Carmella had a thin layer of sweat on the tip of her nose. She leaned on the railing of the gallery, feeling weak and struggling to keep herself from collapsing. She lifted her hand and tried to adjust the crooked crown on her head but accidentally caught her hair and knocked her crown off. A large gemstone fell out with a clatter.
"Carmella..." Martin looked at her coldly. "Why did you do this?"
"Your Majesty, I..."
"Why did you do it?!" Martin lost his patience and grabbed her throat!
Carmella widened her eyes. The fear of death made her stiff, and even her breathing stopped.
Alexander stopped Martin and advised him in a low voice, "Uncle, this is a court. You must not act impulsively!"
Martin slowly let go, but his teeth kept chattering, and his face was contorted with anger.
Rowan said calmly, "Your Majesty, there may only be one reason why the queen did this..."
As he spoke, he took out a DNA test report. "Your Majesty, are you afraid of this?"
Carmella looked up, her expression full of incredulity.
The '99%' printed on the DNA report was shocking as if a tsunami that left everyone present speechless.
As for Aurelia, it felt like she was in a dream.
99%? She was related to Helene by blood? How was that possible!?
There was a loud ring in her ears as if something had exploded. Her blank mind suddenly churned up memories of the 18 years she had spent living in the slums.
She was the daughter of illegal immigrants.
She was a street rat that everyone despised.
She had spent her supposedly wonderful childhood in a damp and cold basement.
She would follow the nomads to sing and dance in the square for tips, wondering about how to feed herself and avoid the police every day...
Now, that DNA test report told her that she was Helene's daughter?
Aurelia fell to the ground with a thud, her big eyes full of fear and confusion.
"As far as I know, Your Majesty also had doubts about Aurelia's identity and secretly did a DNA test for her and Princess Helene!" Rowan raised his voice. "It seems that our test results are the same. Heh, Aurelia is the daughter of Princess Helene, the little princess you personally abandoned in the slums of Melorian all those years ago!"
"No!" Carmella shouted, her hands tightly gripping the railing as she was unable to stand steady.
"If I'm not mistaken, Your Majesty harbors murderous thoughts toward Princess Helene, Aurelia, and me upon learning the DNA test results!"
"Rowan Irwin, you're accusing me!"
"Your Majesty, do you still refuse to admit it at this point?"
Carmella was gasping for breath. The world before her eyes seemed to have become a prison.
Martin was heartbroken and powerless, sitting in his seat with indescribably complex emotions in his heart.
"In addition, Her Majesty has been injecting Princess Helene with a drug." Rowan produced another report. "This drug contains a large amount of Diazepam!"
For him?
"Heh!" Martin suddenly sneered. "So, you can abandon all sense of right and wrong because it's for me? You can hurt my family recklessly because it's for me!?
"Carmella, you're too vicious... You keep hurting me under the guise of doing it for my sake! You know I don't care about the throne!"
"Martin—"
"You're the only one who cares about this throne!" Martin thundered. "It's you who wants to be the queen, to be the noblest woman in all of Southeast Aciatic, to satisfy your vanity!
"You don't understand me... I'd rather not have the throne and have my sister live well..."
Martin's voice grew lower as he crouched on the floor, holding his head and crying. The authority and pride of a sovereign he had were all gone.
In the eyes of others, he was just an ordinary man—a man with a guilty conscience.
It was perhaps good for him to cry it out. The tears could gradually wash away 18 years of guilt, debt, and self-blame.
Alexander stepped forward and helped his uncle up, comforting him softly.
The judge announced an adjournment. Twenty minutes later, Rowan was acquitted and released on the spot.
The Irwins' reputation was restored, and their stocks even rose to the highest point, with the trend continuing upward.
However, there was no peace in the palace as earth-shattering changes were taking place.
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