Chapter 776 The fate of the duke (1)
Chapter 776 The fate of the duke (1)
The duke and the remainder of his men were captured.
It didn't seem like the fourth prince had planned on capturing them at first since he wanted to completely decimate the forces that the duke controlled, but now it seemed like he was too tired to care.
It seemed like he had been completely exhausted by his encounter with the Demon Count Mephisto that he didn't care if there were a few remnants.
After all, it was impossible for the duke to do anything with these remnants.
We put them all in binds and then put them in the cage cart that the fourth prince had prepared. These were actually nearby the area that we had been in, showing that the fourth prince already knew everything that the duke had been planning.
I couldn't help revealing a faint bitter smile when I saw this since I had no idea what the duke was planning.
The fourth prince had kept me in the dark the entire time.
The duke was allowed to travel in the same carriage as us, but he was naturally tied up so he couldn't do anything.
We sat there in silence for a bit before the duke finally asked, "How did you find out? Not just the Snake Syndicate, about my family's intentions to betray the kingdom."
He turned to look at me before saying, "It's certainly not because of you alone. To prepare all of this, you must have known all of this before I told you anything."
The fourth prince just looked at me as well before saying with a smile, "It was my brother here that found out your family's intentions to betray the kingdom."
Though he didn't say anything else, it was clear by the way that he looked at me that there was something else that he wanted to say.
For example…
"Though he hasn't told me how he found out about this either."
I had just asked the fourth prince and the king to trust me in this matter, so I had never actually explained anything to them.
It wouldn't have been strange if they had rejected this, but they had listened to me in the end and had gone along with me, taking down one of the four dukes of the kingdom. It certainly shouldn't have been easy since it was one of the four dukes, one of the four highest ranking people in the kingdom.
Duke Yuletide looked at me with a surprised look and looked like he wanted to ask me more.
However, I didn't let him ask anything as I said, "You must be wondering what will happen to you now."
Duke Yuletide immediately knitted his brows when he heard this before looking at me with narrowed eyes. It was as if he was trying to judge what I was planning to do by asking this all of a sudden.
I just calmly looked at him and said, "First off, your family has already been apprehended."
There was an ugly look that appeared on Duke Yuletide's face when he heard this before he said, "You better not have hurt them!"
The way that he said this almost made it seem like he wasn't a man that had been pushed to the edge. The way that he said this was almost as if he still had some kind of hope.
I wasn't surprised since I guessed that he must have something else that he was clinging to, which was why he had been so calm as he sat there in the carriage with us.
That was why I was even saying all of this to him.
I wanted to break his hope so he wouldn't try anything later.
I just calmly looked at Duke Yuletide and said, "They're a family of traitors, what they get is what they deserve."
Duke Yuletide's face became even uglier for a bit, but then his expression relaxed a bit as he said with a sigh, "My daughters didn't know a single thing. At the very least, can you spare them?"
I was surprised to hear this since I thought he would never beg for mercy like this, but…it seemed that he was a father in the end.
He wasn't certain what would happen, so at the very least, he wanted to make sure that his daughters didn't suffer no matter what happened.
I could understand this since I had witnessed another father who cared very much for his daughter firsthand. I knew how deep a father's feelings for his daughter could be…
I looked at the fourth prince and saw that he seemed to be thinking the same thing.
So exchanging a glance with him, I finally said, "We'll keep that in mind later on at the trial."
Duke Yuletide gave a simple nod as if he understood before his expression became serious again.
No, it was better to say that his expression became determined, almost as if he was determined to keep his daughters from harm.
It seemed that he had resolved himself to do all that he could to protect them, which meant that he was going to go all in with the cards that he thought he still had.
One might consider this a backfire, but I didn't mind since there was still plenty to talk about.
I just calmly continued by saying, "The duke's manor and all of your assets have already been seized as per the laws of the kingdom. You and your family will stand trial for your crimes of treason."
Duke Yuletide just gave another simple nod since this was all expected.
This was the basic sentence that could be given for a crime of this manner.
It wasn't something to be surprised by.
Duke Yuletide just focused on what would be coming next.
As he expected, I continued by saying, "We have already raided the hideout of the Snake Syndicate. We have captured all of your associates and seized all of the assets that were hidden in that manor."