Whir… Noah heard the sound of a recorder working and was surprised.
“Sit down.”
Scrape. The sound of Kyle pulling the chair out was terrifying. Noah felt slightly sick when she looked at the dozens of glass lenses aimed at her.
Kyle sat, and then reached and flipped through a thick stack of paperwork. He didn’t even look at Noah and beckoned dryly.
“I told you to sit down. You know that one of the things I hate most is wasting time.”
Noah looked at what was on the desk and bit her lip. There was a pen, some ink, a typewriter, and a small recorder.
She struggled to adapt to the sudden cold attitude of Kyle’s, however, she guessed there must be a reason for the sudden change. Noah took a deep breath and sat on the chair. Kyle glanced at her then he returned to looking through the papers.
“I’m going to investigate your alibi today. Every word, action, and breath is being recorded, so please answer carefully.”
“…Yes.”
“First, what’s your relationship with Lenia Valtayer?”
It wasn’t the question she expected. When Noah hesitated because she had nothing to say, Kyle snapped again.
“What is your motive for threatening Lenia Valtayer on the Angelic ship? “
“What are you talking about…?”
“In addition to Lady Valtayer’s statement, we have completed the on-site verification. You trespassed into Lady Valtayer’s room and tried to harm her. “
Kyle pushed a couple of black-and-white photos towards Noah. One was a picture of the cabin room door knob completely broken, and the other was a picture of the cabin floor completely distorted and wrecked. Noah clenched her fist and stared at Kyle.
“I never did that.”
It was hard to distinguish whether he was genuinely asking, or if it was just a show for the others.
“Why did you try to contact Yulem again?”
“Why did I do what?”
“You were at both scenes, the train attack on Edman and the Angelic ship’s mana storage explosions. You’ve already illegally distributed high-risk chips with built-in self-destruct devices in Yulem. What do you get from stealing the dragon and forming a contract with it? “
“I didn’t! No, I didn’t in the first place. I…”
‘…I didn’t steal Muel! Why is this suspicion established?, damn it!’
Something was heating up in her head again. Noah’s emotions didn’t feel as extreme as when she met Lenia earlier, but she still felt like she wanted to punch the man who sat in front of her.
Muel’s mana that filled her dependably followed her will again this time. The iron desk that was fixed to the floor started to shake.
Noah felt as if something kicked her foot under the desk. She blinked, abruptly coming back to her senses.
“Oh, sorry.”
Kyle calmly apologized and fixed his posture.
“The wall of the imperial defense was dismantled and neutralized. Then you entered and took out the dragon egg, which was stored in the incubator, you then came out again, restored the imperial defense with a central mana device, and went back to Sorrent… .”
“Wait, wait a second.”
In a flash, an alibi for crimes she didn’t even commit was completed. Kyle moved on to the next question without giving her a moment to panic.
“Did you have an accomplice? “
Tap. The strength was weaker than before, but she still felt Kyle kick her leg under the desk again. It was stupid to think it was a mistake at this point so Noah tried to calm down and ignored her anger when she replied with clenched teeth.
“There was no accomplice.”
“So you committed the crime alone. Why did you imprint the dragon?”
“…he’s cute.”
“Yes?”
“Because he’s cute. Because he’s pretty… I wanted to live with him. Why? Can’t I?”
“Let’s write that down.”
Noah leaned against the back of the chair with her arms folded waiting to see how far Kyle would go. Kyle didn’t hesitate and continued with his questioning.
“Was the reason you contacted Yulem to secretly test the dragon’s mana? Is that why you got caught by me on your way to Edman? “
“…Yes.”
Noah struggled to read Kyle’s intentions. It appeared that her crimes were increasing…. she started babbling nonsense, in the hope that things would turn out better.
“It was just for fun… I just wanted to play with a cute baby. The fact the train broke and the ship stopped working, I swear I didn’t know. I just wanted to spend my life quietly.”
Kyle typed every word of nonsense that she babbled. His eyes were still cold and sharp.
“Then again, why did you threaten Lenia Valtayer?”
“I didn’t mean to threaten her…”
The feeling of injustice rose within her. Why do you keep overlaying things I didn’t even do? What made you say this when you promised to clear me of the charges? Noah bit her lip till it nearly started to bleed and continued.
“It was just an accident. Since he’s a dragon, there are times when I can’t control him. I’m sorry if she took it as a murder threat. “
“Are you serious?”
“…I.”
Noah’s eyes were probably as cold as Kyle’s were, she spat out coldly,
“If I had really tried to kill her, would it have been possible for Lenia Valtayer to still be alive to be able to make such an accusation?”
Kyle paused for the first time at Noah’s reply. He stared at her face for a moment, then turned to the typewriter again.
Clack. The only sound that filled the room for a while was the sound of the typewriter.
Noah covered her eyes and tried hard not to think that she wanted to destroy the desk. Finally, Kyle tapped and pressed the send button. With a small sigh, Kyle pressed something on the desk and spoke to someone other than her.
“It’s over, Minister. I just sent all the transcripts.”
– “You have had a hard time, Sir Leonard.”
Noah turned to the side, amazed by the voice coming from the wall. It was more like a voice was being transmitted through some mechanical device than a human voice.
– “Let’s discuss it again with the Vice Minister. First, let the Baroness know the trial schedule first.”
“Yes.”
With that, the short conversation was over.
You’re going to trial now, Noah Park. It wasn’t surprising.
While Noah remained quiet and tried to appear calm, Kyle had left his seat and was sorting through the papers that were scattered on the desk. Without a word, Kyle turned around to leave the interrogation room.
Kyle walked to the door without hesitation. However, he stopped at the door, or to be precise, in front of the wall, he then lifted a flap attached to the wall and pressed something.
“… … ?”
‘What is he doing?’
Noah’s question was soon answered. Click. After taking a picture of her face the camera switched off. Then the recorder appeared to take a picture of her face from the side before that too was turned off. When Kyle pressed the button for one last time, the recorders throughout the interrogation room stopped making a sound and appeared to be turned off as well.
“…….”
Silence filled the interrogation room when the sound of the recorders stopped.
Kyle confirmed that the machines had all stopped working and came back to Noah.
“Well done, Miss Noah.”
This damn man finally called her name. The way Kyle spoke was back to the way he usually spoke to her. At that moment, she was overwhelmed with relief. As she blinked, Kyle placed the jacket he had removed onto the desk, then he sat in front of her.
“Were you really surprised?”
“…….”
Kyle unbuttoned his black shirt as he spoke to Noah. Noah replied in a muffled voice.
“None of your business.”
“Your complexion is pale.”
“I’m not pale.”
Noah realised why Kyle had treated her cold during the interrogation. It was because the video of her being interrogated was being sent up in real-time.
“No one can hear me now?”
“No one can hear you now. I turned off the recorders and transmitter. The time hmm…”
Kyle looked down at his watch to check the time they had left.
“I think we should be good for about thirty minutes..”
“…….”
“You must’ve been surprised to be dragged down here……. Miss Noah?”
Relief, irritation, resentment, and sorrow over her situation of being trapped in such a creepy place reached extremes, which made her eyes lose focus. Noah bit her lips and glared at Kyle.
“I’m really annoyed with you.”
“No, wait.”
Tears started to roll down Noah’s cheeks. Kyle jumped up in a panic.
“Why are you crying?”
“It’s really, really frustrating. What did I do wrong… Why should I be locked up in this interrogation room?”
“Miss Noah.”
“Also, even if no one else knew, you should. You should know that I didn’t… !”
‘It’s unfair. It’s unfair. It’s unfair! I had never done a criminal act at any time in the 27 years of my life, so why should I be in such a horrible place? Why was I possessing such a stupid body like this?’
To Noah, as an ordinary person, everything in this place was dreadful.
Noah was fed up and left her seat.
“I’m leaving. “
“……!”
Noah’s strong will to leave shook the air in the interrogation room. Just as the lock in the interrogation room crackled and was about to be ripped off, her shoulders were grabbed and her body was swung around.
“Miss Noah, hold on.”
As Noah twisted her body to get away from him, Kyle tried to stop her several times and eventually embraced her in his arms.
“You can’t leave yet. We can’t talk properly if you leave like this.”