CHAPTER 224: FOOLISH MISTAKE

Aristia watched the scene in front of her. Her expression didn’t change, but fire burned in her eyes.

The man who had been yelling in front of a shop wasn’t just yelling.

But as he yelled, his feet connected with a little boy lying on the ground.

"You maggot! How dare you beg me for food? Do you think I can afford to give out free food to the likes of you?! Why do you keep standing there, scaring away all my customers?!" As he said this, his kicks became harsher.

"I’ll deal with you and see if you’ll dare to come back after this. Idiot!" The man continued to kick brutally, not showing any mercy to the young boy who looked no more than seven years old.

"How... how could someone be so cruel and ruthless?" Aristia was amazed in a bad way.

[Even to a child.] She couldn’t believe it. [Only a monster.] She felt the rage threatening to explode inside her at the scene.

Just as Adeline was about to close the window and ask Aristia to no longer watch the scene, Aristia opened her mouth.

"Open the door."

"Princess—" Adeline was about to refuse.

"I said to open the door." Aristia gritted out.

Unknowingly, her aura leaked, putting slight pressure on Adeline.

Still, Adeline didn’t look like she would bugde.

However, after a second, she relented and opened the door.

Adeline got down first, then Aristia and Owen.

Lucas looked disapproving when he saw Aristia going towards the scene, but as a shadow guard, he didn’t have much worries.

He would just step in quickly if needed.

So, he got down from the carriage and followed behind them.

By now, the three had already reached the front of the shop. The man had already stopped kicking the boy on the floor, but his cursing was endless.

He spat, but the saliva missed, landing just a distance beside the boy.

[Disgusting! Truly disgusting!]

"What do you think you’re doing?" A childish but clear voice rang out.

The sudden question made the man pause and turn to them.

The little boy on the floor coughed out blood and shivered, breathing deeply, not even having the energy to get up.

The man was about to tell them to mind their business, but looking at the dress peeking out from under the little girl’s cloak told him that she was a noble child or very well off.

The boy with her looked the same, and the young lady didn’t look bad either. He bit his tongue, reigning in the string of rotten words that were about to leave his mouth.

His eyes lit up with greed, already thinking of ways to get something from them.

They were people that had never witnessed something like this. Maybe pity for the boy would make them give him money so that he would let the boy off.

’She’s just a child anyway, and the two with her are the same.’ He thought before saying,

"This thief here is driving away all my customers. He just keeps begging me for bread like he gave me any to keep for him. He keeps coming back everytime!"

Saying this, it felt like he wanted to kick the boy again. But the gazes of the four people on him made him quietly retract his slightly outstretched leg.

Hearing his reply, Aristia’s frown deepened.

"Is that enough reason to hit him like this, Mister?" Aristia asked coldly.

Seeing that he was just being interrogated, the man guessed that he wouldn’t be able to extort any money from them.

His lit eyes dimmed and filled with annoyance, and he glared at her. His bulky frame was intimidating, but Aristia wasn’t the least bit fazed. She stared him dead in the eyes. It made the man a little uncomfortable.

The man frowned and took a step toward her with his finger raised in a pointing motion. "Look, girl! Mind your business, eh? This isn’t any of your concern. Why don’t you go attend a tea party or something?"

He was still in the middle of speaking when Lucas and Adeline stepped in front of her protectively.

In the blink of an eye, Lucas’s hand had wrapped around his pointed finger.

The next instant, a crack sound was heard.

Before the man could scream, Adeline asked coldly.

"How dare you speak to the third princess in that manner?!" He deserved to have his finger broken for his disrespectful gesture toward the princess.

Hearing that made the man unable to scream even though he felt pain from his obviously broken finger.

He clutched his finger and took a step back. It was only then that he caught sight of a few strands of grey hair sticking out of the cloak.

His face changed to horror. This was the tyrant third princess. He was doomed! The Imperial Prince listened to her, and even the king gave into her demands. It was well known everywhere.

If she impulsively asked that he be flogged, would he be flogged?

Thinking of this, he quickly fell to his face, realising his grave mistake as he apologized, landing squarely on the saliva he had spat.

[Ewww!] Aristia almost puked.

"I-Im sorry, your highness. Please forgive this lowly commoner. I was too audacious. It was my foolish mistake." Beads of cold sweat dripped down his face from both the pain from his broken finger and his mistake, as he pleaded pitifully.

He looked so different from the man who had been kicking a child so wickedly and mercilessly.

He really was doomed. He had heard the third princess had outgrown her tyranny, but who was to say it was really true?!

Even though she was just a child, her looking at him made him feel like an angel of death was on his case.

’She’s a little demon!’ He cursed mentally.

Aristia ignored him and stepped forward, walking to the child who was curled up on the ground in an attempt to prevent the man’s kicks from reaching his stomach.

He stared up at her and coughed out blood again, his shoulders trembling.