“A little delight, aren’t you?” he guffawed.
“U-Unhand me!” Maxi cried. She struggled to break free, but Breston maintained his grip as easily as if she were a flapping bird.
“Are you angry for that mutt’s sake?” he sneered. “You should be ashamed of yourself, miss.”
“S-Stop…c-c-calling my husband a m-mutt!” She stumbled over her words more than usual as humiliation and rage threatened to burst out of her chest.
Leering down at her bright red face, Breston gave her acruel smile. He leaned closer, his nose nearly touching hers, and said slowly, “Your husband is a filthy mutt. It’s written all over his face. Have you not noticed?”
“Y-Y-You—!”
Her jaw quivered with fury. She had never felt so angry in her life. As she struggled to wrench her arm away, Maxi desperately racked her brain for a slight that would make this conceited man’s blood boil just as much.
“You…are j-just…j-jealous of him!” she spat. “Because…y-you know…you don’t hold a candle to him…. I-Isn’t that why y-you are slandering him behind his back like a coward? H-How can you…even c-call yourself a knight?! You are the one…wh-who should be ashamed!”
The smile vanished from Breston’s face. The mocking gleam in his eyes turned stone-cold.
Terrified, Maxi eyed the man’s cruel face, his broad shoulders, and the rough hand that still had an iron grip around her wrist. She trembled in fear at the thought that he might strike her with his fist.
“U-Unhand me…p-please,” she croaked, her voice barely audible.
Breston’s lip curled in a nasty snarl. “On second thought, I think you’re the perfect wife for that bastard. A stammering fool. Fitting for a lowlife like him.”
The color drained from Maxi’s face. She wanted to lash back, but her tongue felt stuck to the roof of her mouth. Her eyes burned with tears of mortification and shame. Seeing her bite her lip, Breston clicked his tongue and flung her wrist away like a cat that had grown bored of its prey.
At that moment, a loud smack rang out. Maxi screamed. Before she could even grasp what was happening, Brestonwent flying back like a rag doll and barreled into one of the tents.
Paying no heed to the shouts coming from all around him, Riftan pulled the man up from the fallen tent and punched him again. Having been assaulted twice while defenseless, Breston’s crumpled face looked as incensed as a demon’s.
“You damned bastard!” Breston straightened and drew the dagger at his waist. He spat out a mixture of blood and saliva, then charged at Riftan.
Maxi screamed again, not caring if her throat ripped from the effort. Even so, it was not enough to distract the men from snarling at each other like angry beasts.
Breston charged like an enraged bull while brandishing his dagger, which Riftan nimbly dodged. In the blink of an eye, Breston’s dagger was in Riftan’s hand and Breston was pinned face down on a game table. Maxi stared in disbelief as her heart pounded wildly in her chest. She could not understand how he had doneit.
Having easily overpowered Breston, Riftan roughly gripped the man’s jaw. Forcing his mouth open, Riftan shoved the dagger intoit.
“You’ll probably live longer without your tongue,” Riftan growled savagely as he thrust the dagger deeper.
The man flinched and grew as rigid as though the tip of the blade pricked his Adam’s apple. Even at a glance, the Baltonian was half a head taller and much heavier than Riftan. Yet Riftan had managed to subdue him without even breaking a sweat.
Staring down at his immobilized opponent, Riftan hissed, “Out of the goodness of my heart, I will cut out thistreacherous tongue so that it no longer entreats its master’s death.”
“Calypse! That’s enough!” The Baltonian soldiers blocking Ulyseon pointed their swords at Riftan as they bellowed their outrage.
Riftan remained unfazed. He said icily, “Very well. Do you want to see whose blade is faster?”
Up until a few seconds ago, the Baltonian soldiers had looked as though they would charge at any moment. They stopped dead at Riftan’s quiet threat, their faces growing red with anger.
“You dare threaten us like a coward?” the Baltonians fumed. “You still call yourself a knight?!”
“Is intimidating a woman a knightly thing to do?” Riftan snapped back.
His gaze landed on Maxi’s blanched face, and his eyes blazed like two dark flames.
“You’ve been itching to get on my nerves, Breston, and you’ve finally succeeded. Quite adeptly at that. I will grant your wish for blood.”
“You’d better stop now, Calypse!” a Baltonian shouted. “You attacked Sir Richard while he was defenseless. Do not think for a second that we’ll forgive such cowardice!”
