He had heard rumors that the Empire’s only princess was timid and stupid. But her appearance was slightly different from those. He held his breath and glanced back at Apollonia. She was leaning against the table and slowly looking around the reception room as if it was her first time seeing it.
She was still young and naive. No matter how much she pretended to be intimidating, she didn’t know anything about Lishan. He also looked at the people who came with her. Several people could be seen staring at him.
‘That’s right, I still hold the real power here.’
Therefore he needed to take the reins when he had the chance. The viscount looked at Apollonia’s calm expression.
“Your Royal Highness, the Princess, I must say this is not appropriate. Those guards that you brought… they look like those gypsy bandits, I don’t think they know how to behave properly.”
“You don’t believe in the people I choose myself, do you?”
“With all due respect, a lot of people have suffered from your reckless actions, Your Highness. You have visited Lishan without any notice, then you got kidnapped along the way… so we had to assist the imperial knights to find you. This incident shouldn’t happen again.”
He spoke like one dealing with a rebellious teenager. Of course, there was a hidden meaning in his words.
“I won’t kick them out if you want. But I’ll have ten of my men in the reception room just in case. Then we’ll have nothing to worry about in case a scuffle broke out.”
He looked around the woman’s party without hiding his mockery. Among more than 20 guards were women as well as old men. Although the man covered in the robe looked very annoyed, what could he do?
Apollonia frowned at his sly voice. He seemed to speak carelessly, but he was carefully choosing each word to get to his point.
‘You’re a guest, and I’m the owner. Now that you’ve been kidnaped and causing trouble for everyone, listen carefully to me.’
He was a person who adjusted faster than she initially thought. Apollonia smiled candidly and nodded to him.
“Let’s do that.”
The viscount grinned as if he was happy to win the game. But the next moment, Apollonia poured cold water on him when he was busy celebrating.
“Let’s get to the point. I’m here to hold you accountable for your sins. I’ll have to search the mansion, so please cooperate.”
“Yes?”
His expression shook for a moment, but quickly regained composure. “Even if you’re a member of the royal family, how can you search someone’s private residence without a serious reason? I refuse to cooperate with such an order.”
This woman truly was stupid and ridiculous if she was saying that ignorantly. Even the Imperial family had no military troops here. A long time had already passed since he last heard of the Imperial knights; who would do the searching for her?
She had probably heard the commoners talking nonsense about how the viscount was a lecherous tyrant who went around forcing himself on women, and seemed to think she could hold him accountable without solid evidence.
“I’m afraid I can’t comprehend why you are speaking so impolitely…”
But Apollonia’s next words were a little bit beyond his expectation.
“I was separated from my envoy on the first day I came to Lishan.”
Aha.
The viscount realized something. This girl was annoyed that she lost her knights and suffered. Then, she came to vent her anger at him. It was rather easy to appease such a child.
“You’re not going to hold me responsible for your kidnapping, are you? If you had informed me of your arrival beforehand, it would never have happened.”
‘Why don’t you try me?’
He spoke to her with a generous smile in contrast to his thoughts.
“I should be able to travel safely without the viscount’s protection even if it’s a remote area. This is the land you’ve been managing for decades, after all. But I met bandits three times in a day after crossing the border. Don’t tell me Lishan is actually a place with loose security?”
He flinched inwardly due to the sharp rebuttal, but his smile didn’t falter. “You may not know, but this area is always stricken by a lot of disasters. We can’t improve security with finances that are far from sufficient to even feed the younger ones. It’s been like this even during the reign of the previous emperor.”
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