Chapter 31
This was exactly the kind of reaction you’d expect when someone married an idol.
At first, it started with half-jealous exclamations like, “She’s pretty, but why is she dressed like that?” Then they brought up Riezern’s name.
A beautiful young lady from a marquis family that was practically of ducal standing—of course their jealousy would overflow.
That much, I could understand. After all, when the man you admired ceased to be a public figure and became someone else’s, it was natural to feel a rebellious spark.
But that was as far as I could tolerate.
“Well, it’s because of her father, isn’t it? He must’ve secretly gone to the Emperor to lobby.”
“Would Marquis Riezern really do something like that?”
“He’s a hopeless daughter-lover, though. And just imagine how much he must’ve coaxed and begged? With a pretty daughter doing that, what else could he do?”
“They say he’s been scheming for the next marquis position too—people are calling him overly ambitious.”
“Wow, overflowing with ambition, huh?”
Their talk gradually warped into fabricating rumors and twisting me into their narratives.
— Wow, these young ladies… their tongues are sharp.
For a moment, I thought one of the nearby nobles had finally gathered the courage to call them out.
— But why is she just sitting there listening? She can’t possibly not hear this.
Then it struck me. That wasn’t an ordinary voice. It was the same mysterious voice I had heard before—once in the forest, once in front of the jeweler.
I couldn’t see who it was because of the crowd, but it was so clear. Raising my eyes slightly, I noticed the air flowing like a breeze above their heads.
Narrowing my focus on the voice made me tense and uneasy, but I quickly tuned back into the ballroom.
“Honestly! Isn’t there some way to drag her down? I absolutely refuse to let that woman into the imperial family!”
Ah, so they still hadn’t finished. I didn’t know how much more “creative” they could get with ways to wound me, but none of that heated malice reached me.
But of course, heat like that was bound to draw attention.
“If you dislike the Crown Princess chosen by the Imperial Family so much… then you had better prepare to leave Krophen, Lady Kerna, wasn’t it?”
The heavy voice dropped like a hammer, instantly freezing the chatter.
When I lifted my head, I saw Teowin towering before them, his large frame casting a shadow over the little cluster of ladies.
Oh my… that must be terrifying.
Watching, I couldn’t help but feel a little amused.
“From what I hear… the gist of it is that Lady Anes is unfit to be Crown Princess. In that case, let me ask you the opposite. Do any of you know someone more qualified to take her place?”
He didn’t raise his voice. He never needed to. His low, cool tone pressed down on them like a blade of ice.
“W-well… if you suddenly ask us to answer… um…”
“Ah, I see. You were speaking so confidently about dragging her down, I assumed you had a flawless alternative in mind. But apparently, that isn’t the case.”
If it had been the Crown Prince I knew, he would’ve stopped there.
“Each of you will return to your parents immediately and inform them of this: their daughters sullied the Crown Prince’s betrothed, who is to be wed in a state marriage, by gossiping shamelessly at the Imperial banquet. They are to come to me prepared to bear the punishment in their daughters’ place.”
I couldn’t help but lift my head in shock.
I had never heard Teowin sound like that. Dragging their parents into it over a few careless words seemed far too harsh.
Sure enough, the young ladies’ faces went deathly pale.
To them, speaking ill of the Crown Princess-designate had just been petty backroom gossip. Even when things escalated a little, I had endured it—it was the sort of thing that happened everywhere, in reality and in novels. It wasn’t worth troubling Riezern or Teowin over.
“Y-your Highness, we have committed a grave sin!”
“We have committed a grave sin!”
One curtsied in apology, then the rest chorused after her. But Teowin’s tone remained cold.
“If your parents will not bear the price, then I will take it from your eyes or your tongues instead. Such precious tongues should not be wagged so recklessly.”
I felt my breath catch.
The Teowin I knew was the one who spent quiet moments with me, not the tyrant radiating now. I had never seen this side of him—both frightening and awe-inspiring.
It was not a time for comfort.
I slowly rose from my seat and walked toward him.
Hearing him order their parents to be summoned over a few loose tongues must have shocked them to the core. Standing trembling before his overwhelming charisma, they looked… just a little pitiful.
“Your Highness.”
I called softly. I didn’t know exactly how furious he was, but if he lost his reason, things could spiral further.
If only he would listen to my voice—maybe this could be stopped.
And then something astonishing happened. The sharp, cold, blade-like expression he had worn vanished instantly the moment I drew near and called his name.
I wasn’t the only one who noticed. The young ladies, still staring, widened their eyes at the sheer contrast.
“Anes.”
He spoke my name with such gentleness that some of them shivered.
The thunderous voice that had cowed them moments ago was gone, replaced by warmth—it was as if he had become another man entirely.
“Are you alright?”
He only said those few words, yet they flinched again. Realizing that I must have heard every word they said up close made their spines prickle and cold sweat break out.
I looked up at him with a little smile.
“I’m fine, Your Highness. I only came because you seemed a little too heated.”
I saw the twitch of his brow. Shifting my gaze from the frightened ladies back to him, I noticed how all his tension melted away as his tongue, once sharp with venom, softened.
I met his eyes steadily. He took a moment to catch on to what I meant, then spoke again.
“Are you really alright?”
He asked once more—not if I was pretending, but if I truly was.
This was an official banquet. It was regrettable that those ladies had forgotten that.
Today was supposed to be about sharing joyful news because of me. While I understood his desire to punish those who spoiled it, I didn’t want the evening to descend further into chaos.
“I’m alright. Of course, I don’t excuse the outrageous things they were saying….”
Hearing my calm tone, the ladies began to regain some color in their faces.
“But really, how little must they think of Riezern and me, to babble the kind of things you’d hear in a dingy backstreet tavern—at a royal banquet, no less? I was a bit hurt, and quite shocked, but that’s all.”
My voice didn’t waver.
Had it only been me they insulted, I could have let it go. But they had dragged in César Riezern as well.
Teowin’s lips curved faintly upward.
“In that case, their punishment…”
“Is it necessary? I’ve no wish to demand their tongues as payment for reckless words—not even before the state marriage has taken place—especially not through your hands, Your Highness.”
He hadn’t explicitly threatened to do that, but I knew he would if I left it unchecked.
The trembling young ladies fixed me with desperate gazes. No one here misunderstood which side their survival depended on.
At least, they weren’t so foolish as to miss that much.
