My Husband Caught Me Having an Affair - Chapter 157

“Proceed.”

At the Emperor’s command, Ethan signaled toward the courtroom entrance. Two soldiers soon escorted a man forward.

The man stepped up to the witness stand.

“Do you swear to speak only the truth before His Majesty the Emperor?”

At Ethan’s question, the man replied in a calm voice, “I swear.”

“State your name and status.”

“Toma Reggiani. I worked in the Girard intelligence division for eight years. For the last three, I was in charge of prisoner interrogation and torture.”

At that answer, Thierry’s expression stiffened slightly. He clearly hadn’t expected Toma to appear here today.

Toma was fairly well known within the Girard intelligence division. He had always been a capable agent, but it was his turbulent past that made him infamous.

Toma had lost his family and annihilated the enemy organization on his own, then gained notoriety as a merciless torture specialist. There was no way Thierry didn’t know his name.

‘Especially since he must’ve conducted extensive research in preparation for today’s trial. He probably found out that Marlon summoned Toma to the mansion where I was held.’

Toma’s name hadn’t appeared on the list of those detained by the Imperial Family. That left only three possibilities in Thierry’s mind: he had escaped, died, or been captured by Dumont.

Whatever the truth was, Thierry likely assumed there was no chance Toma would show up in court today.

Toma had committed countless inhumane acts against prisoners. If caught, he was certain to face severe punishment.

But here he was, by his own choice, not by force.

A few days earlier, Toma had come to the Dumont residence and said:

“I’ve met my son, and I have no regrets. I’ll turn myself in.”

“Are you sure? Then what about Eric…?” I asked hesitantly.

“As I said before, if I don’t pay for what I’ve done, I can’t face my son as a father. I’ve decided that taking responsibility for my actions is more important—for Eric’s sake—than staying by his side right now.”

Toma spoke with resolute determination. There was no longer any trace of the torment and doubt once visible in his eyes.

Ethan, who was listening beside me, quietly nodded. “I understand. Then I’ll personally ensure that your son is protected by House Dumont until you’ve served your sentence and are released.”

“No need. I left Eric with the carpenter he’d been staying with. Turns out he’s become quite passionate about his apprenticeship. Do you know what he told me? He said that someday, he wants to fill the house we’ll live in together with furniture he’s made himself.”

Toma smiled as he said it. It was a warm expression I’d never seen from him before.

“I heard the trial to sentence House Girard is soon. Let me testify and tell everything I know. It’s the least I can do to repay the debt. My son and I were reunited thanks to the Duchess.”

At first, we hadn’t planned to call Toma as a witness. There was already plenty of evidence proving Marlon’s involvement in my abduction.

Since we’d successfully delivered the letter to Gabriel, Toma’s role had been fulfilled. I truly hoped he could now enjoy a peaceful life with his son.

‘But just like in the original story, Toma wasn’t someone who could ignore his past sins and pretend they never happened.’

In the end, it worked out well for Ethan and me too.

“Please tell us everything you know about Duke Marlon Girard’s abduction of the Duchess of Dumont.”

“On the night the Dumont knights raided the Girard estate, I had been summoned by Duke Girard earlier that evening. He ordered me to interrogate a ‘special’ prisoner—not at the usual underground facility, but at a different location outside the estate.”

“What was that location?”

“No. 17, Volper Street.”

“That’s the exact address of the house where my wife was held.”

After Ethan said this, he picked up a document from the table and handed it to the Emperor. The Emperor skimmed it and nodded.

“Continue.”

“What happened after that?” Ethan asked Toma.

“I arrived at the designated location on time. It looked like an ordinary house from the outside, and the inside was the same—except that it was heavily guarded.”

“Did you recognize any of the soldiers there?”

“Yes. Hardy Velod was there. He’s the head of Duke Girard’s guard. The others appeared to be from the same unit.”

“What did you do once you arrived?”

“I went down to the basement to prepare for interrogation.”

“Specifically, what preparations?”

“I laid out and inspected the torture instruments.”

Murmurs spread through the courtroom.

“Did Duke Marlon Girard order you to torture Duchess Camille Dumont?”

“He didn’t say it in those exact words. But in the Girard intelligence division, I was practically in charge of all prisoner torture. Whenever Duke Girard summoned me personally, it was always for cases involving torture. And that day, he told me, ‘If the Duchess of Dumont starts to talk, call me.’”

“In other words, that could be interpreted as implying she wouldn’t talk easily, so you were to torture her.”

“Objection. That statement is purely the Duke of Dumont’s personal conjecture.” Thierry stood and raised his voice.

“I was merely confirming the witness’s intent. Based on the context of earlier statements, it seemed quite clear that this was what he meant,” Ethan replied without expression.

“Is that so?”

The Emperor looked to Toma.

“Yes. I believe so as well. That’s how I interpreted it at the time.”

“What happened after that?” Ethan asked.

“Shortly after, the Duchess of Dumont was brought to the basement. I intended to torture her, as instructed by Duke Girard, but what she said to me made me change my mind.”

“What did she say?”

“She said that my son, whom I thought I had lost in the fire three years ago along with my wife, was still alive—and that if I helped her escape, she would make it possible for me to see him again.”

Again, the courtroom buzzed.

“Did you believe her?”

“At first, I thought it was nonsense. But gradually, I began to believe her. The Duchess’s claims had a certain credibility, and she knew many details that only someone well-informed could possibly know.”

“What kind of details?”

“Up until then, I believed the fire had been started by the organization I had belonged to before joining the Girard intelligence division. But the Duchess said that wasn’t true—that it had been an internal operation ordered by Duke Girard.”

The courtroom erupted once more. This time, the commotion was so loud and persistent that the Emperor had to call for silence.

“Why would Duke Girard order the death of your family—his own subordinate’s?”

“Because that’s how Girard operated. He and the intelligence division believed that having loved ones was a weakness. If a family member or lover was taken hostage, they said it could lead to the leak of classified information or even betrayal.”

Toma continued calmly, “That’s why most of the agents in the Girard intelligence division had no family and were unmarried. But I was an exception. I had already been married when I was recruited.”

“So Duke Girard had your wife and son killed as a precaution, in case someone tried to use them against you. And then he framed an innocent party.”

“Yes. The organization he framed had refused to come under House Girard’s control, so from Duke Girard’s point of view, it served two purposes. I was nothing more than a puppet,” Toma spoke in a low but furious voice.

“How did the Duchess of Dumont know all of this?”

“She said she heard it from an informant inside the Girard intelligence division. That the same informant was the one who disobeyed Duke Girard’s orders and secretly rescued my son.”

At the time, I had told Toma that I’d heard it directly from Gabriel Blanchard.

When he later came to the Dumont estate, I explained that wasn’t actually true. Just like I’d written in the letter to Arthur, I hadn’t thought I could convince Toma otherwise.

Toma accepted it without protest.

“What did you do afterward?” Ethan asked again.

“I escaped with the Duchess of Dumont. And she kept her promise. She made it possible for me to meet my son.”

“Did you come here today because of a promise you made with the Duchess?”

“No. I volunteered to come. To expose the vile truth about Duke Girard and atone for my own crimes. Without doing so, I can’t face my son as his father.”

Gasps sounded throughout the courtroom.

“That is all,” Ethan said quietly.

I smiled faintly to myself. Perfect.