There are some accusations that attack a man's actions. And there are some that attack his existence.

In every sense, the king here had chosen the second.

A few council members gasped, exchanging looks of disdain, but others did not react the way they should have, as if this was not the first time they were hearing such a thing from the king's mouth.

Those who gasped looked at Leon with eyes filled with pity and doubt. They knew exactly what was happening here.

Some wanted to speak on Leon's behalf, but they waited.

Leon, Myra, and Eula had all smiled in the previous moment when the king accused him of being the sole cause of the Tiara Incident.

The three of them knew all too well that the king had fallen straight into Veronica's web. They can't ignore the sheer might of her of how easy it was for her to fool an entire kingdom to this scale.

The king's eye traced Leon from head to toe.

The accusation he just spoke of, was huge, and the king wanted Leon to feel fear while standing alone before the royal audience.

No one was here to fight for him. No one knew the truth about him. No one could prove he was not the problem for any of this.

They could revolt, but they could only have doubts to fight back.

With that in mind, Aster Lunovar leaned his head against his elbow and looked down at Leon, who had been silent ever since.

From that height, he could not see the boy's expression clearly, his face was shaded by hair and nose.

But Aster was certain.

No one would ever dream that he would be accused of such a thing.

The king grinned without mercy. He felt he had hit the nail perfectly this time.

With the youngest Valentine being the cause of the Tiara Incident that took thousands of innocent lives, the name Valentine would be crushed into dust.

And along with them, Veronica as well.

That bitch who dared to look down on royalty.

That arrogant girl who treated the king like he was beneath her.

If Leon was deemed responsible for such destruction, Veronica would be branded as someone who protected a criminal and a mass murderer.

She was not here either, she never attended council. And Duke Orion was outside the kingdom as well. House Nightson who was close to Valentine house was absent too, the king had made sure such variables would be absent or busy with other tasks today.

Everything was perfect.

It was the cleanest strategy Aster had crafted in years.

He had covered every scenario he could think of. It was a perfect deadlock for any of them. Now no one could stop this.

The king's eye twitched when Leon's face cleared as he adjusted his specks in an oddly manner..

'What is he…?' He stared at Leon's face.

Why… why was he smiling like that?

Aster blinked, confused. For a moment he thought he was imagining it.

He remembered the boy from years ago, when Leon had been assigned as a childhood companion and a playmate to the crown prince by Lady Ezra.

He remembered that the young boy was the quiet type, easy to cherish, easy to like, and even easier to be eaten alive.

Aster had seen that fear in Leon first-hand.

After all, he himself had broken Leon to pieces that day.

Aster remembered it clearly as if it had happened yesterday.

He remembered the evening Leon and the young crown prince walked into the lower study of Aster, how he caught them red handed, and how he made sure that the boy would never smile again.

So then… What was this smile?

Aster's eyes widened. He gulped as his mind raced at this very fact.

That smile on his face had to come from someone he had overlooked right?

Someone he had underestimated.

Who could that be?

'Veronica?'

No… it could not be her.

How would she know anything about what he and House Vallahail were planning? How would she know the real truth behind him?

Then who?

'Twilight Order…?'

A name flickered in his mind.

Yes, it was possible.

The Twilight Order could have sensed the hunt on them. They could have collected information on House Vallahail too behind the scenes.

And also the most important thing, the sudden suicide of Sebastian Vallahail…

Aster knew him well. He was not the type to kill himself. But even so, the king himself never expected that Sebastain Vallahail would go this far.

Someone was behind that.

It could be Veronica, but Aster could not understand why she would bother to intervene.

There was a gap in the picture, a huge gap.

His gaze drifted to the boy standing beside the maid.

Those golden eyes. They reminded him too much of Veronica

Leon slowly opened his mouth and said, "Finally off your chest. Huh, that's a nasty play for someone of your status, Your Majesty."

Leon said it with confidence, staring straight at his soul.

"Since you want honesty," Leon continued, "then allow me to give you something closer to the truth than whatever story you rehearsed in your room."

A soft gasp slipped from Rinna as she blinked between her father and Leon.

Eula's eyebrows went up sharply at him as well.

Myra closed her eyes for a moment, as if appreciating the start of a long-awaited performance

Aster's voice lowered. "You dare talk like this after being accused?"

'Ah, just looking at his pissed-off face is straight away satisfying…' Leon thought.

Leon smiled calmly. "But Your Majesty, accusing me and framing me… there is a huge difference."

The ministers inhaled sharply, and for a moment even the queen's fingers stiffened over her lap.

They were all surprised to see a boy at that age fighting for his defense all alone.

That alone took guts.

The king leaned forward. "Mind your tongue, boy."

"No," Leon replied. "You mind your assumptions."

A flicker of heat moved through the hall. Aster felt insulted, but Leon's voice remained composed.

"You think Light and Dark repelling is enough evidence to claim I caused a demon god's descent?" Leon said. "You think hiding my affinity is a crime? You think ignorance is guilt?"

The king scoffed. "You were present at the same spot. The Demon God was descending at the same spot you were present. The Light within you drew the Demon God. Anyone with a functioning brain can make that deduction."

Leon tilted his head. "Deduction, you say? I call it your desperation."

Aster gripped the armrest harder. "Watch your tone. I am holding back. If you take another step, you will be committing treason."

"BHAHAHAHAHAHA!!" Leon burst into laughter hearing that. "What? Why? It is only the two of us here playing this game of yours. Everyone else is just forced to watch."

A few ministers looked away.

The queen looked at the boy, a bead of cold sweat dripping down her forehead.

She was not expecting to ever witness something this serious today.

It was a straight accusation, and an open call against House Valentine and the Blood Tower.

If this went on, then there would be a civil war.

Everyone in this room understood this. Even the king himself. Maybe he wanted the civil war. Every noble house knew just how hard it was to control the Valentines after their daughter inherited the Blood Tower's legacy.

The king had tried developing a good relationship with them. They offered him a Duke title, giving him land and territory to govern. They even gave them seats in the council. But even so, Orion Valentine only listened to his daughter.

The king thought that the Blood Tower was opposing them. He thought that she was after his throne. With Veronica's influence, it could very much be possible in the near future.

And the same stubbornness and arrogance could be seen in this boy's eyes too.

The queen looked at Leon, trying to think if there was any possible way she could stop all of this before it was too late.

This boy was fearless indeed, but more importantly, he was doing all of this intentionally. That was what she understood from all of this.

Leon took one step forward.

"Let me clarify something, Your Majesty. I did not hide my Light to harm the kingdom. I hid it because people like you exist. People who see talent and think of chaining them."

Leon's voice sharpened.

"Your plan was simple. Blame Leon. Trap Leon. Turn Leon into a puppet. Remove the Valentine name from Liora. Drag Veronica down with me. Did I miss anything?"

The hall fell completely silent. Even the queen lowered her eyes.

For the first time, the king's confidence cracked. "Haha, now you assume my intentions?"

Leon laughed softly. "Assume? Your Majesty, I am telling you to your face what you were going to do next."

The king went silent. He thought for a second and said outright, "I have several proofs to back my claims. The Authority. The Evernight Cathedral report. I am not accusing, nor am I framing without proof. It is my duty as a king to raise this question. If you have anything to counterattack with real evidence, then prove these claims wrong."

As the king's voice echoed in the audience hall, a few ministers exchanged looks and stared at Leon for him to counter.

Leon looked directly at him, stepping closer. "The moment you said the words 'Dark mana and Light mana repelling and existing together' you lost there, Your Majesty. That was your mistake."

"What."

"Allow me to snap that accusation in half." Leon continued, "If as you said the Demon God was attracted due to my Light, then why did he try to descend now?"

The king raised his eyebrow. Rinna squinted her eyes, confused by his statement.

Eula on the other hand straightened, and she realized what he was pointing at.

'What? Is he seriously going to drag him with him?'

This was not in Veronica's plan. Why was he doing it then?

Eula looked at him with thoughtful eyes. 'Haah… this guy is cracked.'

Leon took a breath and finally added, "Why did the Demon God not descend all these years when you were hiding another Light user under you?"

"...?!"

"...?!"

The entire audience hall fell silent after hearing those words. Even the king went pale for reasons only he knew, and that reaction alone told the ministers, the queen, and Rinna exactly what direction Leon was pointing toward.

"What… did you say?" Aster gulped, staring at his face. How did he know of him? He had not shared it with anyone except a few high-ranked officials.

Before any of them could question anything, Leon continued. "I am a Light user, and as per you and the Everbright Cathedral, it is known that Light and Darkness repel. Like attracts like, so I, being a Light user, knew for a fact that this kingdom had another Light affinity user."

Leon did not deliberately mention Ethan's name in front of them.

He simply used the king's own words and the same evidence he used to corner Leon, against him.

Leon had no way of proving this point, and neither did they.

But all Leon wanted was for the king to react that way in front of all these ministers when he said those words.

That way they would see a hint of surprise and stunned confusion on his face the moment he mentioned another Light user being present in the kingdom.

Everyone saw the king flicker and hesitate.

They could only ask questions in return, but could only guess what was hidden.

It was a perfect thing to win any mind battle.

Leon was twisting the king's words to trap him, to make him say those lines about evidence, about Light and Dark repelling, about the Authority, and about the Everbright Cathedral all this time.

And he fell right into it, like a mouse trapped inside a snake's mouth.

This was Leon's own self-inserted plan inside Veronica's master plan.

It was too good to the point that it could make even the throne sweat tears.

He would never look aside if someone threatened him or tried to screw him over.

If the world screwed you over, then simply screw the whole world back.

"What bullshit—"

"I am not finished." Leon said, stopping the king mid-sentence. "I won't repeat what I say. From your face it was clear to all of us, so let us just move forward, shall we. As for me having any other solid evidence with me…"

Leon smirked in front of the audience before adding,

"I have someone who witnessed me." His eyes fell on someone seated at the front.

Leon said out loud, flaunting a smile, "A little help here, dear princess."

Every eye turned to the source he was referring to.

"Haah…" Eula sighed heavily for everyone to notice. She rubbed her forehead and said to Leon, "You do know this could all be avoided if you asked me from the start."

Eula stood up from her place.

The queen, the king, Rinna, and even all the ministers' eyes widened at this setup.

.

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[A/N: 600 PS for 3 extra chapters till the end of weekend]

[Also, I am increasing the word length to 2.2K+ words each chapter from now on. So, most of the chapter will have exceed word count. Thanks for supporting my work. It truly means a lot to me.]

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