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"Please… Your Highness. Forgive me just this once."

Everyone who was witnessing this proud butler who had been in charge in the Sapphire palace, and was trusted by the crown prince, kowtow brought mixed emotions in their hearts. Some figured this was the crown princess practicing her authority, while others were looking forward to the butler\'s disposal. After all, this butler had an inflated ego just because the crown prince favored him.

Joaquin was right. Everyone in this place had ulterior motives. They all had many things in common, and one of them was their ambition to climb up the ladder of power. This made it very easy for her since she knew some of them would stay away from her, while others would try to curry favor with her.

Either way, Aries was unafraid of making more enemies, since she already considered the entire Maganti as her enemy. These people… she wouldn\'t allow them to look down on Curtis and had decided she would never give them a chance to even think about venting their anger on Curtis after this incident.

"Hah… the audacity." She smirked, glancing up at the mixed expressions in front of her.

After a few seconds, she set her eyes towards the servant, whom she ordered to relay a word to the crown prince, seeing the latter jolt when she locked eyes with her.

"Stay there while I reconsider my decision about the disposal of the head butler," Aries uttered, not showing any sign she planned on letting the head butler raise his head. Curtis had been crawling all these years to the point that standing up on his own was a struggle.

This was nothing.

"Maybe, if these two will manage to appease me." She then shifted her attention to the knights. "The head butler is now kowtowing because he tried to defend and justified your actions by mentioning the crown prince, indirectly questioning my authority as the crown princess. Will you let him stay like this when it\'s your fault that he put his position at stake and is now being punished for it?"

Aries cocked her head to the side, batting her eyes ever so tenderly. She watched the two knights, who were initially sporting a proud front, slowly break their brave countenance. Their faces flashed in red as they glanced at the small cage, knowing that going inside that cage, and in front of everyone, was unspeakable.

As proud knights under the crown prince, how could they accept this humiliation? They wouldn\'t, and Aries knew that well. They wouldn\'t accept this dishonor easily. No one wanted to be humiliated; they had watched the butler kowtow without batting an eye, but once the attention was on them, their tone changed.

"Don\'t make me repeat myself. Get in the cage," she stressed, unsmiling. "I don\'t care if you strip or keep your armors, but I don\'t think it will be comfortable if you wear it while inside."

"Your Highness." The knight who proudly stepped forward hung his head low. "As a proud knight of the Maganti Empire, I had taken an oath to live and die for the empire. However, this offense and punishment are unjust and not enough to dishonor a knight. Therefore, I refuse."

"I am a knight of the crown prince, and wouldn\'t accept such humiliation without proper justice. We had our rights to refuse as knights." The other one backed up solemnly, trying to sound polite despite their blatant refusal to her whimsical orders.

Aries laughed. "Rights? As knights? Are you saying those who joined the knighthood are the only ones who had human rights?"

Their silence was the response she received, but she didn\'t dwell on it as she nodded in understanding. Once again, Aries turned her attention to everyone, causing their back to stiffen under her gaze.

"So, the butlers, the head maids, and the lower servants didn\'t have human rights since they were not knights?" she asked in a ridiculing tone, chuckling with her lips closed, before glancing at the other knights, who were standing with those two knights in question. "Very well. Since you two think that way, I order the rest of the knighthood to execute everyone standing in this very garden."

Her orders, although spoken in a mild tone, were akin to a horn being blown right in front of everyone\'s ears. She didn\'t need to yell. Her words were enough to temporarily deafen those who heard her.

"Your Highness, please have mercy on us!" the head maid, who was almost glad Aries\'s attention wasn\'t on her, dropped to her knees and held her hand in front of her. "Please, please, please, do not kill us!"

Everyone followed her pleading, descending to their knees, begging for mercy. Even though not a single knight took action just yet, they were already scared because of what happened to the head butler. It wasn\'t a secret that all of them were pawns who could be replaced anytime. There were tens of thousands of servants working in the imperial palace who could replace all of them as if nothing happened.

As their pleading grew louder, filling up the vast expanse, Aries was unfazed. She glanced at the knights, tilting her head to the side.

"What? Would you also tell me you only listen to the crown prince\'s words and not mine?" she queried tonelessly. "I hope you\'re all prepared for the consequences once my husband hears about this incident."

"Your Highness!" the servants called in unison, knowing the crown prince favored Aries. With these meager numbers, Joaquin wouldn\'t bat an eye since it wouldn\'t affect the empire that much.

The knights had to make a choice, and it wasn\'t that long before they wielded their swords. Unlike those two knights who were foolish enough to speak so blatantly to the crown princess, everyone was aware of Aries\' disposition and Joaquin\'s temperament.

Although the crown prince took care of his soldiers — the reason the knighthood regarded him with the highest respect — they were also aware Joaquin was the type to sacrifice a hundred knights for the "greater" cause.  If Joaquin wanted to keep his wife happy, sacrificing this many lives would be… worth it. Cruel as it may, but that was the harsh reality for everyone.

Seeing the knights draw their swords, the servants, kneeling and pleading for their life, looked at Aries in terror. They were all dead, and their only way to survive was to plead and plead until she changed her mind. All they could hope was that they were still alive once she changed her mind.

"Your highness, please have mercy on us!" were the words Aries had been hearing, but she simply studied her fingernails indifferently while the knights approached the servants.

"Your Highness!!!" yelled the servant before he choked as soon as he felt the cold blade on his throat. Fortunately, before the knights could start slitting their throats and committing mass murder, Aries held her hand up, stopping everyone.

As the knights halted, the whimpering continued, albeit their begging wasn\'t as loud, in fear that the blades that were right in front of their throat would accidentally slice through their skin. Aries let out a shallow breath, not a bit affected by their situation, as he massaged her temple.

"Goodness… why are you all so loud? If you\'re questioning my authority, you should take responsibility and be prepared for the consequences," she muttered, rolling her eyes before darting them between the poor servants, the knights standing behind them, and then the two knights whose expressions were unreadable.

They probably didn\'t expect their comrades to listen to her orders and take her side. How foolish. This was what Aries meant when she said these two didn\'t use their heads. The rest of the knights understood lives here were just numbers and their deaths — be it honorable or not — were simply called casualties.

"I had stayed quiet since my arrival in the empire. However, it seems living silently also put my authority at risk." Aries glanced at her fingers nonchalantly, pondering the situation. She smirked when an idea crossed her head.

"Alright. Since most of you think I do not have the right and authority to discipline you people, then I\'ll hand you equal authority about this situation. I\'ll be giving you all a fairground." She smiled and held her hand behind her. "Unlike these two who think they\'re the only ones who deserved human rights, I will be fair."

"Should I punish them? These two, who only cared for their well-being? Or you, who were simply dragged into this situation because of their negligence?" Aries tilted her head to the side, raising both her brows as she let them decide.

"You decide; the majority wins. That\'s the rule."

As soon as the last syllable escaped her mouth, everyone felt their heart sink as they looked at each other with eyes full of dread. The side of her lips curled up into a wicked smirk when everyone\'s eyes — including the other knights — fixated on the two knights.

"I guess you\'re finally on the same page as I do." She laughed and as if to spite them, she added. "Don\'t worry. The crown prince will surely hear about this incident once he visits my room tonight."