“No, you’re wrong. Your life is not precious at all. Why don’t you understand that your very existence is a nuisance to our empire! The world would be better off if someone like you disappeared!”

Caspian’s angry voice echoed throughout the square. The people who had been watching with excited expressions were now all tense. Someone gasped, while another swallowed dryly.

Tension and doubt were visible on everyone’s faces. While the pickpocket was indeed a bad person who deserved punishment for his crime, it was questionable whether he should be executed without a proper trial.

At that moment, Princess Espin stepped forward.

“Prince Caspian.”

“Speak, Princess.”

“Instead of doing this here, I suggest we quickly hand this villain over to the capital’s patrol.”

“…”

“Let him receive an appropriate punishment in prison for his theft and causing the carriage accident.”

“You are quite generous, Princess.”

Caspian chuckled again. Among the many people gathered here, only Caspian was laughing. It was a chilling laugh.

“Ugh!”

Suddenly, the pickpocket who had been kneeling on the ground leaped up and kicked Caspian hard in the stomach. Not expecting the attack, Caspian fell to the ground.

The pickpocket held a dagger in his now-freed hands, which he must have hidden somewhere on his body.

He grabbed Veronia, who was right in front of him, and held the knife to her throat.

“Don’t move! If anyone moves, this woman dies!”

The pickpocket who had Veronia in a tight grip shouted shrilly.

“It seems this woman has excellent holy power, so unlike my life, she must be a great asset to the empire, right? An invaluable asset that absolutely must not be lost!”

The pickpocket slowly backed away while holding onto Veronia. Her hood, which she had been wearing all along, fell off, but there was no time to worry about that. Veronia followed his lead, trying not to provoke him.

“If you leave me alone, this woman won’t get hurt! So don’t move!”

But Caspian seemed to care nothing for her life. After all, no matter how excellent a healer she was, she was still just one of many commoners.

Caspian ordered his guards who were standing awkwardly:

“What are you standing around for? Quickly capture that man! He dared to harm the empire’s prince! You must catch him! Catch him and behead him!”

Caspian raged, apparently furious about being knocked down by the pickpocket’s kick. He seemed to think he had suffered an unforgivable humiliation.

But his guards couldn’t easily approach the pickpocket. They couldn’t risk the death of a woman who might be a saint, even if it wasn’t certain.

“Step away from that woman immediately. If you do so, I will spare only your life.”

Killian called out in a calm voice. He threw down the sword he was wearing and slowly raised both hands.

“But if you harm even a hair on that woman’s head, you won’t leave here alive today.”

“I’m a dead man anyway! It wouldn’t be so bad to die here with this woman!”

The pickpocket, now in a desperate state of mind, cried out while trembling. He seemed to have judged that escaping safely from here was impossible.

Veronia murmured in a small voice, just loud enough for the pickpocket to hear.

“Calm down. Believe what that man says. He is Lord Killian Drea, the Prime Minister. He’s a man who always keeps his word.”

“Uh…”

“He said he would spare your life, so he will surely find a way to keep that promise. So don’t give up. Put down the knife and…”

“Enough. Cut out that nonsense!”

The pickpocket sneered and shouted.

“I’ve heard countless pretty lies from high-ranking people! Do you think I’d believe such tricks?”

“Please… don’t do this. I have… a young child to raise. His name is Jediel. If I die, the child will become an orphan.”

Veronia was trying to appeal to the pickpocket’s sympathy as a last resort. She had to escape from his dagger somehow. Whether her plan worked or not, the pickpocket hesitated for a moment, and the tip of his knife trembled slightly.

“I didn’t intend to go this far originally! But… but…!”

That’s when it happened. Caspian, who had jumped to his feet, charged straight at the pickpocket with his sword drawn.

He didn’t seem to care at all that the hostage the pickpocket was holding might lose her life. He was never the type of person to value others’ lives in the first place.

“Aaargh! Die! You bastard! You filthy beggar! You subhuman scum!”

Frightened by Caspian’s merciless charge, the pickpocket tried to push Veronia away and flee. In the process, the tip of his knife grazed Veronia’s earlobe, causing a deep cut from which blood flowed freely.

“No!”

Killian moved quickly. He picked up the sword he had dropped on the ground, leaped up to deflect Caspian’s sword aiming for the pickpocket’s vital point, and slashed the pickpocket’s shoulder.

“Urgh!”

“Ugh!”

Not only the pickpocket whose shoulder was cut by the sword master’s impressive sword technique, but even Caspian was thrown far back.

Killian issued orders to the patrol that had just arrived.

“This is a pickpocket caught at the scene. He also caused a carriage accident while fleeing, resulting in casualties. Take him away!”

“Yes, understood, Your Excellency.”

The patrol members moved quickly as soon as Killian’s order was given. They handcuffed the pickpocket, who had a deep wound on his shoulder but seemed to be in no danger of losing his life, and immediately took him away.

Killian turned to Veronia, who had fallen.

“Nia, are you alright?”

“…Yes.”

Veronia nodded, but she didn’t look very well. The wound on her ear where the pickpocket’s knife had grazed her seemed quite deep, causing a lot of bleeding.

That’s when it happened. Killian’s mouth fell open when he saw Veronia’s face.

‘Ah!’

The scar marks and tattoo that had been on her face had completely disappeared.

He quickly scanned the ground. And he could easily find the magic stone piercing rolling on the floor.

He quickly picked up the piercing and at the same time took off his cloak to cover Veronia’s head. He couldn’t let anyone see her face.

Surprised by his sudden action, Veronia opened her eyes wide, not understanding what was happening. Her vision was blocked by the cloak, making her feel uncomfortable.

“Why…?”

“Stay still. You’re bleeding too much. We need to go to a nearby clinic to treat the wound. It might need stitches.”

“Ah…”

Even so, there was no need to cover her face completely like this. Veronia was still puzzled.

Perhaps he had read the doubt flashing across her face. Killian added an explanation.

“I thought Jediel might be very frightened if he saw his mother bleeding, so I covered you with the cloak.”

“Ah… thank you.”

Only then did Veronia nod. Killian was right. Jediel must have already been very frightened. After all, he had seen everything from beginning to end, his mother being held hostage by a man with a knife.

Killian called for Onyx.

“The wound is quite serious. We should hurry and get it stitched.”

“Alright. But what’s with the cloak?”

“The cloak… I thought Jediel shouldn’t see his mother bleeding.”

“I see. Okay.”

While Onyx supported Veronia, Killian went to Espin and Jediel to explain the situation.

“Your mother is a little hurt. Not too much, just a small cut on the tip of her ear.”

“Ah… Mom…”

The child’s face was already tear-stained, but at the news of his mother being hurt, tears began to flow again.

“She’ll be fine soon after getting stitches at the clinic with Uncle Onyx. If you wait at home, your mother should be able to return home by evening.”

“Can’t I go to the clinic with Mom?”

“Let’s wait bravely so your mother can receive treatment with peace of mind. Can you do that, Jediel?”

“…Yes. I’ll do that.”

Jediel finally nodded. Killian gently wiped away the tears streaming down the child’s cheeks.

Thus, Killian stood beside Jediel and Espin, watching silently as Veronia and Onyx departed in a carriage.

In truth, he wanted desperately to be by her side instead of Onyx, boarding the carriage with her, but he had to restrain himself.

‘I need to handle the aftermath… and she shouldn’t show her face to me while she’s lost her piercing.’

Killian put the piercing he had been holding in his palm into his pocket, suppressing his regretful feelings.

Everything seemed to be wrapping up smoothly. Not only those involved in the incident but also the onlookers were watching the situation being resolved with sighs of relief.

However, Caspian alone seemed unable to bear the situation being resolved so smoothly.

Supported by his knight guards as he stood up, he immediately gripped his sword again and charged at the pickpocket. His voice, filled with malice, rang sharply across the square.

“Aaaargh! You just need to die! You vermin!”

There was no time to dodge. Caspian’s sword plunged into the back of the pickpocket, who was being led to the prison cart by a patrol member while in handcuffs.

“Gah!”