“I apologize for this, but I’ve heard some strange rumors.”
Finally, Baron Lacne looked toward the window where I was and smiled ominously.
“They say the person riding in this carriage is Her Highness, the Princess.”
The pedestrians watching us and those passing by stopped.
“What? The Princess? I thought she was dead.”
“Come to think of it, outside the castle gates, Marquis Arzen was claiming that the Princess is alive.”
As the crowd’s gazes grew colder, the coachman hurriedly denied it.
“What nonsense is this? Our madam is just a poor widow who lost her husband on the battlefield and is raising her child alone.”
“Come on, I just want to check for a moment.”
“No, why would you want to confirm it at all? What would you do if she really is Her Highness the Princess?”
When the coachman asked sarcastically, the Baron shrugged and replied.
“Well, if she is Her Highness, then I have caused a discourtesy in my domain, so I must apologize.”
“What are you saying…?”
“You know that according to imperial law, when a member of the royal family visits, they must be hosted in the lord’s mansion. But I failed to do so, and thus I must apologize.”
It’s obvious that the Duke’s excuse is just a pretext to pull me out of the carriage. And perhaps realizing this, the coachman challenged the Baron.
“Don’t you realize that what you’re doing is rude? Move aside immediately!”
“I know it’s rude. But if the countess has nothing to hide, she can simply remove the veil and show her face.”
At his sly instigation, the crowd, which had been quietly watching, began to stir.
“Exactly. If she isn’t really the Princess, wouldn’t it be enough to just show her face?”
“What is she hiding?”
I clenched my fists and stared at Baron Lacne.
‘Baron Lacne, so this is what your unnecessary kindness was about.’
I then looked outside. The inquisitive stares and accusing eyes appeared to have already confirmed my identity as the Princess. It was a moment I would inevitably face, but honestly, I was scared.
<Why is the Princess acting like that? Isn’t she supposed to be demure as a woman… tsk tsk.>
<She’s got a terrible personality. Isn’t her personality quite violent? It’s no wonder her maids call her a wicked raven.>
The nobles, who couldn’t say anything in front of me, mocked and derided me with elegant words behind my back.
<The Princess is the only one with black hair? She looks like a barbarian.>
<I thought all nobles had light-colored hair, but hers is darker than ours… or could it be that the Empress really had an affair with a commoner?>
Even the commoners who looked at me like a strange animal during the Founding Festival parade where I rode a carriage without a roof around the capital.
They all consistently belittled and laughed at me.
‘Moreover, if my identity as the Princess is revealed now, I don’t know what they might do to me.’
Just as I hesitated for a moment, someone shouted.
“Get out quickly!”
With that, someone threw an egg at my carriage.
Seeing it, I turned pale.
And it was no wonder…
<Hand over the Princess!>
<Kill the Tyrant’s Bloodline!>
It reminded me of the enraged mob that had gathered in front of Duke Blant’s mansion when the rebellion broke out.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
Starting with eggs, the number of people approaching the Princess’s carriage increased.
“Come out quickly!”
“If you have nothing to hide, show your face!”
They were all demanding proof that she was not the Princess.
Watching from a distance, Reinhardt smirked.
‘As I thought, it was a good idea to plant an instigator among the dogs and pigs.’
(TL/N: “개돼지” is a derogatory term in Korean, combining “개” (dog) and “돼지” (pig), used to refer to people who are considered ignorant, easily manipulated, or of low intellect, often likened to mindless followers.)
That’s how crowd psychology works.
When someone without hesitation raises their voice, it naturally carries persuasive power.
And most foolish people tend to believe and follow such claims without question.
‘So stupid, no wonder they live at the bottom all their lives.’
Reinhardt’s golden eyes turned toward the carriage that Cornelia was in.
They hadn’t started throwing stones yet, so the carriage was still intact, but the crowd began to hurl insults and curses at it, and some were even trying to touch it.
“Stop! Disperse immediately!”
Late to the scene, Marquis Philippe appeared with the city guards to protect the carriage and try to calm the crowd had no effect.
In front of such an angry crowd, especially one that was so large, it had the opposite effect.
“Disperse? What nonsense!”
“Show your face and prove you’re not the Princess!”
These were commoners who would never usually dare to confront the guards. However, the number of people in the crowd overwhelmingly outnumbered the guards. Moreover, their anger toward the royal family, which had been building up, added to their fierce momentum.
‘Even a bunch of rats can bite a cat if there are enough of them,’
Reinhardt smirked.
‘How do you like that, Cornelia? You must be scared to death.’
Rescuing someone who could escape on their own was not a true rescue. It’s merely an annoying interference.
But Reinhardt had observed Cornelia for a long time, and he knew well what she feared.
‘You fear the people’s criticism because of your complex about your hair color.’
While the Empress created that complex, it was Reinhardt who nurtured it. Cornelia was not only exceptional in appearance but also in status and intellect, so he needed a weakness that would allow him to suppress and incapacitate her at any time.
‘I decided to break your spirit today when I heard you tried to shoot Fritz earlier.’
While her defiance was cute, if it went too far, she needed to be disciplined. Otherwise, she might scratch her owner with her claws. It seemed to be working because she couldn’t come out of the carriage.
‘Ah, I wonder how much she’s trembling? My cute little cat.’
Imagining her alone in the carriage, terrified and shaking, made his body warm with excitement. Though he wanted nothing more than to rush over, hold her in his arms, and comfort her, this was not the right time.
‘I need to break her spirit so she’ll be obedient later.’
Do you know the easiest way to tame a dog?
The easiest way is to expose them to threats and let the owner resolve the situation.
That moment makes the owner appear omnipotent.
And that’s exactly what Reinhardt wanted from Cornelia. He wanted her to see him as an all-powerful being, one to rely on and cling to.
To the point where she couldn’t even think of living without him.
Or even think of another man.
‘Cornelia, if you had been scared of Fritz from the beginning, I wouldn’t have to discipline you like this. This is your fault, so cry and reflect on it in that carriage.’
With cold eyes fixed on the carriage, Reinhardt tapped his chin twice with his fingers. His subordinates, understanding the signal, started throwing eggs again.
“Come out and show your face!”
Soon, some of them approached the carriage and began shaking it.
“Come out already!”
As the Countess still did not emerge from the carriage, even those who were hesitant began to get swept up in the tide.
“It seems she really is the Princess.”
“Yeah, just look at her not coming out of the carriage! That wicked woman!”
“She deceived and tricked us!”
Their lives had become difficult, partly because the Emperor had recently neglected his affairs of state.
It was Fritz who had been terrorizing the city, but they were blaming the Emperor and Princess instead.
Reinhardt coldly laughed at them.
‘That’s the nature of these fools. They’re so stupid they can’t even recognize who their real enemy is.’
And despite the countless accusing gazes from the crowd, the carriage door remained firmly shut.
“Let’s break down the carriage door!”
At someone’s suggestion, a person went to get tools from a distance. Reinhardt, watching leisurely, stood up slowly.
‘It’s about time for the prince to step in.’
“Everyone, step aside! I’ll drag that villain out!”
Moments later, a sturdy man raised a tool to break the carriage door. And at that moment, someone grabbed the tool.
“No, what is this… Ugh!”
Reinhardt’s eyes widened as he saw the man, one of his own subordinates disguised as a member of the crowd, being thrown away.
Boom!
With a loud crash, a tall, hooded man sent the people around the carriage flying. Reinhardt immediately recognized him despite his covered face.
‘That bastard is trying to take what’s mine again?’
On the day Cornelia cried after being slapped by the Empress, Reinhardt had planned to go to her usual spot and comfort her.
Even though the reasons she blamed herself for being defective and the rumors that caused her distress were things he had created, it didn’t matter. All he needed was for Cornelia to be in his arms.
However, someone else offered the comfort he had intended to give first.
<Please don’t think of yourself as defective. To me, Your Highness is… the most noble person in the world.>
Despite Reinhardt having invested so much effort that bastard became the sun for Cornelia with that one phrase.
Reinhardt glared at the man, as if he wanted to kill him, and called out his name.
“Erich Blant…!”
In his golden eyes, a fierce glint shone, accompanied by a sharp glare.
