“I’m not a witch. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you. Don’t be scared.”
I comforted Blake who was still scared because of the story. Then, after being silent for a while, Blake smiled brightly.
“Yes, I’ll protect my wife too.”
He ca out of the blanket and hugged tightly.
Blake was really so nice.
***
A huge ball was held in the palace in order to commorate the day Goddess of Light gave her power to Phillip.
Various representatives from the nobility, knights’ academy and many more, ca to thank the Goddess and praise Phillip.
Everyti I heard them praising Phillip, I felt annoyed.
He was the reason why Blake was cursed, yet, he was praised as a hero while the victim was despised.
The ball began after the congratulatory speech ended.
Tenstheon left the ballroom with the Duke of Cassil and Collin. I walked to a corner of the dancing hall quietly.
But there were many people who tried to approach and talk to .
There were always people who tried to do so every ball, but there were really too many this ti.
In particular, there were many n who ca to ask for a dance.
“Your Highness, won’t you share your glorious first dance with ?”
“I’m sorry. I’m not feeling very well today.”
“But just once…”
“I don’t want to dance.”
“….”
‘He’s so rude.’
When they saw the requests for a dance flooding in, Countess Chardin and so won refused in my stead.
I was wondering why Richard was very quiet while the others were doing this today, when suddenly, a man ca up to .
The silver-haired man with small eyes reeked of booze. It was Frank, Richard’s half brother.
“Just one song.”
He commanded in a haughty manner.
His actions went against the etiquette.
However, no one dared to point out his rudeness because Frank was the Emperor’s nephew and the candidate most likely to beco the new Crown Prince.
I looked Frank in the eye and said, “I refuse.”
“What!”
Frank’s expression turned sour.
When I rejected his very disrespectful advances, his pride was broken.
“How dare you disobey ?! Did you not get a proper education because you’re a fallen count’s daughter?”
The atmosphere instantly turned cold. Even if he was next in line for the Crown Prince position, I was still the Crown Princess right now.
Everyone was astonished by Frank’s rude words, but he didn’t stop talking.
“Not everyone’s a fool. No one’s going to believe the stupid rumor about the curse being lifted soon. Are you an idiot? I’m the next Emperor! I, Frank, will beco the next Emperor! You seem to be underestimating because you’re going to beco a princess, but your husband would be the Emperor, so that ans you’ll be mine! You’re going to marry anyway!”
Frank shouted incoherently. His choice of words and pronunciation were both terrible, and he couldn’t even stand properly.
As he continued to keep speaking so rudely, I was becoming rather displeased.
Frank was an arrogant person. The Duke of Cassil cared about Frank because he was just like him. He doted on him, thinking that Frank would beco the next Emperor.
Frank, too, thought of himself as the next Emperor.
However, he was usually careful not to make such a mistake in a ballroom where so many important people were gathered.
I had already encountered him several tis during various balls.
But, he suddenly went on rampage today.
No way…
I looked at Richard.
Everyone was in a shock, but Richard was smiling.
This must’ve been one of his ruses.
He deliberately let Frank get drunk.
“Frank, don’t do this.”
Frank’s fiancee, the daughter of the Westin family stepped up and tried to stop him. Frank shook her off roughly.
“How dare you touch ! You’re so ugly! I wouldn’t even accept you as my fiancee if you weren’t from the Westin family! Ah, I don’t need your family anymore, so just get lost!”
“Frank…”
Everyone was very shocked, but the smile on Richard’s lips grew bigger.
“Sir Cassil, you should go now. You’re very drunk. I’ll speak to you later about your rudeness today..
When I raised my hand to call a servant, Frank grabbed by the wrist.
“Who are you to order ?!”
“What are you doing?! Let go!”
“I am the Emperor of Asteric! I’m the Emperor! The monster’s going to die anyway and you’re going to be mine! Ahh—!”
Frank scread as he fell to the floor. He furiously turned to look at the man who had knocked him down.
“Who are you?! How dare you!”
“Your Majesty.”
Tenstheon was looking down at Frank.
“Father…”
“Ancia, are you alright? Are you hurt?”
Tenstheon gave a big hug and comforted .
“I’m fine.”
Then, Frank hurriedly said, “Your Majesty! I didn’t an that!”
This ti, his pronunciation was relatively clear.
He must’ve sobered up when he saw Tenstheon.
“The Crown Princess seduced first!”
Frank ended up blaming . Tenstheon kicked him in the stomach.
“I-I was wrong!”
A sword was now pointed at him.
Silence fell upon the huge ballroom. The people were overwheld by the Emperor’s presence, but no one dared to stop him.
Frank had called the Crown Prince a monster and brought up the fact that he would die soon in front of everyone.
Of course, this was no secret to anyone, but everyone would only discuss it in private. Afterall, Blake was still the Crown Prince of this Empire.
Even though he was the heir to the curse, people could never bring that up in front of the Emperor and the Crown Princess.
Moreover, Frank had called himself the Emperor of the Empire.
Under these circumstances, there was no noble who would dare to side with Frank. There was only one person who took his side.
“Your Majesty, please stop!”
The Duke of Cassil tried to stop Tenstheon.
“Frank is your nephew! How could you do this over a small mistake?”
“Small mistake?”
Everyone held their breaths, while the Duke of Cassil continued brazenly.
“Yes, he made a small mistake because he was drunk! Even I could tell that Frank was drunk when he said that!”
“Your Excellency, that’s enough.”
Reading the unusual atmosphere, Richard tried to stop the Duke of Cassil, but the Duke shouted even louder.
“Moreover, he was just expressing his opinion. Is there anything wrong with that?”
“I see.”
“I’m glad you understand it.”
“No matter what he said, you owe him an apology.”
The corners of Duke of Cassil’s mouth raised up. He was very happy because of his victory over Tenstheon.
Frank quickly stood up.
“Hey, that’s right! I need an apology!”
Tenstheon looked at the two of them.
“I knew it. This idiot also learned from you.”
“Idiot?! I’m not an idiot!”
The Duke of Cassil tried to protest but Tenstheon ignored him.
“Lock the Duke of Cassil and his eldest son up in prison. They’re charged with treason.”
“T-treason? Brother, what do you an?”
The Duke of Cassil’s eyes widened.
He still hadn't grasped the situation, but there was no one who would explain the situation to him either.
The Duke of Cassil and Frank were imdiately taken away by the knights.
Richard hadn’t expected this to happen either.
Tenstheon ca closer to .
“You must;ve been scared. I’m sorry I ca so late.”
“No, it’s okay.”
He hugged . I also hugged him back tightly in response.
I wanted to comfort Tenstheon because he seed more shocked than I was.
***
There was one good thing about Frank’s incident.
The dance, which was supposed to last all night, ended early, so I was able to return to Amoria palace earlier.
“Ancia, why did you co back so early?”
“I missed my husband.”
“What happened?”
Blake was quick-witted. Even though I spoke as brightly as I could, he noticed it instantly.
“I ca ho early because I wanted to see the fireworks with you.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
On the last day of the festival, there would be fireworks everywhere.
The event was big enough to be seen from the Crown Prince’s palace.
“Hurry up.”
“Okay.”
We went up to the small attic on the topmost floor of the Amoria Palace.
Although the space wasn’t used frequently, lissa had still cleaned it in advance.
“lissa and Hans are at the square right?”
“Yes, they should be in the square waiting for the fireworks to start by now.”
I gave lissa and Hans a vacation today. They both refused but I told them to spend so ti together. At this point, they probably forgot to hide their relationship and decided to enjoy a date together.
“We could do the sa, right?”
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