TPOTLPIM Chapter 15

The waitress had never even said he touched her bottom, yet here he was confessing everything himself—it was a pathetic sight.

Everyone present shared the same thoughts, but no one could bring themselves to raise a hand against a prince of the Dant family.

"Kneel now!"

The bakery's air sank heavily, and everyone's gaze turned toward the waitress who was slowly bending her knees.

Just then, Cecilia saw a small light flash near Crolyn Prince's bottom.

"Agh!"

Whether that light stung him, Crolyn Prince leaped up and frantically rubbed his bottom with exaggerated fuss.

"Who is it! Who dared stab my bottom with a blade!"

Thinking that sting was the pain of being stabbed by a blade, he glared with bulging eyes while whipping his head around.

'It wasn't a blade. There was no one nearby.'

Cecilia only rolled her eyes to the side, stealing a glance at Asen from the corner of her eye. Asen's face was frozen rigid with tension.

'Asen used magic.'

Whether it was a sense of justice to punish the shameless prince, or she gladly seized the opportunity when a chance to use magic arose, it was clear that Asen had used magic on the prince.

'Asen, why did you do that?'

Cecilia wiped her sweaty, nervous palms on the hem of her dress.

Then Teros's low voice cut through the heavy air inside the bakery.

"Listen here, Crolyn! When you're drunk there's no fool like you. There's no one around you, yet you can only think of being stabbed with a blade? Wouldn't this be a mage's doing?"

Startled, Cecilia shot a resentful look at Teros across from her.

'Have you lost your mind? What are you doing?'

She desperately sent signals with her eyes, but he paid no heed. Rather, he was wearing that slanted smile she felt she'd seen somewhere before.

As Crolyn staggered toward the table where Cecilia sat, an unpleasant alcohol stench came rushing to cover her nose. He blinked while boring his gaze into Teros.

"Huh? Am I seeing things wrong? Why is that bastard Teros in a place like this? That ill-omened prince..., ah, no. I should call you by your title. What was the name of that godforsaken corner land at the border? Ah, D'Anstone! So you're the Marquis of D'Anstone now? Hmph, marquis my foot."

The faces of those watching the encounter between Crolyn and Teros turned white as sheets. No matter who Crolyn was, he shouldn't have said "that bastard" or "ill-omened" to Teros. Crolyn clearly had nothing in his sight right now.

"I've felt this from before, but you really have no sense of your surroundings. I just gave you an important hint, but you couldn't catch that?"

Only then did Crolyn's eyes fix on Asen. Green eyes that resembled Hadel, the imperial magic researcher. It was the Odik wench.

"It was you!"

Teros caught and restrained Crolyn's hand as he reached out as if to grab Asen by the collar.

"You mustn't use violence against a lady. Go outside and resolve this through gentlemanly conversation."

"Come out right now!"

Crolyn barked at Asen. Not having expected this situation, Asen hesitated and made a tearful face, so Teros nodded as if telling her to go out.

"Marcel, Miss Asen seems frightened, so go with them and help with the conversation."

Marcel sighed inwardly. If clumsy acting was Marcel's way, this was his lord's way.

His lord had gotten rid of the unsightly Asen and Crolyn in this manner. Moreover, using that as an excuse, he naturally sent Marcel away too, creating an opportunity to be alone with Cecilia. Marcel felt his head throb thinking about the cleanup he'd have to do as he followed Crolyn and Asen out.

After the three left, Cecilia glared at Teros and snapped with whatever came to her mouth.

"Are you crazy? What if you cause trouble for Asen?"

"I merely stated the facts. Miss Odik did nothing wrong, did she? Oh, she did harm Crolyn with magic, though."

"Then should we just watch that scoundrel prince with our eyes open?"

"Punishment is necessary, but if you use magic in the process, you should have been prepared for such consequences. Miss Odik hasn't even fully repaid the damage she caused me yet."

When Teros brought up the potion, Cecilia shut her mouth. She wanted to protest something, but her conscience kept stabbing at her, and she couldn't bring out any words.

When Cecilia closed her mouth with a somewhat resentful expression, Teros smiled leisurely.

"Don't worry. Marcel went with her. Since she already used magic, it'd be fine to punish him a bit more with magic. Marcel will handle the cleanup anyway."

What sin has Sir Marcel committed this time? The captain of the Red Knights is undoubtedly an extreme occupation.

As the tense indoor atmosphere loosened bit by bit with people's bustling chatter, the bakery gradually regained its vitality as though nothing had ever happened.

Marcel led Asen and Crolyn to an empty lot where no one was around.

"I apologize, Your Highness."

Asen bowed her head while clasping both hands in front of her, offering words of apology.

"You worthless Odik wench! Do you know who I am and dare cause such trouble? Just because the imperial court coddles you mages, you think you can do anything? You people are just disposable dogs anyway!"

Along with Crolyn's shouting, insults toward the Odik family poured out.

"Hold on! Your Highness! Your words are too harsh. Isn't Miss Odik apologizing? Please show magnanimity and understanding."

When Marcel stepped in from the side, Crolyn glared at him with bloodshot eyes. He was about to vent his anger on Marcel as well when something came to mind and he shut his mouth.

The reckless words mixed with profanity that he'd spewed at Teros in the bakery floated back to him. It had been uncontrolled speech from being drunk, but as time flowed, it was gradually weighing on his mind.

In this situation, he couldn't treat the knight captain, who was like Teros's proxy, roughly as well.

He cleared his voice and spoke to Marcel in a tone that had lost some of its edge, as though admonishing him.

"Ahem. Outsiders shouldn't meddle in this affair."

After tugging his collar back and forth to straighten his appearance, Crolyn began what seemed like a final admonishment to Asen, putting on dignified airs.

"Listen here, be careful going forward. Don't cause trouble with your clumsy magic. Just how does Hadel educate his people? Do I have to watch these beggar-like mages throwing tantrums?"

Asen's face flushed red as she'd been enduring insults about Odik while holding herself back. At first she'd let it slide, thinking it was said in the heat of rage, but continuing to insult Odik even after regaining his composure was unbearable.

Her green eyes glared at Crolyn defiantly, and finally, in that last moment, she ended up speaking.

"Your Highness has also settled down and it looks like we can have a proper conversation now, so let me say one thing too. Your Highness doesn't seem concerned about the harm you caused others in the bakery, does he? The waitress too. Why are you trying to receive an apology when you're the one who should be apologizing?"

Dear God. Marcel, who thought he'd just barely succeeded in pacifying Crolyn, wearily squeezed his eyes shut. It looked like this would be quite a lengthy battle.

As expected, Crolyn's furious voice rang out.

"What? You little thing, I've been going easy on you! How dare a mere Odik rebel against an imperial prince!"

But the fight couldn't last as long as expected.

Thud!

A thunderous sound was heard instantly, and when the startled Marcel opened his eyes, he saw Crolyn lying collapsed some distance away.

It was enhancement magic.

In the fuming Asen's hand was a small handbag, presumably what had sent Crolyn flying.

Marcel crouched down in front of the unconscious Crolyn, who lay sprawled with his limbs stretched out, and examined his body.

Next to him, Asen fidgeted restlessly, stamping her feet in agitation.

Marcel, who had been poking around the collapsed Crolyn's body here and there, spoke indifferently.

"He's not dead, so he'll come to soon."

"Oh, this is bad. I couldn't hold back my temper. I should cast healing magic on him."

When Asen stretched her hand toward Crolyn's forehead, Marcel caught her hand and stopped her.

"Leave him alone. What's so precious about him that you'd heal him? Let him recover naturally."

"But if something goes wrong..."

"Nothing's broken, so when he wakes up complaining it hurts, then heal him."

Asen squatted down beside Marcel and watched Crolyn, then asked with an expression full of worry.

"What if His Highness wakes up and brings charges against me for violating imperial law?"

"Would someone concerned about that go and pull something like this?"

Igniting a small flame in the bakery was something that could be managed. But using enhancement magic that should only be employed in warfare against a high-ranking noble was more than enough grounds for punishment.

"Think a little before you act. You've already caused trouble for our marquis with the potion incident. In the bakery as well. Why did you step forward in that situation?"

"An innocent person was about to kneel, and everyone was just standing there watching."

Asen's righteous fury began to flare up at Marcel.

Marcel let out a pained groan, then spoke as if to soothe her.

"At any rate, don't worry about this incident. His Highness cannot charge you with imperial law."

Marcel had means to blackmail Crolyn.

A few years back, Crolyn had accumulated debts at an illegal gambling house equivalent to a massive sum that could buy a small territory, and this was a fact that other nobles who frequented the gambling den knew in whispers.

But Crolyn's true weakness lay behind that. As merely a prince, he had not yet fully inherited the Dant ducal house's assets and could not secure large amounts of money. In the end, he pawned a necklace adorned with multiple sapphires to raise funds, but having used all that money to pay off his debts, he could not reclaim the pawned item.

Eventually, that necklace moved from the pawn shop to a luxury jewelry store in Gerard Square, where it was discovered by Teros, who had been combing through the empire's jewelry shops wanting to select Cecilia's wedding gift ahead of time.

As a branch member of the imperial family who had been going in and out of the imperial palace since he was young, Teros immediately realized upon seeing the necklace that it was one of the imperial belongings that had vanished when rioters stormed the emperor's villa during the great famine five years prior. That this object had emerged from Crolyn's possession was proof that the Dant ducal house was involved in the riots during the great famine. It had been a time when the empire's situation was unstable, with war against neighboring duchies overlapping with the great famine. Crolyn would have pawned it unaware of the necklace's origins, but once this fact came to light, the founding merit family would become a treasonous house in a single moment.

Marcel wore a triumphant smile as he put Asen at ease.

"To charge you with imperial law, His Highness would have to place the Dant family on the judgment seat."

Teros leaving the aftermath to Marcel contained the implication to resort to this means of blackmail if the situation looked like it would grow serious. Naturally, there was no need to spell out the necklace's origins in detail to the oblivious Crolyn. Marcel was thinking to simply give hints that the item he had pawned was quite a dangerous thing.

Thinking back on his lord's out-of-character decision, Marcel let out a sigh. The Teros of before would have kept such precious information that could become an opponent's weakness thoroughly secret to unleash at the most crucial moment. The Iron-Blood Marquis had now made up his mind to spill part of this golden information in order to create a chance to be alone with the young lady he had set his heart on.

"I'm uneasy just watching. I should heal him now."

As Crolyn's time lying unconscious grew longer, the anxious Asen placed her hand on his forehead and began pouring in yellow magical light.

The minor bruises on Crolyn's body disappeared, and shortly after, he opened his eyes and sat up.

Fortunately, there was no need to blackmail Crolyn. The prince who regained consciousness couldn't figure out why he had collapsed. Having fainted from a strong shock, he didn't know why he had lost consciousness and was lying there.

"Oh my, Your Highness! Do you have a chronic illness? You suddenly collapsed while getting angry. Miss Asen here healed you right away, but please do call a physician. Reduce your drinking and take care of your health."

When Marcel sincerely massaged Crolyn Prince's shoulders while naturally making a worried expression, Crolyn, whose concern for his health grew greater than his anger toward Asen, hurriedly returned home.

"Phew, that's a relief."

"Relief? Now let's go together to Odik Castle. The head of Odik should also know about today's events."

"Ah... Please, can't you keep it secret from my brother at least? Everything was resolved well."

"To prevent such incidents in the future, Researcher Hadel must know. Using enhancement magic on nobles is dangerous for you too."

After a brief argument, the two finally rode Marcel's horse toward Odik Castle.

Teros drew a long arc at the corner of his mouth as he watched Cecilia savoring the tea's aroma.

While matching Cecilia's pace, savoring the tea's aroma and moistening his throat together, his eyes remained fixed on Cecilia.

"Meeting Cecilia feels like good fortune."

Since the moment he courted her, he had gradually obtained the weaknesses of figures he'd been keeping an eye on.

Unaware of this context, Cecilia opened her eyes wide at the incomprehensible words.

That rabbit-like expression of peering at him was fatal to Teros.

"Don't make that face elsewhere."

The innocent look in her eyes asking what was wrong with her face was somehow irritating to Teros.

Could it be that she wants to hear she's pretty?

"Do I have to spell it out for you? Because you're ugly."

Contrary to his cold expression, the corners of his eyes that had turned downward were burning red.

'Why is your face flushing when you say things like that?'

His reddened face struck her as sensual, making Cecilia's heart pound strangely. The words about being ugly went in one ear and flowed right out without her even having a moment to take issue with them.

Teros seemed to suddenly recall something and raised his head to meet her with resolute eyes.

"I know this is an unsuitable question for this situation, but is there someone you have feelings for? You should answer that there isn't, of course."

"What kind of way is that to ask a question when you've already decided the answer?"

"So do you or don't you?"