CH 25

Today, Coco intended to go to any banquet, and talk about what Princess Shatrin had done. Then, someone would run to Vasily, and tell him what they had heard.

After thinking for a while, Yulia pulled Coco's sleeve, and said.

"Go to the private club on 13th Street. There will be many of Vasily's friends there. If possible, you should ask someone else to go in your place."

"...Okay."

Yulia was well aware of where Vasily's friends gathered every night.

It was an exclusive club owned by a wealthy merchant, a place where their contradictions, who liked the factional and factionless more than anyone else, were symbolically revealed.

More than anything, the funniest thing was that the membership system relied solely on having money.

"It looks like Vasily really had no secrets from you."

Coco burst out laughing.

That night, Coco, who was informed in detail by Yulia of the location of the exclusive club and how to enter, sent someone there. Then, rumors spread that Princess Shatrin had done something bad to a commoner maid of honor from the second Prince's palace.

The news received tremendous attention from the nobles as it was a scandal involving the royal family, and reached Vasily's ears even before the sun rose.

Shatrin did not let go of her anger.

It was natural. Even if the Marquis of Marjoram brought his son and knelt down, the honor of the Princess that was thrown on the floor of the banquet hall would not be restored. However, the proud Marjoram did not even apologize, let alone kneel.

As time passed and the Princess's anger grew, it was the King and his wife who were in a sticky situation. The King could neither punish Marjoram nor take Marjoram's side.

The Marquis was well aware of the King's position, so he had no choice but to look for Vasily.

"Go to the palace, and apologize to the Princess."

"Pardon?"

"Appease her by any means. If the Princess wants to see you on your knees, you should at least pretend to listen to her."

The face of the Marquis who said so wasn't very relaxed.

Whether he knew how his father felt or not, Vasily did not act obediently.

"Are you saying that I, the heir of Marjoram, must kneel in front of the Princess just because I refused a mere dance request?"

"Vasily, you have offended the honor of the royal family."

"What about my honor?"

Vasily hadn't come to his senses yet. He was still furious at his father's words that the successor might change, so he was more emotional and narrow-minded than usual.

"Who pushed ahead with the marriage that neither I nor the Princess wanted? It would have been an unfortunate outcome anyway, but I at least had the courage to prevent it in advance."

"Vasily!"

"I will not apologize. The Princess's honor... At this point, it's just a personality disorder..."

One of the Marquis' eyelids twitched, and then scarily hardened.

He was genuinely angry. His son, whom he had chosen as his successor because he was obedient even though he didn't any particular strength, was acting like a crazy foal these days.

"Butler."

"Yes, Marquis."

The butler who was waiting outside the door neatly bowed his head at the Marquis' call.

"Bring the soldiers. Put Vasily in the carriage, and take him to the palace. Throw him in front of the Princess's palace, and come back."

"Father!"

Vasily shouted in anger. However, he could not escape from the hands of the butler who served the Marquis like a king.

"Go away! I won't forgive you if you touch my body!"

"I will take you there."

The butler approached, and bent Vasily's arms behind his back. It was not that difficult for him to subdue the young master who couldn't even throw a punch properly.

"Let go! Father! Father!"

"Escort the young master."

The soldiers grabbed Vasily, whom the butler had suppressed, and dragged him outside. He felt like he had become a sinner. There was no use in struggling.

Helpless, miserable.

Vasily, who was forced to ride in a carriage and arrived at the Princess's palace, was able to meet Shatrin waiting for him in the garden.

"...Princess."

Vasily's hair and clothes were in a mess after all the writhing and struggling. Shatrin looked over him slowly as if appreciating his unshapely appearance.

Shatrin was very patient. She was not oblivious to the relationship between the royal family and Marjoram, so she vowed to resolve her anger as long as Vasily kneeled down to apologize and announced in front of the nobles that the engagement had been broken because of him.

But when Vasily saw Shatrin, he hardened his face, and said.

"I heard you hit Yulia, is that true?"

"What?"

"To use violence against someone who has done nothing wrong... What is the Princess thinking? Since I did such a thing, it's only natural that I apologize to the Princes, but why Yulia..."

"Vasily Marjoram."

A shrill voice flowed from Shatrin's mouth, who burst into a rough exclamation. The Princess's hands were shaking.

"Are you insane?"

"What does that mean..."

"How dare you come to my palace, and take your lover's side... Are you trying to make me into a jealous thug?"

"That's not what I meant, Princess."

"If not that, then what else? I knew that your family was outstanding, but I didn't know that it was to the point where you felt comfortable looking down on the royal family."

Shatrin laughed loudly. She was so dumbfounded that she laughed.

Even the faces of the ladies-in-waiting who stood by the Princess were full of displeasure. They couldn't understand Vasily, and they didn't want to either.

"Tell me. Was it the Marquis who taught you you could do that? Or the Marquess? If not, was it my father?"

Only then did Vasily realize that something was going terribly wrong. He bit his lip. Then, he straightened his wavering body, and bowed his head in front of the Princess.

"I apologize."

"No."

Shatrin did not accept his apology.

"Get out of here, Marjoram."

The words were spoken to Vasily, but also to the Marjoram family at the same time.

"Get out of here forever."

"Princess!"

"What are you doing! Get this bastard out of my sight! Drag him out, right now!"

It was rumored that Princess Shatrin had dragged Vasily Marjoram out of her palace like a wild dog. There was also a rumor that Vasily, who was dragged out by the hands of the soldiers, screamed in front of the Princess's palace.

Because of this matter, the King issued an order to forbid Shatrin from going out of her palace. The reason was that she forcibly expelled the child of an aristocratic family who had come to apologize.

However, many complicated circumstances were hidden in it.

"You must have gone crazy!"

Furious, the Marquis of Marjoram grabbed Vasily by the collar with one hand, and punched him in the face.

Vasily, who had received multiple successive blows to the temple, staggered as he stood up.

"Marquis!"

The butler ran to stop him, but to no avail. The Marquis' face turned red. In a fit of rage, he continued to punch Vasily even as blood flowed from his mouth and nose.

"The King has locked up the Princess. You are the one who did wrong from start to finish! The King has locked up the princess! Do you know what that means!"

It meant that Vasily should receive an even harsher punition.

"It was something that could have passed like it was nothing! As long as you apologized, it didn't matter if the Princess accepted it or not! But, you made things that way!"

The Marquis let go of the limp Vasily as if tossing something away.

Vasily, who faltered and collapsed on the floor, asked the Marquis.

"Then, is Marjoram's successor Kristin now?"

"Vasily!"

"Isn't that what father wants? A long time ago, you said that you wanted to put aside your useless son and have Kristin, who is smart and pretty, as your successor. A very... very long time ago."

"What does that mean?"

"Did you think I didn't know? How much did my father ignore me that even the butler would look down on me? 

The Marquis didn't listen carefully to what Vasily was saying. He considered that his son, who was still young, was only big in size, but was throwing a tantrum like a child.

"This happened because I wasn't strict enough with you growing up."

The Marquis muttered with a heavy sigh.

"Butler."

"Yes, Marquis."

"Take Vasily underground. Don't let him step outside until I give permission."

"I understand."

The butler bowed his head.

Vasily shouted with a contorted face, wiping the blood from his mouth with his sleeve.

"Wouldn't it be better to kick me out! Princess Shatrin has been banned from going out, will that be enough? Just take 'Marjoram' out of my name!"

"Is that what you want?"

The Marquis asked. Until now, he seemed like a father who was giving a scolding to his son. However, the moment the Marquis asked that question, his face was like that of an executioner dealing with death row prisoners.

"I asked if that's what you wanted? What will you become after removing 'Marjoram' from your name? Like you said, you will become useless garbage that no one needs."

"Then, kick me out!"

"Right, as you wish. Still, it's a shame that I raised you preciously until now, so I'll think about how I'll use you for the last time before kicking you out."

After saying that, the Marquis turned around, and groaned in a low voice between his teeth.

"This all happened because of that arrogant commoner bitch."

"...Yulia, why?"

"I will kill her, and throw her corpse in front of your eyes. Only then will you finally grow up."

He was sincere.

"Vasily, don't pretend that you didn't expect this to happen. Even though I ordered the butler to get rid of that girl, you couldn't give up until the end, and went as far as to insult the Princess. So, how could I leave her alone?"

"Ah, father..."

Vasily hesitated. He had to stop his father, but his face looked like he didn't know what to say.

"That clever bitch would have known. Because she was completely different from the stupid bastard that you are from the start."

He couldn't retort. As the Marquis said, Yulia knew from the start. She also warned Vasily. That the more he acted out, the more he put her life at risk. It was Vasily himself who ignored her warning, and behaved as he wanted.

"Yulia is in the Prince's palace. There is nothing that father can do."

So, that was the only thing he could say. The Marquis laughed at Vasily, and finally replied.

"What are you talking about? The only person I cannot kill in that palace is the King."