Chapter 457: Chapter-457
Heena didn’t snap. Instead, she slowly tilted her head, resting her chin on her hand with a deceptively sweet, thoughtful expression. "Oh my," she purred, her phoenix eyes flashing with a dangerous light. "Careful, my Lord. If someone else heard you speaking so desperately to dismiss me, they might think you’re simply terrified of being outshone by a woman in front of your superiors."
A sharp, sudden silence fell over the immediate area. A few nearby officers choked back their smiles, while the lieutenant general’s handsome face flushed with deep irritation.
"Do you think war is a joke, my lady?" he hissed, his voice tight. "Do you think that just because you can swing a decorative blade in a courtyard, you are somehow a fighter?"
Heena shook her head, looking entirely innocent. "Completely not, my Lord. How could I? I merely know a few basic martial forms, nothing more. I am young and have never seen a true battlefield. But comedically enough, ’you’ have."
She paused, letting her gaze trail over his pristine uniform before continuing in a clear, carrying voice. "If I recall correctly, it’s been nearly ten years since you joined the military, right? Yet, every time you mess up a campaign, your father—General Moov—has to personally step in to clean up your mess. You entered the army as a lieutenant, and ten years later, you’re still a lieutenant. What can I say? Some people just peak early."
The young officer’s hand flew to his chin, his pride utterly shattered in front of the entire high command. "Did you just insult me, my lady?"
Heena let out a melodious laugh, elegantly covering her mouth with her hand. "Oh my, do you really think so? Come on, my Lord. Weren’t we just sharing lighthearted jokes? I was simply stating public facts."
Blinded by a sudden, volatile rush of venomous rage, the man completely forgot where he was. In a swift, reckless motion, he drew a concealed dagger from his belt, lunging forward to press the cold steel against Heena’s cheek to humiliate her.
The surrounding generals lunged forward to intercept him, but they were far too slow.
Before the officer’s blade could even come within an inch of her skin, Heena’s hand moved like a streak of lightning. She pulled a long, sharp silver hairpin straight from her ponytail.
’Clack!’
With terrifying precision, she deflected his wrist, slipped inside his guard, and pressed the razor-sharp tip of the hairpin directly against his jugular.
"Come now, my Lord," Heena whispered, her face centimeters from his, a cold, predatory smile playing on her lips. "You really shouldn’t wave dangerous toys around. Someone might get hurt."
She pressed the pin a fraction of a millimeter deeper. A tiny, single bead of crimson blood welled up against the silver metal. "You see? I only know how to use a simple hairpin... but it can still cause a fatal problem."
"How dare you!" a senior general from the officer’s faction roared, his aura flaring as he stepped forward to intervene.
Before the man could take another step, the old Marquis friend , general SU smoothly shifted his massive frame, blocking the general’s path. He looked down at his enraged peer with a completely nonchalant, deeply amused expression.
"Come now, General," the General Su chuckled, dusting an imaginary speck of ash from his lapel. "The children are just playing jokes. Why are you getting so serious all of a sudden?"
The old Marquis stood completely unbothered, his hands resting casually behind his back as he looked at the bleeding lieutenant. The surrounding nobility and high-ranking officers didn’t dare look him in the eye; instead, they watched his shifting expressions out of the corners of their eyes, terrified of what this unpredictable monster might do next.
The senior general from the Moov faction stiffened, but before he could argue further, the Marquis let out a short, mocking scoff.
"I really have to say," the Marquis began, his voice carrying an icy weight that cut through the entire hall, "my dear General Moov must have made some quite substantial sacrifices for the crown. After all, if he hadn’t, how could a complete loser like you manage to become a lieutenant?"
A suffocating silence fell over the Grand Mirror Hall. Everyone instantly lowered their heads, not daring to breathe, let alone speak.
No matter how wealthy or established the other noble families were, the Marquis was a breed apart. He was a living legend—the only man in the entire history of the empire who had clawed his way up from being a literal servant to a high-ranking nobleman, becoming one of the strongest generals to ever command the imperial legions. He was a man so terrifyingly powerful that even the Emperor himself had to show him absolute respect.
But the old Marquis wasn’t finished. His eyes narrowed to dangerous slits as he fixed his gaze on the trembling young officer.
"Worse, you dare to draw a concealed weapon inside the Imperial Palace," the Marquis scoffed, his tone dripping with lethal nonchalance. "Looks like you and your faction think quite lowly of His Majesty the Emperor to treat his home like a common tavern brawl."
Hearing those words, the surrounding nobles visibly trembled. ’’To accuse someone of disrespecting the Emperor right outside the banquet hall?!’’ It was a political death sentence.
Even Heena found herself slightly surprised. She knew her grandfather was a force to be reckoned with, but she hadn’t expected him to be this boldly ruthless in a public imperial setting. ’’Wow,’’ she thought, a faint, deeply amused smile returning to her lips as she slowly retracted her hairpin, letting the bleeding lieutenant stumble backward into the arms of his panicked peers. ’’Grandpa really doesn’t give a damn about court etiquette. I like him more and more.’’
The lieutenant’s face drained of what little color it had left. The realization of what the Marquis had just framed his reckless actions as—an insult to the Emperor himself—hit him like a physical blow. He stumbled backward, his hand clutched over the bleeding prick on his neck, while his father’s allies quickly stepped in to push him behind their lines, desperately trying to shield him from further political execution.
"Marquis, please," General Moov finally spoke up, stepping forward with a heavily strained bow, his own face tight with forced humility. "The boy was foolish. He was hot-headed and acted without thinking. There was no disrespect intended toward His Majesty or the glorious Marcuset family."
"Foolish?" The Marquis tilted his head, a terrifyingly sharp grin spreading across his face. "In my vanguard, a man who acts without thinking ends up as monster bait before the first watch ends. But since we are within the palace walls..." He shrugged, his massive shoulders shifting beneath his formal military tunic. "I shall leave his punishment to the Imperial Guard’s discretion. Draw a blade here, and you answer to the Emperor’s laws, not mine."
With that single, careless remark, the Marquis effectively handed the young lieutenant over to a thorough imperial investigation, completely ruining any chance the Moov faction had of sweeping the incident under the rug.
Heena smoothly tucked the silver hairpin back into her high ponytail, her movements fluid and entirely unbothered by the heavy, suffocating tension left in her wake. She patted her grandfather’s arm lightly, the perfect picture of a dutiful, supportive granddaughter. "Grandpa, let’s not let a minor comedy spoil your mood before the feast even begins."
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