Chapter 37.2

Glenn stretched out his hand to Nadia.

‘Does he want to escort me in?’

Why was he being like this? Nadia took his hand, despite her bewilderment, and followed him to the high seat. As they walked, Glenn too was thinking of something else.

‘This is great. I can use this opportunity to have Sir Giscard apologize for his rudeness.’

There were not many opportunities for Nadia, who spent most of her time in the main building of the Winterfell castle, and Giscard, who was in charge of the knights, to meet. If nothing was done now and they returned to Winterfell, there would probably be no chance for Nadia to get a formal apology. If the seeds of resentment between them were not destroyed now, there would definitely be a problem afterwards.[1]

Once Nadia took a seat beside Glenn, the maid servants placed food, utensils and wine before her. Before the party could resume, Glenn looked in the direction where the knights were. Understanding what that glance meant, Giscard walked up to Nadia and spoke.

“Excuse me… Madam.”

Finding it difficult to say what he had to, Giscard cleared his throat a times before continuing with his words

“I would like to apologize for the rude words I spoke at the last meeting.”

“Ah, yes. That is right.”

She nodded her head, as if she had just recalled the events of that day.

“That is something we needed to talk about.”

“I will accept whatever punishment Madam gives without complaint.”

“Thank you for apologizing to me first. Truly.”

Her reaction was much more genial than he’d thought it would be. Was she going to forgive Giscard so easily? Glenn’s expression brightened.

Unfortunately, Nadia herself did not have the slightest intention of glossing over the issue. She began picking apart the matter, starting from the beginning.

“Let’s first talk about exactly how and why you, Sir Giscard, are at fault. That way, we can determine how severe a punishment you should get. Isn’t that so?

“Madam is right.”

“I am glad you understand. Even if it’s something said by your superior, as long as you have the grounds to oppose, you should be able to voice your objections without omitting or sugarcoating anything. In that regard, I am glad that you opposed my opinion that day.

Nadia raised her index finger as she continued.

“However, your attitude was disrespectful.”

Giscard clenched his teeth unknowingly.

“My honor as the marchioness is the same as the Lord Marquis’s honor. What you did that day was no different from tarnishing your liege’s honor. Have I said anything wrong?”

“……I agree with everything Madam has said.”

“It is great that you are aware of that. A suitable punishment for a knight who has disrespected his lord… I will have to think about it a bit.”

–Gulp.

The sound of someone’s nervous swallowing rang loudly through the hall. The atmosphere in the banquet hall was fraught with tension.

Different from her innocent impression she gave, everyone in the hall had already realized that she was no pushover. She would never brush aside an affront that had been done to her.

Slowly, the once lively, uproarious banquet hall cooled down. Glenn was unable to remain silent any longer, and spoke up.

“Nadia, Sir Giscard was disrespectful that day because of how deep his sense of loyalty is. If you generously forgive him this one time, he will definitely….”

“There is one thing I have learnt through my experiences. It is that if you are too meek, people will take you for granted.”

Just like her half-sister and her father did.

“If I just let this blow over without punishment, how can I be sure that someone else will not disrespect me?”

“I will give them a strong warning. I promise.”

“Then does that mean I can only use my authority through others? If the Lord Marquis no longer commands them to respect me, then I will only end up having to endure disrespect again.” [2]

“That……”

Glenn was speechless, only able to open and close his mouth repeatedly as if looking for the words that had failed him.

He was not the only one who was baffled. Fabian, who had had the most interactions with Nadia, was also bewildered.

‘But, but she wasn’t this kind of person before!’

Even when he made poor jokes, didn’t she just laugh and brush them aside? Fabian began doubting if she was the same Madam he knew.

If things continued in this fashion, Giscard was definitely getting a serious punishment. Although he had disrespected the marchioness, his ancestors had been loyal commanders, and he himself was a well-respected elder among the knights. None of them were happy to see Giscard in such a predicament.

With all the knights silent stones, one of them was unable to look on anymore and spoke up.

“Madam, I am guilty of the same offense. Since the commander has committed an offense, I ask to be punished the same way.”

“Same goes for me, Madam. Punish me too!”

“Punish me too!”

All around the banquet hall, the knights began plucking up the courage to stand forward. It wasn’t long before the entire knights’ division was asking to be brought to book.

“Hmmm.”

Nadia sighed deeply as she gazed at them.

“What you are saying is that you all will shoulder the commander’s punishment together, since the severity of the punishment will be lessened if several people take responsibility.”

“Yes, Madam.”

“Okay. Then let’s calculate it. If I divide the disrespect done to me up till now by the number of people gathered here… let’s see ….”

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Notes:

[1] Resentment: No emotion was explicitly named here, just the general word 감정 (emotion). It made sense to pick a more specific word instead.

[2] Behold your female lead, people, and bow before her oratorical prowess lol.