“I’ll send you to her when this is over. You can either wait here or do as you please.” He spoke sarcastically. Baron and his friends sneered once again. Uriel’s eyes sharpened, but they didn’t see it.


    “I can’t leave my escort here so please release him now,” Apollonia said once again. Caelion would visit the lounge with the nobles anytime soon and she didn’t want to be seen as weak in front of Gareth and them. Still, Gareth refused to listen. He took a step closer to Apollonia and smirked as if he had thought of something wonderful.


    “Your price had gone down that you can’t even be sold,” Gareth murmured as if he was talking to himself but she was sure that everyone in the room heard it. Apollonia bit her lip. She had suffered a lot since childhood because of Gareth. But, tantly insulting a princess, who had already grown from that horrible experience, in front of other aristocrats was just too much. As Baronughed along, the rest of Gareth’s party stared at Apollonia in shock as if they hadn’t expected Gareth to say that out loud. Uriel’s face wentpletely stiff. His rxed countenance even after Baron had hit him a moment ago had long since disappeared.


    “If you keep your mouth shut, one of them might take you for a low price———-”


    He kept insulting her but he wasn’t able to finish hisst sentence after Uriel jumped out of his seat and——


    THUD!


    The two young men holding him down were pushed out without even trying. Baron, standing right in front beside him, stepped back in surprise.


    THWACK!


    In the blink of an eye, Uriel’s hand pped Gareth’s cheek. His palm was iparably stronger than the fist that Baron had extended earlier Gareth’s head jerked back.


    “Argh! You——-”


    “Shut up.”


    Uriel pped him again.


    THWACK!


    “Urk!”


    Gareth dropped to the ground in an instant.


    “Marquis!”


    Baron jumped at Uriel in surprise.


    PUCK!


    Uriel didn’t even have to look at Baron to kick him in the stomach with perfect uracy.


    “Argh!”


    He crumbled to Gareth’s side, clutching his stomach.


    “You! You———” Gareth, who was rolling on the ground while holding his cheek, stammered and pointed an using finger at Uriel. The moment he saw his cool gaze, Gareth lowered his hand right away. Hispanions were all wide-eyed as they regarded Uriel and him back and forth. Whether Uriel was the Angel of Death on the battlefield or what, they simply assumed it was an exaggeration from possessing such a handsome face. However, the momentum they felt just now caused goosebumps to break all over their skin. The young aristocrats, who had plenty of time until a while ago, held their breaths.


    “Uri—- Count Buiche.” Apollonia didn’t expect Uriel to defend her.


    ” I’m your escort so I should protect you with my life, Your Majesty,” Uriel said tly.


    “Isn’t it disobedience to the Emperor if one insults a princess?”


    Gareth and the rest of the young men’s faces turned pale because they know that what Uriel said just now was true.


    “I’m just doing my job.” Uriel spat out and glowered at them. They all lowered their eyes except for Gareth, who was fuming. Apollonia nodded her head a bit so that only Uriel could see it. This situation wasn’t intended, but he was right. The moment the Emperor appointed him as Apollonia’s escort, it became difficult for other nobles to ignore her. Uriel was able to stand by her proudly and didn’t look at anyone else.


    ‘He’s quicker than me sometimes.’


    Apollonia smiled inwardly. Uriel had been quiet when Baron hit him earlier, but when he started insulting Apollonia, he couldn’t hold himself back any longer.


    Despite theplicated situation, that fact gave Apollonia a strange sense of satisfaction. Gareth seemed to just realize the fact by then but he still hadn’tpletely abandoned his physical bravado and abusive behavior.


    “Apollonia, if you———-” He rose again and growled through his teeth as if he was at odds between his fear and anger. The young men standing behind Gareth stepped back, looking from side to side. ““I told you to be polite, Marquis. You have already offended Her Highness several times to the point where I can’t let it slide.”


    Uriel spat out coldly and Gareth’s face turned white. Even if everyone else in the royal pce appeared to look up at Gareth, Uriel seemed to have a vague idea that it wasn’t real.