"You... bastard. Fine, let's ask Lina what she has to say about this whole damn thing?"

"Lina, tell them..."

"Y-es, you..." the girl tried to say something but couldn't, as if something was stuck inside her throat. She knew whatever happening was wrong & Leon had done nothing wrong, nor had he ever tried to touch her.

But if she won't then her father who raised her & made her what she was won't be happy. If she said the truth, then the world she had been living till now would crumble within moments.

Even if she said the truth, would Leon or the Duke accept the apology? Her family had already sent a letter to the Emperor regarding this decision & soon the entire empire would know about it.

It would definitely tarnish the Esper's reputation for something they had not done & by any means, if the duke learned the truth, then the consequences would be devastating.

Things had gone too far to back down now.

"Yes, me what? Tell them what happened that night." said James. It was unwise for him to just let her go. But what more he could have done except warning. Should he have told the whole family about it?

"You did..."

"What the fuck I did?" screamed James. His anger was rising because of this idiotic discussion over nothing. If she could just tell the truth, then everything would end. But no, she was just not telling anything.

"Yo-u forced m-e to sleep wi-th you." said the girl in a trembling voice & James' mouth was hung open hearing the hollow words.

"You heard her Lord. She is telling herself that Leon forced himself upon her. What more reason..." said the Marquess with a stoic expression, but inside he was smiling with joy as everything was going as planning.

He had told his daughter countless time on how to say & what to say. Now everything was paying off. Victory was in sight, just a couple of steps & he would be triumphant.

"What proof do you have?" asked Leon in an indifferent tone. His mood was taking a turn for the worst as these people were not playing some fair game.

"What proof do you need? Her words are enough to convince everyone."

"What do you want, Michael?" asked Heinrich in a heavy tone & everyone's attention was on him.

"I just want Leon to accept my daughter as his rightful wife. He is the only one who can do this, as no one in the entire empire will accept her after what he did."

"You..."

"Silence!" said the man with blonde hair, raising his hand.

"And what if he won't?"

"I won't have any choice but to tell the emperor about this. It is not just a petty matter. Her future depends on it." replied the Marquess in a threatening tone.

"Yes, you should, but I think you already sent a letter informing them about everything going here." said Heinrich as it was not some impossible thing to figure out.

"I..."

"Stop lying, Lord Abercron, stop lying. My son can be an outright worthless piece of garbage but he can't do something like that. And if he did, then I swear on the name of Esper I will disown him right now."

Everyone looked at the duke with eyes wide open, include Lina, the root of all problems. She couldn't believe how the situation was escalating this quickly.

"This time I ask you, Leon, did you do anything what this guy is talking about?"

"No. I did nothing." said the man with black hair with a sigh. These people were taking things too far.

"See. He did nothing. Now get out." said the Duke.

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"I never thought I had to do this." replied the Marquess, looking at the floor & then dropped the bomb.

"My daughter is pregnant."

"What?" yelled the duke. Just when did things get so messed up? Did his son really deviate from his morale?

"You are fucking kidding me." said James, who was now sure that something big was going on behind the scenes. These Abercrons were trying their best to sell their daughter to him, who was forced to do all this drama.

Lina's expression after hearing her father's words also gave a way everything. She was also shocked with all the people present in the room, but soon fixed her expression. But that didn't go unnoticed by James.

"No, I am not kidding. I am stating the truth. Tell him Lina?"

"I... I... am pregnant with your child." replied the girl with the same shaking voice. Never trying to face the man named Leonhart.

"This is turning into a full-scale drama, huh." said James for everyone to hear.

"What do you mean by drama?" shouted the Marquess as the only one who could counter his argument was Leon & if he could silence him, then the game was over.

"You idiot... First..."

"Shut up!" said the Duke in an eerie tone. He was beyond angry at this point, as to what this man was saying directly deviated from what he had taught to his son. And if everything was true, then Leon had to bear the consequences.

He never needed a son who would break his morale for mere things like pleasure. By doing all this, he disgraced the families' reputation, which was a pure treason in Esper household. He was ignoring all his childish acts, but this was not something he could overlook.

Leon had to pay the price.

"Leon, I never expected something like this from you. You really tarnished our name to the fullest."

"I didn't do anything. At least listen to me... I haven't even told what happened that day?" shouted James. No one listened to his plea & now the verdict. How does this system even work? They could have DNA test to prove... Wait, this world doesn't have that facility. So how these people were proving it?

"I don't want to hear anything from you. And Michael, what definitive testimony you have to prove this claim of yours." Asked the Duke, as he had to make sure before giving out his verdict.

"I have proof. There are some people outside this room who can tell the truth. Please allow me to call them."

"Go on."

After a moment, 2 maids & an old man who seemed to be the butler of the house entered the room.

"These people."

"Yes, they will tell what they saw on the night of that day."

"Speak then."

After the order, those three people gave their testimony, which went like this. The first maid who was there cleaning or whatever task she was doing near the room at the exact time saw Lina existing the room where Leon was with teared nightgown & running away to her room with teary eyes.

Then the second maid, who was fixing something in Lina's room at the exact room & place, saw her barged into the room, crying. When she asked what happened, she told her everything from the beginning to the end.

Then both the maids proceeded to tell the butler, who informed the Marquess about the entire event.

"So why you waited one month to tell me this?" asked the duke as they could have told him earlier, but deliberately waited one month for nothing. If the situation was that delicate, then it needed most attention.

"We waited because we didn't want to cause any problems for you, as you are already busy with matters of our unstable land. But I couldn't ignore the matter when she told me she was pregnant. Or in other words, as you hold the absolute authority over us & this land, we didn't want to die this quick. Still, I can't risk my daughter's future over my life. She is important to me & I will fight for her. So please tell us what should we do now?" said Michael in a pleading tone.

His plans had worked successfully as the duke was now visibly under pressure. This plan really was failproof, like they said.

"I can't believe my own son, my own flesh & blood, can do this. I am.. I am sorry, Lord Michael. Tell me what do you want."

"Listen Father, I didn't do..." James desperately tried to say something but couldn't as the duke raised his hand to stop him with a face full of anger.

"So tell me, what do you want?"

"I want only one thing, Lord. Order your son to accept my daughter as his wife & take good care of her." replied the Marquess with a sad face as if he never wanted this outcome. But internally, he was dancing in joy. Everything played out entirely as predicted before.

"You sure this is the only thing you want?"

"Yes, Lord, it's the only thing I want."

"Leon, as your father I am ordering you to accept Lina as your rightful..."

"Fuck's sake..." saying that Leon stormed out of the room with a face full of anger & following him, the duchess also left as she was also not satisfied with outcome.

***

James was walking alone the vast corridors towards his room with a not so happy expression. He trusted that girl to not to tell her parents about their failed plan to seduce him, but that turned out to be a complete disaster.

There was no definitive proof to tell that she was even pregnant, but everyone just agreed. They believed every word she said, but no one wanted to listen to his side of the story.

This was not even first time getting betrayed by someone he trusted. It had happened many times in his student carrier, office carrier but he never learned the lesson & now it came back to bite him.

Trusting people was a bad idea & he had learned this the hard way.

Now James swore he would trust no one without thinking of consequences & it was final.

But another headache was Heinrich had ordered him to accept her as his wife & just how was he going to that? He neither loved her nor wanted to start a family. He had many things to do before that & this civil war was looming over his head. Everything had to go wrong in every worst possible time.

Soon the voice of a lady was heard & James's step halted as he tilted to face Leon's mother.