Chapter 34
“No!”
Julius and Lucilla said simultaneously.
“She’s sick and staying in her room. You’re not seriously planning to enter the princess’s room without permission, are you?”
Lucilla raised her voice awkwardly as she protested.
“As I said earlier, you don’t have the right to come into the duke’s mansion uninvited and give me orders.”
Julius also jumped in defiantly.
“I’ll report this to the guards immediately… No, as you said, we should mobilize the knights first.”
He had felt the sting of their earlier mockery and after a brief moment of thought, decided to summon the knights.
It was true he had cut the knights’ budget and reduced their numbers. In fact, aside from a few left to help with transition, he had dismissed everyone and only brought in cheap knights from the Penton family.
He needed to recover the money he had lost in business somehow.
Since they hardly trained, the knights were just for show, but he reckoned that having hundreds of men gathered would help somehow.
“Dolf, go tell the guards about this.”
He whispered orders to a nearby servant, then cleared his throat and pulled the bell cord.
Soon, five or six young knights poured into the living room.
“Drive these people out!”
Julius ordered with considerable force, but…
“…Me??”
Everyone instinctively looked away, and only one young blond knight who looked rebellious tilted his head in confusion.
They had come in with high hopes after hearing the name Aphellemion, but since there had been barely any training, the knights were just gathering dust; this was the first meaningful order any of them had received since joining.
“Hurry up!”
“Yes, sir!”
Three knights startled and grabbed Morve’s arm, but with a single wave, he flung them away like ragdolls.
“You punks! I am Kaisat Morve, the 13th Knight Commander of Aphellemion! You think you can fight me with that weak strength?”
The knight who first responded stammered in surprise.
“Ah, uh! Then, senior?”
Though poorly trained, even imperial knights found it hard not to respect Morve.
“The 14th and 15th commanders are here too, you fools!”
At Aken and Jurik’s shout, the knights looked even more dazed.
“Oh, seniors… But, you want us to drive them out?”
The young blond knight retreated cautiously, realizing it was impossible with their untrained bodies.
“What a sad state of affairs. What have they done to that legendary knight order?”
Morve glared bitterly at the knights; this time without a hint of mockery.
“And where is Iris? Why can’t we see her?”
Aken, who was more tactful than Morve, growled as he approached Julius.
“Ah, Aken.”
“It’s strange. If the princess was well, she would have at least guided us out of annoyance by now.”
“Right? Surely nothing bad has happened.”
Jurik’s face twisted grimly.
“Aken, Jurik.”
“…Yes, something’s definitely wrong.”
Morve corralled the knights against the wall and peeked over Aken and Jurik’s shoulders.
“Julius, tell them you’re treating Iris well.”
Aken said.
Judging something was wrong, he no longer had the luxury to mock Julius.
“Say you are protecting her safely as promised. Tell them that when you became the proxy, it was not a mistake to keep Iris from being taken out of the palace!”
“Th-That’s…”
“Say it quickly before we kill you!”
Julius and Lucilla trembled while holding each other.
They had to hold out until the guards arrived. Iris was locked away anyway, so they couldn’t do much.
If they could just buy some more time…
While their minds raced, a door down the hallway on this floor suddenly slammed open.
“Uncles! I’m here!”
It was Iris.
As if prepared beforehand, she wore a neat outing dress, her long black hair tied up tidily.
“Iris! Is this really our little princess? Uncle Bebe is here!”
“You’ve grown up! Ake uncle is here too!”
“Hey, do you remember me? Uncle Juju!”
The three giants’ faces lit up as if on cue, shouting the nicknames Iris had given them in childhood and the nicknames they had for her.
Iris ran down the stairs in one breath and hugged them tightly.
“I missed you, uncles!”
Though relatives, these three were more like true uncles to Iris than Julius, who was worse than a stranger.
“Oh, our dear niece!”
Julius and Lucilla stood speechless, watching the emotional reunion.
“How on earth… how did she get out?”
Lucilla clenched her fists and stared at the door on this floor.
The head of her surveillance maid, Ray, poked her head out of the doorframe.
“Th-That’s…”
Lucilla’s fury boiled inside as she realized Ray had betrayed her.
Contrary to expectations, Iris was not skinny and pitiful but had gained some healthy flesh, her smooth skin showing she had been well-fed.
“Iris, have you been well? Eating, sleeping, staying healthy?”
“Uncle, I…”
Iris glanced at the three knights, then at the stunned Julius and Lucilla in turn.
At that moment, a glimmer of hope bloomed in Julius and Lucilla’s hearts.
Whatever the circumstances, they were the proxy appointed by the royal family. They had lived with Iris for five years and would continue to control her fate.
Lucilla worked her facial muscles hard, trying to convey the message that if Iris cooperated now, they would reward her greatly.
“The child… has not been well!”
But Iris’s words shattered that hope completely.
“These people kept me locked up by force! And now they want to force me to marry someone ugly!”
“What?”
Morve, Aken, and Jurik jumped up in anger at Iris’s words.
“I told Bael countless times that I wouldn’t tolerate my niece marrying an ugly guy!”
Iris’s childish complaints surprised even Julius and Lucilla.
Usually, she acted maturely and endured their abuse with composure, yet now, meeting her father’s friends, she acted like a brat and tattled?
The problem was that her whining had an enormous effect on the three men — almost as if it was deliberate.
The three giants glared fiercely at the couple as if they could devour them.
“Explain.”
“It’s a misunderstanding! Ask anyone you want!”
Julius shook his head fiercely when Morve grabbed his collar.
“Servants, coachmen, knights…”
“The young lady is right. She was just released after being confined.”
Maria, who had quietly followed Iris downstairs, spoke up.
Lucilla froze in shock.
Maria was a Penton family maid and the personal attendant of Bartol and Demeyra. When had she started following Iris?
“The other maids too…”
“I saw it too. The young lady is telling the truth.”
“If needed, we can testify.”
Two maids who had watched the commotion in the next room came in and spoke.
“She was forbidden to go out. We were told never to let her speak.”
Even the stable master, who had slipped in unnoticed, added his word.
Julius and Lucilla were frozen with shock.
They no longer cared how this had happened.
There was nothing but money that could change people’s minds so quickly.
But when? Wasn’t she penniless before the Pegasus incident?
When had they approached her, with what money did they win her over?
“Everyone shut up! You liars!”
Julius shouted fiercely.
“We did not stop her! If we had, she wouldn’t have received that letter. A small quarrel made her lie…”
“No, we did stop her.”
At that moment, someone else suddenly entered.
“I did stop her, but I disobeyed orders and let her go.”
“Deus! You…”
Julius stomped his foot angrily.
Deus nodded at him and then knelt to the three giants.
“I am Leveron Deus, 13th, 14th, and 15th Knight Commander’s greetings. You may not remember, but I once served with the previous duke.”
“Oh, finally a knight among them! Yes, he delivered our niece’s letter. Said it was urgent.”
Morve helped Deus to his feet and said.
