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What happened?
I couldn’t comprehend the situation and looked at the scene unfolding in front of me with a blank face.
“It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!”
Heiner was screaming at the top of his lungs.
He looked at his bent arm behind his back, made a stunned expression, and shouted at Yuta.
“Yuta Barmuth! Can’t you let go of this?!”
I couldn’t believe that Yuta was the usual timid and tender child. He looked down at Heiner with cold eyes.
“Apologize for calling my father a hound and for being rough with Isabella.”
Yuta said in a low voice.
“Then I’ll let you go.”
Was Yuta a child who could speak so coldly?
Even the big thugs behind Heiner couldn’t do anything about it, under the weight of Yuta’s aura.
The only one who didn’t notice the unusual atmosphere of Yuta was Heiner, who was blinded by his anger.
“Yeah, sorry for calling the father you’re ‘proud’ of a hound.”
Heiner spat out, and Yuta’s face hardened.
“But what should I do? I can’t apologize to that girl, though?”
Heiner got on Yuta’s nerves with his steadfastness even when he was obviously at a disadvantage.
I could say that him not breaking his will was one of those aristocratic qualities.
“If it had gone as it was supposed to be, she would belong to me and I would nicely put her in the corner of the attic somewhere—”
Crash!
Before Heiner could finish his sentence, Yuta kicked him in the back.
At the same time, he let go of the hand that was bending Heiner’s arm, leaving Heiner unseemly rolling on the floor.
Heiner reflexively raised his upper body, yet he couldn’t get up on his own two legs right away.
He himself hadn’t quite grasped what had happened to him.
Heiner’s eyes fell on his shirt, vest, and pants, which were all messed up with grass and huddles.
And even a single shoe rolling around in the distance.
When he finally realized what situation he was in, his face turned red.
“I will kill you, Yuta Barmuth. I will kill you!”
Heiner screamed and lunged at him.
For a moment, I was worried that Yuta might get caught by Heiner and they end up rolling around together.
Obviously that’s possible, the difference in size between a 9-year-old and a 13-year-old was so great that Yuta didn’t look like he could defy Heiner by any means.
To put it bluntly, my expectations were wrong.
That too, hugely wrong.
Yuta evaded Heiner’s random attack by slightly moving his body with a nonchalant expression.
Then, with a flowing motion, he kicked Heiner’s ankle, knocking the opponent off balance, and then trampled on the fallen guy’s back.
Yuta’s blue eyes looked down at Heiner, shining like those of a dangerous beast.
I had a strong hunch that something big would happen if it continued like this.
“Young Lord, please stop…”
It was when a faint moan-like dissuade came out of my mouth.
Yuta gritted his teeth and gave power to the foot that stepped on Heiner.
Crack!
It was the first time I heard that sound in my life, but I could tell without any explanation that it was Heiner’s bones breaking.
“Aaaaakh, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaakh!”
A terrible scream escaped Heiner’s mouth.
I got goosebumps all over my body.
Heiner, who had abused me in my previous life, was suffering, and the first thought I had was it was scary rather than thrilling.
Yuta was still ferocious, looking down at Heiner, who thrashed like a worm, at his own feet with unconcerned eyes in the meantime.
Instinctively, I knew that Yuta hadn’t finished yet.
If I don’t stop him now, he will do bigger things.
“Young Lord, please stop! Young Lord!”
I shouted with all my might.
However, my cry didn’t reach him.
Yuta didn’t hear me at all and just looked down at Heiner.
What should I do?
If it’s something I can do…
I gritted my teeth.
And shouted in a much louder voice than before.
“Yuta! Stop!”
For a moment, his eyes returned to focus.
He suddenly came to his senses and looked at me slowly with surprised eyes.
And he put on a devastated expression, like someone who realized something belatedly.
“Ah… Isabella…”
Yuta hurriedly got his foot off Heiner’s back and hesitantly approached me.
“I… I…”
He stretched out his hand.
Yet that hand didn’t reach me and fell.
I thought about how to calm him down.
After thinking about it, I stretched out my hand to hold Yuta’s, and I heard a familiar voice from behind.
“Yuta Barmuth. Did you do this?”
It was Kellerhan.
I was distracted by Yuta and Heiner’s physical fight, but there were already countless onlookers gathered around us.
I could hear the adults who had come running late and caught their breath in astonishment at the sight of Heiner sprawling on the floor.
Kellerhan was standing in front of the adults, glaring at Yuta with terrifying eyes.
“Answer me, I asked whether you did this.”
Yuta could have made an excuse, yet he lowered his head and said nothing.
Kellerhan looked increasingly upset at Yuta’s silence.
“Aren’t you going to answer me?”
Kellerhan’s tone turned wild.
Yuta flinched his shoulders and slowly opened his mouth.
“…Yes, I did it.”
No! If he said it that way, it’s as if Yuta unilaterally assaulted Heiner!
“Duke!”
In a sense of urgency, without thinking twice, I opened my arms and blocked the way in front of Yuta.
“Please listen more to the Young Lord. There is a reason why he did this.”
Kellerhan looked down at me and gritted his teeth.
I could see that he was holding back with all his might, trying not to get angry with me.
“Alright. Let’s hear it.”
Kellerhan turned his head back to Yuta.
“Do you have something to say, Yuta?”
I stared at him desperately. Hurry up and tell him what was going on, Yuta!
However, Yuta shut his mouth again.
I stomped my feet in pity.
This was when I thought that I should step out and explain the situation.
At that moment, Lisi rolled out from among the crowd of onlookers.
“Young Lord Lodgemund started a fight first!”
Lisi cried out, and people’s attention was instantly drawn to her.
She gulped down saliva, probably nervous at the gazes on her.
Yet she didn’t back down or withdraw her foot.
“I was watching! Young Lord Lodgemund tried to hit Isabella first!”
“…What did you say?”
The first one to respond to Lisi’s words was Kellerhan.
His eyes took on a more terrifying look than before.
However, rather than being mad at either me or Yuta, it was because this time, he was worried.
Kellerhan leaned down very slowly and met his eyes with mine.
His pupils sunk out, unfit for the red color.
“Isabella, did you almost get hit by that guy?”
He asked in a low voice that sent chills down my spine.
“That…”
It was true that I almost got hit, but somehow it seems like something terrible would happen if I answered yes here…
Unknowingly, I hesitated to answer.
“What are you all doing? Call a doctor!”
Fortunately, the Emperor intervened at the right time and interrupted my conversation with Kellerhan.
Only then did people pay attention to Heiner, who was lying on the lawn and groaning.
“My goodness, Young Lord Lodgemund!”
Soon after, the court doctors, who had been led by the hands of the servants, checked Heiner’s condition with urgent gestures.
“Augh, it hurts! Told you it hurts! Can’t you get your hands off of me?!”
Heiner couldn’t stand his temper and took out his anger on the court doctors who worked for him.
They soothed Heiner in a cold sweat, checked his condition, and gave him appropriate first aid.
“How is it? The condition of Young Lord Lodgemund.”
After the first aid, the Emperor asked the remaining court doctors when the servants carried Heiner on a stretcher into the palace.
“That…”
One of them hesitated for a while, then moved closer to the Emperor and spoke in a low voice.
“He broke two of his ribs.”
“Oh, my.”
The Emperor touched his forehead.
No matter how much responsibility lay elsewhere, it seemed like a headache because it happened in the Imperial Palace.
“Fortunately, it didn’t break into pieces, so it can be put together right away, but it seems that…”
He murmured the end of the sentence.
“In any way, it’s serious.”
The Emperor continued the court doctor’s words instead.
The court doctors bowed their heads and withdrew, and the Emperor beckoned for Kellerhan.
“I must call Duke Lodgemund. And I will have to see it through to the end myself.”
The remark that he would watch meant that the Emperor would directly step in, cover up, and punish those who should be punished.
Kellerhan’s face stiffened.
The Emperor sighed heavily as he interpreted that, and tapped him on the shoulder.
“I know he’s your son. But consider my position as well.”
The Emperor said.
“Someone of the five largest dukes is injured. So, shouldn’t we call all the people involved?”
“I understand. It needs to be done.”
Fortunately, the Emperor was actually on our side.
“I will try to mediate as best as I can.”
He whispered to Kellerhan in a voice so low that no one else could hear.
“Making it as much of a children’s fight as possible, and even if he’s charged with a crime, emphasize that it was an act based on chivalry, like that.”
As if the test I had earlier was really just a test, the Emperor was kind to Kellerhan and Yuta.
Kellerhan nodded his head, still stiff.
Duke Lodgemund arrived at the Imperial Palace within a few tens of minutes.
On the way, he received a detailed report on his son’s condition, and he was furious.
“What on earth is this!”
As soon as he entered the garden, he approached Kellerhan and squinted his eyes.
“Duke Barmuth, I heard that your son broke my son’s ribs!”
Duke Lodgemund pushed Kellerhan on the shoulder in bewilderment.
Of course, he didn’t budge, which infuriated Duke Lodgemund even more.
“He broke his ribs! Do you think this makes sense?”
Kellerhan sighed and grabbed the hand of Duke Lodgemund, who was pushing on his shoulder, pulling it down.
Duke Lodgemund, startled as if he had touched something dirty, withdrew his hand from Kellerhan.
While Duke Lodgemund was huffing, Kellerhan spoke in a low, subdued voice.
“I’ll speak straight. I heard your son tried to assault my daughter-in-law first, though?”
His eyes shook for a moment.
Because he knew his son’s temper well, and that Heiner caused the trouble first.