Chapter 3: First Episode: Chapter 3 (1/2)
Chapter 3: First Episode: Chapter 3
Translator: EndlessFantasy TranslationEditor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The imperial commissioner department of justice’s attorney general, Marquis Van Earl, could be regarded as a man of justice, but he was definitely not regarded as a good husband. Could a man who conspired to murder his own wife even be considered as a ”good husband? Of course not.
Do not be surprised, although the Titan code did not encourage one to murder his own spouse, but it also did not forbid a prosecutor from murdering his own wife. Just like how the aristocrat’s daughter – the prosecutor’s wife was entranced by the prosecutor’s elegance. Oh! Sorry I meant his ex-wife, who was nothing but a lousy little noble, the prosecutor truly regretted being so rash in his younger days. So now he had to rack his brain, to find a way and opportunity to have the wealthy young miss replace his wife. However, the arduous wait had caused him to lose patience, the young miss’ belly was progressively getting larger by the day and he had no choice but to succumb to more extreme measures. Or else, there was no way that the prosecutor could face the possible retaliations from the young miss’ family.
Just when Van Earl was on the brink of being driven crazy, a poison doctor by the name of Mr. Percy appeared before him. It all happened by chance. But it also seemed as if it was a predestined doom.
An incident of medical malpractice and Van Earl’s wife lost her life. After Van Earl carelessly settled his wife’s funeral, he swiftly married the young miss who had already been pregnant for 4 months. Another thing worth mentioning is that Van Earl’s ex-wife’s funeral and his newly wed wife’s wedding was held in the same cathedral, and both these events took place in a span of only 3 days apart.
Right after that, Van Earl’s career skyrocketed, from a mere distant nephew of an old Marquis; he acquired the position of feudal nobility. He was then transferred from the province he was in to the Empire’s central province, and after that he was appointed as the Emperor’s legal counselor and thereafter he took up the position as the Empire’s attorney general. Let’s not talk about this man’s character, being able to get to where he is now shows that he indeed had certain talents about him, even His Majesty the Emperor himself had praised him as the whole Empire’s most knowledgeable man in law.
This man, who in the whole Titan Empire was the most knowledgeable in law, played a major role in the poison doctor, Mr Percy’s trial. It was he who altered the sentence of execution by hanging to a reprieve, and the reasons he provided were so adequate that he had the Ministers of Justice all nodding their heads in agreement. So the poison doctor who had allegedly been involved in 49 murders was imprisoned in Damorga. Furthermore, after bribing some old friends he managed to live his days carefree.
Until one day, a baron named Thomas Aulet appeared. Then only did the Empire’s attorney general, Marquis Van Earl reconsider his relationship with Mr. Percy. In reality, the attorney general accepted the baron’s suggestion after little thought, and the reason was as simple as that - The baron knew about his dirty laundry, and if he refused to cooperate with him, then everything that he had worked so hard for would perish. So, the attorney general initiatively applied to get sent to Damorga by His Majesty the Emperor. He gathered sixty over people in the expedition team, although he did not know any of them.
Damorel is one of the provinces close to the ruling capital district. Its wealth and prosperity in the Titan Empire were among the top few. However, all of this could not be found anywhere in Damorga. Whether Damorga’s prison or Darmoga’s city came to exist first is something that can no longer be verified. But something is for sure; as long as Damorga’s prison still exists, then Damorga will never see the day of prosperity. No citizen would willingly stay in a city filled with gallows and passing vehicles carrying prisoners.
Damorga housed the most vicious and ruthless criminals, and the whole Empire’s worst people were yet to arrive here. So the security in Damorga was immensely tight. The Imperial guard’s cavalry had the whole area of the prison city that was not more than ten kilometers, surrounded. Moreover, they even had military hounds that outnumbered Damorga’s citizens. And so, the most sinister prison in the west land had never had any incidents of successful escape or revolt recorded; and this had nothing to do with the warden’s brilliant leadership skills. The prisoners chose to obediently remain in prison with the sole reason of survival. Escape or revolt would only result in one outcome – death. Instead of dying, they might as well live.
The carriage carrying O’Neil Andrew Morisette stopped in the suburbs of the warden’s official residence. Two formidable guards came forth and opened the carriage doors. Little Oscar unwillingly jumped down from the carriage. In all those years, it was his first time riding in a luxurious carriage; the previous time he visited, he only rode in a slightly modified prisoner’s vehicle.
”O’Neil Andrew Morisette and Madame Antonia Horman has arrived!” the door attendant announced the arrival of the two honored guests.
The warden Lieutenant General Moranzo Hanning already stood by the door in welcome. He appeared a little flustered; at such a critical moment he did not have the heart to entertain his invited guests with senseless small talk.
”Welcome, my dear Oscar!” Lieutenant General Hanning exclaimed, showing a hideous smile.
Oscar grudgingly patted the Lieutenant General’s shoulder, and this gesture, in the eyes of others, appeared as if an elderly man was trying to appease his grandson who had gotten himself in trouble. Although the people were somewhat baffled about the legends of this teenager’s rudeness, but having seen that, for the whole evening the Lieutenant General was on edge they were slightly happier, and they started to develop some curiosity about the teenager.
After Antonia bid farewell to Oscar and the Lieutenant General, she walked towards a group of ladies she was well acquainted with.
And Oscar, being personally led by the Lieutenant General, entered an exquisitely furnished parlor. While admiring the handiwork of a master of interior design from Puerto Rico, Oscar felt somewhat indignant. That delicate Persian carpet, silver alcohol stove, the Celadon tea set from the Far East, and also the enormous sofa that was wrapped with a full polar bear skin. This was insane, a room that was barely even thirty square meters had already cost him a hundred and twenty thousand gold pieces. The Lieutenant General who had accepted bribes from him was babbling away and showing off about how his living room was comparable to that of the palace court. Oscar’s voice became cold.
”Moranzo, where are the people I want to see? Don’t tell me you failed to notice that I have no interest whatsoever in your living room?”
The Lieutenant General was obviously a little stunned by the cold, contemptuous words, but he still managed to express a slight embarrassment at the right moment.
”Oh! Yes! How ignorant of me. The Imperial envoy was occupied by some of the ladies, but he and his assistant should be here shortly! Perhaps you would like a drink? How does some rum sound? Stuttgart’s original rum?”
Oscar was slightly infuriated by the Lieutenant General’s flattery. Is that wretched original rum only accessible to the rank of Lieutenant General? Even His Majesty the Emperor could only get those few bottles.
The stout and not so tall Oscar lay down on the enormous sofa that would make anyone feel relaxed. This Puerto Rican long sofa was entirely designed based on the most comfortable positions one could manage, plus the sofa was wrapped in a precious, purely white, fully grown polar bear’s skin, and it made little Oscar take quite a fancy to it as soon as he entered the room.
The Lieutenant general felt a little awkward. He was well aware that the little young master knew his stuff when it came to the comfort of furnishings, but he did not expect that he would so naturally take his place at his own seat. However, after some thought, he chose to sit quietly on the chair at the side. After all, Oscar was the one with the leading role here; while he himself only played a supporting role that Oscar had no choice but to tolerate with.
The Lieutenant General’s every reaction could not escape Oscar’s eyes. As for seeing Mr. Earl, who was already more than half a century old, being exceptionally intimidated and shrinking away beside him, made him feel a sense of delight. Oscar’s mood brightened. In order to allow the intimidated Lieutenant General to be able to act more naturally, he tried to find a topic of interest. As for his social skills, having had the talented liar, Ricky as his mentor, Oscar had already surpassed his teacher at an early age.
Finally, the two men appeared at the living room door. Oscar and the Lieutenant general stood up to welcome them, and the group that somewhat knew each other took their seats one after another. Their politeness in speech and pleasant demeanor showed that these four men indeed absolutely fulfilled the traits of a noble gentleman. However, the issue that they were going to discuss then after might get all of them slaughtered.
The Lieutenant General ordered his confidential secretary to lead a team of guards to stand guard on the walkway outside the living room. If any bold beings barged in, these guards would not hesitate to kill. The safety of these great men were worth their lives.
The delicate, compact and luxurious little living room fell into silence. Once the door closed, the four men chose to remain silent. The almost forty-year-old, impressive attorney general, Van Earl was happily calculating how many folds his property would increase by. Damorga prison’s ranking officer was debating how he would hide his crimes from the Imperial envoy. He was yet to know that the two men from Dulin were in the same boat as him. The baron, Thomas Aulet was carefully sizing up the teenager who was the previous Titan underworld’s godfather, nicknamed ”Balance”. Brother Balance spent a fortune just to save his clan, so if he were to die for him, it would not be considered too extreme.
Oscar had received professional and strict training in psychoanalysis. Although the things he could tell from the eyes of those few men were of much chaos, but he knew that everything was within his grasp. He was ready to speak.
”My respected gentlemen, firstly, I would like to thank everyone for allowing my brothers and I an opportunity of rebirth. This opportunity so important that it makes it seem as if my gratitude is lacking. So, during this last moment, I hope that each and every one of you could reconsider, regarding the Empire’s Ministry of Justice. Damorga prison is about to experience a string of nightmarish misfortunes. Are you sure about your decision?”
The Attorney General used an almost playful look to regard O’Neil Andrew Morisette, and the look he gave him was as if he was not even a member of the Ministry of Justice. In reality, he was obviously thinking that this child who was mimicking the attitudes of underworld lords was a bit amusing. Thomas Aulet the Baron was always a man of few words. He pursed his lips. Let the Ministry of Justice suffer. His hatred for the Ministry of Justice definitely did not pale in comparison to the big shots in Damorga’s prison. Moranzo Hanning, our Lieutenant General, Damorga prison’s warden, was utterly stunned! His lips turned blue, his shoulders and arms could not stop trembling, and it looked as if he was about to have a stroke.
Yes, the Lieutenant General could hardly believe, and honestly speaking it was difficult for anyone to believe. The Imperial envoy, authorized by His Majesty the Emperor was not here to supervise his work, but to teach him corruption. However, the Lieutenant General immediately became aware that there was something he overlooked. He tried to calm his heart that felt as if it was about to burst. Ah! Damn it! What was it? Oh! That’s right! That fat bastard was trying to do something to his prison, and it seemed like he had a big movement planned, some big movement that he did not know about!
”Uhh… Please… Please forgive my impudence! Haha! Everything happened too fast. It’s as if my worries were excessive. But could someone tell me, what would become of my prison?”
Seeing Moranzo’s rage, unwillingness and humiliation towards himself, Oscar only gave a flat laugh. He could finally rid himself of this fellow.
”Oh! I apologize, our distinguished Lieutenant General, but I’d have to correct you. Damorga prison is no longer yours. His Majesty the Emperor has approved your request for rest, and so has appointed Mr. Attorney General as the temporary commanding officer with all rights. Our acting warden hoped that he could announce His Majesty the Emperor’s issue of this order for you in public.” Thomas Aulet the Baron answered Moranzo’s question coldly.
When Moranzo saw the Attorney General’s slightly startled expression and at a loss for words, he understood. He had been abandoned. That fat bastard had already abandoned himself a long time ago. Since he could attain the role of Attorney General, a prestigious role in the Ministry of Justice, was there anything that could stop him? He himself was only a worm who had been exploited to the most extreme and pitiful extent, what else could be waiting for him? Moranzo momentarily thought about the various methods the fat bastard usually used to kill. He wanted to faint, but instead, he felt more alert than ever before.
Oscar somewhat could not hold it in anymore. Although he despised the Lieutenant General of the Imperial guards, but he could not deny that Moranzo Hanning had been a great help to him. Even in the early days, in the whole of Damorga the only person who had truly protected him was this man. Oscar was never a person who betrayed those who had helped him and his spirit, which was like a balance, was already well known.
”Moranzo! My dear Moranzo, I am aware of the things troubling your heart. But do you really think that that will happen to you?” Oscar tried to be friendly and good-natured.
”Perhaps you wouldn’t believe me, but all this while, I have always looked up to you as my father. Even if this place no longer needs you, but you will always receive my everlasting respect and an unimaginable large sum in pension, not to mention a manor close to the mesmerizing Neil’s lake.”