Two-Faced Princess

“How dare you nag?” The esteemed son of Count Amon, who was standing next to him, shouted in place of Gareth. “At least on the topic of being the princess’s escort———-”

“It appeared like the owner and its dog are equally incapable of distinguishing whom to respect. Acting as the marquis’ dog is a far cry from honor.”

Gareth approached Uriel with a redder face and grabbed him by the collar haughtily.

“Then, let’s see which dog is more insignificant. Mine or Apollonia’s. If the Count’s son is alright with punching you in the face right here, that means you’re insignificant, right?” Gareth said, twisting his broad face.“If I break one place, you’ll come to your senses soon enough. This is what my mother told me. In other words, no matter what we do to you, we will not be punished.” He gestured to Baron. Baron Amon, who showed his skills for a bit, struck Uriel in the face without warning.

*PUCK!*

His fist remained in Uriel’s face as the force made his head snap back. Uriel’s lips were slightly torn, but his expression didn’t change much except for the mocking raise in one eyebrow.

“Stop it.”

Apollonia’s calm voice rang in the lounge. She was accustomed to being patient but she couldn’t stand seeing the situation in front of her any longer. When she saw Uriel’s split upper lip because of someone like Baron, anger rose deep in her heart. Gareth and his friends turned their heads toward her. Apollonia’s striking red ball gown and slender form kept their eyes on her longer than usual.

“Apollonia.”

Gareth called her name. As always, Apollonia smiled and didn’t greet him back. She just stood there silently while raising an eyebrow.

“Your—-Your Highness, Princess Apollonia.”

Except for Gareth, the rest of the aristocrats bowed with reluctance. Of course, they were dumbfounded by her new appearance, but they didn’t seem wary. Still, the nobles failed to hide their contempt for Apollonia in their gazes.

“What have you been doing to my Knight?”

“Count Buiche doesn’t know how to behave. Perhaps, it’s because of his origin. We’re trying to teach him a lesson.” Baron said with a sneer. “You seem busy, Your Highness. I’m not the Grand Duke but if he truly wanted to live in the Royal Palace, he should learn how to be polite to the Marquis. I do it all the time.”

When Barron finished speaking, the young men laughed.

“You know that he’s my escort, don’t you?” Apollonia asked coldly.

“Of course. How can we not know your things?” Baron made an effort to emphasize the word ‘things’. “Disciplining him was necessary.”

He didn’t participate in this war but he should know that the reputation of Uriel, who was from a lowly class, was disturbing.

However, Uriel was indifferent to the insults. He only looked at her worriedly the moment everyone recognized Apollonia’s existence. She sighed inwardly. Her plan was to take her mask off little by little without provoking the emperor. However, the person she was thinking of right now wasn’t Gareth at all.

After much thought, Apollonia said. “Let him go.”

It was an order, no, a request, that a princess would naturally make. The decision was frustrating but inevitable. Honestly, she just wanted to slap Gareth and Baron in the face a hundred times each for touching Uriel. But if she suddenly punished them using her authority as the princess, she would be at risk of attracting Petra’s hawk-like attention.

Together with Gareth, she quickly scanned the faces of the nobles who held Uriel’s arms and commit them to memory. Soon, she would bring misfortune to each one of them. However, Gareth didn’t understand Apollonia’s intention to solve things smoothly for now.

“You must have eaten something wrong, Nia.” Gareth growled, taking a step closer to Apollonia. He didn’t hesitate to treat Apollonia, the princess, with mocking ridicule in the presence of others. His tactlessness seemed to have given strength to his friends and Baron’s smirk deepened. “I guess you’re not afraid of my mother anymore, are you?”

Apollonia sighed, accepting his stupid remark.

Even in this situation, he couldn’t hide how pathetic he was being.

“Why should I be afraid of my esteemed aunt? My aunt would be sad if she knew that you have treated my knight like this.”

Her words might seem innocent but she expressed them in a roundabout way where Petra would have gotten angry if Gareth was involved in a useless accident. She expected Gareth’s fear of Petra to end the situation. But rather, as if her words had provoked Gareth, his face was horribly distorted.