I couldn't stop thinking about Viscount Pelsus.
'He planned such a terrible thing—and then just... left?'
The man was notoriously persistent when it came to his own interests. You could see that clearly enough just by looking at his audacious attempt to kidnap a member of the imperial family.
I had been so tense, so certain that something catastrophic was about to happen.
The fear that I might be dragged back into the hellish life of my previous timeline had haunted every step I'd taken since arriving in Ronheim.
I closed my eyes and felt the cold air enveloping my body—the biting chill of the North seeping through the walls of the inn.
That icy wind served as a constant reminder that I had escaped the torturous inferno that had consumed my past life.
But I couldn't relax completely. Not yet.
I knew there were still several chains wrapped around my ankles—chains that could drag me back into hell at any moment if I wasn't careful.
'I must eliminate Kavala's weeds. One by one. Systematically.'
Taking advantage of today's crisis, I decided to start working on that goal immediately.
The opportunity was too perfect to waste.
Brentian had been discussing tomorrow's itinerary with Hawick when he heard raised voices echoing down the hallway.
Curious, he headed toward the commotion to see what was happening.
Princess Chloe stood in front of her newly assigned room, confronting the imperial knights with an expression of cold fury.
One of the royal knights shouted at Chloe, his voice dripping with indignation.
"Do you dare doubt our loyalty to the Idelian royal family?!"
The man's momentum was so aggressive that Brentian fully expected Chloe—who looked as delicate and fragile as a glass doll—to turn and flee into her room with tears streaming down her face.
But instead, Chloe opened her eyes wide and met the knight's fury head-on.
"Loyalty? Yes. Let me ask you honestly: What exactly were you doing while an intruder was sneaking into my room?"
"That—"
The imperial knights, who had been about to answer, suddenly grew even angrier when they noticed Callius's men crowding both sides of the hallway, watching with obvious interest.
"What are you looking at? Do you see something amusing? Hm? Disperse! All of you!"
The knight waved his hands dismissively, as if shooing away stray dogs.
Chloe stopped him with a single, cutting word.
"Enough."
The knight froze.
"Leave them alone. They are merely carrying out Marquis Rodrian's orders to protect me."
"What? But—"
The imperial knights grimaced, clearly displeased.
Chloe's voice turned ice-cold.
"If they disperse, who will protect me from intruders now?"
It was a pointed reprimand for their earlier failure.
The intruder had come and gone from the Princess's room multiple times—even bringing food—and the imperial knights had been completely oblivious.
Their negligence was staggering. They hadn't even noticed the intruder who had been hiding on the fourth floor from the very beginning. Some of them had even been smoking in a corner of the hallway, chatting idly, while the infiltrator moved freely just meters away.
The knights, too proud to admit their mistakes, tried to deflect blame.
"Didn't we already explain? The incident happened because Marquis Rodrian's men kept interfering with our procedures—"
The voice was barely more than a mutter—weak and uncertain.
Even they knew how flimsy that excuse was.
Besides, they didn't dare say those words too loudly—not while surrounded by the very people they were blaming, all of whom were watching with narrowed eyes.
Chloe's voice rang out, sharp and unforgiving.
"If you cannot be honest, then do not even open your mouth!"
"You had only one mission: to protect me. And you failed to properly carry out even that single task."
Silence.
"So I ask you plainly: Was your loyalty bribed—or was your skill simply lacking?"
"...!"
The royal knights—who hailed from noble families in Arental and were unaccustomed to such direct challenges—flushed red with fury.
"Your Highness! You speak far too harshly!"
Chloe's expression didn't waver.
"Looking at your attitude, I see the answer clearly. Your loyalty was bought. Isn't that correct?"
"That is—!"
"So you did help the intruder avoid detection."
"That is not true, Your Highness!"
Chloe's voice rang out with the weight of judicial authority.
"I hereby charge you with betraying the Idelian royal family, colluding with the enemy, and endangering the life of a member of the imperial bloodline."
The imperial knights' mouths fell open in shock.
For a long moment, they simply stood there, stunned into silence.
Then they suddenly snapped back to reality and erupted in outrage.
"This is ridiculous!"
"It's unjust! Your Highness, this is a complete injustice!"
Chloe gave her next order without so much as blinking at the knights' protests.
"Ah—before I hand down your punishment, you should apologize to the knights of Marquis Rodrian, who contributed greatly to resolving this crisis, for your earlier rudeness."
"Oh!"
"Woooo!"
The imperial knights, now completely surrounded and outnumbered, were no longer able to resist.
They quickly realized that the rumors about Princess Chloe being mad were utterly false.
Not just the imperial knights—everyone present came to that conclusion.
No one thought Chloe was insane anymore.
"Ahem!"
"Stop stalling and get on with it."
Callius's men, noticing the imperial knights hesitating, pressed closer—looming over them like shadows.
Trapped beneath the towering frames of the Ronheimers, the two royal knights finally buckled under the pressure.
They bowed their heads to Callius's men and spoke through gritted teeth.
"...We apologize for our rudeness."
"We were... foolish. We're sorry."
Chloe turned to Hawick with a calm, measured request.
"Lord Hawick, would you be so kind as to assist me in ensuring these men receive the punishment they deserve?"
"Of course, Your Highness."
Hawick gestured to his men, who stepped forward and took hold of the imperial knights.
"I'll walk on my own! Let go of me!"
"Where are you taking us? Your Highness! Your Highness!"
The imperial knights were dragged away, struggling uselessly.
The first chain had been broken.Publicly. Strategically. Irreversibly.
And everyone had watched it happen.
The mad princess was mad no longer—and that made her infinitely more dangerous.
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