Chapter 67

He assumed that if he mentioned the previous emperor’s name, she would be taken aback. And the woman’s face had a small twitch, just like his prediction. He decided to take it even further.

“With insufficient funds, I’m barely able to train my soldiers and maintain the troops. It cost me a lot to find you, Your Highness.”

As he omitted those words, he lifted his neck even more. Apollonia slowly closed and opened her eyes as she mulled over his words.

Apollonia blinked slowly at him, who had begun to raise his head, and mulled over his words. “You’ve got a point. But why did the soldier who claimed to be looking for me forget their duty and take a child that was unrelated to any of this? Is that the representation of the soldier that you’re so proud of?”

“The child is dangerous since she attacked me in the past. Naturally, I assumed she had something to do with your kidnapping. I’m planning to punish her severely after this discussion.”

“That child is not a kidnapper. She helped me.”

“Your Highness must have fallen for her tricks. Bella won’t help anyone without hidden intentions.”

The viscount constantly got on her nerves. His response was something she had expected.

“Even if that child is your acquaintance, doesn’t mean that my soldier judgement isn’t right.”

If the princess lost her temper and became angry or cried out loud, no one in this room would take her seriously. Her order to search this mansion would be invalidated. But Apollonia was resolute.

“Are you telling me even after spending the citizen’s taxes on training your soldiers, the best thing they could do was drag a child to interrogate her about the princess’s whereabouts? Is that your explanation? If the soldier’s judgment is wrong, then I assume you’re willing to take responsibility as their superior?”

“Of course! It’s all thanks to my soldier that you ended up here safely!” he said proudly, thumping his chest.

Judging from the heightened voice of the woman, she seemed to be filled with anger. Then she would burst into tears soon enough, right?

“Then your sins are evident.”

“Now that you’ve arrived safely, you should just behave… what?”

His confidence dropped with his jaw.

Apollonia continued. “The moment when that child was caught by the soldier, I was in the same house. I even had a word or two with your soldier.”

When she found the commander of the soldier, who had been beaten by Uriel’s sword hilt in the corner of the reception room, she gestured at him with her chin. The commander was surprised and couldn’t even manage his facial expression, revealing his involvement in front of everyone. Now that Apollonia knew the face of the person who had captured Tanya, he couldn’t deny what she said anymore.

“He was so happy that he found the child and went back without even thinking about identifying me, who was next to him. How could a soldier who was supposed to search for the missing princess fail to recognize the princess right in front of his nose!”

As soon as Apollonia finished speaking, she swung the whip toward the viscount. The whip fell near his right foot, the sound echoing loudly in the reception room. The viscount squeezed his eyes shut involuntarily.

“Th-that… that must be a mistake…”

“It’s called incompetence. Your first sin is incompetence.”

The reception room fell silent. The momentum that the viscount had had was slowly being lost.

It was an unexpected turn of events. He didn’t know a young girl could exude such a thundering force. The princess, whom he thought would recklessly accuse him of tyranny, showed an unexpected side. He thought she was easy to deal with, but that was now obviously a big mistake

“Please listen to me once…”

Apollonia looked at the butler who stood next to the viscount. “Bring me the financial reports for the last 10 years. Let me tell you about your second sin.”

She was no longer smiling. The butler, who had a little more experience than the viscount, instinctively felt danger.

“My Lord… what shall I do, sir?” he asked the Viscount in a small voice.

But Apollonia, who heard it, once again swung the whip to the floor.

Whack-!

“The Lord here is me. Butler, you don’t need his permission to follow my order.”

The fiery golden eyes glared at him as if they were going to devour him.