Stolen by the Rebel King
Chapter 198: Sullied Reputation III

Chapter 198: Sullied Reputation III

Daphne’s face paled as she registered Francessa’s words. She had a point. Daphne had never considered the situation from that angle before.

She had only thought about how lovely her float would look, and what a fitting tribute it would be for her own growth. She failed to consider the actual point of the festival― to celebrate Vramid’s own unique beauty in the glory of spring.

Instead, she had indirectly given Raxuvia the spotlight by using Prince Nathaniel’s prized flowers! No wonder her citizens were less than pleased with her actions. They were now blatantly shooting her hostile looks.

Then, a person in the crowd yelled out loud above the rest. "The queen ruined our parade!"

As though a dam had been broken, more angry yells rang through the crowd. In the eyes of the citizens, there was only one person to blame for the failure of this year’s Spring Parade, and that person was none other than Daphne Molinero, wife of King Atticus, the new foreign Queen of Vramid.

"It’s all her fault! Her and her demon pet!"

"She’s cursing our kingdom!"

"Get rid of her!"

Foul curses began to ring through the air as the crowd hollered insult after insult at her. Daphne tried to hold her head high and speak up to defend herself, but it was getting increasingly difficult to do. Her voice wasn’t loud enough to drown out their vehement accusations, and more importantly, they didn’t want to listen to anything she had to say.

In their eyes, she was already deemed guilty beyond all doubt!

"Please listen to me! It’s not what you think! Please! Stop!" Daphne screamed herself hoarse, but no one wanted to listen.

Through it all, Marchioness Francessa watched with a satisfied glint in her eyes, making no move to calm the upset crowd, even if she was perfectly capable of doing so.

Why would she, when they were so helpfully doing her dirty work for her?

Nereus watched Daphne struggle to control the crowd, a frown forming on his face. He wanted to hose all of them down with his powers, but then he recalled Daphne’s words.

The last time he tried to help Daphne, she had scolded him for daring to soak that other woman.

She also didn’t seem too happy about his attempts at helping her win. Nereus didn’t understand what went wrong.

Should he have destroyed everything even before the event started? He flexed his fingers wonderingly as he gazed at the angry crowd. Would Daphne approve of such an act?

Confused, he moved closer to Daphne’s side to ask for her opinion, only to have her be pulled away by one of her guards. He stared nonplussed and decided to simply shadow Daphne, just in case.

"Your Highness, we should leave now," one of her guards urgently whispered to Daphne, "You need to get to safety."

"But I need to clear my name!" Daphne protested. If she left now, wouldn’t it be tantamount to admitting that she was guilty and fleeing from the scene of the crime?

"Your Highness, there’s nothing you can do," the guard said frankly. "They’ve―"

A rock hit him in the head, interrupting his words.

"Protect the queen! We need to leave!" He immediately ordered, and his men had formed a protective circle around her just in time to shield her from the rain of rocks. The crowd’s hostility was now reaching unprecedented highs. Enraged, they flung rocks, debris, and anything they could get their hands on while yelling insults in her direction.

Francessa and her group of ladies hastily scuttled to a safe distance further away, lest they be hit by an errant projectile.

After all, angry people didn’t have the best aim.

Even huddled within the protective circle of her guards, Daphne could still hear their insults loud and clear.

"Useless slut!"

"Cheating whore!"

"Jinx!"

"Vixen!"

"Traitor!"

She bit her lip, hard enough for it to bleed. Their words had transported her back to her time in Reaweth, where she was belittled and insulted for her ineptitude. There was fault in every tiny action she made. Daphne had thought she had grown up, but why was this still happening to her?

"Stop it, stop it all of you!" Daphne screamed, her earrings heating up as she got increasingly frustrated at the shouts. "Stop yelling and listen to me!"

A blast of flame shot to the skies, a trail of sparks scattering from the burst of power. Screams of shock filled the air as the crowd backed away in shock. Even so, the heat that grazed their skins was enough of a reminder that this was not just part of their imagination.

"Your Highness!" The guards scattered like ants and watched her with fear in their eyes. "Did you just... shoot fire?"

This was too impossible to believe! Their queen was supposed to be powerless! But they felt the flames graze their skin, and some of them had their uniforms singed.

Daphne now stood alone and breathed in deeply, willing herself to control the flames in her hands. Finally there was some silence. She could think. The crowd held their silence, their fear and awe keeping them captive. It was breathtaking and terrifying, seeing their young queen command the fire in her hands, as though it was dog trained to do her bidding.

No mere mortal should be granted this power!

Yet despite the awe-imposing sight, there was one person who wasn’t too impressed. Francessa Seibert stepped out once again from her safe perch on higher ground. She had watched the carnage happen from higher ground and hence had a clear, unhindered view of the proceedings. She saw, with her own two eyes, that tall column of flame appeared out of thin air.

"Your Highness, earlier on, your... ’friend’ claimed that you wanted to burn me. You defended him, claiming he might not be guilty. I can see why now," Francessa Seibert said, pointing a shaking finger in Daphne’s direction. Her voice drew every eye to her.

"It was you. The guilty party... the one responsible for causing my float to go up in flames... is none other than you, Queen Daphne!"