“Please calm down, brother.”
“Do you know what I can do when you’re alone?”
“My fiancé might misunderstand if he sees it.”
At her words, Gareth hesitated a little. Eckart was famous for his righteousness and chivalry. If he saw a man threatening his fiancée, he’d draw his sword first.
But Gareth Leifer was not level-headed enough to control his anger.
“It’ll be fine as long as he doesn’t see it.” In the end, he was overwhelmed by his emotion. He pushed Apollonia right in front of the fountain. His golden eyes, which seemed to have lost all reason due to the drunkenness and anger, came close to Apollonia’s nose. “Don’t ever talk nonsense to me again…” His violent hands rose into the air.
Apollonia’s eyes grew bigger instantly. She expected the rudeness, but she didn’t know it would come to this. He really wanted to hit her.
Apollonia closed her eyes tightly and laughed inwardly. A slap on her cheek was not a big deal. On the contrary, if Gareth was sent on probation over this, Adrian would be able to move freely.
Swissh- Thud!
But as soon as she turned her head to brace herself, a small stone flew, fast enough to be invisible. Gareth suddenly staggered.
There was obviously no one around.
Splash!
There was no time to find the culprit. At the same time as his eyes lost focus, his bulky frame sank into the fountain.
For a moment, Apollonia was relieved.
‘So you were here, Uriel.’
* * *
“The young duke fell into the fountain!”
“Hurry up and save the young duke!”
People shouted and rushed to the scene when they heard the splash. They quickly pulled the unconscious Gareth out of the fountain.
No one knew Gareth was hit by something. Perhaps, he himself didn’t know why he had fainted. Uriel was carefully concealed, protecting her as always.
Apollonia smiled. “My brother must be very drunk. Let’s call a doctor.”
She pretended to be surprised, but she thought this turned out very well. If she kept on insinuating to stupid Gareth that she brought bad luck, maybe he’d learn one day.
“Your Highness, are you alright?” Eckart also ran a little late. He seemed genuinely concerned about her.
‘He’s not a bad guy.’
He was a decent man. Except for minor flaws such as a ridiculously narrow set of interests, not paying attention to others while talking, the tendency to go on educational tangents, and being terribly boring.
Unlike before, his eyes were shining brightly. There was a kind of soft expression on his face. Apollonia saw Bianca looking in their direction over his shoulder. Her brown eyes were clearly directed towards Eckart rather than Apollonia.
“I’m fine,” Apollonia replied with a smile. Now it was time to sow the seeds. “Are you enjoying talking to my maid?”
“Are you talking about Lady Bianca? You have a great maid! Her knowledge of swordsmanship and archery might surpass mine.”
“As you may have noticed, Bianca is not only knowledgeable, she is really good with weapons.”
Eckart’s mouth was wide open. “I was not wrong! Had we met at a comfortable place, I would have taught her a few things.”
He had a genuine passion for martial arts. However, as a member of the royal family, his arrogance as an outstanding knight was excessive. He always assumed that he was superior to his opponent.
The late emperor had taught Apollonia a lot about dealing with various people and how to win their hearts. It was easy to appeal to someone like Eckart. He would be enthralled by Bianca if she managed to break his expectations and quell his arrogance.
“Thank you for your kind words. If the banquet was inconvenient, would you like to meet up with my maid and compete in—?”
“Really, can I really do that?” Eckart beamed.
“I have no choice but to send my maid instead because I lack knowledge and strength. If it doesn’t bother you, I would be honored if you could do that. I think Bianca will be happy as well.”
He smiled and turned back. Apollonia did not miss Bianca and Eckart using their eyes to greet each other.
The seeds seemed to be growing smoothly, and the harvest would not be far off.
***
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