41 - The Bride of the Great Lord is a Warrior from Hell
The Grand Duke's Bride is a Warrior of Hell 41
Marquis Manners gave a sheepish bow and followed the chamberlain's guidance.
Viviana watched Marquis Manners take his seat with tearful eyes.
The Emperor had already given her a warning look, so she didn't say anything, but her face was dripping with injustice.
Following him, Marquis Rein entered the Audience Chamber.
"..."
It was Viviana who was startled by Marquis Rein's bleak expression.
Viviana, with wide eyes, looked once at Marquis Rein's dry, almost parched face, and then at Alicia, who was sitting next to her.
Alicia wasn't afraid of determining right from wrong.
She had committed violence in the Imperial Palace, so she could imagine how much gossip there would be about her.
She was now confident that she wouldn't even flinch at rumors.
But if she had known her father would be summoned to this place, she wouldn't have done it.
Marquis Rein didn't even glance at Alicia, bowed to the Emperor and Empress, and went to his seat.
Marquis Manners looked at him pointedly, as if he had something to say to the man sitting next to him.
Marquis Rein stared ahead with an unreadable expression.
Seeing that from the head table, the Emperor wore an awkward expression.
The Empress quietly surveyed the Audience Chamber.
Grand Duke Tessen, who was busiest with official duties, was nowhere to be seen.
Marquis Rein was inscrutable, and Marquis Manners was fidgeting, as if he wanted to immediately determine right from wrong and help his daughter.
Alicia glanced at her father, who showed no particular reaction.
Their eyes met for a moment.
The Marquis gestured with his eyes, only for Alicia to see, as if telling her to look ahead.
At that moment, the door to the Audience Chamber burst open.
"Alicia."
A fierce footstep, almost running, disturbed the room.
It was none other than Reikart who came rushing in.
Oh, right, this person was here too.
Alicia realized anew as she looked at the face lowering to meet her eyes, kneeling to match the height of the low chair.
She found it odd that Reikart was acting so emotional, which was rare for him.
"Alicia, is it true you hit someone?"
Reikart interjected with a hasty voice as Alicia was about to speak.
"Your Highness..."
He was someone who would never be involved in such a commotion if it weren't for her.
Alicia hesitated, wondering if she should apologize to him.
"Alicia, did you commit murder?"
Reikart uttered destructive words with a serious face.
His face was full of worry.
He looked as if the world had collapsed.
Alicia was momentarily speechless.
"N-No, I didn't."
Alicia barely managed to answer in her fluster.
Murder? What was he talking about?
Alicia was bewildered.
Reikart looked relieved, but also as bewildered as Alicia.
"You didn't? That's a relief. I heard Alicia hit someone, and I thought she had killed someone. There must have been some misunderstanding. Seeing that you hit someone but they didn't die, I guess people misunderstood a prank."
Reikart was spouting nonsense with a straight face.
Alicia was dumbfounded.
Of all the things she had heard since coming to Baden, what the man had just said was the most absurd.
"Your Highness."
At Alicia's lukewarm call, Reikart's face turned serious again.
"You didn't kill them, but they're in critical condition? Where's the person who was hit? The doctor? Can they be treated?"
"No, Your Highness."
The atmosphere in the room was chilly.
Grand Duke Tessen, who was said to smash people's heads like sand dolls on the western border, was treating his fiancée like some kind of monster.
Grand Duke Tessen was usually known for being uninteresting and unemotional.
Since it was him saying it, it couldn't be taken lightly.
She had never heard that Alicia Lane's strength was threatening.
But if Grand Duke Tessen was acknowledging her strength, that was a different story.
Outside the Empire, Grand Duke Tessen's nickname was none other than the Devil.
Sometimes, he was called a monster.
Alicia vehemently denied it, feeling the increasingly bizarre atmosphere.
"It's not like that."
"Is there anything left of the person's shape?"
At Reikart's words, Alicia raised her voice without realizing it.
"Your Highness!"
She wanted to shout.
Watch your words!
Who are you trying to make a murderer out of?!
Are you me?!
Viviana's face turned pale as she listened to Reikart and Alicia's bickering.
She looked as if she would collapse at the slightest touch.
"Reikart."
"Your Majesty, Your Imperial Majesty. I apologize. I was so surprised by the news that I failed to pay my respects to you both."
"The victim is fine, so go and take your seat."
Only then did Reikart notice Viviana, glance at her once, and follow the chamberlain.
The royals who had come as observers looked as if they were dying to ask what that conversation was all about.
Alicia shot a look of reproach at her fiancé, who was calmly changing his expression and walking away.
What about my image?
Yours is already like that, but not mine!
Hey!
Alicia felt unjustly wronged and wanted to cry.
All her efforts to maintain a gentle demeanor had been for nothing.
It was the Empress who broke the awkward silence in the Audience Chamber.
"Lady Alicia, I am disappointed that there was violence in the Imperial Palace. I have already heard the nonsense you spouted, so there is no need to repeat it."
The Empress avoided saying the words as if she didn't want to even mention them.
Viviana, who had been confused by Alicia and Reikart's conversation, brightened her eyes at the Empress's surprisingly not-so-bad reaction.
"Lady Viviana, Lady Goggins is about to give birth. At such an important time, the Imperial Concubine's younger sibling is caught up in scandal. Did you not think that you should put the mother's mind at ease?"
The Empress began by scolding Viviana as well.
Marquis Manners's face clouded uncomfortably.
"Your Imperial Majesty, I am wronged... Lady Alicia slandered and hit me, and I couldn't avoid it. I was so taken aback by the sudden violence."
Viviana said with the face of a pitiful victim.
"Lady Viviana, to determine the truth, we must first examine what you said. The Empress Palace maids, the Imperial Palace chamberlain, and the head maid have investigated and confirmed that several people heard Lady Viviana say that she expressed friendliness to Lady Alicia but was ignored, and then slapped. Lady Viviana, where and when were you ignored by Alicia?"
The Empress's words were consistently gentle.
"It was this morning. I was heading from the Imperial Concubine's quarters to the Ishtren Garden, and Lady Alicia was heading to the Imperial Concubine's quarters. There are several people who can testify."
Viviana said as if she had been waiting for the question.
"I have also looked into that. Lady Viviana and Lady Alicia passed each other this morning, and passed by without any special words or contact. The garden maintenance servants and the rear garden maids all gave the same testimony. Some said that if Lady Alicia had slapped you, they would have been within a distance where they couldn't have missed it."
"Your Imperial Majesty."
"Are the people Lady Viviana is talking about as witnesses your companions? Wouldn't their words be difficult to trust? Your companions are your friends, who are also Princess Josefina's Zephyr Clan peers."
The Empress's words were eloquent.
The Emperor frowned slightly at the mention of Princess Josefina's Zephyr Clan.
In Baden's social circles, the power of the social club created by Princess Josefina was immense.
The Princess was the Emperor's first niece, so nobles and even most royals gave way to her.
The members of the Zephyr Clan, trusting in the Princess's power, stirred up the Imperial Palace and social circles.
The Emperor knew about this but had somewhat neglected it, so he rubbed the back of his neck secretly when Josefina's name came up.
The Empress knew the Emperor's position well, so she did not pour out blatant accusations or suspicions.
"Lady Viviana, are there any third parties who are not your companions who can testify to your injury? Any evidence or traces that would show that you were actually injured?"
The Empress elegantly brushed aside all of Viviana's lies.
"I, I am wronged...! Lady Alicia really hit me! If my companions cannot be trusted because they are on my side, then the Imperial Palace and the garden and rear garden servants and maids close to the Empress Palace are equally difficult to trust. Everyone in the Imperial Palace knows that Lady Alicia visits the Empress every day without fail!"
Viviana burst into tears as she poured out her words.
"Lady Viviana, to suspect the Imperial Palace servants and maids is to suspect and look down on the Imperial Palace."
The Empress's face turned stern for a moment.
"Viviana..."
Marquis Manners tried to warn his daughter for her arrogant words.
Viviana's words contained not only hostility towards Alicia, but also hostility towards the Empress.
The Emperor, who had been watching Marquis Manners's actions, opened his mouth.
The Emperor's face, usually praised as if an angel had descended, was twisted.
"Lady Viviana, you have no witnesses or evidence, but you claim that you were slapped by Lady Alicia and that you are a victim? Then there is only one method left."
"Your Majesty, it is because my daughter is lacking..."
Marquis Manners fidgeted at the words coming from the radiant face.
"The violence that many people saw Lady Alicia display earlier was said to be one-fifth of her original strength. If Lady Alicia uses her full strength to hit you and you endure it, you can prove your words. Isn't that right? If Lady Alicia really hit you with all her might in a place where the only people watching are Lady Viviana's friends, why would she control her strength?"
The Emperor said, as if to put an end to the sluggish discussion and finish it.
"Your Majesty..."
Viviana looked up at the head table as if she had been greatly betrayed.
"I heard that Lady Alicia slapped you with only one-fifth of her strength, and you couldn't get up for more than 10 minutes. I'm curious to see what will happen if she swings with all her strength."
The Emperor shook off his annoyance and smiled brightly.
"Your Majesty, no. Viviana, apologize quickly. Apologize to Lady Alicia quickly."
Marquis Manners rose from his seat.
He came to Viviana's side, knelt down, and said hastily.
Viviana had a confused look on her face.
"Your Majesty, I just... But I really was hit..."
The Emperor's face was filled with disgust as he looked at her pleading face.
"With one-fifth of her strength, you say. So what were you babbling about before that?"
"I..."
Viviana seemed more shocked by the Emperor's attitude than by the fact that her lies had been exposed.
The people in the Audience Chamber did not show any particular reaction to Viviana, who refused to admit it until the end.
Everyone already knew.
Perhaps today's events were a common pastime for Viviana.
It was a frequent occurrence in social circles.
Alicia's violence was not part of Viviana's plan.
She must have thought that even if she was slapped, she could package herself well as a victim.
