Chapter 14: Meeting on Narrow Roads
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"Get… your… hands… off… me!" Richard's eyes were about to turn red while saying so.
"No can do."
"I SAID…"
"Knight Richard, the First Clause of the Knights Doctrine. Please recite it for me…" Logan said something incoherent.
"Get your FILTHY HANDS…"
"I said the first clause of the Knights Doctrine, Knight Richard! Start singing!" Logan tightened his grip on Richard's nape.
"… Ugh! Loyalty… Loyalty to the Realm, King, and Lord." Richard spoke dejectedly.
"Second Clause of the Knights Doctrine! Keep singing."
"… I… I shall harm no child, no elderly, no woman. I shall cut no tree… burn no house… take no innocent life… never break my word."
"The punishment for breaking the First Clause is death on the spot, the punishment for breaking the Second Clause is disgrace. As a fellow Knight, I am authorized to bring down the punishment of breaking the second clause on you. Do I commence or do you concede?"
"…"
Logan alone was handling the whole situation with Richard but Vivian was worried, she could tell that there was someone at the end of the hallway and that was probably Prince Liam watching the situation from afar and controlling the strings the same way he always does.
He sent out Robert and Matilda to seize the Spirit Lotus quietly and when it failed, he sent Richard to put Vivian in place. She was already aware and seeing that the Richard card was burnt, the Prince shall retreat to come up with a countermeasure for Logan later on.
Vivian sneered.
"Logan! Let go of Lord Richard at once, I command you as your Lord." Robert pointed fingers and shouted at Logan.
"Please, let's be civil. Release him, Sir Knight, so we can just talk." Matilda took a gentler approach towards Logan.
"Oh, please! Robert, you are no Lord over anything so keep it down. And you, commoner girl, my Knight is of a higher social hierarchy than you. Move aside right now, you two have wasted my time long enough." Vivian said haughtily.
In this situation, Matilda had no choice but to move aside from Vivian's way yet Robert felt he had the social standing to keep his ground as Vivian's male brother.
"We are not done talking." He said.
"You want to embarrass yourself and your friends more? Go ahead." Vivian said and turned to Logan.
Logan knew Vivian's evil thoughts and for tonight, he decided to play the full role of the henchman for the Villainess. He pressed on Richard's head and pushed him down on his knees.
"Bastard, YOU DARE!" Richard had never humiliated this much in his life before but seeing the look in Vivian's eyes as she looked down on him and seeing the stiffened expression on Matilda's face, there was no way they would be able to trample over Vivian at the rate things are going.
She is not the broken young lady they expected to be dealing with, she's a demon incarnate whose cold eyes cast the most disdainful of looks right at their cores.
"Vivian, you will regret this." Robert could no longer tolerate what was going on.
"Make sure to return home tonight, Little Robbie. I'm sure Father will be eager to have a hearty talk with you. Who knows? He might gift you another book. Let's go, Logan."
Vivian walked past Robert, who could no longer stand against his tyrant sister. They weren't prepared for her to be this aggressive and the fault is his. He told the Prince that Vivian was broken and reduced to a husk of her former self once she locked herself in her room for three days.
But this Vivian now… she is lawless like never before and has no fear of offending house Marshall by reducing Richard to this sorry state.
Matilda remained silent and took a deep breath while Vivian, Logan, and Esmeralda walked by. Vivian may no longer be the Prince's fiancée but she still hits hard if not harder now. To a certain Prince who watched the whole situation from a distance, Vivian started to look more like a problem.
"Is that what it is? Being someone whose back is against the wall?" Edmond Black asked.
The Prince tilted his head and hummed analyzing the scene he just saw.
"Is it me or something has changed about her?" Prince Liam mumbled.
"… Ehem!" Edmond cleared his throat as his reply no matter how he tried to put it, would be a bit rude. In other words, he wanted to say "No shit?".
Prince Liam got the gist of it and smiled. Of course she changed after he dumped her, any woman would change after such humiliation but this change was different. Prince Liam could swear that the Vivian he used to know was more of a person who educates people about their place to respect society's rules, which always bored him as he had to maintain the reputation of the good-natured Prince. The Vivian he knew was someone who didn't go well with modesty or such things.
However, this Vivian was more of a bandit. She seemed to uphold her values as a lady but she was enjoying it just now. Belittling Robert, teaching Matilda her place, and forcing Richard to kneel to her the same way he once made her kneel.
Whatever the reputation the Prince has built for himself, it didn't translate to the look appearing on his face right now, and as he was clearly unamused with Vivian's behavior yet very welcoming to the comeback of the fallen to be squashed again.
"Very well."
His tone was no longer easygoing and friendly, it turned cold and very arrogant.
"Teach Vivian her place. Make her learn what it means to be outside the good graces of the Royal Family." He spoke.
"Oh! Fine, fine, I'll get it done, Your Highness." Edmond replied as he seemed dejected, he didn't really want to do it.
"Don't go lax on me now, Edmond." Prince Liam glared.
"Worry not, Your Highness. I'll just tell our men to look the other way. I don't even need to do much." Edmond found an easy solution to the situation and covered his yawning mouth.
Despite Edmond's unenthusiasm, the Prince was okay with his behavior. Still, the Prince's haughtiness and Edmond's laziness all disappeared when they felt a certain presence coming near them.
"Here you are, your Highness, and you too, Lord Edmond."
"Matilda." "Lady Matilda."
Prince Liam and Edmond turned to the one who came towards them with warm faces. It was the one Vivian knows as the Heroine, Matilda. Behind her, both Richard Marshall and Robert Moore appeared with dejected faces. They seemed like they would break anything from anger.
"Are you alright, Matilda? I was told you ran into… Vivian Moore." The Prince said all caring.
"It's alright, your Highness. It is my fault I went to find her while she was having a hard time anyway. I know it was a request from the Temple to Lord Robert and he asked for my help with Lady Vivian but I should have known better instead of causing trouble to Lord Robert and Lord Richard as well." Matilda said apologetically.
"No, I am sure these gentlemen are alright. Don't worry about them." Prince Liam said, glancing at both Richard and Robert.
The two seemed to have received some damage from running into Vivian and Logan but they soon erased their dejected looks once the Prince and Matilda turned to them.
"I'm alright. Being her younger brother, I am used to the attitude of my sister. I apologize on behalf of my house for any word she might have hurt Lady Matilda with. I hope that one day, my sister sees through her mistakes." Robert said with a warm smile.
"Oh! Lord Robert, you are so kind." Matilda said.
"I don't feel bad at all being bested by a better knight. I won't lose next time if we clash." Richard Marshall followed with a calm domineer.
"Alright, Lord Richard. Please be careful." Matilda replied.
"Your Highness, Lady Matilda." Joining the conversation later, Valentine spoke out as he came.
"Valentine, you were the one handling the trade with, my Sister?" Robert asked.
"Yes… you guys are really reckless to try to make a deal about the Lotus with Vivian in this place." Valentine said.
"You could have helped, you know!" Robert said with an upset tone.
"No, I couldn't. This is regarding something we sold and my interference will make my family look bad. Also, neither I nor Vivian were the ones handling the Lotus' trade." Valentine said.
"??" The others were alarmed at the last thing he said.
"You mean…?" Richard Marshall asked slowly while trying to maintain his composure.
"House Moore handled the Lotus with my House, elders to elders. Vivian was just the face during the auction. She was playing you the whole time. She isn't carrying the Lotus."
Valentine's revelation caused the others around him to almost want to kill something. Matilda, Robert, and Richard were handled by Vivian so badly, and now realize that Vivian was playing them all along. This was all because Matilda met her contact with the Temple of Saints who asked her to ask her friend of House Moore to negotiate about the Lotus and Robert almost promised to give them the damn thing.
"I'm sorry… if not for my selfish request, I would have never put anyone in this situation." Matilda said.
"No, it's alright." Robert hastily calmed her down before she got consumed by guilt.
"Yes, it was not something we can do anything about anymore." Richard followed.
"How about this?" Prince Liam clapped his hand, "There is a small banquet after every auction held by Valentine's family. I heard of some specialties of house De Clare that would make the best chefs in the whole Kingdom chew their fingers with envy. Shall we?"
"Of course, everyone is welcome. I'll show you the banquet and then head to my duties." Valentine said.
"Lord Valentine is not joining?" Matilda asked.
"Fair lady Matilda, nothing would warm my soul as much as joining you and the lords here on the same table but I'm afraid I am not a good eater." Valentine declined.
"That's to be expected. I still don't get how the De Clares manage to survive on that strict diet. Still, being fit and slender are your people's specialty." Robert said.
"It is indeed." Prince Liam eyed Valentine up and down with judging eyes. The Prince was fit and all but Valentine was in the top model league.
"Hahaha!" Valentine laughed it off then pointed towards the hallway, "This way, esteemed guests. I'll be your guide for the night."
Valentine kept it to himself but he was unamused, especially by Robert and Prince Liam. He didn't really like how Matilda was getting close to those two. Thinking of her, she was the only reason he endured this group of people who annoyed him the most.
"I'll be off for my duties." Edmond seemed to be taking his leave.
"As we spoke, Edmond." Prince Liam said.
"Consider it done, Your Highness."
Sensing a bit of unease, Valentine watched Edmond as he said so. This so-called diligent guy only leaves the shadow of the prince when they are up to no good. Something wrong was about to happen.
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