The courtroom was engulfed in a beaming light, shining upon everyone. Neige was sitting next to his lawyer, Alya. While she was focused on proving his innocence, Neige was determined to find the real culprit. The prosecutor was silently sitting, waiting for the start of the trial. Once he was ready, the judge announced the beginning that everyone was waiting for.
"The trial of Neige Chance can start. I think we should summarize what happened yesterday, can you do us the honor, detective Payolo?"
The detective went to the bar with a bunch of paper in hand. She reviewed them quickly before summarizing the case.
"On the 14th of October, three days ago, Noir was killed by a bullet in the heart at midnight. He was waiting for the trial of a murder he confessed to committing. If he wasn't killed, it would have happened on the 15th. Noir was a detective working on the murder that he himself committed, accusing and suspecting many people in the process. One of those people was Neige, because of that, vengeance was chosen as the motive."
"I do remember yes. Miss Alya managed to make a compelling case about his innocence and we decided to give this case more time."
"Indeed, a lot happened in just a day. We discovered a second bullet inside the victim's body, it was shot on the 12th by the same firearm that the one that took Noir's life. But most surprising, we now have a witness step forward."
"A-A witness!?" The judge as well as the whole court was shocked by this news. The jury was discussing frantically about who this person could be "I thought no one witnessed the crime!? Bring this person to the bar!"
"Will do sir."
The detective left the bar and her place to a nun that Neige recognized immediately. Her long blonde hair and violet eyes made it clear she was the other self of Polyetta and Ada. The expression on her face was different though, it displayed boredom and annoyance more than the innocence and shyness he's used to. The woman took a cigarette and lit up in front of everyone, shocking the judge.
"Excuse me, but smoking isn't allowed in a court of justice."
"God never stopped me from smoking in his church, I don't know why it should be different here."
The judge was visibly annoyed but kept a professional expression on his face despite his feelings toward the woman.
"You're lucky, a witness is more than precious in this case. Can you decline your identity and profession?"
The nun took a puff of her cigarette and looked at Neige in the eyes. It was evident she already knew about the mascarade but decided to stay silent and answered the judge's question.
"Zayda Faith, nun."
"That was... Direct. Can you explain to us what you saw please?"
Zayda looked at Neige and took her cigarette out of her mouth.
"Hey, thanks for covering Neige. Don't worry, everything will be over soon."
The nun blew a kiss at Neige, making him blush a bit. He wasn't sure what she meant but was focused on her words, determined to find the truth.
"So I went to see Noir, we never saw each other eye to eye. Not only did he accuse me, he also accused Neige of a murder he committed. Neige was the biggest suspect in his case, so if Noir had been declared innocent, Neige would have been the next suspect. Neige is worth everything to me, even my life, so you can imagine I don't really care about an old geezer's life. I took the revolver that my father had and... Boom."
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Everybody was silent, processing the confession of the woman. Payolo stepped forward, showing a revolver to the court.
"The witness gave us her firearm, we should be able to know whether this was the firearm used tomorrow but we know it shot twice recently."
"Wait, I don't understand." Interrupted the judge "Did you just confess to a murder?"
"You don't understand that? Maybe it's time for you to retire." The nun took another puff of her cigarette, leaving the jury dumbstruck.
"Why didn't you step forward yesterday?" Asked the prosecutor.
"I wanted to be free, but if my freedom doom Neige, it's not worth it."
Alya turned toward Neige with a bright smile on her face, already celebrating.
"Even if you weren't here we would have won! Thanks for everything though, I'm glad you were here."
Neige stared at the nun in the eyes, he knew something was wrong. If he wasn't here, she would have still come forward to prove Neige's innocence. But as he knows, the truth was only found thanks to Neige's presence. Furthermore, he knew that both Polyetta and Ada would sacrifice themselves for their Neige, so this Zayda would likely do the same. It was obvious to him that this was an attempt from her to give her life to Neige, but he wasn't going to let this happen without doing anything.
"Objection!"
Everyone stared at Neige with confusion, especially Alya, who tried her best to make him sit down again.
"What are you doing? You'll doom us!"
Neige ignored his lawyer's words and stared at Zayda. The nun was looking at him with a killing intent, understanding that he wasn't going to let her plan happen.
"The witness is lying, she can't be the culprit!"
"Sir Neige? She's proving your innocence you know?" The judge explained, confused.
"But this isn't the truth. She had an alibi for the moment of the crime!"
"Is that true?"
The judge looked at the papers that the detective gave her and found the one explaining what everyone was doing at the time of the murder.
"You're right, she was organizing a mass at midnight that day! Multiple people saw her at her church and prayed with her! Can you explain to us what is the meaning of all of this?"
"Fuck." The nun cursed to herself, letting her cigarette fall on the ground. She bowed to pick it up and took it back in her mouth "I organized this mass on purpose to prove my innocence, just in case. I didn't think Neige would be suspected."
"It is true that a mass at midnight isn't common." Added the prosecutor "But it means that you weren't able to commit the crime and that the defendant is still suspect."
"Wait, that's not true! I just gave my clothes to someone. As you can see, a nun's gawn covers more than enough to not be recognized, especially if I hide my hair. I asked this person to pretend to be me."
"Y-Yes! See!? My client is innocent and this nun is the culprit!" Alya looked at Neige, begging with her eyes for him to stay silent. Sadly, the man didn't listen and objected once more.
"Hold on, Neige had an alibi for the 12th. Are you perhaps insinuating that his alibi isn't valid too? It would mean that you could both be the culprit then."
"Wait, aren't you Neige?" Asked the judge confused "Are you talking about yourself in the third person?"
Everyone ignored the judge, more concerned by the nun's answer. She opened her eyes widely, suddenly remembering something.
"You're right, Neige has an alibi for the 12th! So that means that he can't be the killer since he was only free on the 14th and not the on the 12th."
"The murder occurred on the 14th, your alibi was already determined, miss nun." Objected the prosecutor "You couldn't be the culprit, and Neige stays as the main suspect."
"I agree." Said the judge, relieved that everything was getting simpler "Your alibi already has been determined, if you wish to refute it, please bring the person that you asked for help."
"I'm... Afraid it's not possible..."
Alya was looking at Neige with worries, barely holding on.
"I thought you would help me! Not cause problems!"
"Zayda isn't the culprit. Now I just need to find the real one."
Neige thought for a moment. There weren't many possibilities, Neige had an alibi for the 12th, Zayda for the 14th. The same firearm shot at those two days and Zayda seemed confident it was the one she brought. Seeing that it wasn't leading to anything, he started to wonder what he and Polyetta would do in that situation. Suddenly, he realized what could have happened, a situation that he knew could happen. Everything made sense to him, even the reason as to why the other Neige's presence was the very thing that would lead them to the truth usually. All he had to do now was gather his courage and prepare to announce the truth.