Backed into a corner, the Count now had nothing left to lose. Though his legs trembled at Lucian’s killing intent, he approached Adelia.
“Ah…… yes, Your Highness the Crown Princess. Let this father have a word with you. It won’t take long, just a moment……”
“Count. You’re being too disrespectful.”
Lucian extended his hand between Adelia and the Count to stop his action.
Lucian’s gaze toward the Count was worse than looking at an insect. It was filled with contempt, as if he was looking at garbage that shouldn’t exist in this world.
‘Why should I receive such looks? Adelia was originally mine! If he wants her, shouldn’t he try to get on my good side too?’
They say those with nothing to lose become brave.
Under crushing debt and contemptuous gazes, the Count’s thoughts became increasingly twisted.
With even his awareness that the person before him was the Crown Prince becoming blurred, the Count spewed nonsensical words through his open mouth.
“Your Highness! First you prevent me from seeing my daughter at the palace, and now you’re blocking a father from meeting his daughter even at a banquet?”
“This is absurd.”
“I haven’t seen my daughter once since her marriage. Today I must speak with her.”
The Count boldly demanded a conversation with Adelia, not knowing his place.
The Count still thought Lucian was controlling Adelia. He was determined to settle things here, knowing that even if he sent an invitation later, Lucian would just block it again.
While invitations could simply be ignored, refusing a father’s request to meet his daughter at such an official occasion could earn the stigma of being overly possessive of one’s wife.
Of course, while Lucian might not mind being called possessive, from a typical noble’s perspective, it was quite insulting.
“Must you cause a scene in a place like this?”
“Yes! I must see my daughter!”
The atmosphere in the banquet hall changed like a typhoon. While it was quiet near the center, the murmuring of people grew louder further out.
People focused on their conversation. There was no better gossip than the private lives of the imperial family. Moreover, with Adelia, currently the most famous person, at the center, today’s events would obviously spread throughout the capital quickly.
“You have no shame. Let’s go, Adelia. This person isn’t worth our time.”
Lucian pulled Adelia’s shoulder. He wrapped one arm around her shoulders protectively and pressed his body close to her side.
Adelia staggered and leaned against him. With her head slightly bowed as if drained of energy, she looked pitiful enough to evoke sympathy.
“You’re doing well.”
“Didn’t I tell you not to worry? But are you really going to remove that shawl?”
“This is the surest way.”
They whispered quietly while slowly walking toward the banquet hall exit.
Lucian still disapproved of Adelia’s decision to show her scars.
Though the ones who did wrong were those humans who abused her enough to leave scars, in reality, Adelia would be the one people would talk about.
She should only hear good things, so he didn’t want bad stories reaching her ears too.
Lucian looked down at Adelia with a worried face. However, he couldn’t insist on his opinion in the face of her firm attitude.
Adelia slightly lowered her head and watched Count Vita behind her through small mirrors installed throughout the venue.
Count Vita’s hands trembled with anger.
‘Those people! How dare they treat me like this?’
His usually dull navy blue eyes, which had never shown any intelligence, now gleamed with an unusual light.
The Count, with eyes like a wild boar driven mad from eating poison, stomped toward Adelia.
Lucian had to firmly suppress his desire to stop him while clenching his fist. It was torturous to just watch when someone he could subdue with a finger was moving so slowly.
Adelia watched the Count approaching through a small mirror. Hoping the Count would grab her shoulder and not elsewhere, she brought her hands forward and gathered her hair toward Lucian’s side.
One of Adelia’s shoulders was exposed, easy to grab.
“Adelia!”
The Count called Adelia’s name and roughly grabbed her shoulder. When his touch, sticky with cold sweat, made contact, Adelia trembled and covered her face with both arms as if she was having a seizure.
“Kyaa!”
Everything was an act, but the scream was genuine.
It was her first time experiencing the Count’s rough touch since possessing this body. Whether it was a reflex that the original Adelia had or an instinctive action flowing from memories, her body moved first.
Goosebumps rose where the Count’s hand touched, as if insects were crawling there. It was so horrible she wanted to wipe it off immediately.
Adelia trembled and shook off the Count’s hand. As she did so, the shawl covering her shoulders fell to the floor with a thud.
The dress that exposed her back completely revealed Adelia’s scars. Though they had faded with time, they were still clearly recognizable at a glance.
Small gasps erupted from all directions. The murmuring grew louder.
“Adelia, are you alright?”
Lucian urgently wrapped around Adelia. His red eyes looking at Adelia were greatly dilated.
Lucian was the most startled by Adelia’s scream. Seeing her hands trembling as they covered her face, Lucian was overwhelmed with the urge to embrace her and leave this place, regardless of their plans.
But he couldn’t ruin Adelia’s long-prepared plans with his personal feelings.
Lucian held Adelia tightly in his arms. Feeling her small trembles, anger welled up inside him.
“Count!”
“Th-that…… Your Highness the Crown Prince……”
Count Vita stepped back at Lucian’s thunderous voice.
The revelation of Adelia’s scars was fatal for the Count as well. It wouldn’t be difficult to guess that the person who created and neglected such old scars must have been family.
“Those scars look old…… How horrible. How could someone do that to a child!”
“I thought the Crown Princess didn’t seem close to her family…… So this is why.”
“With something like this, of course she wouldn’t want to see them. If it were me, I would have isolated my family from society as soon as I became Crown Princess. As expected, she’s a gentle and calm person.”
“The Crown Princess is indeed an admirable person. I wonder how such an undignified person produced someone like her……”
Among the people, sympathy for Adelia grew. Though some clicked their tongues at her scars, the overwhelming majority sympathized with her actions of distancing herself from her family.
“Count. If you had any conscience, you wouldn’t appear before my wife. I’ve held back because my wife kept stopping me…… But when you act so wildly without knowing your place, is there any reason for me to show mercy?”
By tomorrow, the Vita family would be completely ostracized among the nobles.
Parents who abused their child, siblings who participated in and ignored the abuse… Rumors would spread like wildfire about a heartless family who knew neither familial love nor human decency.
Even the foolish Count understood this. Sensing his future, the Count clenched both hands and trembled violently.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince! That wasn’t me……”
“Do you want to say it was your wife? And that daughter participated too. Don’t lie when we already know everything. How pathetic.”
The Count wanted to make excuses, but words wouldn’t come easily.
Voices of condemnation came from all directions, and contemptuous gazes increased.
Making more excuses here would only make his situation more pitiful.
Lucian clicked his tongue briefly at the Count who had closed his mouth. His interest ended here. Having completed what Adelia asked, he had not even a speck of attention left for the Count.
Lucian spoke in a gentle voice to Adelia in his arms.
“Adelia, can you stand?”
“Ah…… It’s a bit difficult.”
Adelia raised her head with drooping eyes. Though to others it seemed like she was afraid of the Count, that wasn’t why her legs had lost strength.
Since she had always plotted from behind the scenes and never appeared directly before, witnessing this incident shocked Adelia. Having prepared for revenge for so long, she trembled at how close the end was.
Adelia looked at Lucian, seemingly troubled. Just as she opened her mouth to ask for his support, Lucian intercepted her words.
“Then there’s no choice.”
A faint smile appeared on Lucian’s lips.
Lucian bent down and lifted Adelia in one swift motion. At that moment, the banquet hall fell silent. Startled, Adelia’s eyes widened and she instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Your Highness! Please put me down.”
“Stay still. If you keep struggling, I won’t let you down.”
Lucian’s playful voice echoed gently throughout the banquet hall.
- ianthe
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