Everyone looked at me as if I had just spat on her face.
But the guards stopped. She had waved them to stay their advance.
I took a breath.
"I made a vow to myself a very long time ago. This neck will break before it bends."
I touched my throat.
"This neck will split apart from ego before it learns to fear anyone. And it has been like this from the very start. From the moment I drew my first breath in this world."
I looked around the room. At all the nobles staring at me with hatred and disbelief.
"Never bowed. Never begged. Not in front of anyone."
I pointed at the count writhing on the floor.
"Not even to him. Not even to his sons when they bullied me for refusing. When they beat me for my defiance."
I swept my gaze across the crowd. "Not to any nobility until now. Not to any king. Not to any emperor."
I looked up. "Not even to gods."
The room was deathly silent. "My knees touch the ground for one woman only."
I paused.
"My queen. My god. My everything."
I glanced slightly toward my right. Toward my mother standing beside me.
Then I looked back at Aaliyah. "And I'm afraid, Your Majesty..."
I smiled.
"You don't look anything like her."
The hall erupted.
Gasps. Hisses. Curses. Whispers spreading like wildfire.
It was an absolute fish market.
I knew I had done something I shouldn't have.
The rage of those twins surviving. The rage from that punch I received out of nowhere. All of it had combined with my ego.
And my ego had spoken.
What made it worse? The plan I had just formulated minutes ago — to stay on her good side, to watch the story unfold from safety was now completely shattered.
Getting on her bad side was inevitable now.
But I wasn't scared.
I stood there. Proud. Defiant.
Why wouldn't I be?
I had the Pervy Lord backing me up. He wouldn't let me die here. Not like this. Not after he had waited that long.
One swing of his divine dick, and no matter who she was—villainess or powerful heroine, she would die the most humiliating death imaginable.
'Hey, Pervy Lord. This humble servant of yours needs your divine protection right about now. You'll save me, right?'
There was still doubt in my heart.
But then—
"SILENCE!" Aaliyah's voice thundered across the hall.
The entire crowd obeyed instantly. Every whisper died. Every gasp choked.
Her eyes were furious. Burning with rage.
And it was understandable.
First, we had disrupted her banquet with violence. Then I had insulted her directly. In front of everyone. In her own hall.
She had every right to be angry.
I knew her next words would be my execution order. Or something even more brutal.
But then her anger slowed.
Just slightly.
She was looking at someone to my right.
Celestine.
She must have been wondering what the Princess of Aetherion was doing standing next to someone like me.
Then her gaze shifted to my left.
And her face transformed completely.
Shock. Pure, undisguised shock.
I followed her line of sight.
My mother was standing there. But Aaliyah wasn't looking at her.
She was looking at Freya.
'Why is she staring at her like that?'
'Did she realize Freya has some evil purpose here?'
'Or maybe she recognized her from somewhere?'
Aaliyah's expression shifted into deep calculation. Processing something internally.
Then she spoke. "Why did you beat his children?"
Her voice was controlled now. Measured.
"Because they were asking for it."
She didn't react to my flippant answer. Just pressed further.
"You didn't understand my question. I asked WHY."
I shrugged. "Well, first of all, they were bullying this one."
I reached over. Grabbed Celestine by the shoulder. Pulled her forward.
She started panicking. Looking around with wide eyes.
"And for those who don't know her, she is the Princess of Aetherion."
Murmurs spread through the crowd.
"Knowing that, I couldn't control myself. I had to interfere."
I released Celestine.
"When I stepped in. When I told them to back off... What they did next triggered me."
I felt my veins popping. The anger returning.
"They insulted me. And my mother."
I clenched my jaw.
"They said derogatory things about her. Filthy, disgusting words that no son should ever have to hear about his mother."
I gave Aaliyah a smile.
"So, as a good boy, I made sure they would never utter a single word ever again."
I clenched my fist. "But it seems I failed in that task."
I paused. Pretended to think.
"No, wait. Didn't the count say one is in a coma while the other can barely speak?"
I nodded to myself. "So I suppose I passed after all."
Aaliyah was silent for a moment.
Then she turned to Celestine. "Princess Celestine. Is this man telling the truth?"
Celestine straightened. Put on her most dramatic expression.
"Yes, Matriarch! They were threatening me!"
She clasped her hands together. "They said they would break my bones and sell me!"
Gasps rippled through the crowd. The perspective was shifting.
Then Celestine continued.
"But Goonman is lying about one thing."
I felt my eye twitch.
"He told me before that he didn't fight to help me. He said he was only there for revenge against them."
I was cursing her innocence internally. 'This stupid girl is going to get me killed with her honesty.'
But then she added—
"But Goonman is really a good guy! Trust me, Matriarch!"
She looked at Aaliyah with pleading eyes.
"Without him, I don't know what would have happened to me. What those bad guys would have done."
I looked at Aaliyah's expression.
It was complex. Difficult to read.
Then a voice boomed across the hall. "CELESTINE!"
Both of us turned.
I recognized him immediately.
King Rosmond of Aetherion. Celestine's father.
He stood among his entourage. Face stern. Eyes burning with parental fury.
"Come to me. Now."
Celestine went pale. Sheer terror washed over her face.
She started walking toward him. Shakily. Like a prisoner approaching the gallows.
I was happy.
Because I knew she was about to receive the scolding of her life. And all her future sneaking attempts would be permanently sealed.
Aaliyah spoke again. "Count Edwards."
The man on the floor looked up. Tears and snot covering his face.
"You have shamed our blood. And you did so in front of our most esteemed guests."
Her voice was ice.
"Not only that, but you created a ruckus in my banquet."
She raised her hand.
"So hereby, by the authority of the blood and the law of our ancestors..."
Her eyes bore down on him. "I strip you of the clan name you no longer deserve."
The count's face went white.
"You are no longer a member of House Astrea. Hence, the title of Count shall be taken from you."
"NO!" He threw himself forward. Crawling. Begging.
"I am sorry, Your Highness! It wasn't—please—I didn't mean—"
"Edwards." Her voice silenced him.
"I have given you a small punishment so as not to appear cruel in front of our guests."
She turned away.
"Consider it mercy. Guards, take him away. Let him await the official removal from the clan."
The guards moved. Grabbed the sobbing count. Dragged him toward the exit.
Aaliyah began walking back toward the stage.
"Your Highness."
My voice stopped her.
She turned. Looked at me with those calculating red eyes.
"Now that he is no longer a count, and that position is vacant..."
I gestured around. "The people under his domain will suffer without proper leadership."
I smiled.
"So why not give the title to someone more deserving?"
I pointed at my mother. "Like her?"
Aaliyah just stared.