Chapter 71: No Titles
"Sister!" Soleia said, her body instantly straightening in surprise. Ralph let go rather unwillingly, and once she was free, she rushed as carefully as she could into Bellaflor’s arms.
"What has happened to your arms?" Bellaflor asked, her eyebrows knitted together as she examined Soleia’s wrists. She then sharply turned to Florian. "Did you do this?"
"I thought she was a thief!" Florian weakly tried to defend himself. In front of Bellaflor, he acted no more than a tortoise eager to hide in its shell.
"He thought I was a palace maid," Soleia said, her eyelids ticking with grievance. "And proceeded to harass me."
"He did what?!" Rafael jumped, only backing down when Bellaflor raised a hand to signal him. He glowered, standing right behind Soleia like a guard dog, occasionally turning around to stare at Prince Florian. If looks could kill, he would be six feet under already.
"She’s dressed in rags!" Florian tried to argue. "What princess wears clothes like that? On top of that, she is now a duchess." Then, he coldly snorted. "Though I suppose it is expected of the princess who is both unloved by her own father and her own husband―"
He stopped with a squeak when a particularly sharply pointed blood tentacle stopped mere millimeters away from his eye.
"Go back to your room, Florian," Bellaflor said with a sigh. "Why must you rile the dragon protecting its gold? Do you have nothing better to do in life, or should I tell Father to increase your training?"
Both Soleia and Florian shivered at the thought of King Godwin’s hellish training. Grumbling under his breath, Florian scurried away, not forgetting to turn back to glare at Soleia before completely disappearing in a matter of seconds. The ice he had left behind quickly melted as he was no longer supporting it, and due to the heating system of the palace.