Chapter-16
The judge didn't mind the objection and asked Mr. Mills to proceed. The prosecutor sat; it looked like he wound up his questioning for the moment.
"Mr. Jonathan Bough met Madam Esmerelda when his ship had caught up in a whirlpool, and he washed up to the shore of Rychville. The fishermen took him to madam Esmerelda, and he was held hostage for 45 days. He hadn't left Rychville since."
Mr. Mills handed a document to the court clerk.
"As per the readings of his tracker, he hasn't left Rychville."
My dad did come back to Brasston after his major accident. I remember it so well. He and my mum had their first argument that day, or at least that's the only argument I remember. He left us on our own then.
Why was he being tracked? Does everyone in Rychville get tracked? Was it because Astor was so relaxed when we got off the van to see Nina because he knew they'd hunt us down even if we tried to run?
"He didn't have any kind of contact with Mrs. Bough or his son."
The judge adjusted his spectacles and looked pensively at the document.
"Mr. Jonathan Bough is a traitor; he ran off to join the diabolics. But Mr. Sylvester has no association with them, nor was he educated about the country or its history. Only when Madam Esmerelda had gone to meet the kid and asked him to move in here did he know about Rychville?"
Not one statement that Mr. Mills said had any honesty in it. But I guess this was where I had to look the most innocent self ever. I wish I could borrow the stenographer's notes, I had a lot of questions, and I feared I would forget half of those by the time the trial would be over. Also, I needed to narrate to Theo everything as is.
"Let me share the contract signed between Madam Esmerelda and Mr. Sylvester Bough, where Mr. Syslvester has affirmed to be a citizen of Rychville and serve the nation as and when needed."
Was I being framed? Are they even on my side? If I stay quiet, it's all official; there's no going back. If I say something contradictory, and end up getting imprisoned for life. I was clueless. I decided to stay quiet. I looked at the prosecutor; he looked worried.
The jury looked at all the documents as well.
"Your honor, Mr. Sylvester Bough will be a great asset to our land, is what I think. Madam Esmerelda and more than three-quarters of the royal cabinet want to grant Mr. Sylvester citizenship. If civil law permits, we can thus steadily accomplish the goal of complete liberty."
The judge's face lit up with the last statement.
"Does the prosecutor have anything else to add to the case?" The judge looked at the prosecutor's desk.
One of the men who came to talk to me at my desk at the beginning of the trial gave a wicked smile to the prosecutor and whispered something in his ear.
"No, your honor."
"Anything else from the defendant's end?"
"No, your honor."
Mr. Mills came and sat at his desk, relaxed.
"I'll then request the jury to go ahead, hold a discussion and come to a decision."
The jury left. The judge left. Mr. Mills was busy playing with a pen at the desk. I froze in my seat. I knew I was allowed to leave the witness box, but I couldn't move.