~Chapter 101~
All day at the palace, Johann felt uneasy.
The fact that there was no real reason to feel uneasy made him even more anxious.
His mother had gone to the villa with Penelope for a rest.
Leah had gone to meet Dorothea, and Raphaella was probably at the mansion having lessons with Veronica.
He knew exactly where everyone was.
…So why do I feel this urge to rush home?
His instincts—which were sharper than most—kept telling him to hurry back.
During the council meeting, he kept glancing at his pocket watch.
Feels like both the second and minute hands are moving slower than usual.
After the council meeting ended, there was another high-level meeting between the dukes and the Emperor.
But even after twenty minutes, the Emperor still hadn’t shown up.
I just want to finish quickly and go home. This is driving me crazy.
Finally, after more than thirty minutes, an attendant came to say the Emperor was feeling unwell.
The moment Johann heard that, he hurried out and climbed into his carriage.
“Head to the mansion as fast as possible.”
“Your Grace, did you forget something there?”
Samuel, sitting across from him, looked puzzled.
“No, I just have a bad feeling.”
Johann ran his hand through his hair impatiently.
Once the carriage left the palace gates, the horses began to gallop faster.
“Wait— isn’t that Sir Anton?”
Samuel, looking out the window, pointed.
“Sir Anton?” Johann narrowed his eyes slightly.
“Yes, I’m sure it’s him.”
Johann looked outside and saw Anton riding toward them at full speed.
“Sir Anton!”
The coachman slowed down, and Samuel opened the window, signaling to Anton.
“What’s going on?”
“Your Grace, Princess Patrizia is causing a scene in Lady Leah’s room.”
Anton, catching his breath, spoke with a grim expression.
“…What?”
He had given strict orders not to let any prince or princess set foot in the mansion—so why?!
Johann’s eyes turned dangerously cold.
“My apologies, Your Grace. She’s threatening everyone with charges of ‘insulting a royal,’ so no one’s been able to get her to leave.”
Anton bowed deeply.
“Get down.”
Johann got out of the carriage in an instant and ordered Anton, who was still on horseback.
“Uh—yes, sir.”
Anton quickly dismounted and handed over the reins.
“I’ll get to the mansion first. You follow after me.”
With that, Johann spurred the horse and took off at full speed.
The guards at the mansion gates went pale when they saw him arriving alone on horseback.
They hurried to open the gates.
As he passed, Johann shot them a glare full of contempt and anger.
Seeing that look, Chris turned white as a sheet, like a man about to be eaten alive by a monster.
Johann tossed the reins to a servant and took the stairs to the fourth floor two steps at a time.
If Patrizia had laid a single finger on Leah, princess or not, he wouldn’t let it slide.
The veins in his clenched fists stood out even more.
“Alfred, I think we’d better go in and get the Princess out, charges or not.”
“Yes. Better we go to prison than let Lady Leah get hurt.”
When they reached Leah’s room, the butler and head maid were pacing nervously outside, peeking in repeatedly.
“Alfred.”
“Your Grace!”
At Johann’s voice, both the butler and head maid turned with startled faces.
“I’ll go in.”
Johann strode toward the noisy bedroom.
His footsteps were heavy with impatience.
The guards at the bedroom door snapped to attention and stepped aside.
“…”
In one glance, Johann took in the scene: Leah, holding the Princess’s wrist; Patrizia, red-faced and shaking with anger; and behind Leah, a lady-in-waiting with her hair in disarray, crying.
“If you stop using violence, I’ll let go of you.”
So the Princess had attacked her own lady-in-waiting, not Leah?
“Do you realize how serious the crime of insulting a royal is—”
What a joke.
“Before you start throwing around accusations, Your Highness, I suggest you study the law first.”
Only then did Harry notice Johann, eyes widening as he stepped aside.
“Your Grace!”
Leah looked startled when she saw him.
“Duke Blumhardt—how are you here…?”
Patrizia looked caught off guard, releasing her grip and stepping back.
So she purposely came to cause trouble while I was away.
Now he understood why he’d felt uneasy all day.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
Johann ignored Patrizia entirely, giving Leah a careful once-over to make sure she wasn’t hurt.
Her left cheek looks a bit red.
“Hey, Duke Blumhardt!”
Just as he was about to take a closer look, Patrizia snapped irritably.
“Do you even know what your new fiancée just did to me?”
She jabbed her finger at Leah and stepped toward him.
“Can’t you see my delicate wrist is all red? That woman dared to lay hands on me—the Princess of Valerius—so—”
“You mean you want to throw her in prison for insulting a royal?”
Johann cut her off.
“Of course, what else—”
“If you’d studied the law properly, you wouldn’t be saying such nonsense.”
A small, cold smirk tugged at Johann’s lips.
“…W-what?”
She stammered.
“Judging by your reaction, it seems you really don’t know.”
He gave her a look full of contempt.
“Who are you saying doesn’t know the law?”
“Let me spell it out for you, just once.”
He stepped closer.
“In the original law code, the charge of insulting a royal didn’t apply to the Five Grand Ducal Houses—they were considered equal, just with different roles.”
“You think I don’t know that?” she scoffed.
“But after one of the Five Houses tried to frame a prince, the law was changed to apply to them too.”
“So then I can—”
“Let me finish. Later, royals started using that law as an excuse to interfere in the Houses’ affairs, so an exception clause was added.”
“…”
Her eyes flickered with unease.
“If a royal was the one to act rudely toward a Grand Duke without due cause, any retaliation wasn’t considered insulting a royal.”
“W-when was… I’ve never heard—are you lying to me?”
“Why would I lie to you, Your Highness?”
His voice was flat.
“If you’re curious, I’ll gladly fetch the law book from the library right now.”
“…N-no, that’s fine.”
“In that case, enough about insulting royals. Now it’s time for me to hold you accountable.”
“…What?”
Patrizia’s eyes widened.
“After you poisoned me last time, His Majesty personally promised me—”
Her lips tightened.
Both her parents had warned her: If it happened again, the Duke wouldn’t just settle for some token compensation.
“He swore you would never again act rudely toward my House.”
They begged me not to provoke him again, or it could weaken royal authority… but my temper got the better of me.
“And yet, here you are again. Which means His Majesty has broken his promise to me.”
She bit her lip hard.
Damn it. Why do I only realize how bad I’ve screwed up once it’s too late?
“With this much blatant disrespect toward my House, I can’t just overlook it like last time.”
“D-Duke, just let it go this once.”
Her face was now pale as she pleaded.
“You’d better head back to the palace now, Your Highness.”
He shook off her hand coldly when she tried to grab his sleeve.
“I’ll give you any compensation you want! If not, my mother might send me to a convent!”
Her eyes were desperate, but he only looked down at her with icy indifference.
She finally turned away.
“Leah… Leah, right? Please forgive me. Have mercy.”
She shamelessly grabbed Leah’s hand.
“Sir Harry, escort Her Highness out at once.”
Johann pulled Patrizia’s hand away as if it were something filthy.
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“Duke! Leah!”
Patrizia was practically dragged out of the room by the knights.
Her grand plan to frame Leah had long since flown out of her head.
Her ladies-in-waiting followed behind like defeated soldiers, heads hung low.
