Just as the air had begun to lighten and the elves faith in Luca had solidified, a single voice destroyed the peace.

"Hold on a minute."

The words came from Julius.

Every head turned as he stood there smiling, hands folded neatly behind his back, though his eyes were cold as winter glass.

He began to clap slowly.

"I must say, Hero, I am impressed." His tone was cool, almost courteous. "You've disproved every accusation I've made so far. Each one, one by one, you've swatted away like dust in the wind."

"You've even brought proof—tangible proof, no less. For that, I should apologize for all the stuff I said, shouldn't I?"

He gave a shallow bow, mimicking the exact gesture Luca had made earlier, and for a heartbeat, everyone relaxed.

Perhaps he was finally conceding.

But then Julius straightened again, and that polite smile sharpened into a knife.

"However." He said softly. "There's still one thing you haven't addressed."

Julius's gaze darkened as he leaned forward.

"The children." He said. "The children that you murdered."

The air itself seemed to stop, as he spread his arms wide, his voice rising theatrically.

"Yes, they may not have been many, barely a dozen or so compared to the thousands of adults you've slain. But they were still children nonetheless!"

"Pure, innocent beings, barely understanding the world!"

He gestured to the crowd dramatically.

"Many hadn't even reached their tenth birthday! And you killed them! What do you have to say to that, Hero?"

A low murmur swept through the elves.

"And even if they had made mistakes." Julius continued. "Even if they'd done something wrong—they were children! They could have learned, they could have been guided! But you…"

He pointed accusingly at Luca.

"You didn't give them that chance. You slaughtered them."

He ended with a bitter sneer.

"Tell me, what kind of man kills a child? Not to mention a Hero like you."

The words echoed across the clearing and every elf turned toward Luca once again, though this time, not with awe.

But with unease.

This was because for many of them, this was the final line.

Killing men, soldiers, tyrants, even women—they could understand that.

But children? Even whispering the word made their stomachs twist.

Immediately, the weight of everyone's gazes crashed down on Luca.

This was the final hurdle. If he could justify this, he would be a free man—but how does one justify the death of a child?

Julius smirked inwardly. 'There is no escape from this.' He thought triumphantly. 'Even if he's a god, he's finished.'

Luca, however, did not flinch. He remained as steady as an ancient oak in a storm. He looked around, taking in the doubt and the horror.

Then, to everyone's shock, he chuckled.

"I can see the doubt in your eyes." He said softly. "You want to know if it's true. You want me to deny it and say that what you heard right was false."

And he was right.

Everyone just wanted him to say that he didn't do it and they would choose to end the topic and forget it entirely, since they didn't want to believe it was true.

But Luca has other plans.

"Well." Luca continued lightly. "The answer is simple."

He smiled.

"I did it...The blood of couple of young lives are ok my hands."

The clearing erupted.

Gasps filled the air; some elves covered their mouths in horror.

Luna's face went pale, Lulu's ears drooped as her expression crumbled. Even Nyx frowned, eyes narrowing, and Leona bit her lip.

She had just begun to believe in him, and now she was faced with the admission of a sin so foul that even the devil might look away.

But Luca didn't flinch. His voice stayed calm.

"I killed those children Julius speaks of. Not cruelly—I broke their necks quickly. They didn't suffer. But yes, I killed them."

The crowd fell silent again, but this time it wasn't disbelief—it was dread.

Whispers spread like ripples through the group.

"He killed children…"

"How could he admit that?"

"Was he lying this whole time?"

Julius, however, was beaming inside. 'Perfect.' He thought. 'He's done for. He walked straight into it.'

He could already see it—the horror in their eyes, the disgust, the guilt. Even if Luca had swayed them before, nothing could wash away the sin of murdering children.

Luca knew this too. He could feel the weight of every stare, every breath.

But instead of looking defeated, he sighed softly, then he looked around, scanning faces as if searching for someone until—

—his gaze landed on Luna.

"Luna." He said suddenly.

She blinked, startled. "Eh? Me?"

He nodded. "Can you help me with something?"

"Help you?" She looked confused and nervous.

Everyone's eyes were on her now. But when she saw the steady calm in his eyes, she straightened her back and said,

"Of course! Anything, if it can prove your innocence!"

Luca smiled warmly. "Thank you."

He then took a small breath and said,

"Luna, I just want to say—you've grown into a wonderful young woman."

That comment caught her and the others off guard as he went on to say with sincerity,

"Polite, patient, well-mannered, always respectful, and someone who treats everyone kindly. You're thoughtful and graceful, a real example of what an elf should be."

Luna blinked rapidly, her ears reddening. "Th-Thank you." She stammered. "I don't really know what to say to that but...thank you, I suppose."

Lulu crossed her arms with a pout. "Hey! What about me? I'm amazing too, you know!"

Luca glanced at her for half a second, then simply continued speaking to Luna, completely ignoring Lulu's protest to her dismay.

"Anyway. Tell me, Luna—when you were a child, were you always like this? Always obedient, polite, and mature?"

Luna tilted her head, then shook it quickly.

"Not at all. I was...actually really mischievous." She admitted. "I caused trouble all the time. I made mistakes, disobeyed rules, got into fights, climbed trees I wasn't supposed to and did everything a adult wouldn't."

"She's not lying!" Lulu nodded eagerly beside her. "We were both little monsters. People in the village even called us the 'Monkey Princesses' because we'd swing from vines all day long!"

That made a few elves chuckle. Even Luca smiled softly.

"I see." He said. "Then tell me this—how did you grow up into the woman you are now? What changed?"

Luna paused for a moment, glancing at Leona and Nyx before answering.

"It's because of my mother and Auntie Nyx." She said firmly.

Both women looked up at once.

"Mother was strict when she had to be." Luna continued. "She didn't tolerate misbehavior, but she always corrected me with care. Whenever I did something wrong, she showed me why it was wrong and she made sure I learned from it."

Leona's expression softened slightly, her composure cracking just a little.

"And Auntie Nyx." Luna went on with a small smile. "She was fun and easy-going most of the time. But even she could be strict when I crossed the line."

"Between them both, I learned how to be the person I am today."

Nyx smiled proudly; Leona hid her satisfaction behind a neutral expression, but her eyes gleamed faintly with pride.

"That's good." Luca nodded slowly. "It's because you had people like them—people who guided you, corrected you, and made sure you didn't lose your way that you became who you are."

Then his tone shifted, the warmth fading just slightly.

"But...what would happen." He said quietly. "If a child didn't have parents like yours?"

The question hung in the air.

"What if...." Luca continued. "...instead of being guided, they were spoiled? What if their parents encouraged every wrong behavior, every selfish act, every cruelty and called it love?"

He began to pace slowly, his voice calm but heavy.

"What if, from the time they were born, they were taught that they could do whatever they wanted"

"That the world belonged to them?"

"That killing wasn't wrong, as long as it was for fun or power?"

The elves listened, their faces growing grim.

"And what if..." Luca said, turning back toward them. "...those children grew up never knowing the value of life?"

"What if they laughed when others cried, killed when they were bored, and saw people as toys?"

Luna bit her lip before saying, "I...I don't know. I haven't been around such children before."

"Well then..." He looked at everyone like he was going to tell a story. "Let me tell you all about children who think the world is theirs. Children who grow up believing that lives are nothing more than things they can play with."

He clasped his hands behind his back, eyes sweeping across the elves before landing briefly on Julius. "

Case No. 1." He said clearly. "Little Albert."

He let the name hang in the air for a moment.

"He was eight years old. A sweet-looking child, the kind of boy you'd see on the street and smile at. Big round eyes, messy hair, always carrying a book of spells around. Everyone adored him."

"And he loved archery, you see. Practiced it more than most grown men ever would. Gifted, polite, intelligent—the perfect image of what a bright young mage should be."

Luca's smile faded as he said,

"But Albert had another side."

The elves grew still.

"He loved archery too much." Luca said softly. "And he was far too good at it. He got bored easily. At first, he used his skills on practice dummies, on rocks, on small training targets."

"But soon, that wasn't enough for him."

He took a step forward, voice sharpening.

"He wanted something that moved. So he started using animals. Cats, dogs, birds—anything that ran. He would capture them, test different arrows, and see which one made them scream the longest."

The crowd winced; several gasps broke out.

"But that too..." Luca went on grimly. "...became boring to him. So one day, he thought—why not humans?"

There was an audible intake of breath. Even Julius blinked, taken aback by the bluntness.

Luca continued without pause. "He began buying slaves from the market. Young, old, male, female—it didn't matter. He would bring them out to an open field and tell them, 'Run. If you can escape me, you're free.'"

His expression hardened. "But no one ever escaped. Albert would shoot them down one by one with arrows and bolts from crossbows, laughing as they screamed."

"And the ones who ran too far? He'd have his servants bring them back—just so he could kill them at point-blank range."

"Eight years old." He said shaking his head. "A prodigy. And a murderer."

A murmur rippled through the crowd—horrified, disbelieving whispers.

"That's monstrous…" One elf said quietly.

"Yes." Luca agreed. "It is monstrous. But hold your breath, because there's more."

"Case No. 2—Little Anna."

"She was nine." He said. "And was supposed to turn ten in a few months. But she won't. Because she's already dead."

He paused just long enough for the words to sink in.

"Now, Anna was...difficult. A picky eater, constantly throwing tantrums at mealtime. And that's normal for children, right? But Anna's tantrums were different."

He began pacing again, hands moving as he spoke.

"Whenever she didn't like the food, she would throw her glass bottles to the ground and force her servants to walk over the shards barefoot—again and again—until their feet were shredded to ribbons."

A horrified gasp escaped from one of the elves.

"If she got bored..." Luca continued. "...she'd take a fork and start poking her butler in the side until he fainted from blood loss."

"Sometimes she'd take a candle, call a maid over, and say, 'If you move your hand, I'll have your family killed.' And the maids—terrified—would hold still as their palms burned."

Several of the elves looked away, unable to listen.

"She even threw boiling soup at some maid for serving the wrong bread." Luca went on. "Six maids were disfigured because of her. Two died of them burns."

He stopped walking and looked at them, his expression grim.

"So tell me, how should I treat her? A child? Or a monster wearing a child's face?"

The crowd didn't answer. Even Julius said nothing this time, his eyes narrowing slightly, trying to keep his composure.

But Luca wasn't done. He raised his hand, counting off the next.

"Case No. 3—Frederick."

"And honestly one of the worst of the bunch because of the atrocious acts the little shit committed."

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