A Proper Lesson!
I woke up with a strange, unnatural sensation spreading through my body. My eyes opened on their own.
“Crimson, do you truly wish to die?”
My arms and legs were bound tightly with ropes. With my wrists tied behind my back, there was no way to free myself. Crimson stared at my helpless state and began laughing like a madman.
“Hahaha! Your Highness the Princess! Do you still think you’re in charge here?”
He even had the nerve to spout such nonsense.
“Hmm… Well. That is exactly what I believe.”
Bang!
Crimson hurled a dagger that grazed right past my cheek. A thin line of blood bloomed across my skin.
“Don’t talk crap.”
He was clearly trying to look intimidating, but with that puppy-dog face of his, it wasn’t scary at all.
He’s basically a chihuahua.
“I thought I had been quite lenient with you because you are a marquis, but this is truly insolent.”
Honestly, I couldn’t understand why Crimson was acting this way. Not only had he tied up a princess, but he had even injured her.
This is a serious crime of lèse-majesté. How does he plan to handle the consequences?
Did this idiot even realize that?
I shook my head, unable to hold back a sigh at this ridiculous situation.
“You do understand what you’re doing right now, don’t you?”
“Kahaha! Of course I do! I know perfectly well that what I’m doing is completely insane!”
Crimson yanked the dagger out of the wall beside me and pointed it at me.
“If you’re going to act like a madman, then commit to it fully. That’s what my father always used to say.”
“Your introduction is too long. Get to the point.”
Crimson let out a sigh.
“Return Greyston Garden to me. And I would appreciate it if you kept quiet about this incident.”
This brat still hadn’t come to his senses. Just what did he take Kallean and Locleir for? Besides, there was no way I could give up Greyston Garden. The Greighton family already collected an enormous amount of taxes. Handing over a gold mine on top of that? They would eventually try to wield power over the imperial family.
In the worst case, they might even commit treason.
No matter what, Greyston Garden was something I could never hand over.
“I refuse.”
Crimson’s previously calm face twisted once again.
“I have my own methods. Since I’ve already chosen to act like a madman, I’m in no position to worry about consequences.”
“Oh? And what exactly is this method that makes you so confident?”
Crimson gave me a sneering, twisted smile.
“It’s simple. I just have to kill Your Highness and burn all the official documents! The cause of death would be a bandit raid. The guards were sound asleep and failed to protect you properly. How does that sound?”
Listening to him, I started doubting Crimson’s intelligence.
Did the author set every NPC’s intelligence to toddler level except for the main characters?
If there really were bandits like that, they would be prime candidates for this year’s Darwin Award. Did he really think people who knew Kallean’s personality inside and out would harm his only bloodline? I could already picture how Kallean would react.
“Your Highness, choose. Option one, or option two?”
“Obviously the second one, wouldn’t you say?”
My bold answer left Crimson visibly flustered.
“W-what did you say?”
“It seems your ears aren’t working properly. Perhaps it’s time for you to go. I said I choose the second option.”
Crimson, who had been wearing a hollow smile, staggered as he rose from the bed.
“Fine… I’ll give you exactly what you wanted!”
I glared at him with murderous intent. Ah, yes. This alien, violent energy. I had felt it during the dragon incident, and I could feel it now too. This aura must be what instilled fear.
When I stared at Crimson with eyes full of killing intent, the dagger in his hand clattered to the floor. I spoke to him.
“If you don’t truly wish to die, untie me immediately.”
“Y-yes…! I-I will do as you say!”
I understood it clearly now.
The way to impose fear.
With trembling hands, Crimson untied the ropes binding my wrists and ankles. Now that I felt refreshed, it was time to return exactly what he had done to me.
“Tie up your own hands and feet.”
I made him bind himself just as I had been bound.
“Ack!”
“How rude. How dare you raise your voice in front of me?”
I mercilessly slashed his cheek with the dagger. About thirty minutes later, Crimson’s face was completely shredded. He had been cut so many times that drool was dripping from his mouth.
“I feel a little better now. However, my anger still hasn’t been fully relieved, so I shall inform His Majesty of what you have done.”
As I was about to open the door and leave, a faint voice that sounded like it had been squeezed from his vocal cords came from behind.
“A-anything but that… Absolutely not…”
“Why do you think you get to decide that? Do you truly not know who holds the power here?”
I let out a mocking laugh and headed toward where Locleir was staying.
So this was his plan from the beginning?
Crimson had assigned rooms to everyone from Locleir to Riana in order of strength. He must have thought he could handle someone like me. He was sorely mistaken.
I soon arrived at Locleir’s room. Fortunately, he seemed unharmed. There’s nothing more awkward than waking someone who’s sleeping deeply, but I’m sorry, Locleir.
I gently shook his shoulder.
“Mmm… Y-Your Highness! There’s a w-wound on your face…!”
Locleir took one look at the blood on my face and nearly had a heart attack. Well, that was understandable. Leaving the panicking Locleir behind, I spoke.
“Come with me for a moment.”
I led Locleir to where Crimson was being held.
“Crimson…! You’ve finally lost your mind!”
The tension on his face vanished in an instant, replaced by pure rage. Hearing Locleir’s roar, the retainers began arriving one by one.
“Y-Your Highness…! There’s a wound on your face!”
Riana, upon seeing the scratch on my face, looked horrified and glared at Crimson.
“…Did that bastard do this? Is he the one who hurt Your Highness’s face like this?”
“Indeed. That wretch injured my face. This constitutes an assault on the imperial family—a grave crime punishable by the extermination of three generations.”
Riana drew her black blade. She looked ready to cut him down right then and there.
“Riana, that’s enough. If you kill him now, there will be no one left to hold accountable.”
“…Understood. But would it be alright if I take just one of his arms?”
Who on earth raised Riana? Locleir? Kallean? Or both…?
“I forbid it. I appreciate your anger on my behalf, but this must be handled according to the law. I would be grateful if you could understand.”
With my strangely persuasive argument, Riana reluctantly sheathed her sword.
“It seems we cannot even sleep safely in a place where our lives are threatened. Let us return to the capital.”
““Yes!””
Even though I hadn’t said anything to them specifically, Jack and Dias thoughtfully lifted Crimson up. However, there was one problem.
“Your Highness, how should we transport Crimson?”
It wouldn’t do for him to ride in the carriage like a criminal.
Well, he is a criminal, so it should be fine.
If this were modern times, people would curse me and say all dignity had gone to the dogs, but this was an empire. When in the empire, follow imperial law.
I immediately made a suggestion to Jack and Dias.
“Tying him to the back of the carriage and dragging him would damage Crimson’s dignity too much. Why don’t we just tie him up inside the carriage?”
Everyone nodded and clapped at my words.
“That sounds perfect.”
“As expected of Your Highness, how merciful…!”
“I can clearly see the future saintly ruler you will become!”
Did these people have zero humanity…?
And so, with Crimson dangling pathetically tied up in the carriage, we headed for the capital.
The imperial palace was in an uproar. The carriage that had left for the Greighton estate at sunrise had returned.
“Y-Your Highness, you’re back ear—ah, there’s a wound on your face! Call the healer immediately!”
The news of my return must have reached Kallean as well. He came running to the infirmary where I was receiving treatment.
“Iris! Are you alright?! Who dared to put a wound on my precious daughter’s face?!”
“Father, calm down. I brought him with me. He should be in the underground prison by now.”
Kallean vanished in the blink of an eye.
Is a Sword Master really the same species as me?
Since this was a fantasy world, the healing methods were equally fantastical. The moment the healer shouted “Heal,” my wound vanished without a trace.
And then.
“Your Highness…! Please stay with Sir Locleir! I really almost died because of His Majesty…!”
“…I will be more careful from now on.”
I was the one who had nearly died, so why did I have to deal with this random guy’s whining? It made no sense.
After finishing treatment, I headed to the underground prison where Crimson was being held.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
No way.
Surely Kallean wasn’t beating Crimson to death?
I hurried toward the source of the sound.
“How dare you… repay the empire’s grace with enmity!”
Kallean was mercilessly pounding Crimson’s face. Bright red blood was splattered across the cold stone floor. Crimson’s face was so swollen it was unrecognizable. He looked like he might already be dead.
“Father! Stop…!”
“But this rotten bastard hurt our daughter! Father cannot possibly forgive him!”
With those words, Kallean continued beating the already unconscious Crimson.
It did feel refreshing, but…
Isn’t this going a bit too far?!
I hugged Kallean tightly from behind, tears streaming down my face.
“When did I ever ask you to forgive Crimson? Surprisingly, death is actually a merciful punishment for sinners!”
At my words, Kallean’s blood-stained fist stopped in midair.
“What do you mean? Explain in more detail.”
“Do you think killing Crimson right now will make you feel better?!”
“…Obviously.”
“Completely? So much that you won’t even think about it anymore?”
Kallean hesitated for a moment. Then he spoke.
“…No, that’s not true. Even if I kill him now, it doesn’t feel like it would completely relieve me.”
“Ugh…!”
Kallean released Crimson’s collar. Rather violently, I might add.
“Then how should we punish this bastard?”
“Why are you even thinking about it? Just turn him into a slave! Strip him of his title, confiscate all his assets, and it’ll be hilarious, won’t it? Then throw him into Greyston Garden. I wonder what the territory’s people he tormented so much will do to him.”
“Ooh…!!”
Kallean exclaimed in admiration and hugged me.
“Father thought execution was the most heinous punishment… but our Iris is quite something.”
Afterward, Kallean called several healers and ordered them to treat Crimson, who was on the verge of death. Two days later, once Crimson had regained consciousness, Kallean pronounced the confiscation of his assets, the stripping of his title, and a lifetime sentence of slavery.
Kallean had asked me if we shouldn’t exterminate his entire family, but…
Daughter, no matter what, it’s an assault on the imperial family. Exterminating three generations seems…
What crime did his children commit? Now that their father has become a slave, won’t they come to their senses and work harder?
One example was enough, so I told him to let it go.
After the sentence was pronounced, Crimson was taken to Greyston Garden, which now belonged to the imperial family.
“You son of a bitch, we finally meet! Let’s see you die once today!”
“Do you know how much I suffered because of you, you bastard?!”
He was getting beaten quite splendidly. Kallean watched the scene and laughed heartily.
“Haha! It feels like all the ten-year-old indigestion in my chest has finally gone down!”
Now that the obstacle had been removed, it was time to turn Greyston Garden into a strategic stronghold for the empire.
“It is still too early for me to die!”
“Daughter, who are you talking to?”
Oops.
“Ahem. Please pretend you didn’t hear that.”