The Evil Empress Adores Me

Despite my answer, Damian only became relieved after examining my face and neck carefully. 

Really, I should worry a lot more. 

I gave Damian a faint smile. I was glad he took care of me.

Fortunately, there weren’t any burns. 

I poured the tea quite a while ago so I was thankful it had cooled down by then. 

If I had done it a few minutes later, I could have been badly hurt. 

Still, Lady Bennet wasn’t finished. She gave no quarter as she barraged me with questions. 

“Are you still going to talk back to me? Is that what you use your commoner education for?!”

Suddenly, scarlet eyes lit up in front of me. 

“Wait a moment, Lize.”

Damian took his hand off my shoulder, stood up, and started walking. 

Huh? 

I watched him keenly.  

Damian was standing in front of Lady Bennett, looking down at her with a stern gaze.

Then. 

Splash!

“Aaaaa!”

Lady Bennet let out a sharp scream as tea cascaded onto the top of her head. 

“Hey, hey!” puffed Lady Bennett. 

At the same time, Damian with an elegant motion set the teacup he took back down on the table. 

Clink. 

As soon as that sound was heard, everyone gasped as if they had seen something magical.

“I didn’t expect the crown prince to go that far.”

“Far? She deserved it. Lady Bennet was more than just rude.”

The ladies who had watched attentively, whispered in each others’ ears. 

Lady Bennet, teary-eyed, directed her attention to Damian. 

“Your Highness, the crown prince!”

It was a voice reprimanding Damian. 

Damian shrugged his shoulders at first and then asked her. 

“Why did you call me in that voice?”

“Your Highness, you know why. Look at what you did to me!”

“What do you mean? I returned the favor,” Damian responded as he smiled indifferently to her reaction. 

His expression, cold and distant, made Lady Bennett wince. 

“Why are you making that face?” Damian asked in an expressionless manner. 

“It’s natural to do to others what they do to you.”

Saying that, Damian took one step forward. 

Thump. 

The sound of his footsteps resounded in the hall. 

As Damian drew nearer, Lady Bennett began to waver and falter. 

“You don’t like it? You don’t like experiencing what you put others through?”

“Your Highness!” she exclaimed. 

Lady Bennett’s eyes began to well up with tears again. 

She looked pitiful but there was no warmth left in those scarlet eyes of his. 

A voice mixed with laughter followed. 

“And to belittle Charlize’s education.”

The cracking in his voice as he said so exerted a strange pressure on its listeners. 

“It’s like finding fault with how her Majesty has taught Charlize.”

Lady Bennett couldn’t catch a break as her face went pale and she gasped for air as if someone was strangling her.  

“….So I’ll ask you. Is that what you think?” said Damian as he slightly tilted his head. 

Lady Bennet, on the other hand, froze. 

“Well, I. I….”

“I, what?” 

Lady Bennett was suddenly cut off by a voice. 

The Duke of Rochester?

I swallowed my saliva. 

The Duke surveyed the mess before him. 

‘When did he enter the banquet hall?’ I wondered. 

Damian, without skipping a beat, asked a question. 

“When did you get here, Duke of Rochester?”

“Come now, Your Highness. You’re a shrewd one.”

The Duke narrowed his brow. 

“I know you’ve been aware of my presence for a while now.”

“Well, I might have not known,” Damian said jokingly as he quivered. 

The Duke then turned his attention to Lady Bennett. 

“First of all, Lady Bennett.”

“Yes, yes! Duke of Rochester!”

Color returned to Lady Bennett’s face with the thought of the Duke taking her side. 

The Duke opened up with a cold voice. 

“In the presence of all these guests, you insulted the Empress’s senior maid.”

“…..w-what?” muttered Lady Bennet under her breath. 

“Did you really do this without realizing you disrespected the Empress?”

Lady Bennett’s eyes flickered in fear. 

White-faced and trembling, her previously brightened face had all but disappeared.