Chapter 27: The Price of Insult

‘One slap wasn’t enough? Two, even?!’

“You bastard!!!!”

At that moment, the delicate string of reason within Beni’s mind snapped with a sudden, jarring sound.

Pain and fury surged through Beni. She hastily raised a hand, simultaneously channeling the magical energy within her, intent on unleashing her most skilled intermediate flame magic in retaliation.

Alas, in Youka’s eyes, her movements appeared both clumsy and agonizingly slow.

Just as Beni prepared to chant her incantation, Youka, showing not an ounce of mercy, delivered a sharp slap that instantly silenced her.

Furthermore, the doll-like maiden, her face utterly devoid of emotion, continued to strike Beni’s face in rapid succession.

“Pia~”

“Paipia~~”

“Piapiapia~”

Each resounding slap landed with cold, merciless precision on Beni’s face. The rhythmic strikes were accompanied by Beni’s increasingly frantic sobs.

As the flurry of blows continued, Beni’s face swelled rapidly. Blood began to seep from the corners of her mouth, her nose, and even her split lips.

Under the relentless assault, her teeth loosened and began to fall out, each one clattering to the ground and sending a fresh wave of excruciating pain through her.

Finally, Beni could no longer resist. Her body went limp under the brutal onslaught, and she collapsed, kneeling on the garden path littered with fallen petals.

Blood, spilling from her lips, stained the hem of her skirt. Her face was a canvas of wounds, with scarcely an unmarred patch remaining, a stark contrast to the imposing figure she had presented earlier to Xiamiya.

“Waaahhhhhhh, woo-woo-oooohh!”

As the saying goes, when one reaches their breaking point, they simply break.

The profound humiliation of the slaps, coupled with the agonizing pain radiating from her face, relentlessly assaulted Beni’s senses. The Marquis’s daughter finally cast aside all pretense of dignity and burst into unrestrained wails.

****

“Miss Beni?”

Witnessing Beni’s tearful state, her two attendants were utterly dumbfounded, even questioning the reality before their eyes.

‘A mere maid? How dare she strike Miss Beni? Did she not comprehend the terrifying influence of the Roberitz family? Was she truly tired of living?!’

Nevertheless, after exchanging a stunned glance, the two young ladies finally took a deep breath and stepped forward, intent on intervening.

Though a tremor of fear for Youka ran through them, they knew they had no choice but to act.

Miss Beni was being humiliated, and they stood by idly? If the Marquis were to learn of their inaction, their fates—and those of their families—would undoubtedly be dire.

“Stop right now!! Do you have any idea what you’re… mm?!”

–”Pia~, Pia~”–

Alas, the two noble ladies had barely taken a step to admonish Youka when they were each met with two swift slaps, sending them sprawling to the ground, where they twitched uncontrollably.

****

Yet, Youka held no interest in these two underlings. Her gaze swiftly returned to Beni.

Immediately after, under Beni’s terrified gaze, the doll-like maiden slowly bent down. She raised a hand, pinching Beni’s chin, and forcibly dragged the nearly unconscious, weeping Beni from the ground.

Tilting her head slightly, a faint, unsettling glow flickered within Youka’s silvery-white eyes.

The next moment, a sharp dagger materialized from beneath Youka’s skirt, clutched firmly in her grasp.

Beni’s eyes narrowed instantly as she stared at the dagger in Youka’s hand. She spoke, her voice raspy with terror.

“Wh-what, what else do you intend to do?!!!”

In response to Beni’s terrified interrogation, Youka offered no direct reply. Instead, she tilted her head in a profoundly unsettling manner, her lips curving into a chilling, utterly unnerving smile.

Then, Youka’s dagger slowly, deliberately, drew closer to Beni’s face.

However, at that very moment, Xiamiya’s frantic voice suddenly echoed in Youka’s ears.

–”Stop, stop, stop!! Youka! Don’t do anything reckless!!!”–

While observing Youka ‘educate’ Beni brought Xiamiya an inexplicable, dark satisfaction, and the sensation of being protected delighted her even more, once she snapped back to reality, a panicked expression immediately overtook her features.

After all, Xiamiya vividly recalled the brutal fate of the two attendants who had insulted her upon their initial arrival at the Holy Sanctuary, and how Youka had tormented them.

Their teeth had been knocked out, their tongues and noses severed, their eyes gouged, and their ears pierced deaf. Their deaths had been a gruesome spectacle.

Not only was such an act excessively cruel, but more importantly, this was the Holy Royal Palace!

And the victim was none other than the daughter of the Roberitz family. To truly torture Beni to death here would invite unimaginable repercussions!

“No, don’t, don’t be reckless, Youka!!”

Rushing forward, Xiamiya urgently clutched Youka’s sleeve, her voice laced with tension. Her rainbow-colored eyes were brimming with anxiety.

Under normal circumstances, Xiamiya’s strength would have been utterly insufficient to halt Youka.

However, as Xiamiya’s words reached her ears, Youka’s movements ceased obediently and abruptly. She then turned a questioning gaze towards Xiamiya.

“But, Mas…”

“No ‘buts’! Just listen to me first!”

Xiamiya spoke in a low, yet undeniably firm tone.

In response, after a brief silence, Youka respectfully nodded and withdrew the dagger from her hand.

“As you command, Master.”

With that, Youka released Beni’s chin. She then placed her hands over her abdomen, standing silently beside Xiamiya, much like a perfectly trained maid.

Meanwhile, deprived of Youka’s support, Beni’s entire body went slack. She collapsed onto the ground, sobbing uncontrollably, her body trembling violently.

Observing Beni in such a state, Xiamiya felt a surge of peculiar satisfaction, yet simultaneously, a growing sense of dread.

However, the Third Holy Princess currently found herself with little time for extensive thought.

Catching a glimpse of Youka’s impassive face out of the corner of her eye, Xiamiya felt a wave of trepidation.

Given Youka’s brutal methods, Xiamiya was terrified that she might suddenly act again and simply kill Beni.

At the same time, Xiamiya also worried that the spoiled Miss Beni might lose control and lash out at her. Should that happen, Youka would likely eliminate her in an instant.

Sensing the oppressive atmosphere that hung heavy in the White Orchid Garden, Xiamiya instantly made a decision.

“W-well, Miss Beni, I am truly, truly sorry.”

Clasping her hands together, Xiamiya cast an apologetic glance at the sobbing Beni.

“My maid has only just arrived. She doesn’t recognize you, nor does she understand the etiquette. Please, in your great magnanimity, do not take her actions to heart! I beg of you! This—this maid, I—I will certainly punish her severely once we return! So… I, I’ll just, take my leave now? M-my apologies, alright?”

As she spoke, Xiamiya cautiously took a few steps backward.

The moment she reached the doll-like maiden’s side, Xiamiya seized Youka’s slender wrist.

–”Quick! Let’s go, go, go!!”–

Pulling Youka along, Xiamiya hastily bolted towards the main gates of the White Orchid Garden.

****

‘Damn her… damn her! That wretch, she… she actually dared to treat me this way…’

Staring at the retreating figures of Xiamiya and Youka, Beni, still sobbing with her face buried in her hands, couldn’t help but reveal a countenance brimming with fury and venomous malice.

She was the eldest daughter of the Roberitz Marquis’s family, a fact that meant no one had ever dared to lay a hand on her, not since she was a small child.

Not only had they struck her, but they had also marred her pride, her very face, to such an extent?!

Staring at the bloodstains and fallen teeth on the ground, and gingerly touching her own swollen, distorted face, an unprecedented fury spread through Beni’s heart like a virulent poison.

‘That maid must pay! And Xiamiya, a low-born, illegitimate princess, merely ‘picked up’ and given a title—how dare she allow her subordinate to treat me this way! I will never forgive you either!’

Biting her lip so hard it threatened to split, Beni abruptly twisted her head to look behind her.

“Shelfy!”

“Ah?!”

Startled by Beni’s sudden call, and confronted with that comically swollen face, the noble lady named Shelfy couldn’t help but gasp. Swiftly, however, she composed herself, managing to suppress the urge to laugh.

“Miss Beni, you, you speak.”

“Take me back immediately! I’m going to tell Father about this! A daughter of the Roberitz family cannot be insulted like this! They must pay the price!”

“Oh, yes.”

Shelfy nodded frantically.

Simultaneously, the noble lady couldn’t help but cast a sympathetic glance in the direction Xiamiya and her maid had departed.

‘Alas, wouldn’t it have been better to just live quietly and scrape by?

She was merely a princess without power or influence, yet she chose to provoke Miss Beni. Everyone in Ophelia knew that the ‘Blood Marquis,’ the second-in-command of the noble faction, doted on Miss Beni above all others.

The Holy King was in decline, so who could possibly protect her now?’

Shelfy imagined the potential torture Xiamiya and her maid might endure, and a shiver of dread ran down her spine.

However, before reporting…

Swallowing hard, Shelfy tremblingly turned her head, scanning her surroundings. The White Orchid Garden, beautiful as ever, inexplicably sent a shiver down her spine.

‘Why do I feel… something watching us?!

Hey?! Wh-what is that over there?!!’