Kneel Before The Villain

Chapter 19

Since the Duke of Lillian was one of the Crown Prince's important hands, if he were to lose the Duke, his power would be greatly shaken.

Not only that, but the Duke of Lillian was supporting him in many ways, including patronage and investment in the projects that the Crown Prince was currently pursuing.

If everything were to be disrupted in an instant, he would suffer enormous losses.

Defeat in the struggle for the throne would mean death. Even if he were to survive, he was bound to lose many things, but the possibility of not surviving was greater from the start.

When he became emperor, keeping a more legitimate royal family alive was tantamount to leaving the bud of rebellion. There was a fine line between rebellion and revolution.

In the struggle for power, prestige was sometimes more important than tens of thousands of military men.

The emperors, therefore, took over the throne and executed their own blood relatives directly.

Even close brothers and sisters often pointed swords at each other's necks, especially half-brothers who were separated for a long time. As far as I know, the Crown Prince and the second Prince did not get along well, and the Crown Prince's mother, the Empress, tried to kill the second Prince.

So the two brothers would not be able to get close to each other even if they tried.

Given the situation, the Crown Prince was in a position where he had to look better to me than my nanny and maidservants.

Of course, this may have been overthought.

The Crown Prince in question did not mean anything by it, and he sincerely felt sorry for me, but it was also my oblique way of looking at his behavior and giving it an excessive amount of meaning.

But to look at it without prejudice, except for my own personal feelings, I couldn't forget that day in my mind. The scream in my ears, the pain in my wrists that were gripped with great force and my ankles that were sore from hitting the floor....

The Crown Prince who looked at me with disdain and Claire who smiled next to him....

"What are you sorry for?"

It was a childish question even for me to consider.

The Crown Prince looked at me with a troubled face.

A hint of confusion scraped across his face. I didn't mean to torment him, but I knew how embarrassing this question would be to him.

"I'm sorry I didn't take you side that day. I didn't think you would be so hurt."

I know how difficult it was to ask for an apology from these arrogant royals. I'm sure the Crown Prince had never bowed to anyone before, except for the Emperor and Empress.

Such was his apology for what happened that day, but it rather dampened my mood.

To be honest, I didn't expect him to know his mistake from the beginning.

But I couldn't help but be disappointed when I actually heard his reply directly from his mouth. The Crown Prince probably thinks it was strange that I was still acting so harshly after all these weeks, just because he didn't stand up for me. It's not very often that we make mistakes that we know are wrong in nature.

It is often said that perpetrators cannot remember their mistakes, but it was natural for the victims to feel unfair when they remembered them.

Suddenly my wrist, which still had a blue bruise on it, caught my eye. The Crown Prince didn't let go of my wrist that day after a long time, and it was sore, but it wasn't enough to leave traces for this long.