Chapter 62

“I’ll make you beg for a quick kill because it’s going to be painful. Of course, I won’t grant it even if you do.”

When she finished talking, she threw his sword and turned back. She made eye contact with Tanya just as she did.

“Please be patient,” she murmured.

Tanya, who was trembling, bit her lips tightly and nodded, while the leader stood up and ran away.

“Let’s withdraw!” he yelled, leaving his terrified subordinates.

“Ta—Tanya…” The old woman fell down, eyes unfocused.

“I’m sorry. I made a promise that Viscount Diaman will never be able to touch her again.” Apollonia pulled her up, speaking as softly as possible. “Please trust me one more time.”

She ordered Sid to support the old woman and looked at Ben, Tan, and Lun.

“Then, can you help me get ready?”

“Pardon? No, what…”

“Gather a little bit of people. Those who are relatively trustworthy and hate the lord.” She rolled back the robe she was wearing all the time in the house.

The Bellas’ eyes widened at the strikingly bright, waist-length blonde hair and the unique golden eyes.

“Ro, royal family… …?”

“I am Princess Apollonia Alistair Ferdian.”

They were frozen looking at the sun-like woman in front of them.

“Th—then…”

“Spread it only among those here.” She smiled lightly. “The true lord has come.”

The Bellas set out heeding Apollonia’s order. When Sid also left to assist them, the only people left in the house were Uriel and Apollonia.

“Is being reckless your habit?” Uriel implored with a sharp look, his beautiful eyebrows furrowed in a scowl.

“Huh?”

“What kind of princess does that? It has not been that long since you barely escaped death and came back from Mt. Calt, yet you want to personally deal with that already?”

Anger clouded Uriel’s mind. When that pathetic leader touched Apollonia’s face earlier, he had to control the desire to impale his neck.

It was a first for him to feel such bloodlust because of personal matters and not duty, even though he had already fought countless enemies by this time.

“You were also like that when we first met. What kind of princess doesn’t flee even though she knows an assassin will come? Don’t you have any sense of danger?”

It wasn’t just anger now. He was upset at Apollonia, terrified that anything could happen to her. Meanwhile, Apollonia didn’t answer, blinking a few times at his unusual words.

Uriel took a deep breath. This wise woman with all kinds of talents was strangely oblivious to her own recklessness despite having foresight that was nearly prophetic.

“…There’s no other way,” Apollonia answered quietly.

“Pardon?”

“If I’m not reckless, I can’t have anything.”

Uriel’s eyes grew bigger. He expected her to reprimand him for his misconduct, but Apollonia clarified her action with calmness.

His eyes widened. He expected her to reprimand him for his impertinence, but instead she calmly explained her actions.

“Uriel, it’s indeed dangerous to plunge into one matter after another, but not doing so isn’t safe either,” she said, smiling bitterly.

The corners of his heart squeezed.

“Even if you live without caring about politics, you can be assasinated one day, and you can be crippled just by offering a royal family member a swordsmanship lesson.”

Apollonia’s eyes seemed to look at something very distant.

“Is that… based on your own experience?”

Apollonia laughed and shook her head again. “I’m alive and well, so I wouldn’t have experienced it myself. I just saw it up close.” She raised her head and faced Uriel. deep shadows in both of her confident eyes.

Uriel’s heart sank with a thump.

He heard stories about her, but he didn’t know much. She lived her life watching the people close to her being purged ever since she was a child. How often did she have to make quick judgments in order to survive on such thin ice?

“It was reckless to go to Mt. Calt alone. But what if I hadn’t gone? It’s not just about being rich, it’s about being used by my father and aunt for the rest of my life.”

“That’s….”

“Uriel, I have a lot of things I want.”

Apollonia’s eyes sparkled again, erasing the shadow that had been there before. “Mt. Calt’s jewels, the happiness of my people, my own peace, and…” She hesitated. “My rightful place.”

Uriel knew what she meant. From the moment when he thought he was just a foolish girl who demanded loyalty from him, it was clear to him what she wanted.