need to go before Christa comes. It's been a long time since I've seen you, so let's talk for a while."
"Yes."
As Alexander came and sat opposite him with a beaming smile, Mario thought, 'He really is fifteen.'
He heard Alexander earned the title of youngest lawyer at the age of 15, so Mario was worried he might not be easy to deal with.
"It’s a bit awkward to bring this up in such a pleasant setting, but why did you file for a retrial of the Konrad massacre?"
"Because 16 years ago, Ryan Wassenberg was framed."
"..."
Mario was momentarily speechless at the answer that came out without hesitation.
"Um... haha. Of course, the reason you dug up the past is that you felt wronged. I mean, why did you do something like that?
"What do you mean by such a thing? I can't live my whole life bearing the stigma of having committed a crime I didn't even commit."
"..."
"Ordinary people were almost ignorant of this ability. If there is a record of a massacre, they only regard them as murderers. They have no knowledge of the truth of that day, and there is no reason to do so. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to confirm the legal innocence."
Mario blinked blankly in front of Alexander, who was talking softly as if he had been waiting.
"The people I met in my life don't know anything about me. At the first meeting, they judged me only by how I look."
"..."
"Ryan Belzer must build relationships with everyone he meets until he dies, with the label of a slaughter who killed innocent people and burned the land. Do you think that's right?"
Mario, who smiled, asked with a grin, his jaw clenched as if he were petty.
"Did you say this during the trial?"
"Yes."
"Oh, the judge must have been quite impressed."
Mario corrected his hasty judgment of Alexander's character.
He was articulate, rigid, and fiercely loyal to Ryan. Just by looking at him, you could tell that torture wouldn't work on his eyes.
Of course, he'll have to try,
"The only reason why you suddenly found out about something old and made your father angry is that you want to clear the name of your half-brother, who raised you?"
"No. A retrial could have been held at any time, but the reason the timing is now is to prevent my father's paternity suit."
"I thought it would be. Originally, we were going to accept you back into the family, but this trial made it difficult. Did you use your head?"
"I have no intention of going back to being a criminal group."
"..."
Mario froze with a smile.
"What crime? The criminal is Ryan Belzer, who lives under the same roof as you."
"It is truly regrettable that you can speak so confidently, Brother. Over 80% of these Imperial crime cases are linked to Wassenberg, yet the members of that family remain completely clean, without a single criminal record."
"..."
"That was the thing that shocked me the most when I came to the capital to study at the Academy. It was that to strangers, the family's image couldn't be better."
"Why are you acting so cheeky?"
Mario looked around.
It was the kind of boldness that suggested he had some hidden ulterior motive, but no matter how he looked, there was no other sign.
"Do you think I can't shake you?"
"Violence is a crime. This is a villa owned by the Wassenberg family, and there are many people here who know that I came to see Christa today."
“Huh, really.”
Is that something you believe in?
I'm planning to bury it anyway.
Who would know if the mountain collapsed on its own or if someone with supernatural abilities brought it down?
"May I ask a question now?"
"I'm not finished talking yet."
"What else are you curious about? Is there something Father wants you to dig into? Why did my sister marry the Third Prince?"
"..."
Looking at Alexander's smirk, Mario realized.
That they, too, had been keeping a watch on Wassenberg just as much as Father had foreseen.
'Words won't work.'
The Abyss of the Reception
Mario immediately caused a small earthquake. It was a signal to his subordinates outside to come over.
"Are the subordinates your brother brought strong?"
However, Alexander, feeling the vibration, scoffed and asked.
"More than my subordinates?"
"..."
Alexander realized that the earthquake was a signal. Mario felt a shiver run down his spine.
"Why are you out here today?"
Sensing an ominous feeling, Mario cautiously reached for the jackknife at his waist and asked.
"I came to see Christa."
"But why are you acting so cocky? You know your brother has superpowers, right?"
"I know very well. You are a holder of a mid-level Bless that can't even be used offensively because its usable range is so damn narrow that the caster gets drowned."
"Hey."
"May I ask a question now? Oh, and to answer your question from a moment ago, the reason my sister married His Highness the Third Prince is that they love each other. Please just believe what you see."
Having said that, Alexander suddenly opened his briefcase on the table.
For a moment, Mario was nervous.
What came out was an ordinary stack of documents.
Alexander spoke as he flipped through a few thick pages of documents.
"The mass burial of protesting workers in the Frizman estate was your doing, wasn't it? You used your supernatural ability to deliberately contaminate the water source and create fake evidence by pretending it was an epidemic."
"...?"
"They refused to examine the bodies until they decomposed to destroy evidence of murder; because of that, dozens of innocent people couldn't even be dug up and couldn't return to their families even after death."
"What are you suddenly doing?"
"I am rendering a judgment before private execution."
"Yes?"
"It was your doing that the flooding in the Viscountery of Tribel killed dozens of people and ruined the land. Since it borders the Friezman Territory, you clashed at every turn."
"..."
"Is it because Wassenberg hasn't officially announced the successor yet? I wonder if you were trying to expand the territory to catch your father's eye, but you did all sorts of things that you weren't even told to do."
Mario was dazed.
It was hard to follow this unexpected flow.
"There's still a lot left."
Alexander, who fearlessly began holding a trial all by himself.
"You smuggled out the slaves Elliott Wassenberg was supplying to Romayer, didn't you? Using those slaves on your estate for illegal prostitution... Phew."
...I can't do this anymore. It feels like the permit is rotting away.
Alexander scattered the documents onto the table as if throwing them.
"The only reason you are still alive is that you are a 'Wassenberg'. That is the only reason. If you were an ordinary person, you would have been executed long ago."
With those words, Alexander put his hand inside his jacket.
Eventually.
Before Mario could even realize it.
Taang-!
A gunshot rang out.
“Aaaah!”
Mario fell to the floor clutching his right shoulder, which felt as if it were on fire.
What?
Gun?
Wait, is this really a gun?
The graze wound caught fire. In terrible pain, Mario frantically pressed his hand against the wound to put out the fire.
Bang!
“Aaaah!”
This time, his left thigh.
Mario didn't even have the presence of mind to process the situation that had unfolded in an instant. He simply watched Alexander approaching him while kneeling.
Clap.
A gun barrel was pointed at his forehead.
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