I Thought I Had Married A Poor Knight, But…! - Chapter 21.4

Chapter 2 The Crown Princess Who Broke the Code

Episode 21: The Fearsome Crown Princess Consort When She Loses Her Temper (4)

And yet, this audacious old lady has the audacity to complain and make remarks while indulging herself with the fruits of the farmers’ blood and sweat! I tried to maintain a smile on my face, but I could feel the flames of anger growing stronger.

“Y-Your Highness!?”

“The color of your eyes…”

I have been told by various people that when my anger intensifies, my golden eyes start to glow red. In my hometown, whenever my eyes started to glow, all of my underlings would scatter in fear.

What should I do? In the past, I would have launched a flying kick and applied a joint lock, followed by a lecture. But now, a small remnant of reason advised me that it would be unwise to do such a thing. So, what would be a noble way of seeking revenge?

“…If you dislike the farmers so much, would you like me to change your territory to an area without any farmers?”

“What?”

“Malord Duchy’s territory is situated along the river in the northeastern part of the Empire, an agricultural region, correct? If seeing farmers is such a burden for you, then perhaps I can arrange for your territory to be changed to the desert region in the southern part of the Empire.”

The Duchess of Malord and the surrounding noblewomen were astonished.

“Y-Your Highness! That’s…”

My four sisters tried to intervene, but I glared at them, silencing them. The Duchess of Malord responded with a strained smile, attempting to counter my proposal.

“T-That’s impossible… such a thing. His Imperial Majesty would not permit it.”

“The next Emperor after His Imperial Majesty is my husband. If it’s my request, my husband will not refuse. Yes, when my husband ascends to the throne, the ducal family will be demoted to marquises, right? At that time, we can simultaneously change the territory.”

The Duchess of Malord turned pale. Yes, it would be impossible to ask the current Emperor, but if I ask Cermiane, my husband will not refuse my request. It would be absurd to entrust the granary region to someone who knows nothing about the hardships of agriculture. Let them eat sand in the desert.

Perhaps she understood my seriousness. My sisters turned pale and urged the Duchess of Malord to apologize.

“L-Lady Marlord, it would be appropriate to apologize! Apologize!”

“Y-Your Highness, please calm down.”

I glared at the Duchess of Marlord. She grimaced, sweat streaming down her face, hurriedly stood up, and knelt before my seat.

“I-I apologize sincerely, Your Highness. I apologize for my words. I have spoken out of turn.”

While glaring at the Duchess of Malord, I spoke.

“You’re apologizing to the wrong person.”

“What?”

“The one you insulted is not me. It’s the farmers. Apologize to the farmers.”

The Duchess of Malord was dumbfounded.

“A-Are you telling me to apologize to commoners?”

“Yes. Will you apologize or not?”

The Duchess of Marlord froze, visibly overwhelmed. However, I continued to glare at her with my glowing red eyes, refusing to look away. She must have realized that I was completely serious. The Duchess of Marlord, with a contorted face full of humiliation, spoke.

“I-I apologize… to the farmers.”

“…It would be nice if the farmers accept the apology.”

I snorted and urged the Duchess of Marlord to step back, not accepting the apology.

The Duke of Marlord, pale from the events of the tea party, rushed to me during the evening gathering and, along with his wife, offered heartfelt apologies. However, I remained adamant and did not accept their apologies.

“I was not the one insulted.”

In the end, the Duke proposed a reduction of the next year’s tax rate by twenty percent as a gesture of apology to the farmers. I made him promise to implement this and finally accepted the Duke’s apology. In my true feelings, I wanted to make the Duchess of Marlord experience agricultural work as well, but it couldn’t be helped.

In the social circle, this incident led to the evaluation of “The Crown Princess is beautiful and composed, but when provoked, she becomes incredibly terrifying.” When Cermiane heard the details, he crossed his arms and said, “You held back well. You showed great patience.” It is wonderful to have an understanding husband.

One day I went up to the Inner Palace at the invitation of Her Majesty the Queen. That in itself is not unusual. I go to Her Majesty’s office about once every three days, or have tea at the inner palace and talk with Her Majesty about information I have obtained during social gatherings.

However, on this day, after exchanging greetings with Her Majesty the Empress, she seemed a bit uncomfortable, as if she wanted to say something or had something on her mind. I couldn’t help but wonder what it could be. As I pondered, Her Majesty the Empress finally made up her mind and straightened her posture a bit before asking me.

“At the Wisteria Palace, the flowers are becoming more and more beautiful, but why don’t the red birds come to sip the nectar?”

Huh? What is this? I blinked my eyes, unable to grasp the meaning.

Um, let’s see. This is probably one of those aristocratic euphemisms or coded expressions. Wait a moment, I’ll try to decipher it now.

I’ve heard of the Wisteria Palace. Yes. There is a beautiful wisteria trellis in the garden of the palace where we live. So the Wisteria Palace refers to the palace where we live, in other words, referring to us, the Crown Prince and Princess.

Want to read more chapters and support us? Please consider becoming a patron to read up to 24 chapters in advance!