Because her mission was still a top priority, Justine and Dixie’s friends obviously couldn’t stay in the villa for too long. Thus, they left shortly after greeting Sam and Noelle, and introducing themselves to Cindy ‘and’ Mindy.
It wasn’t like the others could enjoy a leisurely vacation either, however. Not only was there little time left before the event started, but Crystal also had the responsibility of the Prime Arbiter, leaving her with no choice but to continue monitoring the proceedings of various disputes in the empire remotely.
Fortunately, things had slowed down considerably by now, and only a few new cases were coming in occasionally. And with the increasing experience of the judges, Crystal only needed to interfere a handful of times per week.
Emilia naturally didn’t like to see her angel working while the rest of them relaxed, so they ended up watching the court proceedings by her side as if it were a TV show or movie.
Of course, considering the nature of most disputes in the Empire of Blue Dawn these days… that wasn’t really far from the truth.
A vast majority of the cases they had now were marital disputes, and if not for the occasional criminal activity by some unruly elements from time to time, perhaps people would really start seeing the courts as a ‘marriage and divorce counseling system’.
The husband, a middle-aged man with a somewhat scraggly beard pointed a finger at the woman on the other side, his anger so palpable that his whole body could be seen shaking. “I’m telling you, judge, if she wants to divorce me, I at least want to have the custody!”
The woman immediately snorted in disdain. “No way! What am I supposed to do without my babies?!”
Since they had already watched the previous proceedings, Crystal and the others already knew that the ‘babies’ weren’t actually the couple’s children, but the three puppies that they had just recently adopted.
The husband immediately slammed his fist on the armrest of his chair. “Then don’t divorce me?!”
The judge also gave the woman a hopeful look, but she was clearly having none of it. “Don’t criticize me about my fangirling then! It’s not like I’m cheating on you or anything, am I?!”
Before the man could open his mouth to refute, she continued mumbling. “Well, now that I think about it, it may not be a bad idea—”
Of course, her words were still clear enough for everyone to hear, and the judge — a twenty-eight-year-old girl personally handpicked by Crystal — couldn’t help but cough in embarrassment. “I-If you cheat in marriage, your husband definitely gets the custody of the… uhm, babies.”
The woman immediately straightened her back, grinning sheepishly. “K-Kidding, ahaha, oh, I’m just a silly goose, judge, don’t mind it! I-I can agree with having two babies, and he keeps one. But I get to pick!”
The aggrieved man couldn’t help but start weeping immediately. “See what I have to go through?! How can you do this to me!”
To her credit, the wife actually looked a little guilty as she sighed. “Oh come on, don’t be so stuffy! Hey… hey! … Don’t cry, okay? I’ll let you keep two, and you pick?”
The man wailed even louder. “That’s not the point!”
Seeing how her goodwill was so easily rejected, the woman also got defensive. “What do you want, then? It’s not my fault that the ‘Furious Five’ have super hot bodies, is it?!”
The husband couldn’t help but sniffle. “Why couldn’t you be more normal and just crush on the empress… why does it have to be the local band?!”
Emilia couldn’t believe that she was also dragged into their silly quarrel, and while the others only looked amused, she couldn’t help but look away in embarrassment. “T-This doesn’t happen too often, does it?”
Crystal knew that the crimson-haired beauty had stopped going through too many of the court proceedings after she became sure that everything was stabilized and well taken care of, focusing on other things instead.
And she couldn’t resist the urge to tease the girl now that she had the chance. “To be honest, Emilia, you’re involved in more than half the ‘marital disputes’ we get.”
Emilia bit her lip in embarrassment, looking a little wronged. “I-It’s not like I’m actively going around seducing people!”
Looking towards Dixie for help, her loyal knight immediately chimed in her support. “That’s right, how can it be Emily’s fault for looking so beautiful? It’s clearly their own fault for daring to look!”
Not to mention Crystal and Sam, who burst into giggles, even Noelle couldn’t help but chuckle at how shy Emilia looked.
The only person who wasn’t teasing her in the room was Cindy, who was left clutching her heart in a corner. ‘T-Too adorable, I-I might pass out if I keep watching, but I can’t resist!’
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”Princess… does it really look okay?”
Emilia sighed, feeling deeply satisfied as she looked at the pink and black frilled princess dress on the dark-haired girl’s usually boyishly dressed form. “Don’t worry, Dixie, you look absolutely adorable!”
Seeing how embarrassed she looked, the crimson-haired girl couldn’t help but pat her knight’s cheek in consolation. “Cheer up, if you wear your usual attire, big sister would definitely beat your butt for making her look bad, you know?”
”S-She wouldn’t dare!”
Emilia giggled. “Who knows? She might. Let’s go now, or we’ll be late!”
Dixie couldn’t help but grumble in her heart as she led Emilia to the car that had been prepared for them in advance. ‘I wish they just had compulsory formal attires.’
But thinking how beautiful her princess looked in her cobalt-blue evening dress lined with coral lilies, her dissatisfaction was quickly dissipated.
It was a bit unfortunate that she couldn’t personally escort her since she had to protect Sam instead, but with the older girl’s personality, Dixie wasn’t too busy about not being able to keep an eye on Emilia.
Knowing that those cockroaches she despised so much would also be attending, however, the dark-haired girl couldn’t help feel her fist itch. ‘Calm down, Dixie, calm down! Emily said that those bastards are part of her plan, so you can’t just rip out their non-existent spines before they’re done serving their purpose!’
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