6 Prince Vance

Getting close to the pillar and hiding behind it, I tried to eavesdrop the conversation between the noblemen and that man.

"So what does a trash prince doing here?"

"I can't believe the son of a slave is here,"

I widened my eyes in shock. From that two sentences alone, the emperor has a slave as a concubine, and conceived a son from that? But why? It's difficult for the royal blood to mix with others due to its specific affinity with certain mana and as such, the birth of a child from such is almost a 1% chance.

"Son? I believe he's a spawn of a demon,"

The noblemen laughed. This pricked my conscience. I've grown accustomed to mockery and violence, so I can easily turn a blind eye to it but…

We are clearly in a ballroom, but everyone joined the noblemen by sneering at the poor prince too. It's a horrible sight to see noblemen ganging up on a single person like barbarians in the alley. And nobody reacted to this behaviour? Have the standards of manners and etiquette of the nobles been stooped so low?

"Clearly, he's left out," I thought to myself, remembering my reign as an empress.

It was a short-lived rule, but I managed to prosper in an empire that was almost to the path of ruin. I overthrow the former emperor, my 'father' at that time, and trained my 7-year-old half brother, son of a concubine, to take over the reins because I do not plan to marry and bear a child. At that time, I was called the empire's sword, who overthrow the tyrant emperor. Some people regard me as a hero, some as a betrayer. But I just did what I thought was right at that time.

Even though my half brother was a son of a concubine, he's a fast learner, and he put his heart in the right place for the people.

But 100 years have passed. The glory of the old days does not last long.

To see this prince suffer, reminds me a lot of my beloved half brother, who is a son of a concubine. Frederick, if I see you crying in a corner, I would have come to the rescue. I wonder what you feel when you see your descendent share the same fate as you right now.

One of the noblemen raised his hand and I saw the prince flinched. Unlike his mature appearance, he seemed cowardly and meek. I could not condone such behaviour on the weak.

"I can't believe these people here are nobles when they've been acting like a bunch of street urchins bullying the weak," I interrupted as I revealed myself.

I look around to see the reactions of the other nobles who were looking like bystanders. Some of them looked away in shame, seemingly agreed with my statement.

The nobleman who just raised his hand earlier laughed as he pointed at the man, shaking and crouching. It's a pitiful sight really.

"My lady, I am aware that you just woke up, and I would like to congratulate on your recovery. But you missed out on a lot of things. This here is no prince,"

"Please…mama…,"

The noblemen laughed again when the prince begged for his mother. My heartache in pain. His handsome appearance doesn't match his meek personality, but it's clear that he's not a normal prince. He seemed traumatized.

I glanced at the nobleman who was pointing earlier, and noticed the red wine cravat, with an engraved crest. I chuckled. The only noble family that is pretentious enough to embroider a crest on their cravat can only be one.

"Hmm, I am sure that Viscount Klais is once from a reputable family. One who knows how to control the mines supply and monitor the prices in the market. But apparently, there's a stray here that knows no common manners. One couldn't imagine his level of education," I smirked. "Well, Sir Klais?"

Some of the people who were looking laughed, and the women covered their mouths with their fans, hiding their reaction. The people seemed to change their sides pretty quick.

Sir Klais family reddened in shame. "You may be the daughter of Duke Aspera, but one shouldn't be ignorant about his existence,".

"Y-yes! My lady, this guy here is no prince! Look at him, he's like this because he has deformed brain,"

"That's true! He's a retarded prince!"

All his friends chimed in. I clicked my tongue in annoyance at the fact that they really think being in group means having a more superior power.

They tried to reason with me? The Carina? They won't live to see the day if not for my mercy.

"So what? Do you have any rights to bully someone of royal blood? Could it be you're looking down on the emperor and his concubine? Are you planning a treason?" I glared.

The three of them shook in fear. Sir Klais tried to exert dominance by glaring back at me, but he stiffened.

'W-what is this? I feel like I can't win. What's with her aura and why is she intimidating? She's just a child who has a late debut and has no experience so why…?' Sir Klais thought.

It was as if he's facing an empress.

But he doesn't want to lose.

"You're just an unfavored duke's daughter! You've been in a deep sleep for 5 years! I am sure you don't know even half of the people here! Trust me, a lot of people wished for your death. We all been waiting for the downfall of the Aspera family!!" Klais desperately refuted.

I smiled inwardly. He just dug his own grave.

When he said that, he forcibly accused everyone which people wouldn't want to because they won't try to be on the Aspera family's bad side. And two, he just defamed someone from a higher nobility than his.

"What did you just say?" someone interrupted.

I turned behind.

"Brother,"

Caspian who was holding the wine glasses, tightened his grip until both of the wine glasses in his hand broke. "Could it be that everyone in this room wanted my little sister to die?,"

Everyone panicked and Klais, especially, get on his knees in fear. He looked around for help but nobody did. He was surrounded by glaring eyes.

"My lord, forgive me! Forgive me!,"

Caspian removed his gloves that were stained and torn with glass shards. He patted my head. "I am sorry that your first debut seemed horrible. I will make this right," he said.

"What are you doing, catch these 3 imbeciles for ruining my little sister's debut," Caspian raised his hand and four people walked out from the crowd.

I was surprised. Aspera knights in disguise blended so well. As a former knight myself, I couldn't even detect their steps.

The knights took them, ignoring the screams. "Father, help me!! Help!!," Klais screamed, but his cry for help cut off short when the door to the ballroom is shut tight.

"I just recalled that the emperor still did not fulfill my wish as for the favor of conquering the neighbouring country. I shall use this wish to conduct an investigation on all of you. If it seemed that there's even a thread of ill will, I will strip of their nobility on the spot," Caspian declared.

The nobles shake in fear. They were all secretly cursing the Klais, for bringing an uneducated heir to the ball.

I walked to the prince. He was no longer shaking, but looking at me with curious eyes. "Are you okay? Can you stand up?," I gave him a warm smile as I reached out my hand.

He is very handsome indeed. I've lived 100 lives for sure, but I've never seen someone with such a face. His features are symmetrical and although he has an innocent expression, he is quite tall, as tall as Caspian.

The prince ignored my hand and wrap himself around my waist, burrowing his face on my abdomen. "My hero!! I love you!".

He looked at me in awe, "my name is Vance, my hero!!,".

I blushed at his forwardness. But I remind myself that even though he looks older than me, he is…a bit far from normal. Is he really retarded like the rumors said?

I feel a dark cloud emanating from Caspian. "What?" Caspian glared at Vance who was busy gushing.

How should I handle this?