Troublesome Prince (5)
“What an insolent girl. Didn’t His Highness ask for your name?”
The knight holding Leila urged her to answer, glaring at her.
Leila, pondering how to escape this awkward situation, reluctantly opened her mouth.
“…It’s Leila.”
“Leila? That’s an uncommon name in the Empire.”
Prince Justin looked at her intently, smacking his lips.
“An uncommon beauty in the Duke’s household as well.”
Leila involuntarily frowned at his attitude, as if he were appraising an object.
She wanted to hurl a string of curses at him, but she had to hold back.
Even her master chose to stay inside to avoid causing trouble with this man, so what could she do?
‘Yes, hold it in, Leila. For the sake of the Princess, you must endure.’
Meanwhile, Justin raised his eyebrows in disbelief at her expression.
“Are you frowning at me now?”
“…No.”
“No? You look very displeased.”
The Prince strode towards where Leila was standing.
“Ugh!”
He squeezed her cheek tightly.
“I hate liars the most. Especially if the liar is a woman.”
“Ugh, let me go!”
“No, I don’t want to. Hold her tight.”
At the Prince’s words, the knight holding Leila tightened his grip.
“Bring her to my room.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The Prince’s command, laden with vile intent, made her eyes widen in shock.
“Don’t do this, please don’t do this—!”
Leila shouted in a voice she tried to keep calm, but it seemed to have no effect on the Prince.
As the knight pulled her forward by her arms, Leila gritted her teeth.
“Let go of me—!”
With anger, she kicked her right foot high into the air.
Thud—!
With a dull yet satisfying sound, the knight was knocked backward.
He had been hit squarely on the chin by her fierce kick.
Perhaps because it was a critical hit, the knight lay on the ground, unable to regain his senses.
“What, what is this—!”
As the startled Prince tried to approach, Leila dashed away from him.
In the process, she couldn’t help but slightly push the Prince’s shoulder.
“You dare strike a Prince! You crazy girl! Stop right there! Stop right now!”
The Prince shouted furiously, chasing after Leila, but he couldn’t catch up with her, known for her speed even in Bashar.
Her long, neatly braided hair swung precariously behind her as she ran far away.
*** *** *** *** ***
“Yawn.”
Duha unconsciously covered her mouth as she yawned.
It seemed that being cooped up in her room didn’t suit her nature.
‘Maybe I should have gone for a secret walk, as Leila suggested.’
She put down the book she was holding, got up from her seat, and flung open the window.
The ducal couple’s bedroom, located on the top floor of the main castle, had an excellent view.
The view was so open that she could see not only the castle courtyard but also the territory beyond the castle walls at a glance.
Resting her chin on the windowsill and feeling the outside breeze, Duha thought of her maid who hadn’t returned yet.
Was she cutting down an entire flowering tree or something?
“She’s late.”
Without her usual chatterbox by her side, she felt a chill in her side.
As Duha ran her fingers through her hair, tousled by the wind, she frowned at a sudden sense of unease.
The outside seemed peaceful, but the wind was sharper than usual.
‘What’s this?’
As a Basharian, Duha knew how to handle the forces of nature. As a Princess of the Wind tribe, she could manipulate the power of the wind, and one of her specialties was divining good or bad fortune from the wind.
‘With wind this sharp, something big must have happened outside.’
Duha turned to look at the door behind her.
‘What is this ominous feeling?’
Just as she was biting her lip in inexplicable anxiety,
“My lady, Duchess—!”
With a clamorous noise, a maid rushed in with a pale face.
She threw herself on the floor as if collapsing.
“My, my lady, something terrible has happened!”
“…What is it?”
“It’s, the head maid, no, Leila—!”
Duha’s pupils trembled slightly at the mention of Leila’s name.
She tried to calm the maid with a composed face.
“Calm down and speak slowly. What exactly happened?”
The maid, her face covered in tears, spoke between sobs.
“It’s, His Highness the Prince, he’s raging about killing Leila, and when the head maid tried to stop him, now she’s being terribly beaten—!”
It was an incomprehensible situation.
Why was the Prince raging about killing Leila, and why was the head maid being beaten for such a reason?
“At this rate, both of them might die! Please, my lady, you must stop them!”
“The Duke…”
“The Duke is outside the castle now! You’re the only one who can stop His Highness!”
He went hunting monsters and still hasn’t returned?
What’s taking so long for the supposedly strongest knight? Is it all lies?
Duha unknowingly gritted her teeth.
One of the things she hated most was breaking promises.
She hated it when others broke promises, and she also hated breaking promises herself.
According to the promise, she shouldn’t leave the bedroom now.
If she went out, she would certainly have to face the Prince.
But it was a different story if her precious person was in danger.
“Lead the way. I’ll go right now.”
By now, Duha’s eyes were burning fiercely like those of an eagle.
*** *** *** *** ***
“Even the servants are as insolent as their master—!”
Justin twitched his lips as he grabbed the head maid by the collar and lifted her.
“Are you still thinking of defending that girl, head maid?”
The head maid, caught by the collar, was in a pitiful state.
Her hair, usually neatly tied up, was disheveled, one cheek was swollen red, and blood was flowing from the corner of her mouth.
Meanwhile, the head maid, with her eyes lowered, repeated the same answer.
“…That child is not at fault.”
“Ha, not at fault?”
Justin let out a hollow laugh and sharply turned his head.
In the direction he turned, Leila was lying on the floor, held down by a knight.
She was biting her lip in frustration, glaring daggers at the Prince.
Justin twitched his lips in amusement at Leila, who, despite being beaten by the knight, was not cowed.
“Your master may have a high status, so it doesn’t matter, but for you lowly servants to act so insolently. You have quite the nerve.”
“That child and I have already apologized to Your Highness. What more do you want us to do…”
The Prince, veins bulging in his neck, swung his hand again.
The head maid’s face turned helplessly to the other side.
“Shut up! You insolent wench!”
Justin had never liked the young Duke, who, except for the first day, never showed his face to him.
Outwardly, he might call him “Your Highness,” but inwardly, he was surely looking down on him.
After all, just by sitting in the position of a Grand Duke and guarding the frontier, he held power equal to his own.
Under normal circumstances, he would have already executed both the head maid and Leila, but he was hesitating for that reason.
“Head maid, I thought you were quite clever, but maybe not. Or has your master told you not to mind me anymore?”
“The Duke has repeatedly instructed us to treat Your Highness as an honored guest.”
“Ha, really?”
Justin sneered at the head maid’s calm response.
“Is that how you treat an honored guest?”
“…It depends on the guest.”
The head maid, despite her disheveled appearance, continued to speak with a composed demeanor.
“A man who attempted to assault a maid working for the Duke’s family is no longer an honored guest.”
“What, what did you say?”
“As the head maid, I have the duty to supervise and protect those who work here.”
She looked directly into the eyes of the menacing Prince.
“If that child is at fault, I will certainly punish her, but if not, I will defend her to the end.”
In other words, she was saying that the fault lay with him, and she had no intention of apologizing.
It was not something a mere head maid could say to a Prince, but she was very calm.
“That damned girl not only scarred my knight’s face but also pushed me! And yet—!”
“As a woman, she only did her utmost to protect herself. That is not a reason for punishment.”
“What—!”
As Justin, having lost his composure, was about to explode, the head maid calmly added.
“If Your Highness feels no pangs of conscience, it means my judgment is wrong, so you may punish me instead.”
As if she had nothing more to say, the head maid soon closed her eyes.
“Ha—!”
Justin gritted his teeth as he looked at her, who remained unyielding to the end.
Why do women, starting from his only sister, the deceased princesses, and even mere servants, infuriate him so much?
“Fine, very well—.”
It no longer mattered.
To ascend to the Emperor’s throne, he needed the support of the Duke of Esbaden, so he tried not to cause any problems if possible.
But he couldn’t just stand by while the lower ones acted so arrogantly.
“I have nothing to be ashamed of in my conscience, so I will punish you.”
Justin approached the knight, took his sword, and walked back to the head maid.
“The crime of insulting royalty is repaid with death, you insolent woman.”
“Your Highness, please—!”
The startled knight tried to stop him, but it was already too late.
Just as the Prince was about to bring his sword down on the head maid’s neck, a voice rang out.
“The Duchess of Esbaden requests an audience with His Highness, the Fourth Prince.”
A firm and clear voice came from behind, piercing the air.
Justin slowly turned his head, his sword still raised in the air.
“I apologize for the late greeting, Your Highness.”
There stood Duha, the Duchess of Esbaden.
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