Two-Faced Princess

“Why? Are you going to punish me? If you hit me more——-” Gareth wriggled but didn’t bend. “What do you think is a fitting punishment for a Marquis like me?”

Uriel chuckled darkly as he slowly moved to stand between Gareth and Apollonia.

“Give Her Highness a deep bow and apologize. Promise not to insult her again in the future.”

“What? What?” Gareth asked, trembling as if he was ashamed to make eye contact with Apollonia.

Uriel looked down at him and said. “I told you to bow deeply, Marquis. It would be appropriate if your eyes are leveled to Her Highness’ knees.”

Gareth’s face contorted from rage.

“Should I help you?”

Uriel extended his long arms to Gareth’s head as if to grab him by the back of his head and force him to bow down. The crowd’s gaze widened in shock as Gareth’s face became paler.

“If so, excuse me.”

The moment Uriel’s hand touched Gareth’s head, he turned around and punched Uriel in the face.

*PUCK*

“How dare you!” Gareth howled.

When Uriel smiled as if he hadn’t been hit at all, he roughly pushed Uriel once again.

“How dare you do this to me?” He breathed.

When Uriel didn’t budge, his eyes turned to Apollonia.

“Marquis.” Uriel warned him in a low voice.

However, Gareth didn’t stop and reached for Apollonia.

*THUD*

Before he could touch Apollonia’s face, Gareth’s hand was caught in the air.

“What the——”

It wasn’t Uriel. No one else just showed up either. The one who caught him was Apollonia herself, who was watching the spectacle.

“Stop it, cousin.”

Apollonia didn’t want to see Gareth anymore. She hadn’t planned it, but at that moment she was sure she had to stop Gareth all on her own. The moment he had punched Uriel, something inside her snapped. His cousin should no longer be allowed to commit such atrocities. Apollonia was no longer the young girl who only wanted to survive. She fixed him a cold stare. Apollonia’s nonchalant gaze, resembling the flames of hell, was sharp enough to pierce him.

No one was there to protect her from Gareth when she was a child and all she did in the past was avoid him. This time, she wouldn’t allow herself to just endure no matter what Gareth had taken from her even if he pushed her and knocked her down. Gareth shuddered with a start. It wasn’t that her grip was too strong. The new Apollonia was unfamiliar to him, but on the other hand, she seemed to resemble someone. Her sharp voice sounded like a knife’s blade and her cold disdainful gaze promised to keep Gareth on his toes.

Apollonia’s attitude reminded him of Petra, the woman Gareth had feared the most.

“Stop it.”

As the two confronted each other, someone’s voice came from the door.

“Who———”

When she turned her head, the first thing she saw was Caelion standing at the door. However, the voice stopping Gareth was not his.

“You’re drunk, Marquis.”

Standing behind Caelion were four noblemen: Marquis Trion. Marquis Edwin. Viscount Esteban. and Count Amon, Baron’s father.

The three neutral noblemen and one royalty wore similar expressions. Half of them regarded Gareth as pathetic while the other half seemed interested in Apollonia and Uriel. One could even mistake it for admiration. Although it was brief, Apollonia’s change of attitude caught their attention.

“Count Amon.” Gareth said as he looked at the owner of the voice he had just heard. He was tense. It was hard to believe that he was frightened by Apollonia a while ago.

“Baron, what are you doing?”

Baron, who was holding onto his bruised cheek, murmured. “Oh, Father, when did you come?”

“I watched everything. You didn’t even know people were coming and you’re being rude.”

Count Amon clicked his tongue. His normally glazed face was wrinkled with shame. As the Emperor’s aide, he seemed to be more displeased with his son’s inability to distinguish the situation and his opponent than his behavior itself.

“H-How did you get here?”

“We were looking for a place to discuss the mining project with Archduke Ephinhardt. I didn’t know there was a fight.” Marquis Edwin said as he looked up at him. He didn’t really know Gareth well, but he tried to be careful of his status. Still, he couldn’t completely hide his shock and contempt for Gareth’s words.

“Just now——-”

“Marquis, I won’t tell the Duchess what happened just now.”