Two-Faced Princess

“Marquis, I won’t tell the Duchess what happened just now,” said Count Amon, cutting Gareth off. He quickly made eye contact with the nobles beside him and nodded. They should just let it slide.

“Well, you’d better refrain from drinking in the palace from now on.” Marquis Edwin said reluctantly. He looked displeased but indirectly agreed with Count Amon.

Count Amon looked at Apollonia and asked. “Is Her Highness all right?”

His eyes were more cautious than usual. Was it because of the situation a while ago?

“It’s alright. Everyone was just drunk. I’m rather sorry to interrupt an important meeting. I’m sorry, Grand Duke.” She greeted Caelion with a smile. Nobody knew about their friendship yet.

“I’m glad you’re safe.” He answered quietly in concern. “It appeared like today isn’t the day to discuss that so we’ll talk again next time. I’ll take you and Count Buiche.”

As Caelion cleared the situation up, the flustered nobles nodded in agreement. Count Amon left the lounge first before Gareth and his minions followed. Marquis Edwin, Marquis Trion, and Viscount Esteban also stepped toward the door. But before leaving, they looked over their shoulder to regard Apollonia.

“I haven’t seen you in a long time. Your Highness.” Marquis Edwin said in a low voice.

Apollonia smiled. It wasn’t intended, but the way she blocked Gareth seemed to have left a strong impression on Marquis Edwin. The greeting might have sounded superficial but that wasn’t all. The Marquis, who was one of her teachers once, must have recalled Apollonia’s intelligence and determination when she was a child. Meanwhile, Viscount Esteban and Marquis Trion said nothing. However, they stared at Apollonia with interest for a while before opening the door and heading out. As three people remained in the lounge, Apollonia’s eyes sparkled in amusement. The situation was unexpected but their mission was somewhat successful.

Chapter 6. New embers (1)

*SIGH*

Upon arriving at the royal villa, Caelion sat down on the sofa in Apollonia’s study and let out a tired sigh.

“Can’t you stop worrying about other people? I am trying hard to gather nobles who are neutral but I was surprised to hear that my sister and Uriel were in danger.”

“You came at the right time. How did you hear that? What about it?” Apollonia said placidly.

The conversation she had with Caelion alone at the banquet hall was no longer in her head. He was back to being playful and sassy as always.

“Adrian taught me a little bit. I thought about putting our plan on hold and ending the situation so I took Count Amon with me. Although he is greedy, he cannot stand it if his son is involved in a public scandal.” Caelion replied.

Adrian, who was sitting in another chair while stealing glances at Uriel’s torn lips, shrugged her shoulders as if saying she was just doing her job.

“I did get hit but it wasn’t like we were in danger.” Uriel murmured as he watched Caelion slump on the sofa.

“He didn’t hit you too hard.” Adrian, who skimmed through Uriel’s lips, said honestly. Of course, there was only a small wound in Uriel’s mouth.

“There’s a trick to getting hit, My Lady.” Uriel answered politely as he took the medicine Adrian handed and applied it to his mouth. Adrian wasn’t kind enough to apply the medicine to anyone other than Apollonia, and Uriel didn’t like being in contact with anyone other than Apollonia.

“Huh? How can you speak informally to me while using honorifics with Adrian?”

Caelion, who laid down with one foot on the sofa, gave him a bewildered look.

“I guess your habit of caring about useless things will never be cured.”

The two growled at each other. Both of them could be harmonious when needed, even during the war, but they often quarreled at other times.

“You both did well.” Finding it absurd, Apollonia asked. “Why are you fighting?”

Caelion shrugged.

“I think it’s a success. It wasn’t only Marquis Edwin, but Viscount Esteban and Marquis Trion had also regarded sister differently. The change isn’t that big yet, but if I reveal my alliance with my sister at the right time in the future, our chances of gaining support will increase.”

“The news will spread not only to them but also to others in some way.” Apollonia nodded.

“Aren’t you worried this time?” Caelion asked, indirectly referring to the Emperor and Petra.

“I have you and Seta as my shield, so I’m not really that worried. Still, I’m not going to provoke my father just like how I scared Gareth earlier. It’s alright to do it a little bit. After all, my father can’t touch me now that Caelion has grown up beyond neglect. If I marry him, I’m adding one more person to my side.”

“What about Petra?”

“She might have doubts hidden at the corner of her heart,” Apollonia smirked, still finding Petra’s intuition terrifying. However, if she knew ten pieces of information about Apollonia then she might have gathered a hundred about Petra.

“But my aunt has more hazardous flames that she had to put off. Caelion, Aileen Idena, and now Seta. Even if I become a bit arrogant in her eyes, She wouldn’t have time to focus on me. It doesn’t matter if she tried her best.” She smiled slightly at Uriel. “Because Uriel is right next to me.”

Uriel was the perfect escort and he was even greater than Captain Sid. His biggest strength was being an orphan.

When Captain Sid was escorting Apollonia, his family suffered a lot from Petra’s oppression. He also possessed the title of a Count and an estate given by the emperor, but his wealth deteriorated gradually after the rise of Emperor Gaius. Petra and the Emperor prevented other merchants from doing business with his entire territory because Sid didn’t move as he wished, and they also cleverly interfered with their connections with other families.

Sid gave his life for Apollonia, but he had no choice but to notice Petra in front of his family’s hardships. Had it not been for that, she would have thrown Gareth into the river long ago. Uriel was different. He had no family which meant he had no weakness. He wasn’t interested in anything but protecting Apollonia.

However, they were a lot of knights who respected him. Some of them either wanted to completely ignore him or destroy him. Too many noblewomen also cared about him. Even Petra herself once tried to bring Uriel to the Emperor’s side.

As long as she had him cling to her side all the time, Apollonia was safer than ever. To keep Uriel away from Caelion, the Emperor and Petra had chosen Apollonia to have Uriel rather than him. Even more so when rumors had spread that Uriel had kept Apollonia in mind.

“Gareth must be crying out of frustration.” Caelion chirped while Uriel appeared a bit grim.

“Be careful, Your Highness.”

“Of Gareth?”

“He is stupid and impulsive. If he doesn’t get what he wants or has a grudge against someone, he will get obsessed with it until he dies.” He spoke.

Next to him, Adrian’s face turned white.

“Just because he’s stupid doesn’t mean he’s harmless, you know? If you lower your guard, the mad dog will bite you right away.”

Apollonia nodded as she sent Adrian, whose countenance had gotten stiff, outside. A few years after leaving him, Apollonia knew all too well how much Gareth bothered her,

“Well, shall we meet again tomorrow?” Apollonia asked, smiling.

“Who are you talking about?”

Caelion and Uriel said at the same time.

“Let’s talk about it again. I have something to tell you.”

Apollonia pointed her hand in the direction of the east.

“I mean ‘Milon’s Eye.”

Caelion sighed deeply as he rolled up his sleeves to expose his arms.

“What’s that?” Apollonia asked. His solid, muscled arm was full of scratches as if a bird had attacked him.

Caelion gritted his teeth and answered.”There is……. Something like that.”

Uriel took the medicine he had applied to his mouth a while ago and threw it to him without a word.

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