Upon hearing Lin Yide's accusations, Elina felt as if struck by lightning, trembling uncontrollably as if her most secret wound had been exposed.
The voice of the Chief Justice Neuvillette sounded exceptionally cold at that moment. He relentlessly pressed, "Miss Elina, please answer directly: are you pregnant, and is the father of this child not Mr. Yide?"
Elina opened her mouth, wanting to refute, but found herself speechless.
The audience, who had overwhelmingly supported Elina, now seemed to awaken from a dream. They felt deceived and cast sympathetic glances at Lin Yide.
Furina was stunned. She hadn't expected this outcome. Was she truly wrong?
Lin Yide gently adjusted his white cravat and said in a clear voice, "In fact, Elina had been secretly having an affair with her piano teacher, Rodman, for quite some time.
After her father, Baron Lorraine, announced her engagement to me, she discovered she was pregnant.
To conceal this secret, she cruelly poisoned her own father and meticulously plotted to shift all blame onto me.
Once I was in the Fortress of Meropide, she could openly be with Rodman, and the child could be passed off as mine."
The audience, their attention drawn to the white suspenders strap, inexplicably felt that Lin Yide's words were the truth and immediately shifted their stance, beginning to support him.
Elina was now on pins and needles, cold sweat pouring down her face. She trembled as she defended herself, "I didn't do it! How could I possibly kill my own father? Do you… do you have any evidence?"
However, her defense sounded increasingly weak amidst the audience's murmurs.
Lin Yide chuckled softly, "Miss Elina, your plan was indeed ingenious, but you overlooked too many things.
Firstly, the doctor you recommended to me, if I'm not mistaken, he's not a real doctor at all, is he?
Secondly, the main component of the poison you used is arsenic, and the Fontaine Research Institute has strict sales records for this element. I believe a simple investigation will easily reveal your purchase history."
Hearing this, Elina felt a wave of despair wash over her.
She knew she had nowhere to escape, no way to defend herself.
She glared at Lin Yide angrily, her voice filled with resentment and dissatisfaction towards Baron Lorraine, "It's all his fault! All his fault! Why did he have to force me to marry such a lowly person like you?
Rodman is so talented, why couldn't he see that?"
"Elina, allow me to reveal the mystery to you," Lin Yide said with a slight smile, his tone gentle. "The reason Baron Lorraine favored me so much wasn't because of my exceptional talent or noble character, but because—I am his illegitimate son!"
These words caused an uproar.
The audience was shocked. They never expected such a bizarre twist in the trial.
If Lin Yide was truly Baron Lorraine's illegitimate son, then Baron Lorraine marrying his daughter to him would be a complete violation of ethics and morals.
Such scandals among the old nobility were extremely rare in modern society.
Elina was also stunned. She couldn't believe that Lin Yide could be her brother.
However, recalling her father's favoritism towards Lin Yide, she had to admit this bizarre reality.
Furina's white ahoge stood up straight. Although she had lost in the trial, she was incredibly excited by this brilliant plot twist.
Her eyes widened, anticipating the next development.
"Miss Elina, did you think I was your brother?" Lin Yide asked with a cold smile. "I regret to inform you that you are not.
You are just an illegitimate daughter born from your mother's affair with another man!
The women of your Lannis family are all shameless harlots!"
"No! This isn't true!" Elina retorted excitedly.
She couldn't accept the destruction of her noble status, let alone the reality that she was an illegitimate daughter.
"Baron Lorraine came from the distinguished Rio family, a family with a very distinct characteristic: all members have black hair and brown eyes.
This is the mark of their bloodline, passed down through generations, never changing," Lin Yide's voice was cold and firm as he revealed the truth, word by word.
"However, you, Elina, have golden hair and green eyes. Doesn't that explain everything?"
Elina collapsed weakly on the witness stand, unable to accept this cruel reality.
The noble status she had always been so proud of was just a lie.
And what made her even more desperate was that Rodman, upon learning that she was not the true daughter of Baron Lorraine, unhesitatingly got up and prepared to leave.
His cold back extinguished the last glimmer of hope in Elina's heart.
Suddenly, she shouted hoarsely, "Chief Justice, everything was done at Rodman's instigation! I was seduced by him and committed such crimes!"
Rodman's face changed drastically. He retorted sharply, "What nonsense are you talking about? I know nothing! You were the one who seduced me!"
With that, he turned to leave, trying to escape.
However, he had barely taken a step when he was stopped by the Gardes.
They mercilessly dragged him onto the stage, face to face with Elina.
What followed left everyone present dumbfounded. Elina and Rodman began to shift blame onto each other, constantly accusing the other.
Their arguments grew louder and more intense.
Lin Yide sat in the defendant's seat, watching it all coldly. His heart was filled with pleasure and mockery.
This spectacle of adulterers blaming each other was truly a great enjoyment.
"Silence!" Chief Justice Neuvillette's voice echoed through the opera house once more, filled with undeniable authority.
Elina and Rodman's argument came to an abrupt halt, and the entire opera house fell silent.
Chief Justice Neuvillette's gaze swept across the faces of the crowd, finally settling on Elina and Rodman. He said in a deep voice, "The truth of this case is now clear. I find Yide not guilty, and Elina and Rodman are guilty of conspiring to murder Baron Lorraine."
Hearing this verdict, Elina suddenly knelt on the ground, tears streaming down her face as she pleaded, "Chief Justice, please have mercy on me for the sake of the child in my womb."
Neuvillette was unmoved. His heart was only filled with justice and law.
Subsequently, the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale began to slowly rotate. After a moment, a blue card popped out.
Neuvillette picked up the card, glanced at its contents, and then announced, "According to the results of the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale, Yide is acquitted.
Elina and Rodman are found guilty of murder. Rodman is sentenced to thirty years in prison, and Elina is sentenced to thirty-five years in prison.
Considering she is pregnant, the sentence will be carried out after she gives birth."
Lin Yide stood in the defendant's seat, a victorious smile on his face.
He had won the trial!