What I Could Not Protect (4)
Lloyd stood frozen for a long moment, then his face twisted into something demonic.
He jabbed a finger at me and raised his voice.
“You think that pathetic excuse is going to work? And my knight only acted while carrying out my orders, so there’s no issue at all—!”
“Your Highness Lloyd! The rudeness I committed was solely to stop a fight between princes who are brothers, yet this man pushed His Highness the Third Prince without any reason whatsoever. His offense is far graver!”
I fired off my defense like a volley of arrows before Lloyd could finish, my voice ringing out so loudly it rattled the leaves clinging to the nearby trees.
“Therefore, if you punish him first, I will gladly accept whatever penalty comes to me!”
Having said my piece, I bowed deeply while still cradling Edwin in my arms.
The noble children gathered around us—and even the servants passing by—immediately began whispering among themselves.
“She has a point. No matter what, a mere knight daring to lay hands on an imperial prince…”
“Even if the Third Prince is an easy target, shoving him is a bit much…”
“He may be the Second Prince’s escort knight, but he’s still a subordinate himself. Wasn’t that rather reckless?”
“A knight behaving so ungentlemanly. Which order does he even belong to?”
Lloyd’s escort knight seemed to realize the mood had turned against him. He seized my collar in desperation.
“What the hell are you saying, you bitch! Only His Highness Lloyd can judge my crime! How dare you—!”
“The same applies to me!”
“What?”
“My master is His Highness Edwin, so only he can judge my crimes! This is not a place for the likes of you to butt in!”
“This, this silver-tongued wench! Where do you get off—!”
The knight’s face flushed crimson and pale by turns as he grabbed my wrist. With his other hand he raised the sword high.
The moment the knight’s blade caught the midday sun and flashed with lethal sharpness—
“Aargh—!”
The knight collapsed with a short scream. His right wrist, the one that had held the sword, was bent at a grotesque angle.
“One does not swing a sword recklessly inside the imperial palace.”
The voice was a languid, low baritone that seemed to slide up the spine.
I slowly lifted my head.
Where the knight had stood, a man now waited—clad in jet-black armor.
“It’s dangerous.”
The man lightly spun the sword in his hand. It was unmistakably the same blade the knight had been holding moments ago.
I found myself staring at him in a daze when Lloyd strode over. Though he looked far more displeased than before, his tone had grown markedly polite.
“King Kaiden.”
The young monarch of the newly founded Adamanth Kingdom gave the Second Prince a slight nod. Lloyd frowned, clearly displeased by the casual gesture.
“Why is Your Majesty here?”
Kaiden answered with a faint smile. “I happened to be passing by and thought a lady was being attacked by a ruffian, so I stepped in.”
The escort knight had been wearing silver armor and carrying a sword—anyone could see he was clearly a knight—yet Kaiden feigned ignorance as if mocking the prince.
Lloyd’s voice sharpened with indignation. “This man is not a ruffian; he is my escort knight!”
“Oh? Is that so?”
Kaiden widened his eyes as though genuinely surprised. “I had no idea. No matter how I looked at him, he only appeared to be a thug waving a sword at a woman.”
“Hah!”
Lloyd sucked in a breath, astounded.
“Before criticizing another man’s subordinate, Your Highness should first learn to control your own.”
“Wh-what…”
“Of course, you might want to correct that charming little habit of chopping off people’s hands for trivial reasons first.”
“Trivial reasons? How dare you speak to me in such a—!”
Just as the furious Lloyd raised his voice again, a new figure emerged from behind the man in black armor.
“Lloyd, what rudeness are you showing our honored guest?”
“Father…?”
A middle-aged man wearing a red cloak stepped forward. A golden crown studded with jewels rested on his head.
It was Cabelius III, Emperor of the Ventrum Empire.
His appearance was more like that of an ordinary farmer than an emperor, yet his eyes held a sharpness that pierced straight through you.
“We greet the Sun of the Empire—!”
At the sudden arrival of the emperor, everyone present dropped flat to the ground. Lloyd, too, knelt on one knee with a flustered expression.
“This son, the Second Prince, greets Father!”
His face made it clear he had never dreamed the emperor would appear here.
“Lloyd, what is all this commotion in the sacred imperial palace?”
“That woman committed an offense against me, so I was merely trying to punish her.”
“An offense? What offense?”
“That is…”
Lloyd could not easily speak. After all, he had faults of his own.
The emperor let out a small sigh as he looked at his second son.
“Very well. If you will not answer, I must ask someone else.”
His gaze finally settled on me.
“Rise.”
I stood at the emperor’s command and bowed deeply.
“I greet the Sun of the Empire.”
“Are you the woman who shouted earlier?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“You have quite the voice. It reached all the way to the path where I was walking.”
“I apologize.”
“Now then. Is everything you said true?”
The emperor stared at me intently.
“That you touched the Second Prince only to stop the princes from fighting, and that the knight touched the Third Prince without cause.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
At that moment, the Second Prince’s knight interrupted.
“Y-Your Majesty! I have been wronged! It was merely an accident!”
The emperor’s eyes grew icy.
“I do not recall granting you permission to speak.”
“F-forgive me.”
Why butt in when you know you can’t even save yourself?
I sneered inwardly at the knight and lowered my head.
“It is exactly as Your Majesty heard.”
“So you claim you are innocent, while the knight is guilty?”
“I did not say that. I merely requested that the knight be punished first because his sin is heavier than mine.”
“Hmm.”
The emperor let out a thoughtful hum, then raised his hand as if he had made up his mind.
At his single gesture, the imperial guards who had been standing in formation behind him surged forward.
“Drag this man to the execution ground and cut off one of his arms. Strip him of his knighthood as well.”
At the emperor’s command, the Second Prince’s escort knight turned deathly pale.
“Your Majesty! Your Majesty—! I have been wronged! Your Highness Lloyd, save me! Your Highness Lloyd!”
The knight reached out toward Lloyd, but it was useless. His master had already abandoned him long ago.
“And as for you.”
The emperor’s gaze shifted to Edwin, who was trembling beside me. The boy looked so terrified it seemed difficult for him to even breathe.
After quietly observing Edwin for a moment, the emperor turned back to me.
“Your actions were rude, but your intent was good. Taking that into account, I will overlook your punishment. But only this once.”
“Your mercy is too great, Your Majesty.”
At that moment, Lloyd shot to his feet, his face livid.
“Father! That woman also grabbed my arm and pushed me! How can you—!”
“Lloyd. That is enough.”
“Father—!”
Even I was surprised. My own treatment had been far too light compared to the knight’s.
Yet the emperor showed no sign of changing his mind.
“Lloyd, I will personally find you a new escort knight. So let the matter end here.”
“Ugh…!”
Unable to contain his rage, Lloyd turned his head away. He glared back and forth between me and Edwin, breathing hard.
“…Since the matter appears to be settled, there is no reason for me to remain. This son will take his leave first.”
He offered the emperor a half-hearted bow and stormed off. The furious stride made it obvious his anger had not abated.
The emperor shook his head as he watched his son depart.
“A prince who cannot even control his own emotions.”
He gave the man standing beside him an awkward smile.
“It seems I have shown you an unseemly sight.”
“Not at all. Young men of that age are full of vigor, are they not?”
The man standing at the emperor’s side.
I knew him.
He was the same man whose eyes had met mine in the central garden, the young king of the newly founded kingdom that Catherine had mentioned.
There was no presence at all.
I recalled the instant he had appeared before me. Until he had snapped the knight’s wrist, I had not even sensed his existence.
Even though my senses had dulled after possessing the body of an ordinary woman, to miss someone’s presence so completely…
Perhaps the rumor that he single-handedly slew a hundred monsters isn’t entirely baseless.
While I was busy forming various speculations about the man before me, the emperor moved.
“The day is hot. Let us continue our conversation inside the palace.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Let’s go.”
I bowed as the emperor passed by me. The man following him did the same.
Jasmine?
The moment he walked past, a familiar scent brushed the tip of my nose. It was the soap fragrance I had often used before my death.
A faint mint note woven between the common jasmine scent—one that could only be found in a small rural apothecary in the empire. It was rare enough that finding someone who used it was difficult.
So why did the exact same scent cling to a foreign king?
How strange.
To catch the same scent as my previous life on a complete stranger.
Just as I unconsciously started to lift my head, drawn by the fragrance, a low voice whispered above me—soft enough that it seemed meant for my ears alone.
“I thought you were only skilled at scaling walls, yet it seems your talent for scheming is quite impressive as well.”
It was as if he had read my very thoughts.
…Scaling walls?
I looked up with a stiff expression.
A pair of beautiful amber eyes resembling those of a beast were fixed on me.
The man’s lips curved into a smirk. Then he brushed past like the wind.
“See you again.”
He left the meaningful words hanging in the air behind him.