After Emily's respectful response, she managed to sway the opinion toward her. A few of the Elders themselves came into her defense, challenging the judgment of the  Second Elder, consequently putting the man under pressure. 

She had thought this through. These old guys could never come to a conclusive decision about a grave matter in a million years. Such was the incompetency of the so-called Royal Court. With her legs on top of each other, she just watched the drama unfold. 

For the next ten minutes, arguments and counter-arguments were thrown at each other while Emily casually sipped on her drink. Ultimately, the Second Elder can't take this anymore. "Silence..!!" 

"I have decided." He dropped his feet to the ground. "Emily needs to serve three months of imprisonment." The Third Elder was extremely dissatisfied with the judgment. Everyone knew imprisonment for Emily was nothing more than a house arrest in every sense. 

"Second Elder.." "There will be no more discussion on this matter!" His words cut off Sulfina's sentence. He was truly not willing to waste his time pointlessly discussing a futile matter.

"We are better off brainstorming about how we should deal with this mess. What was to happen has already happened... there is nothing the Court can do in this case." His words were clear as day, and despite her grievances, Sulfina chose to sit back down in her seat. 

"Does anyone has any ideas...?" Right when the old man spoke, the door to their room was opened from outside. "Pardon my intrusion... Elders..!" A middle-aged man showed himself, gallantly holding onto a sheathed sword on his waist.

The man had a face carved out of jade. Matching his demeanor, his body was covered under a lavish dress. Entering the room, he took a small now towards the council of Elders before his eyes met with Emily. Both of them exchanged smiles as the man approached and stood next to her. 

"Prince Hayden..?" Everyone except the top five Elders stood up and responded to the man's greeting with a bow of their own. "Is there anything we can help you with, my prince?" Second Elder took the lead in asking the man for his motives.

The prince chuckled lightly and remained standing right next to Emily despite offers from the Elders to take a seat. "I won't take much of your time, Second Elder. I am here to share some crucial details with you.. that might help you deliver a more informed judgment." 

Third Elder had a bad premonition when she saw the prince exchanging glances with Emily. Most people in the room knew of Prince Hayden's romantic attraction toward Emily since his younger days. Although she ended up marrying a different guy, his affection for the lady didn't entirely fade away. 

Resting his right hand assuringly on Emily's left shoulder, he passed he offered a captivating smile. "Then please enlighten us,  Prince Hayden." Second Elder was confused but the prince had gathered quite a bit of goodwill among the council. As such, no one had any objections to his interjection in this so-called trial. 

"I think most of you might be unaware of the events that took place before Ms. Emily returned to the capital.." Prince Hayden took his time reporting the entire event where the Crown Prince of Thera Empire intruded on their territory. 

"Such gall..!!" "Do they think we have lost our teeth?" "Those Thera bastards... if not for those beastmen..!!" Despite the waning power of their kingdom, it was not a delightful feeling to have your pride stepped on. The entire room broke out into muffled curses. 

"Are you telling me that the Crown Prince challenged our sovereignty... in order to seek out a defector?" Even the Second Elder who was known for being the most composed out of all can be heard gritting his teeth. Can there be a bigger mockery of their self-esteem? 

"I am afraid that was their reason when we confronted their envoy. Not very convincing indeed.. haha.." Prince Hayden chuckled to himself, leading the atmosphere in the room gets even tenser. 

"We must demand an apology!!" The fifth Elder spoke up, but Second Elder signaled her to calm down. "Tell us how the situation unfolded? Do we have the Crown Prince under our custody?" His question was directed toward Hayden.

"No... the Crown Prince had been allowed to get back to his kingdom." His answer led to an even bigger commotion in the house. Where was their dignity as a nation in all this? They were in a marriage of convenience with the Thera Empire in the first place, how can they stomach such blatant disrespect. 

With a flamboyant smile on his face, Hayden let the room heat up. But the Second Elder can see that the man has not told them everything. "Silence!! Let Prince Hayden continue." 

"Haha.." Hayden laughed as if he was enjoying the Elders' spoilt mood. "Don't worry.. our Grand Mage here handled the situation splendidly." He stepped behind Emily's chair, his hands on her shoulders, presenting her as the hero. 

"Ms. Emily did.. what..?" Everyone was like the Second Elder, puzzled and waiting for Hayden to clear up the situation. "Let me recount the moment in detail.." Emily kept a nonchalant smile on her face as the man recounted the story of the Crown Prince invading her town, her efforts thwarted by her.

"She.. she..!!" Most of the elders had cold sweat on their foreheads when Hayden described Emily's action of breaking the crown prince's hand. None of them had foreseen such a response. "Hehe.. from what I have been reported to.. it seems like the boy suffered a trauma and had been unable to get up from his bed."

Instantly, the mood in the room was uplifted. Even though it was nothing short of flirting with a disaster, none among the council had faulted Emily for that. In their eyes, the Grand Magus had won their dignity back for them.

"Ms. Emily.. you have our sincere appreciation for that." The Fifth Elder took the lead in applauding Emily's action. Immediately, each one of the Elders except the Second and Thrid was following her suit. 

"Nice work... Emily." Second Elder revealed a rare smile. Emily respectfully responded with a bow of her head. "It's nothing, elder. Any citizen of the Cyclon Empire would have done the same." 

Sulfina can see Emily's goodwill skyrocket in among her fraternity and she hated that. All she could do was put her head down. With the arrival of Prince Hayden, the situation had spiraled out of her control. She can already assume what the man aimed for. "Tch..!" 

"Not only that.." Once the Prince spoke, the voices in the room clamped up. "Just yesterday, his majesty has received a personal communication letter from the King of Thera, seeking apologies for his son's rampant action." 

No one knew that the mysterious entity lumbering in the town of Korua had played a key role in the letter. If not for the unfathomable powers of the entity, the King of Thera would never have been this prudent in his letter. 

The room cheered and most of the elders seemed as if they were little kids, jostling in their seats. This turn of events.. no one could have anticipated. Emily's image immediately transformed from a miscreant to a hero of the nation. 

Hayden exchanged smiles with the mage, waiting for the council to calm down. "Second Elder... I think you can tell how much of an asset madam Emily has been to our nation." He let the other elders nod in response before continuing. 

"Keeping that in mind, may I propose leniency on behalf of Ms. Emily." Letting his words sink in, the valiant-looking man resumed, his eyes scanning everyone in the room. "I postulate her term be reduced to a single month, instead of three." 

As soon as his sentence ended, he garnered support from almost the entirety of the council. Even the Second Elder can't go against the whole council. Meanwhile, Sulfina gripped the armrest of her chair, her nails digging into the cushion in frustration.

"Huh... I see.. So this was all planned since the beginning.." The Second Elder was no fool. He can tell, that this matter was not impromptu. Prince Hayden had been involved in it since the start. Still, he smiled. 

"So be it.. The Royal Court decrees that Emily will be sentenced to one-month imprisonment along with a stern warning." The council supported the notion with open arms. For the first time, Emily had won them some of their lost dignity. If not for the face of the Royal court, most of them would have voted against the one-month imprisonment itself.

'Stern warning.. my ass!!' It was a total loss for the Third Elder Sulfina. She can only pass on glare to the woman before jumping to her feet and leaving the room in a huff. No one bothered to stop her, knowing she might be in a bad mood.

Sulfina had always been at loggerheads with Emily. All of them can tell that she was probably dissatisfied with the judgment. Nonetheless, everyone agreed that today was certainly not her day.

Hayden watched the lady storm out of the room with a complacent smile. "I thank the court for a truly enlightened judgment." Emily too got up and thanked the council with a bow. 

"I offer to personally see Ms. Emily to her accommodations." Hayden requested and since no one objected, he walked out along with Emily. Both of them didn't say a word until they left the courthouse building. 

Once outside, Emily slapped the back of the man beside her. "Hahaha.. You are just as shrewd Hayden. You do know it's a crime to withhold information from the court?" The man dropped the stern face and picked up a cheerful smile as well.

"Don't you know.. big sis Emily.. Royalty is exempt from crimes? Not to mention.. I didn't withhold the facts. I just delayed them hehe..." As soon as Emily reached the capital she had sought Hayden for guidance. 

The prince immediately stopped the flow of information, leading to the Elders being left in dark about what transpired in the town of Korua. He then effectively used the events to manipulate their judgment in Emily's favor at the most crucial time. 

"Haha.." Emily laughed out loud, repeatedly slapping the back of the man like a senior impressed with her junior. "One month? That's too short. I was prepared to serve for at least half a year this time around." She joked. 

Hayden shook his head. "That can't happen, sis. This brother of yours won't allow that." He slapped his chest, only to have Emily ruffle his head. "Yeah, yeah.. now show me around my prison... I am too tired.."

Emily stretched her limbs, leading to her succulent busts being put into prominence under the moonlight. Hayden found himself stupefied at the figure. "Sis.. what happened to you?" Emily too stopped in her tracks, looking back at the man.

"Hmm..? Is there something wrong with me?" Hayden shook his head before appreciating the figure once again. "No.. But you look.." The mage tilted her head to the side. "Look what?"

"You look.. ahem.. young..!" Hayden regretted his words as soon as they left his mouth. "What did you say?" Emily squinted her eyes. The man took a step back, waving his hands frantically in the air. "Ahaha.. nothing.. I said, big sis looks youthful as ever." 

Emily took a step towards him, finding the man sweating cold beads from his head. "But I think I head something about being old??" Hayden visibly gulped, taking another step back. "Haha.. you must have misheard sis.. ahh..?" 

He was unable to respond fast enough... Even so, when his mind calmed down. He found himself in a hug with Emily. The lady squeezed herself tightly against him. "Thanks, Hayden." He can't help but take in a deep breath of the woman's sweet scent.

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