Part 24
Arnav frowned at a man dressed in dark blue who approached him. The man unraveled a small container, revealing a pill. It was the truth pill NK had told him about. Without hesitation, Arnav took the pill and swallowed it. It went down easy but he didn't feel any different.
"Mr Neev Agarwal" the judge called out "Please begin"
The lawyer that was sitting on the opposite side of the room stood up. He was definitely the prosecutor, Arnav realized.
Neev straightened his suit before he walked towards the centre of the room "Your honour" he began "Mr. Arnav Singh Raizada has been accused and is guilty of violating Law 16.7 by marrying a human. He took advantage of her innocent and naive nature, and made her fall in love with him only so he could keep her as his own personal cattle"
"Objection" NK interrupted, standing up from his seat "The prosecutor is making false accusations against my client with no support or evidence"
"Overruled" the judge said. He turned to the other lawyer "Please be careful with what you are stating"
Need nodded "My apologies" he turned towards Arnav and approached him "Mr. Raizada, please tell the Honor and our jury if you have ever drank blood from your human wife?"
Arnav swallowed "I-I" he glanced at NK who nodded at him firmly "Yes" he admitted "I have"
"Oh?" Need said, coyly "How many times? Once, twice, or..." he trailed off.
Arnav took in a deep breath "For about a month"
The jury immediately broke into murmurs as they looked at each other and then back at him.
The judge smacked the gavel on the block twice "Silence in the court please"
Neev continued, nonetheless "See your honour. This vampire has indeed been using his wife as a blood bag"
"That is incorrect, your honour" NK interrupted. He walked up and stood between Arnav and Neev. He faced Arnav "How long have you been married to Mrs. Khushi Singh Raizada?"
"About three months" he answered.
NK went back to his table and pulled out a piece of paper from an envelope. He walked back to his original position and gave the man standing next to the judge the piece of paper.
"My client is telling the truth and this marriage certificate proves it along with his words"
Neev frowned "So? What does that prove?"
"You asked my client how long he had been drinking from his wife and he answered one month"
"So?" Neev repeated, annoyed.
NK faced the judge "If my client truly meant to keep his human wife as cattle, then why didn't he drink from her for all the months they had been married? Why only one month?"
Murmurs among the jury emerged again but quickly died out when NK faced Arnav.
"Out of the three months you two were married, which month did you drink from her?"
The first" Arnav answered.
"And after? Where did you drink for the rest of the two months?"
"From animals in the forest near my castle"
NK faced the judge "Therefore I have disproven the prosecutor's accusation of my client using his wife as cattle"
Neev scowled "Alright then" he said casually. He walked up to Arnav "So Mr. Raizada. Have you ever used any of your abilities on your wife?"
Arnav frowned "Such as?"
Neev shrugged "Strength? Force?"
"I have never abused Khushi" Arnav growled vehemently.
"Alright. I believe you" the opposing lawyer said "What about hypnotizing?"
"I have not" he answered without thinking.
Arnav, immediately, burst into a coughing fit. The jury frowned. Some even shook their heads at him in disapproval.
"I-I have" Arnav admitted when he remembered hypnotizing Khushi to forget the pictures she had seen of him with another woman. His cough immediately disappeared, leaving a sore feeling in his chest as a reminder.
Need laughed "I knew it" he said "Now please tell the court why you did"
Arnav glanced at NK who was scowling at him "K-Khushi ...she found pictures of me drinking from another human"
Neev faced the judge "Now everybody knows that the SPAV not only creates laws that are meant for the safety of innocent humans but also for anybody that has an association with vampires. Mr. Raizada hypnotized his own wife to keep the truth from her. He not only violated Law 16.7 but also Law 16.9 by concealing his true form from his spouse and using his abilities to protect himself."
While the judge noted everything down, NK approached Arnav "Why didn't you tell me?" he hissed.
"I forgot" Arnav whispered back.
"Is there any other laws you've broken that I should be aware of?" NK replied sarcastically.
"Defense" the judge interrupted "Is there anything you have to say?"
NK pressed his lips together and nodded "Yes your Honour. My client did indeed hide his true identity from his wife. However, what prosecutor may not know is that Mrs. Khushi Singh Raizada does know the truth now. She has been aware of it for the past few days. My client, himself, told her. Am I correct Mr. Raizada?"
Arnav nodded "Yes. Khushi knows"
Need frowned "Nonetheless, he hid the fact that he is a vampire from her for nearly three months"
The judge nodded "Noted. Anything else?"
"Yes your Honour" Neev said "I have a witness"
NK and Arnav both looked at each other and frowned. What witness? NK scowled. One of the main things he hated about vampire court was that a lawyer could produce evidence or call upon a witness without letting the other side know unlike human court. Many lawyers did it. Even he, himself, did it. NK just didn't like it when the opposing lawyer had the upper hand.
"Alright. Who is your witness?" the judge asked.
"I'd like to call Rohit Sharma to the stand" Neev said.
Arnav widened his eyes. Rohit? What was that b*stard doing here? If he hadn't been too wrapped up with Khushi, he would have gone looking for his ex-friend. Now it was all coming together. Rohit must have reported him to the SPAV when he had realized his plan hadn't worked.
Rohit, on the other hand, smirked at him as he made his way to the witness stand. He mouthed loser to Arnav before settling and popping in the truth pill.
"I believe you know Mr. Rohit Sharma, Mr. Raizada" Neev said.
Arnav gritted his teeth "I do but I wish I didn't"
"Was Mr. Sharma not your friend?"
"He was never my friend" coughs immediately flew from Arnav's mouth. He gasped for breath "H-H-He was. He w-was before"
"I'm guessing this friendship broke ever since you realized Mr. Sharma reported you" Neev said "However, Mr. Sharma did a noble deed"
"Noble deed?" Arnav scoffed "This b*stard-"
"Arnav!" NK said sharply "Calm down. We can do this later. Just not now"
NK gave a meaningful look to Arnav which he hoped his friend understood. Causing a scene in front of the jury and judge would not go in his favour. If anything, it would give Neev something else to stretch.
"Anyways" Neev continued. He approached Rohit "So Mr. Sharma. Did you ever see Mrs. Raizada in a worrisome condition?"
"Yes. Definitely" Rohit said. He pointed at Arnav "This man had drained a large sum of her blood. It was evident on her face. She was pale, her eyes were bloodshot, and she looked really tired. She looked like a zombie. I have no doubt he sucked most of her blood out that time"
Arnav closed his eyes. It had been only that once and it had been really early in their relationship. He hadn't had a drink for two full days. God damn it. He hadn't expected Rohit to be loitering around his house that often. Khushi had been in more danger than he had originally thought.
Neev turned to Arnav "Do you deny this?"
Arnav cast his eyes down "It had only been that once. It was an accident"
Neev scoffed "You sound like a fledgling" he turned to the judge "Your Honour, this man is not to be trusted with having a human wife. He can and one day will kill her off with no remorse. He may claim it's an accident but one day this 'accident' will kill an innocent woman. It is best to remove Mrs. Raizada from Mr. Raizada forever and erase her memory of him. While we're at it, might as well put Mr. Raizada in prison for a few months. It would do him some good to learn to heed the laws"
The judge put on a stern face "Do not tell me what to do Mr. Aggarwal. You are overstepping your boundaries and limits. You are a lawyer, not a judge. Do not tell me what kind of decision I need to make"
Neev turned a light shade of red "O-Of course your Honour"
The judge turned to NK "Do you have anything left to say Defense?"
NK pursed his lips "No your Honour. All I can say is that it was just that once and it had been an honest accident"
The judge nodded. He looked at the jury "The court will take a recess for ten minutes. The jury will take that time to come up with their votes"
With that said, he smacked his gavel on the block of wood once firmly.
Rohit got up and smirked at Arnav "You took my love away from me. Now I'm going to do the same with you"
"You little-" Arnav growled.
The guard standing near him immediately grabbed him and held on to him while Rohit chuckled and walked away. Once he was gone, Arnav shrugged the guard off.
NK approached him "You did not tell me a lot of things Arnav. Drinking from her to the point she looked like a zombie? What were you thinking?"
"I wasn't, okay?" Arnav covered his face with his palms "This isn't looking good is it?"
NK pressed his lips together "I'll be honest. It isn't. In the end, it's the judge that makes the decision. I will try my best to do the best for you"
"Thank you" Arnav said "I appreciate your effort"
It wasn't long before the court was back in session. The judge took his seat and used his gavel to announce the continuance of the meeting.
One of the jury members stood up "Your Honour. We have deemed Mr. Arnav Singh Raizada guilty"
"No!" Arnav roared "I love her! I can't lose her. I've just found her"
The jury member, however, frowned at him but didn't say anything.
Arnav closed his eyes tightly. He would lose Khushi for sure. She may even forget who he is. They would send her so far away that he would never be able to find her.
"Really?" the judge said "What was the count?"
The jury member seemed taken aback "Oh. Fifty three percent of the jury voted guilty while forty seven of the jury voted innocent"
The judge rubbed his chin "I don't think those odds would even out to a majority"
Arnav opened his eyes. Wait what?
The judge looked at Arnav "I trust you when you claimed to love your wife. However, your vampire side isn't to be trusted which is why you didn't win the case but you haven't lost it"
"What do you mean?" Arnav asked, confused.
"You will go through a test of mine" the judge explained "I, myself, will observe you to see if you can be trusted to keep a human wife. If you fail, you will lose her. We will erase her memories and you will never see her again. If you succeed, you will get to go back to her and nobody will bother you again unless due to a concerning matter"
"I'll succeed" Arnav said "I know I will"
"Lets hope so" the judge replied "This test will take up to two weeks"
"Two weeks?" Arnav echoed, upset.
The judge nodded "Yes. In the meanwhile all magic placed on Khushi Singh Raizada will be erased. The court is adjourned"
Arnav widened his eyes and shared a frantic glance with NK. Nobody else knew this but the night Arnav had received the letter from the SPAV, Arnav had had NK place a spell on Khushi to protect her from any danger. If the judge removed the magic, she would be vulnerable to any danger for at least a day since it took NK twenty four hours to cast the spell. Not only that but Khushi would probably remember the pictures Arnav had erased from her mind but that was a different problem.
The judge grabbed the gavel and smacked it twice on the block of wood, finalizing his decision.
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