Kneel Before The Villain - Chapter 119

“Be careful with your words.”

 

“It’s the young lady, not me, who needs to be careful with what she says.”

 

I stepped in front of her.

 

I looked down at her as she was shorter than I was.

 

Lady Flynn used to show hostility to me with arrogance, and she boasted a particularly strong presence among the crowd, but today she looked very small.

 

“Until now, I’ve tolerated you because I pity you, but since the young lady is determined and trying to damage my reputation with false words, I can’t tolerate it any longer.”

 

“Tolerate?”

 

As if shocked by my words, her delicate voice trembled pitifully.

 

Her eyes also swayed helplessly like a lantern before the wind.

 

I looked at her and smiled softly.

 

I must look like a villain in front of the spectators.

 

It didn’t matter as I was already a villain in their eyes long ago.

 

It was not easy to correct the prejudices and stereotypes that had taken root in their heads.

 

Besides, there were people in the world who would not listen to nice words.

 

Just like young lady Flynn in front of me.

 

So it didn’t seem like a bad idea to become a real villain at this point.

 

“Yes, I pity you. By the way, young lady, you look like you’re about to cry right now. Why don’t you make your face more pitiful? Perhaps they need to see I’m harassing you.”

 

Lady Flynn had rendered Roxana speechless many times before when she was with the Crown Prince.

 

Roxana didn’t stay still all the time, but anyway.

 

It was the opposite situation now.

 

Unlike Roxana, who swallowed the bitter water inside  and endured it, Lady Flynn seemed to be quick to shed tears at the slightest word of this magnitude.

 

People say that you have to experience it to understand it, but for the young lady in front of me, even the word “reversal” wouldn’t work.

 

If that’s the case, I had no choice but to embarrass her so that she would never think of climbing my head again.

 

No matter how thick her face was, she wouldn’t be able to lift her head up at least for a while because I had embarrassed her in front of many people.

 

It might backfire, but it didn’t matter.

 

Even if I held my tongue and endured it, Lady Flynn wouldn’t be so kind and appreciate my effort.

 

Wouldn’t it be fair to teach her a lesson?

 

Perhaps it was understandable that she was jealous of me because I was the Crown Prince’s fiancée, but at this moment I wasn’t so what gives?

 

“Is that so?”

 

Barely holding back her cries, Lady Flynn spoke in a strained voice.

 

She must have been ashamed to weep in front of the crowd that she pretended to be a brave queen.

 

I groaned.

 

“It doesn’t matter how it looks, I was deemed a villain long before this no matter what I did. So?”

 

Thin shoulders trembling and red eyes, the appearance was so pitiful.

 

I wasn’t the Crown Prince.

 

I had no sympathy left.

 

I had already given her many chances.

 

Those were in vain since she provoked me every time, crossing the line.

 

When I recalled how she attacked me with enough malice, what she experienced now was nothing.

 

Of course, she wouldn’t think so if I had to guess.

 

“But this time unfortunately for you, even if I harass the young lady, His Highness the Crown Prince won’t intervene. Unlike with Lady Dana.”

 

I deliberately chose words that would hurt her the most.

 

Then, at last, large tears fell from her eyes.

 

Marquis Flynn’s family was a prestigious family with a long history and had great influence.

 

Young lady Flynn, who grew up in such a family and was valued like a flower in a greenhouse, viewed the world with arrogance and selfishness.

 

For her, it would have been a great insult to say that she wasn’t important as a Baron’s daughter.

 

“Is there a problem?”

 

Payne had approached before I knew it, asked.

 

“What’s going on?”

 

The Crown Prince, who was with the royal family from afar, also approached and inquired.

 

The commotion was going in a corner and it wasn’t loud, so they wouldn’t have known if they weren’t watching.

 

Needless to say they had been watching for a while to come here. When our eyes met, a complicated expression appeared on the Crown prince’s face.

 

I slowly greeted him.

 

“I see the Crown Prince.”

 

At the thoroughly polite greeting, he frowned in displeasure.

 

“Crown Prince…”

 

Young lady Flynn stood by the Crown Prince with tears in her eyes.

 

Seeing it brought back memories of the past.

 

‘The same situation as now, it seems like it happened the other day.’

 

I frowned.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

Payne asked me gently.

 

Anyone could see that it wasn’t me who was being bullied in this situation, it was young lady Flynn.

 

Of course, even if it wasn’t real, he was at the entrance of the banquet hall earlier, so he probably couldn’t even hear the conversation.

 

Even so, Payne’s gaze toward me was full of concern.

 

Perhaps it wasn’t me who thought it was strange as people whispered with absurd faces.

 

Suddenly, it occurred to me that something similar had happened at Count Evans’ residence before.

 

Recalling the memory of that time made me feel strange.

 

“The princess made fun of me by mentioning Baron Dana’s daughter because I was rejected for the marriage proposal.”

 

While I was lost in thoughts, young lady Flynn appealed in her unjust voice. Her pitiful voice wasn’t as convincing as Claire’s. However, it was enough for the Crown prince to question me with a cold face.

 

“Is it true?”

 

“Well, do you believe me if I tell you?”

 

I pointed out the attitude of the Crown prince, who always listened to anyone but Roxana.

 

His gaze wavered for an instant, as if he was stung by my words.

 

However, he immediately schooled his expression and spoke in a solemn voice.

 

“Answer me properly, Roxana.”

 

“Lady Flynn was very interested in my personal life. It’s a pity that she took it as a mockery when I only gave her a few words of sincere advice because I was grateful for her concern.”

 

When I said it with a sad face, Lady Flynn’s face was terribly distorted.

 

“I know what happened.”

 

When the Crown prince nodded his head, a look of uneasiness appeared on his face.

 

Young lady Flynn carefully looked at him.

 

Gone was the prideful expression, and her face was a mask of pleasantness.

 

It was a bit surprising how well the proud young lady could turn into someone else.

 

“Couldn’t you have just let it go?”

 

The Crown prince asked with discontent.

 

His words brightened Lady Flynn’s face.

 

She was quite moved when the Crown prince took her side.

 

“I think it was only fair to use her own words that had spread rumors to defame me back to her.”

 

“We’re at an event attended not only by His Majesty the Emperor and Her Majesty the Empress, but also by foreign dignitaries. Making a fuss at a party like this is a disgrace to the country beyond the prestige of the family. Don’t you know that?”

 

Today, the Crown prince was particularly tenacious.

 

He must have figured out what was going on, but seeing as he kept making nonsensical quibbles, it seemed that he was trying to get his dissatisfaction with me this way.

 

Even if I didn’t do anything, I thought he would seize this opportunity to push the issue anyway to satisfy his anger with me.

 

Or it was to look good for Marquis Flynn.

 

Either way it didn’t matter.

 

“If you’re not going to listen to me anyway, wouldn’t it be better to ask someone else in the first place than to ask me, who can be trusted when there are so many witnesses?”

 

“What the princess said is correct. Apparently, the lady next to Your Highness was the one who started the fight first, but if it was only a verbal warning, wouldn’t the princess have conceded greatly? There are many eyes, so let’s stop it because we draw more attention.”

 

“It’s not your business to interfere, so you should leave.”

 

The Crown Prince turned ferocious when Payne intervened.

 

Despite being in front of many people, he was openly hostile toward Payne.

 

was an attitude of openly ignoring Pain. Seeing his rudeness and lack of self-control, my brows naturally furrowed.

 

“I think the conversation is over, so I’ll go.”

 

I bowed politely again then raised my head.

 

“If you’re going to punish me for this, I’ll take it. But I wonder why you’re going to punish me.”

 

“Roxana, wait.”

 

The Crown prince tried to grab me, but I ignored him and moved on.

 

I was being disrespectful, but whatever. As the crown prince said, we were at a place where all important figures gathered.

 

Even the crown prince couldn’t cause trouble in a place like this. Moreover, there was no justification for punishing me for what I just said. Abusing power only applied when it was possible.

 

Considering how narrow and unstable his position was now, it was impossible.

 

***

 

“If you’re going to punish me for this, I’ll take it. But I wonder why you’re going to punish me.”

 

The shape of the pretty red lips drew an arc.

 

The glittering golden eyes were frozen cold like a pond in the middle of winter.

 

With a cold face, she turned away from him.

 

“Roxana, wait.”

 

The Crown prince stared blankly at Roxana’s back.

 

She used to come to him even when he was harsh, but now she didn’t even look back.

 

He was bewildered looking at her cold back.

 

It wasn’t meant to be like this. He was sure that if they met again, he would try to make it up somehow.

 

The breakup was half-impulsive, half-hearted, as Roxana stimulated him.

 

But how terribly he regretted it after that.

 

At first, he couldn’t really feel it because he was angry.

 

But as time went on, he felt something was wrong.

 

If he had known how painful and regretful he would feel, he would have done anything to stop it.

 

Just as he was about to go after her, someone caught his sleeve.

 

Looking down, young lady Flynn was looking up at him with a shy expression.

 

He felt displeased for some reason.

 

“What?”

 

“Your Highness, thank you for your help.”

 

Not long ago, the empress ordered him to marry the young lady in front of him.

 

Of course he refused.

 

He had heard how arrogant and selfish the woman was.

 

Clearly, today, too, she must have quarreled with Roxana first.

 

Then acted like a victim.

 

When he thought about it, how awful he felt.

 

The Crown prince said, pulling out the sleeve that were caught.

 

“It is as Roxana said.”

 

“Yes?”

 

Gone was the anticipation in her eyes, replaced by trembling.

 

Only then could she read the annoyance in the prince’s gaze looking down at her.

 

“Who told you that you could touch the body of the royal family at will? Young lady should take etiquette lessons again.”

 

The cold gaze was enough to send chills through her body and her legs almost gave out.

 

Even though they said the same thing, what she heard from the princess and what she heard from the crown prince were completely different.

 

When he took her side a while ago, her fluttering heart cooled down in an instant.

 

It felt like being drenched in cold water.

 

She thought he had felt her unfairness because of the Princess.

 

What she hated the most was for him to leave her behind and chase after the princess.

 

But she didn’t have the courage to hold on to him again, so she had no choice but to let go of his hand and watch him go.

 

‘Where did you go?’

 

The crown prince turned his head in the direction where Roxana went.

 

While he was needlessly caught, she was already gone.

 

The only thought in his head was that he had to go after her right away.

 

However, he couldn’t even take a few steps and was blocked by someone.

 

****