The silence surrounding them deepened. Luigi blushed at Diana’s insult.
“Princess Diana!”
Luigi glared at her venomously.
“You should apologize to me right now, but why are you doing this?”
“I’m sorry for using violence.”
Diana said bluntly.
“However, what Luigi did was wrong. Duchess Blanchette is not someone you can just carelessly disparage.”
“Why? I was just telling the truth.”
Luigi’s green eyes filled with anger.
“Right now, you’re not in your right mind because you’re taking Duchess Blanchette’s side. Act properly. Don’t regret taking sides with a woman who’s just spreading vulgar rumors.”
“That’s what I’m going to say. Do you know what kind of person the saint you brag about is?”
Luigi, who had been bragging about being the saint’s friend recently, raised her voice sharply.
“What’s wrong with the saint of the Holy Land!”
“She’s someone we don’t even know if it’s a saint in the first place?”
Diana snorted.
“Our kingdom almost suffered great damage because of that saint.”
“It was that woman Mireyu’s fault. Shouldn’t the Kingdom of Royum have never been fooled by that woman Mireyu in the first place? The saint made a mistake…”
“Whether it was a mistake or a fault, it doesn’t matter to our kingdom.”
The noble ladies around them opened their eyes wide in surprise at Diana’s more resolute actions than they had expected.
“Princess Diana, Lady Luigi. Please, calm down.”
“Princess Diana is insulting the saint right now! As the saint’s friend and a believer of the god Athea, this is an insult that I cannot overlook!”
The noble ladies flinched at Luigi’s sharp anger. However, Diana’s attitude remained unchanged.
“The important thing is that the Saint’s actions almost brought the Kingdom of Royam into great crisis. Didn’t she say that Mireyu had a child that wasn’t there?”
“Strictly speaking, the Saint didn’t say that she was pregnant…”
“Yes, let’s say that. Didn’t she used her divine powers to heal the scar on Mireyu’s face that she didn’t even have?”
Luigi was speechless. That was because there was still a lot to talk about.
“That’s Mireyu’s conspiracy. She was trying to defile the noble Saint by dragging her in because she was falling.”
“The woman who did that wrote a letter to the Saint and committed suicide?”
In many ways, there was no lie in Diana’s words.
‘This can’t go on.’
Luigi looked at Diana and shouted.
“So it was justified that you used violence on me? The important thing is not the story of the saint.”
“That’s…”
“Can the princess’s actions just now be considered an attack on me and my entire family? Does the name of the Royal House of Royam seem so light to the princess?”
Luigi snorted as she glanced at Diana, who had her mouth shut as if she was worried.
‘How dare you hit me in the face?’
Luigi, the only daughter of a count’s family, had never been hit in the face by her father. Even in high society, no one dared touch her.
‘Even a princess from the borderland can’t treat me like…’
Luigi held up the fan he had left on the table and smirked at Diana, who was silently looking down at her.
“You answered so easily just now, but have you forgotten how to speak? If you have a mouth, tell me.”
“…”
“But from now on, everything you say will be considered the will of the Kingdom of Royam. So think about it and act accordingly.”
The noble ladies around him took Luigi’s side. Not only were they all close to Luigi from the beginning, but now Luigi had the right to be the one.
“Princess Diana was reckless. No matter how angry she was, she used her power so vulgarly as a noble person. It’s really incomprehensible.”
“It seems like she’s forgotten everything she’s learned since she’s been hanging out with low-born people.”
Luigi’s shoulders rose at the atmosphere around her. Luigi made eye contact with Princess Diana and tapped her cheek with her fan.
“Tell me again which of my words sounded inhuman. If you don’t like it, then pat me on the cheek again…”
That was it.
“Lady Luigi.”
Diana tightly gripped the fan that was dangling near her face with one hand.
“My actions are my personal actions, not the will of the Royal Family of Royam.”
With a thud, Luigi’s fan was completely shattered in Diana’s hand. Luigi gulped without realizing it as she watched the fan being shattered.
‘What kind of strength is that?’
Luigi also knew that Diana had been knighted.
‘Does she really have the skills to be a knight?’
There were often cases where noble women who had not been able to establish themselves in society were knighted by chance. So Luigi thought that Diana, the noble princess of the Royal Family of Royam, was one of those cases.
Diana looked into Luigi’s eyes as she crumbled her fan.
“So please stop interpreting my actions as the actions of the entire Royal Family of Royam.”
Diana’s orange eyes glared at Luigi eerily. Somehow, feeling a raw murderous intent, Luigi, who had grown up as a greenhouse plant, put down his fan and stepped back.
‘Wow, scary!’
A look that could kill her.
“Are you going to attack me with force again?”
“I just wanted to point out that Lady Luigi seemed to be misunderstanding something. I will compensate for Lady’s debt that was broken by my fist.”
Tingle, tinkle-
One of the noble young-aes sensed something ominous and rang the bell on the table twice. It was a signal to call the knight.
“That’s not the only thing the princess did wrong just now, is it?”
As soon as her safety was guaranteed, anger welled up inside Luigi.
“How dare a princess from the border threaten me?”
Slapping someone’s cheek without permission was rude even if it was done by the princess of the empire. Luigi crossed her arms and demanded it from Diana.
“If you’re going to apologize, do it properly. Especially the princess, who didn’t control her emotions and slapped me in the face like a noble.”
“What kind of compensation do you want?”
“First of all, shouldn’t you apologize to the extent that I, the victim, am satisfied?”
Diana frowned slightly. Luigi’s closest noble lady stepped forward and asked.
“Luigi. Do you have something else in mind?”
“Princess Diana said that it was her own fault and had nothing to do with the Kingdom of Royam, so I understand that part. Besides, since the princess and I have known each other for some time, I don’t want to demand a merciless price.”
Luigi’s green eyes sparkled wickedly.
“So, kneel down in front of me and bow your head while apologizing.”
“…What?”
Even Luigi’s closest friend asked back in surprise. Bowing your head was the attitude that slaves would show when dealing with their masters.
“Lu, Luigi. You said you would let it go with good intentions, but…”
“That’s why I’m letting it go to this extent. How merciful is that, Princess Diana, who has decided to make an apology that she can take responsibility for without having to ask the kingdom for help?”
“That’s true.”
“And did I ask you to do it at a formal banquet? Since I was insulted here and now, if you just apologize here, it’ll be over. I think I’ve shown a lot of consideration.”
But Princess Diana’s apology would be talked about throughout society. Luigi would come forward and spread the word.
‘If that happens, Princess Diana will be completely buried in society.’
‘No one will want to associate with a royal who behaves like a slave, so she won’t be able to find a decent spouse.’
In particular, Princess Diana had been criticized several times for her reckless behavior related to Mireyu.
‘Of course, the Duchess Blanchett, the victim, and the Kingdom of Royham are doing well, so it was resolved.’
This incident was several times more serious than that incident. Back then, her status as a knight made her understand her actions, but now Diana didn’t even have that knighthood.
“What are you doing, you’re not saying you can’t apologize to me, are you?”
Luigi raised her chin and grumbled.
Diana bit her lip and looked at the floor.
‘This is how it ends.’
Although she acted emotionally, Diana, who had lived as a royal, had some idea that this incident would become this big.
‘But it should have been this way.’
Her mother would have scolded her for handling the situation more cleverly. Estelle, who Diana had recently become close to, might also feel sorry for Diana’s actions.
Even without her knighthood, Diana was a knight. She couldn’t let the innocent Estelle be insulted. Even if she was the victim, she had to step forward and correct the false rumors and defend Estelle. That was her atonement for her past actions of indiscriminately criticizing Estelle.
“I understand. My actions were too reckless.”
Diana nodded her head honestly and knelt down. Luigi sneered at Diana as she looked at her.
“Straighten up a bit. So that I can feel a proper apology?”
At that moment, the door slowly opened.
“Oh my.”
It was not a knight of the palace but the saint and Crown Prince Carlos who entered through the gap.
“Saint Stella!”
“Luigi. Can you explain the current situation to me?”
“Princess Diana is apologizing for her unjustified violence against me.”
Luigi licked her lips as if she was pitiful and pointed to her swollen cheek with her index finger.
“You know, Saint, how fragile I am. But I got slapped by a princess who even has a knighthood. It was the skin I worked so hard to protect.”
“Oh my, it must have hurt a lot.”
The saintess grabbed Luigi’s tearful hand and healed her cheek with her divine power. As soon as the divine power touched Luigi’s cheek, it returned to its original white skin.
“Luigi’s cheek!”
“Don’t you think it looks better than before? The saintess’ divine power is truly amazing.”
The saintess smiled brightly at the noble ladies’ fuss.
“Luigi, are you feeling better now?”
“Yes. Of course. The saintess is truly amazing.”
Luigi nodded, moved by the saintess’s smile, then glared at Diana as if he suddenly realized something.
“Now that I think about it, that princess kept swearing at you too. Do you know what that princess said to you?”
“What did she say?”
“She said you weren’t worthy of being a saint! How could you say such nonsense to a noble saintess of the Holy Land? And you did it just because you were trying to protect a lowly duchess!”
The saintess’s kind face hardened slightly before returning. The saintess patted Luigi’s shoulder, who was excited, and smiled kindly.
“Luigi, you tried to protect me and ended up like this?”
“Yes. I can tolerate insults directed at me, but I absolutely cannot tolerate insults directed at the saintess. Now that I think about it, I think I should make the saintess apologize properly.”
“But Luigi, thank you so much, but I hope you don’t do that.”
“Yes?”
While Luigi was flustered, the saintess spoke in a soft voice.
“If it’s okay, can you completely forgive Princess Diana here?”
“…Forgive her, you say?”
“Yes. I don’t want to see Luigi get involved in a fight because of me. Fighting itself makes people sick. Above all.”
The saintess turned to Diana, who was kneeling, with a compassionate face.
“I unintentionally caused damage to the Kingdom of Royam. So I think I can understand Princess Diana’s feelings.”
“But, saintess! It wasn’t your fault, it was that stupid woman Mireyu!”
“I’m not an ordinary person, I’m a saint. Even if it wasn’t my fault, I want to take responsibility.”
Prince Carlos asked the saintess.
“Then, Stella, what do you want to do?”
“Well, I guess you should ask Princess Diana about that.”
The saint walked gracefully in front of Diana. Then, bowing her head toward Diana, she asked.
“Princess Diana, is there a reason why you were violent toward Luigi?”
“It’s a very personal reason. So you don’t need to forgive her, Saint.”
Luigi then stepped forward.
“Why are you suddenly changing your subject? I was acting because of Duchess Blanchette.”
Diana flinched at the mention of Estelle’s name. Luigi smiled cruelly as if he had realized something.
“Oh. You didn’t want Duchess Blanchette involved in this, did you?”
“It’s my convictions that have nothing to do with the Duchess.”
“Seeing you evading things like this makes me even more suspicious.”
Luigi said, clapping lightly.
“Didn’t Duchess Blanchet order you to frame the saint?”
“No!”
“But why do you keep insisting like that? It’s so suspicious to anyone. Isn’t that right, saint…”
At that moment, the saint, who had been standing still, staggered as if she had a headache.
“Stella!”
Prince Carlos supported the saint’s delicate shoulders, wrapping his arms around them. The saint’s face turned pale and her lips trembled.
“Why would Duchess Blanchet…”
“Do you have any idea?”
“No, nothing. Duchess Blanchet and I are close friends.”
Tears welled up in the saint’s eyes.
“Come to think of it, the duchess suddenly pushed me in the temple. Oh, no. We decided to cover it up as a misunderstanding, so please pretend you didn’t hear it.”
The people around her were already alert to the saint’s words. The crown prince held the saint in his arms and said.
“The duchess suddenly pushed the saint?”
The young lady, who was next to Luigi, swallowed hard.
‘Isn’t that the incident where the saint was mistaken for hurting the duchess?’
What she witnessed was completely different from what the saint had said. The saint had knocked the duchess backwards, and the duchess was lying there, spitting up blood.
“This won’t do. We need to properly investigate this case, so transfer Princess Royam to the imperial prison.”
“Your Majesty, but not to the prison.”
“You are a guest of the imperial family. Since you have slandered a guest, we have no choice but to investigate thoroughly.”
Carlos said firmly.
“This is entirely for the imperial family, so it is not your fault.”
“Because of me…”
The saint trailed off and buried her face in the crown prince’s arms. The corners of her covered lips slightly rose.
‘You should have disappeared when I gave you the chance.’
Not even in the afternoon, news came that Princess Diana had been taken to the imperial prison.
Johann asked Estelle.
“Do you want to save her?”
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
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