Without saying a word, his mere fiery presence gradually silenced the courtroom.
The old man, with his flaming beard, chuckled lightly as he stood beside Frey.
"Look at yourselves... all of you... throwing your knives at this boy,
desperately trying to stab him."
He lifted Frey's head for all to see.
Frey, however, remained utterly vacant,
as if he wasn't even there.
His black eyes... looked completely dead.
Everyone watched in heavy silence as they witnessed his face ...
a face radiating overwhelming despair and infinite emptiness.
"Tell me .. what do you see?
A criminal?
A murderer?"
Iris slowly shook his head.
"He's nothing more than a child... A child who hasn't even fully matured yet."
The old man released Frey, shifting his attention back to everyone around him.
"I'm not denying that he committed a terrible act, a crime beyond question ..
but he's still a young man, barely at the start of his journey, not even half the age of most of you."
Iris pressed forward deliberately with heavy words:
"Yes, he should be held accountable. Yes, he must atone for his sins ..
but not through death.
He isn't just some ordinary individual... His talent is tremendous... He's a miracle!"
Something the world had never seen before.
"We must not bury such a gift.
A talent that, while it took thirty-eight lives, could one day save countless more ..
with the right guidance and proper education.
Surely you felt it too, didn't you? When you saw him fight."
Iris pointed out something that many had overlooked.
"You witnessed his struggle .. how he climbed from the very bottom,
how he rose up to challenge monsters,
and how, in the end, he became a monster himself."
Frey's journey in the Victoriad, the epic that told the story of his struggle...
"Even if many accused him of cheating,
for a brief moment, all of you saw yourselves in him."
With modest talent,
he carved a path toward the summit.
Many imagined themselves in his place,
because he resembled them.
And many of the young had raised him up,
declaring him their hero.
His fight... was never hidden.
Everyone had witnessed it.
Iris' words were powerful.
Yet, despite this, an opposing voice rang out:
"You're only defending him because of his talent!"
"You're trying to save him simply because he holds a high status!"
Iris' words were both true and false at the same time.
Frey Starlight was no longer a youth of modest talent ..
he had been revealed as a monster with unknown limits.
Naturally, much of the public resented Iris' defense.
In their eyes, if Frey had been an ordinary killer, without talent or a powerful family,
they would have executed him immediately, regardless of his age or circumstances.
To them, this all reeked of pure hypocrisy.
But Iris showed no sign of anger.
Instead, he flashed a terrifying smile.
"You're absolutely right!"
Everyone was taken aback by his unexpected reaction.
"You say I'm biased because of his talent? Of course I am!
Who ever said that all lives are equal?!"
He continued unleashing words that left the courtroom bewildered.
"I'm telling you ... we must let him live precisely because of his talent.
Because he is gifted,
because he can offer something extraordinary to this empire!
That is how worth is measured here nothing else."
Morality meant little in the world they lived in.
Double standards were the norm inside the empire that had survived countless horrors.
A person's life depended heavily on the value they could bring to the empire.
That was the truth Iris was delivering.
At that moment, Ivar Valerion's eyes widened slightly as he recalled what Maekar Valerion had said on that day:
"His worth... will determine his fate."
Could this have been the Emperor's true meaning all along?
Iris Sunlight declared his stance with pride,
fully aware he was attracting hostility and disdain from many within the hall.
Meanwhile, Ada Starlight watched how Iris had fought for her brother ..
with a ferocity she hadn't imagined.
At last, she understood why the old man had insisted on speaking instead of her.
Iris Sunlight was someone who had lived too long,
who had seen too much...
A truly unfathomable man.
Maekar himself nodded with a faint smile,
releasing his aura once more to silence the courtroom completely.
"Well said, Iris Sunlight,"
the Emperor declared.
"In the end, it is a man's worth that determines his fate."
The audience grimaced at Maekar's direct support of Iris' stance.
Iris simply nodded respectfully toward Maekar.
"Your wisdom is truly admirable... Your Majesty."
The Lord of Sunlight gracefully stepped back,
leaving the rest for the Emperor to handle.
"I would now like to hear the opinions of everyone present."
In order, the courtroom allowed each major group to express their stance.
House Starlight...
Their position was made absolutely clear by Ada Starlight's powerful statement:
they fully supported her brother and firmly rejected any possibility of his execution.
House Moonlight...
To everyone's surprise,
Frost Moonlight declared that their house would remain completely neutral regarding the case.
He stated that any rumors about House Moonlight seeking Frey's death were merely fabricated by certain disgruntled members of their family.
The young lord of House Moonlight showed clear maturity as he declared his family's stance without hesitation.
The Church.
They were perhaps the decisive factor, the main force that had demanded Frey's execution.
Yet to everyone's shock, the Church suddenly announced its neutrality!
Their sudden reversal, after being so vocal in calling for Frey's death, was blatant hypocrisy.
You could practically feel the suffocating frustration radiating from Blatter.
But he couldn't do a thing once the Hero himself declared his support for Frey Starlight out of nowhere.
Since Snow Lionheart was the bearer of Vermithor,
his decisions were seen as the embodiment of the Will of the Lord of light.
Opposing him would mean directly opposing their god's will—and completely destroying their credibility.
The High Priest was finally experiencing the dark side of appointing a Hero ..
becoming shackled to the whims of a 17-year-old boy named Snow Lionheart.
Blatter quietly wondered whether it was even possible to manipulate that young man anymore,
especially after gaining the constant backing of Saintess Yurasha.
It was a true disaster.
One that brought a subtle smile to Emperor Maekar's face.
The Emperor then requested the opinions of his children, since one of them would inherit the throne one day.
Sansa Valerion did not hesitate.
She openly and boldly voiced her full support for Frey Starlight.
"His execution would be the stupidest decision this empire has ever made since its founding."
With that powerful declaration,
having already helped dismantle the hidden forces that sought Frey's death,
and cleverly securing the presence of a major influencer like Oliver Khan at her side,
Sansa had gained a significant advantage with seemingly simple moves.
"You claim he's just a murderer...
But to me, he's the man who saved my life when no one else would."
The princess spoke of how Frey had risked everything to save her inside the Temple.
A person like that...
did not deserve death.
She made her stance crystal clear.
Her dark eyes briefly glanced toward her brother sitting on the opposite side.
Aegon Valerion sat quietly, wearing his usual smile.
Yet his gaze never once left Frey Starlight.
This insect who had grown into a monster,
whose true size even he could not yet measure.
A being who had survived every attempt on his life,
who had defied logic with miracle after miracle…
Before Frey, for the first time ...
Aegon felt something he hadn't even felt toward his father, nor the Empire, nor the Ultras ..
Despair.
The despair of facing true defeat.
Frey Starlight had, quietly, become Aegon's top priority.
Calmly, Aegon expressed his stance:
"I will remain neutral."
The prince decided to play it safe.
Of course, he wanted Frey dead,
but he couldn't afford to be the sole open opposition.
That would've been pure idiocy.
Now, very clearly,
almost every major power was against Frey's execution.
Everyone was left bewildered
at how quickly Frey's situation had turned around overnight.
And it was all thanks to the old man sitting back with a satisfied smile ..
Iris Sunlight.
He had overturned what seemed like an impossible situation in record time,
showing that the terror of the old generation was not only on the battlefield...
but in the political arena as well.
Everyone could now feel the momentum of the court shifting completely in Frey Starlight's favor.
Yet Maekar had not announced the verdict.
There was still one person left whose voice had yet to be heard.
That person... was Frey Starlight himself.
"I would like to hear what the accused has to say,"
Maekar declared, his voice echoing throughout the silent courtroom.
In other words, Maekar was giving Frey a chance to defend himself ... and perhaps tip the scales fully in his favor after all the support he had gained.
Finally, all attention was focused on the boy at the center.
Frey Starlight,
who had remained vacant and detached all this time, his eyes still staring blankly into the void.