A servant of King Leo III stomped on Janovi who was rambling on without permission to speak, silencing him. He seemed to want to silence Lucretia in the same manner, but he couldn’t dare lay a hand on the wife of the Cardinal.

Not only was Lucretia disconcerted, but so were the civil servants.

Marquis, who had returned to the tent of the hunting contest after a tough day at the negotiation table, keeping an eye on both the Gallico envoys and the king, berated Lucretia in a low voice.

“Lady! Do you think this place is so safe that you can act recklessly!”

Despite the support of the servants, it was now a desperate situation for Ariadne. Ariadne was practically speechless.

Lucretia was a public enemy of Ariadne, so Ariadne couldn’t argue with Lucretia in a public place.

Janovi claimed that Ariadne was bullying Isabella, and Lucretia argued that Ariadne was just ‘misunderstanding’ Janovi’s actions. It was a situation where explanations were impossible.

The person who saved her here was Count Cesare.

“Your Majesty! Luckily, the horse was hit by the crossbow, but as the horse was rampaging, Lady de Mare almost died after falling off the horse in the deep forest of Orte. If I hadn’t saved her, she would have died. Whether a person or a horse was hit, it’s attempted murder just the same.”

And he added one more thing.

“I almost died in the process. Rescuing someone from a rampaging horse is dangerous. Isn’t this an attempt to kill a nobleman who holds the position of count in the great Etruscan nation? What is my rank? A baron? A baron’s son? Oh, not even a baron’s house? Do they even have a title?”

Even though he mentioned nobility, everyone present, including Leo III and the Gallico envoys, knew Cesare’s true lineage. This was an incident where royal blood, albeit halftainted, could have been killed.

Despite being drunk, Janovi instinctively realized this was a big deal.

“That arrow is mine, but… It’s a misunderstanding…!”

A servant of Leo III stomped on him for the third time, and Janovi, who had been hit in the side properly, finally shut up.

Leo III was weighing in his mind the considerations he had to make in punishing the scoundrel in front of him, while holding back his rising anger.

First of all, it was a fact that Janovi shot an arrow at the back of the Cardinal’s foster daughter, but it was impossible to confirm whether he targeted the foster daughter or her horse.

Attempted murder, or property damage? Or, as Cesare suggested, was the act of shooting the horse itself attempted murder? Depending on this judgment, Janovi’s punishment would be determined.

Secondly, the part where Cesare was hurt was because Cesare decided to save Ariadne on his own, not something Janovi could have predicted. It seemed difficult to pin the crime of attempted murder of royal blood on Janovi.

Moreover, the Gallico envoys were watching with scrutiny, and Cesare couldn’t be acknowledged as the king’s bloodline.

Thirdly, he wanted to maintain a good relationship with Cardinal de Mare.

Although Cardinal de Mare’s child almost caused a big problem for his grandniece, there was no guarantee for Leo III that Cardinal de Mare would appreciate it if he ignored Lucrezia’s protection of the slave in public and issued severe punishment for the slave.

Men, in the end, tend to be generous to women they share their bed with.

Fourthly, despite all this, that slave was clearcut in showing that he could not differentiate between truth and lies whenever he opened his mouth.

Fifthly, because the Gallico envoys were watching the entire spectacle, Leo III felt the pressure to appear like a merciful holy king and to give a wise judgement to uphold his dignity.

After comparing all these facts, Leo III decided on the punishment to be inflicted on the slave.

“Slave de Rossi, you have tormented the lady you should protect as a knight, and lied about it. Essentially, you’ve attacked your younger cousin. You lack even familial affection.”

It seemed to affirm the attempted murder of Ariadne so far. However, the judgment of Leo III continued.

“Therefore, 20 lashes for shooting a crossbow at the horse, 10 lashes for the lie, and 10 lashes for discarding affection for your kin, a total of 40 lashes.”

There was commotion in the crowd. People seemed slightly surprised by the more merciful punishment than expected. Whipping, of course, could be deadly if done incorrectly, but it was a punishment typically given for minor offenses like theft.

Both the kneeling slave and the anxious Lucrezia sighed in relief that the sentence was for shooting a crossbow at the horse and not the attempted murder of Ariadne, and that the punishment was whipping instead of imprisonment or exile.

His honor was not damaged. This was just an incident. With time, everyone would forget and move on. It would be a thing of the past in his hometown if only the slave was sent back there.

But Leo III’s verdict was not over yet.

“However! Slave de Rossi seems to completely misunderstand the concept of knighthood. Giving a sharp blade to a fool only harms the people. Therefore, I hereby forbid Slave de Rossi from knighthood for life. That is all!”

The slave, as if hit on the head with a hammer, completely forgot about manners and looked up in shock at Leo III.

“No!”

The slave let out a shriek that sounded like a pig being slaughtered.

“I can’t! A knight! A knight! I must become a knight!”

“Ahem! Enough! Drag that man away!”

Leo III’s secretary urged the soldiers nearby. About half a dozen fully armed soldiers rushed in, grabbed the blinding slave, and started dragging him out of Leo III’s sight.

“What’s wrong with tormenting a damn girl! Ah! I need to become someone big, someone important⋯⋯!”

Watching the screaming slave, Lucrezia felt as if all the blood was draining from her head and the world was spinning. That blockhead was still the hope of the de Rossi family.

Today, the door of Lucrezia’s hope that someday her husband’s family would become a dignified knight’s family, that the slave would become selfsufficient so that she wouldn’t need to worry about the money her aunt provided and live a subservient life, and that she could trust the slave and her husband’s family and confidently voice her opinions, was closed.

Thump!

“Goodness, someone collapsed here!”

“Cardinal de Mare’s wife has collapsed! She’s unconscious!”

“Mother!”

Isabella’s piercing scream pierced the sky. There was chaos all around. But the ordeal awaiting the slave was not over yet.