Chapter 28

“That’s enough.”

I suppressed my anger, kept a calm face, and was generous.

“I’m sure he understood. So stop it.”

On a usual day, I would have asked for Prime Minister Bernard to be killed.

I would have taught him his position so thoroughly that he wouldn’t dare to climb again.

‘I can’t just lose so stupidly to my anger.’

However, today’s victory or defeat ultimately depended on whether or not we received permission to marry. As for the high priest, the holy marriage was more important, so he wouldn’t come forward even in this situation.

‘If I kill that guy, I’ll feel better……’

But this would do nothing more than prove my notoriety to be true.

Today, I had to be seen as a gentle, worthy figure suitable to be the crown princess.

Only then would I be able to persuade the high priest.

‘There’s nothing wrong with showing generosity to the nobles.’

While I was showing the appearance of a generous angel, Rixus was playing the devil well.

Even at my words, he decided to warn Bernard again, making eye contact without pulling the sword that was stuck in the prime minister’s mouth.

“Thanks to the generosity of Her Majesty, you have barely saved your life.”

“Heuk…….”

“Live on the floor like a dog with a grateful heart for the rest of your life.”

“Eh…! Y-Yeh!”

Prime Minister Bernard blinked and desperately showed his desire to obey.

At that moment, Rixus removed the sword that had been lodged in his mouth.

“Ugh!”

Prime Minister Bernard laid face down in an unsightly manner, breathing heavily. He seemed sorrowful and distraught, as if he had escaped after immersing his lower body in the lava of hell.

At that time, the high priest, who had been observing the scene quietly, sternly rang the bell.

It was a bell that signaled a break.

“The atmosphere is overheated, so let’s take a break.”

…Anyway, I believed I crossed a hurdle. I breathed a sigh of relief.

* * *

“It was an act that could be talked about behind the scenes.”

“……”

“Did you come forward even knowing that?”

I asked Rixus.

Rixus sat on the golden seat and looked at me in a relaxed manner, and his lips twitched briefly.

“Okay.”

…I see. Even though he knew it, he went out.

He must have made a quick decision the moment I was insulted. Between his reputation and mine.

And I could see what he abandoned and what he protected.

“It’s too extreme. People will think the Crown Prince is crazy.”

“I don’t think there will be any major changes from my current image.”

Rixus’ dawn-like eyes shone as if he could see inside me transparently.

“I think you seem to think of me that way sometimes too.”

…Could he hear my heart?

‘Still, it was a very risky choice.’

No matter how much Prime Minister Bernard made a mistake in his speech……

Trying to punish him in such a provocative way without following due process could adversely affect the crown prince’s reputation.

It was possible that the nine nobles would nitpick.

Still, without hesitation, Rixus crushed the prime minister in front of everyone.

The message he was trying to convey was simple.

In the future, if anyone behaved rudely towards Berylia Spinel, he or she could become like Prime Minister Bernard.

The effect of this warning would have been greater because Rixus had always been cool-headed and did not make a single flawed action in public.

‘That Rixus’ would go this far.

“I can’t let them insult you with a dirty tongue, Berylia.”

He seemed to think I was trying to blame him. Then, I spoke in a quiet voice.

“Thanks.”

“……”

“I know what you risked.”

Rixus’ lips twisted up beautifully. Would it be a mistake to think that his eyes brightened like a dog praised by his owner?

“I should have skinned him and ripped his limbs apart.”

“…No! Not so far!”

When I yelled out, startled, he laughed in a low tone. Then I realized it was a joke.

‘I believed it because you have a record of doing so!’

Wasn’t he the man with a record of cutting the back of the coachman’s hand just because he made me feel bad?

I quickly shook my head and stopped him.

“Thank you, but I didn’t mean to ask you to step up for me. In the second part, no matter what happens, stay quiet. Promise me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course.”

I raised my head arrogantly and narrowed one eye.

“Just trust me and wait.”

Rixus’ eyes shone as if he was curious.

My nature was such that I couldn’t stand losing.

Moreover, such a nature had only grown stronger over the course of my lives and my many encounters with my archnemesis, Rixus.

‘I can’t lose in an ugly way. Not in front of Rixus.’

With renewed will, I looked at the nine nobles group.

However, there was a person who did not appear in the first part.

……Uh?

* * *

When the second part started, Deborah was the first to speak.

“From a standpoint of supporting peace more than anyone else, the marriage between the two countries brings great joy for me.”

Without blinking, she pretended.

Truly a genius of pretense, the king of lies…

‘If the marriage is approved, are you going to pour soup on the maid?’

‘……Haven’t I heard of your evil deeds?’

Every day after the welcome banquet, rumors of her grumbling in the ducal castle reached my ears as I sat in the crown prince’s palace. She didn’t know how finely detailed Seryl was.

Even when everyone was guessing why Deborah, a key member of the nine nobles, was pretending like this…….

‘It means that the influence of the emperor is still great.’

It meant that no matter how much she wanted conquest in her heart, and no matter how many times she gathered the nine nobles and plotted a scheme, she couldn’t do anything blatantly.

Maybe it was fortunate, but at the same time, it was an uneasy situation.

Since I would have to keep a keen eye on what they were doing under the waters.

‘……But why is he sitting there?’

I frowned and looked at the man who had grabbed my attention from before.

There, Hermish stood, with his crutches and a very nervous face.

‘He tried to run away as if he had seen an eerie ghost.’

The last time I saw his face, he didn’t want to see me again. So it was ominous to see him all the way here.

‘What the hell are you up to? Deborah……’

Soon, Deborah walked through the crowd with butterfly-like gestures and stepped out to the center.

The blood splattered in the first part and the body of Bernard’s henchman was cleaned up during the break.

As if nothing had happened.

“However… I understand that there is no choice but to raise small concerns before the joy of peace.”

“Speak up.”

When the high priest answered, Deborah opened her mouth smoothly.

“As you know, the Crown Princess must take care of the state affairs instead of the Empress.

“…….”

“But what about Her Majesty the Queen?”

Her olive-colored eyes turned to me.

The high priest and all the nobles followed her gaze and had their eyes stuck to me.

Overcoming the suffocating pressure of hundreds of pairs of eyes, I looked back at her calmly.

“Your Majesty, it hasn’t been long since you’ve lived in the Spinel Palace, has it?”

……Instead of saying, ‘It’s been a while since you’ve ascended to the throne,’ she said, ‘Your life in the royal palace is short.’

Her intention was clearly read.

‘I’m guessing she wants to say I’m an idiot who used to roll in the swamp.’

Deborah was steadily beating me down while keeping her words in line, not running wild like Prime Minister Bernard.

“Besides, with matters related to the merger of the two countries… The difficulty of state administration will be very high. So, I would like to ask the Queen.”

Deborah’s eyes gleamed coolly like snakes lurking in the dark underground.

“Do you believe in yourself, Your Majesty the Queen?”

“!”

“I… No, all the nobles in this place!”

The corners of her lips rose.

“Honestly, I can’t have any confidence in Her Majesty.”

I didn’t know she was going to come out so straightforwardly, and her aggressive tone made a buzz everywhere. Words of understanding were mostly exchanged.

Overshadowing the chaos in the first part, Deborah quickly turned the tables in an instant and brought the atmosphere over to her side.

Why…?

At this moment, I remembered my last meeting with Deborah.

To someone who coveted a position that she didn’t fit. She asked me if she should pull such a person down ‘even by grabbing the hair.’ 

Was I really going to be dragged down from this place?

Would I have to harshly pay the price of struggling without accepting the fate that had been repeated countless times?

“Try to die this time.”

Strangely, I remembered my mother’s voice.

As a cursed odd-eye, the memories of the past of being abandoned by my parents hit me like a tidal wave. Their words, saying that they have no use for me, lingered.

If I let go of my mind even just a little, it felt like my mind would be swept away. A deep fear crept into my chest.

‘No one believes in me.’

‘There is no one here who believes that I can do it.’

For some reason, I felt terribly lonely.

Deborah’s words and the hundreds of hostile gazes stuck to me – it felt as if they were binding me and plunging me deep into the swamp.

I felt suffocated as ice cold water slowly filled up to the top of my head.

Choking, suffocating… 

But yet, I could feel a warm body temperature coming from beside me and grabbing my hand.

“……”

I met the eyes of a man who looked at me, it was like the only light.

Rixus licked his lips and said to me.

“Say you can do it.”

That soft voice took me out of the cold swamp at once and placed me back in reality.

‘No… There is one. Someone who believes in me.’

I came back to my senses and my breathing calmed down.

I looked into Rixus’ eyes and nodded slowly.

Then I got up and walked down through the gazes that were like a clowder of cats that would bite me, and I stood right in the middle of them.

I knew this was the most important moment.

‘May it be the final answer to my fate and Spinel’s national fortune.’

“I understand your anxiety. So…”

I raised my chin arrogantly and spoke clearly.

“I’m going to prove my qualifications right here, right now.”