Chapter 64

64. The Welcome Party (4)

As she walked, looking down at the ground, someone bumped into her hard. Off-centre and nearly falling, Adelaide looked up.

“Oh, pardon me.”

The Marquis of Flanders said his accent was thick and twisted. He looked even more drunk than he had on the balcony. She took a couple of steps back with a bad feeling, and the Marquis smirked.

“It seems we meet quite often. Why are you alone again?”

His gaze was predatory. Adelaide replied, wary.

“Don’t mind me; mind your own business, Marquis.”

“Such a beautiful lady should not be left alone. How about a walk with me?”

“No, thank you; the Duke will be here soon.”

“Will His Grace be coming? Why not stay and chat for a while?”

The Marquis of Flanders stealthily stroked the back of her hand. The touch gave her goosebumps, and Adelaide swatted his hand away harshly.

“Don’t touch me!”

The Marquis of Flanders’s eyes widened at the touch.

“Such insolence from a lowly commoner.”

“Gah!”

He snatched Adelaide’s arm. She struggled to free herself, but his hold was immense.

She was dazed. Lucid’s words about using Velido as an elixir in the noblemen’s salons flashed through her mind.

This must be why.

Adelaide struggled with all her might.

“What do you think you’re doing? Get your hands off me now!”

“Hold still. So, who’s better at this, the Emperor or the Duke, eh?”

“Marquis, don’t do this to me!”

“I’ve already offended His Majesty’s honor; what’s there to be afraid of?”

As the Marquis of Flanders pulled off her shawl and threw it to the floor, Adelaide stamped down hard on the instep with the heel of her high heel.

“Ow!”

Adelaide took advantage of the momentary lapse in strength and quickly moved away from the Marquis. The Marquis of Flanders glared at her, his eyes wide.

“This……!”

The Marquis chased after her with terrifying speed. She ran with all her might, but the distance closed quickly. His hand was just about to touch her body.

“Aaah!”

With a crunch, the Marquis screamed and fell to the ground. The arm that had been outstretched towards Adelaide was grotesquely twisted.

“How dare you?”

“Tee, Duke Tiflis!”

The Marquis of Flanders glared at him, clutching his broken arm. Callion realised now who it was that had broken his arm: a larger man than he had expected, but he was unmoved.

“You’re lucky I don’t have a sword in my hand, Marquis.”

“She… she attacked me first!”

“If you don’t shut up, you won’t be able to use your left arm either.”

“Ugh!”

The Marquis scrambled to his feet. He glared at the two of them alternately, then stomped away.

“Are you all right?”

“Haa…… yes.”

Adelaide pressed a hand to her heart and sucked in a breath. Callion pulled her into a hug, her face pale in the moonlight.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left you alone.”

“No, I was careless.”

It was her own fault, she realised, for she hadn’t thought anyone could be so insane in public. Over the sound of her thumping heart, Callion soothed her.

“Are you injured?”

“No. I’m fine… ah.”

Her wrist, where the Marquis had grabbed her, was bruised. Callion gritted his teeth as he examined the clear bruise marks on the pale skin.

“I should have broken his neck, not his arm.”

He muttered, his voice thick with anger.

He thought he only had to be wary of his uncle, but a mere marquis, with the Emperor on his back, touching his woman?

He’s been a nuisance since the day of the memorial. In retrospect, he regretted only breaking one arm and letting him off so easily.

Hearing his ragged breathing, Adelaide gently placed a hand on Callion’s cheek.

In retrospect, he regretted only breaking one arm and letting him off so easily.

“With your wrist looking like this, how can you say you’re okay? We should go in and make this incident public and demand retribution.”

“Please refrain. Reckless people like him may cause a bigger accident someday.”

“……hu.”

Adelaide’s calm demeanour barely calmed his anger.

Picking up the fallen shawl, Callion brushed off the dirt and put it back around her. Despite holding her for a while, her body temperature still felt unnaturally cold.

“Well, let’s go back.”

“Already? The banquet is still in full swing…….”

“We’ve seen everyone we need to see and said everything we need to say. We’ll only get tired if we stay, so we’d better get some rest.”

One by one, the dignified people left the banquet hall, and only the people enjoying the banquet remained. In this atmosphere, it doesn’t matter who’s there or who’s not.

“Very well then.”

Adelaide replied, folding her brows. Callion kissed her lightly on the lips in response to her disarming smile, as if nothing had happened.

Her head felt like it was about to explode.

“Let’s go back and finish the rest.”

⚜ ⚜ ⚜ ⚜

Back at the palace, Adelaide realised something wasn’t right.

The ballroom was too quiet. There was no cheerful music, no chatter. All of the servants who had been attending to the guests in the ballroom were outside.

“Your Grace…?”

“I’ll take care of it. Just stay still.”

Callion took Adelaide’s hand and led her into the ballroom. All eyes immediately turned to the two of them.

“Your Majesty! Please punish the Duke of Tiflis!”

As expected, the Marquis of Flanders kneeled before Elkius, holding his broken arm in agony.

“Duke Tiflis, he did this to my arm. Please punish him and relieve my injustice!”

“What do you mean, why did Callion break your arm?”

Elkius frowned as he raised his glass. The Marquis of Flanders glared at Callion and answered.

“I was only trying to exchange greetings with the Duchess when the Duke of Tiflis grabbed me by the arm and…….”

“Greetings?”

Elkius raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Callion, you will explain what happened.”

“The Marquis of Flanders has been disrespectful to the Duchess.”

“Disrespected the Duchess?”

Elkius’s gaze shifted from Callion to Adelaide to the Marquis of Flanders. The Marquis of Flanders held out an uninjured hand.

“No, that’s not true! The Duke of Tiflis is making up lies to cover his crimes! Look at my arm, this arm is evidence!”

The Marquis of Flanders shouted, pointing to his arm. The odds were stacked against Callion unless he could prove the Marquis’s insolence.

‘Callion told me not to intervene, but…….’

Adelaide stepped in front of Elkius and bent to her knees.

“Your Majesty, allow me to speak.”

“…Go ahead.”

“I was feeling unwell, so I went out into the garden to get some air, and the Marquis of Flanders got very drunk and mocked me.”

“Mocked?”

“Yes. I was insulted in ways that a woman would never dare to utter.”

“Well, that never happened; she is lying, Your Majesty!”

Adelaide calmly interrupted the Marquis of Flanders.

“Not only that, but he also touched me without permission under the pretext of taking a walk.”

Adelaide rolled up her billowing sleeves. The bruises on her slender wrists were enough to inspire sympathy. Elkius looked down at the Marquis with sharp eyes.

“Is what she says true?”

“I, I merely thought that the Duchess might be lonely…….”

Clink! Elkius threw down the glass he was holding. The white-faced Marquis of Flanders hit the floor with a thud.

“What a disgraceful disturbance on such an auspicious day!”

Elkius snapped, his anger well intentioned. His mind raced.

Part of him wanted to throw Callion in jail for harming the Marquis, but punishing him now would destroy the meaning of the loyalty pledge he had just received.

And from Adelaide’s testimony, it’s clear that the Marquis of Flanders provoked him first.

Elkius pretended to ignore the numbing smell of Velido and quickly concluded.

“I declare that the Marquis of Flanders, for his insolence to the Duchess, be removed from the chairmanship of the Imperial Council for a month.”

“Your, Your Majesty…”

“In addition, the Duke of Tiflis, who inflicted injury on the Marquis, is ordered to confine himself to his residence for ten days.”

“…….”

One is ‘declare’, the other is ‘ordered’. It seems fair, but it’s like raising the Marquis of Flanders’ hand.

A clumsy pun tries to save the day.

“Your Majesty, I move that the Marquis of Flanders be permanently expelled from the Imperial Council.”

The Duke of Howard stepped forward.

The room fell silent at the unexpected presence.

Elkius frowned. This was his sister’s husband, and in some ways, he was even more troublesome than Callion.

“The Marquis of Flanders is to blame, but it was a drunken mistake, and he’s paid for it, so what’s the point?”

“The Chairmanship of the Imperial Council is the body that oversees the affairs of the Empire and advises the Emperor on the right decisions. Marquis Hande Flanders, as chairman of the council, has dishonoured the sacred and rigorous Council and insulted the imperial family.”

Elkius chewed his lip, unable to retort. The Emperor’s faction comprised just under half of the Council. The chairman, Marquis Flanders, had pushed his way through and led the way so far.

“Then why don’t we just abdicate the chairmanship?”

“The Marquis of Flanders does not have the judgment to make important decisions, so he should leave the council. If I am wrong, the other members of the Imperial Council will prove it.”

He is not saying he’s going to expel him right away, but he has no objection to putting his expulsion on the agenda.

“……You may do so.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Duke Howard bowed his head. Callion put an arm around Adelaide’s shoulders and continued.

“The Duchess seems quite startled, so we will take our leave now.”