"Tell me. Are you also not from here?"

Lydia averts her gaze, staring at the floor hiding her face. Not getting an answer from her, I turn to Argus,

"Is she the one you told me about? The one who is currently not here and is also not from the book?"

"No. That was a "he", remember? This is....I honestly don't know who she really is since she never said anything about herself. She once let it slip when she inquired about why I didn't sign up for the border mission and that's when I found out that she's also not from here. However..."
He turns to look at her, "whenever I asked her or tried to get confirmation from her, she never replied."

When he finishes explaining, we both glance at Lydia waiting for her to start explaining.

".....Fine. I'm not from here. My real name is Roxane. However, I came here when Lydia was only one month old."

"Then what year are you from?"

".....756..."

She mumbled in a low voice.

"You mean 1756?"

"No. 756 CE."

"What in the....."

"Holy Shit!"

Argus and my eyes' go wide open along with our mouths. That's such an old timeline. Then how old the book originally is? Just who is the author of this book? So many questions popped in my head. Yet I did not have the answer to any single one of them.

"How old were you when you came here?"

"I think......I was......23?"

"Then do you remember anything from your past or that life?"

"No, I apologise. Everything's hazy and blurry."

"Why didn't you tell us before?"

"Because I like my life as Lydia. I am Lydia and I am happy being Lydia."

"I see....then how much of the story have you read?"

"Not more than you two. I think even less."

"Just why is it that no one has ever tried to finish this book? Does anyone even know how it ends?"

I look at both of them who cluelessly shook their heads.

"Then does anyone at least know about the author or why we came into this book?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Let's figure it all out when that other guy comes as well. We can then discuss and find out why we are actually here."

"Alright."

"That sounds good."

"For now, we have a trial to attend to."

"Argus, when will my brothers be here?"

"They will be here when the trial ends."

"Why? I thought they'd be here by now. Is something wrong?

"You'll see what I'm referring to during the trial. Although, don't worry. They're perfectly healthy."

"That's good then."

Before long, we were all gathered in one of the courtrooms. The room itself was of mediocre size with wooden furniture and flooring utilised. The only difference in this room and from the court rooms that I had seen on dramas was that it was in round shape and there was no jury present. The accused were on the right while the defendants were on the left of the three judges who sat tall and high at the middle end.

Regardless of how the room looked, the environment itself was heavy. There was this intimidating aura roaming in the air that made me hold my breath in.

"Don't worry. Just remember what you practiced."

Argus whispered to me, while giving me an assuring smile. I smiled back at him and took my seat. Ryker came after half an hour with his own team of lawyers. And when I say team, I mean 8-9 lawyers, wearing the traditional white long coats and berets, a typical dress code of the lawyers in this book. Soon after, ultimately the trial began.

It started off with our lawyer stating all the allegations against Ryker. As expected, one of his lawyers which I presumed is the head, denied all charges

That's when Marquis Leander Gessele stepped forward and presented his evidence. Proof of his smuggling and illegal transactions from the mines he own.

Later on Argus went on to explain how Ryker planned and made other's bankrupt by making them lose their money and investments and stealing their business plans to set up his own and by using extortion and other ways, he took over other's properties, mainly mines which he then used for smuggling and illegal dealings.

Normally, such charges wouldn't be accepted. Asking for a property instead of money, is the right of the one who gives loan. Hence by just claiming that it is unfair that he took all those mines, would not be approved of. Therefore, Argus provided evidences using credible sources that helped carry out charges against Ryker for his illegal way of dealing things, extortion and stealing.

Last but not least, came my turn to speak. Honestly I was so in awe of the questions those judges asked and the answers everyone before me gave that it made me feel as if I'll lose my tongue when it'll be my turn. Nonetheless, my worries were just my imagination. They asked me simple questions regarding father's business and about my brothers' kidnapping. Yes, another charge we filed against Ryker was kidnapping.

After our turn was complete, the judges then turned to the defendants.

Unexpectedly Ryker's lawyer agreed to all charges except the kidnapping one since they had nothing else to back up the rest of them. Furthermore, the fact that all the other charges would only cost him around 10-50 billion mels and a few months of community service whereas, on the other hand, kidnapping would result in 4-12 years of imprisonment with at least 100 billion mels fine.

To refute their argument that Ryker had never once kidnapped anyone, our lawyer called in another witness.

From behind, the chairs that I thought were empty, stood up a middle aged man, wearing a deep blue police outfit, holding his officer hat under his arm. He walked straight to the centre and sat in-front of the judges in the witness area.

Where did he come from? I look at Argus and Marquis and they both looked as if they knew about it.

The man introduced himself as the Chief of District Police and how yesterday, while doing checkups, they heard voices of children inside one of Ryker's mines. They were crying for help and were kidnapped. He additionally identifies those two children as Eros and Lark. Hearing his words, Ryker explodes and blurts out,

"How did those two get there? Last I recall, they were at my mansion! You are lying!"

Our sharp lawyer took this chance to inquire,

"Then Mr. Cash did you just agree that you are the one responsible for their abduction?"

Ryker was lost for words. Except glaring and clenching his fists, he was unable to do anything.

After things became clear, the court was adjourned for fifteen minutes while the judges make their decisions since they had finished listened to both parties.

_________

Ryker went straight to the smaller room behind the actual court room that was meant for the judges. It was a compact square structured room with a huge round wooden table in centre with six chairs.

"What the hell is going on!"

He gritted his teeth and hissed at the judges.

The judges which were three in total included two men, one of late middle age and one of early young age. The third one was a middle aged female. Aside from the women, the men owed money to Ryker which is why he had confidence that he would never lose this case. However now, he was starting to worry. All his hard work over the years would go to waste if this goes wrong.

"We.....what can we do? They have all the evidence. It's against the law."

"Trashes like you have no problem going against the law before so what's the problem now?"

"Your charges are too much."

"Shut up! I don't know how but make it work or else...."

He was this close to hitting one of them. Fortunately he refrained himself from doing so since his consciousness came back and reminded him that regardless of everything, the people in front of him were still judges appointed by the Royal Supreme Court.

"You better watch out. You will pay depending upon your decision. Mark my words!"

"Mr. Cash."

A calm and collected voice made his anger drop a little when he realised that the female judge was also standing here. He had never seen her before therefore this was going to be a problem.

"Your actions just now seem to justify all the allegations against you. What a pity. I thought you were a cunning man who planned and knew what he was doing but now it turns out, you're nothing but an over ambitious fool."

"So what? What are you going to do? Send me to community service and make me pay a tiny fine?"

"You seem to be forgetting something. Unlike these two here, I do not owe you anything. Therefore, I am not obliged to bend to your will. Your words and actions just now have seemed to increase your sentence. You better be prepared. Now, leave."

Ryker wanted to smack something to take out his anger but alas, he knew better than to leave right now or else he will end up with a much more severe punishment.

He angrily smashes the door and leaves. He starts walking towards his lawyers who were somewhere outside the courtroom when he sees Argus and Rhea talking to each other in the corridor.

Those bastards. It's all because of those two! If only they stuck to the story! Damn those two! I won't forgive them! Sure, I wanted to change the story a bit and have the female lead to myself to become a male lead, but how did it lead to this? It's not fair! It's all their fault!

Thinking this, he angrily starts walking towards Rhea after Argus leaves her side to go somewhere else.

Hey guys! Did you see this coming? 👀
Ryker is also not from the book! 😱
I told you, everything is connected. In further chapters more mysteries will be revelled so please keep reading! And once again, tomorrow double chapters will be uploaded. Hope you enjoy! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️