Chapter 17
“Prince Bagrott, your people caused a riot at the entrance of the Royal Palace and even attacked His Majesty. Is there anything you want to say about this?”
As soon as Freya entered the room, she slammed the sword in her hand on the table, scaring the living daylights out of Royal Prince Bagrott. Stupefied, he looked at me with a shocked expression. My wound was bandaged in an exaggerated way. It was just a small cut, yet I was bandaged up as if I lost my arm. My face looked pale, which was actually thanks to makeup. I basically looked as though I just had a brush with death.
“Publicly insulting royalty’s power and harming His Majesty; Prince Bagrott, kill yourself right here to apologise! Otherwise, we’ll level your city in two days’ time! The Rosvenor Empire will not tolerate this sort of insult! You hurt the only Crown Prince at the entrance of the Royal Palace. Were you looking to bury all the people of your city as an apology?!”
Freya pa.s.sed him the sword and roared at him with fury. I had no idea where she got it from for her act. I don’t think Royal Prince Bagrott who was merrily drinking his wine expected such a stern roar. He almost dropped his cup of wine from the startle he received.
“I… I… I do not know anything about this… This… this… my… my subordinates are disrespectful… but, it really had nothing to do with me! It had nothing to do with me!”
The chin of Royal Prince Bagrott trembled and he stuttered as he pleaded for mercy. He looked at the sword in front
of him with terror. He desperately tried to pull away from us, putting as much distance between us as possible.
Freya coldly chuckled then said, “Shouldn’t you be the one taking responsibility for your subordinates fault as their leader? Are you claiming that you had nothing to do with what they did? Your subordinates did such a thing to a royal family member, and you’re pleading us for mercy?! Sure, use your own blood.”
Freya pushed the sword over to him. She pushed it up to his neck and coldly said, “Either you off yourself, or I’ll stab it through your throat, right now. You were prepared to die when you decided to do that, were you not?”
“Your Majesty!! Your Majesty! I beg you! Please!”
Royal Prince Bagrott had completely broken down.
‘I must acknowledge that Freya does indeed possess solid acting skills. Royal Prince Bagrott was completely cornered now. The looming danger of death made him go straight down on his knees to beg me for mercy. His nasal mucus and ears were running down his face.’
‘How hilarious for a man seemingly twice my age to be on his knees before me begging for mercy.’
“Prince Bagrott.”
I looked at the man in front of me and cleared my throat to avoid laughing out loud. We’re dealing with an urgent matter and it’s no time to be laughing, but I couldn’t help myself seeing him act so comical. When he heard me speak, it was as if he was gripping onto straws. He even hugged my leg and cried. Freya, however, swiftly kicked him off.
I watched him hold his stomach and groan. I sternly asked, “Prince Bagrott, I
I want to clear up something. Did you people plan this or was it an accident? Or were you perhaps joking with me but this ended up happening?”
“We would not dare to, Your Majesty…” Royal Prince Bagrott wiped his tears and nasal mucus. While still holding his stomach in pain, he wore a painful expression as he went on, “We only wanted to ingratiate ourselves with you. You are the next Crown Prince, so we would not dare to plot such a thing… This is not a joke, either. It is but just a misunderstanding. A misunderstanding! It is just a misunderstanding. The others do not know, either. We really did not plan this together!!”
Freya narrowed her eyes. It’s a habit of hers whenever she thinks. I didn’t know what she was thinking about, though.
‘Could she be thinking about how to continue planting the blame on this poor guy? I think it’s enough now. I’ve gotten the answer to what I wanted to know. n.o.body lies when faced with death, especially when he doesn’t consider death some philosophical thing.’
“All right then. I just wanted to know that much. I’ll report this to Her Majesty. Your subordinates, who caused trouble, were killed by the Valkyries. Your people started it, so you expected as much, right? If you’re dissatisfied in any way, go and report it directly to Her Majesty.”
“I dare not. I dare not… Those people deserved to die. I will not report anything. When I get back, I will eliminate their families, too, so please, please do not report this to Her Majesty. If you tell Her Majesty, I really will die! I really will
really will die!”
“So you’re suggesting that you’re not afraid that His Majesty will kill you?! You came here and brought along guards to cause trouble?!” Freya kicked him in his head, and then raged, “You’re afraid of Her Majesty, are you?! Are you not apologetic in the least about hurting His Majesty?!”
“No! No! No!! I am very sorry! I am very sorry! I am very sorry about my subordinates hurting you, Your Majesty. I am very sorry!”
“You’d do your best to remember this then. Let everyone know to stop. If this sort of thing happens again, you won’t even have the privilege of killing yourself!”
Freya kicked him in his face. She then brushed her hands against each other as if she was patting off dust. She then pulled me out of the room. When we got outside, she let out a sigh of relief, “Phew. That felt great!”
She then revealed a smile, signalling she had gotten her revenge and explained, “Onii-sama, he toyed with me before, so consider this letting me vent.”
“Ah, that’s fine.” I nodded and then added, “If you want to, I can even have him die. That’s not a problem, either.”
“No. If we do that, there will be n.o.body alive to spread this news around.”
It appears that Freya stays level headed even in these situations. I grinned and then said, “That’s all for this incident then, I guess. It’s just a bloodbath, right? The conflict this time was a little too excessive…, but there doesn’t seem to be any problems.”
“No, Onii-sama.” Freya tugged on the sleeve of my s.h.i.+rt and looked at me with absolute seriousness. She shook her head and explained, “Thisand explained, “This is not just a simple bloodbath, but a plot, and one that someone is hiding.”
“A plot? You’re saying that he’s hiding some plot? He doesn’t appear to be the type who considers death the same as returning home, though.”
“No, Onii-sama. You must know that if he revealed plot, he would die an even worse death. If he did not, then you might not kill him. He was aware of that, even when we threatened him. He would be fine if he wrote it off as a conflict. However, if he admitted it was a premeditated plot, he was dead without question.”
I paused to think.
‘That sounds right. Indeed, I couldn’t kill him if this incident was kept under wraps. Put another way, he’s obviously dead if I want his life. If he mentions it, though, he’s dead, too. It didn’t matter what his choice was. He chose to hide it, and I did spare him.’
“How did you find out there was a plot behind the scenes?”
“Do you still remember what he said? He said, ‘The others do not know, either. We really did not plan this together’. Therein lies the problem. When did we ever say others were involved in the incident? Further, how did he know that there were others besides his own guards when there were no eyewitnesses, and how did he know that they were part of the same group present at the scene? That proves that they were all aware. They definitely planned this together. Acting first gives us the upper hand. However, Onii-sama, I believe that something more dangerous is in store. I am absolutely sure of it.”