It was the duty of a man to protect those around him but using violence against a weak and feeble young girl was never the answer.

Rutherford knew that schemes and foul play were an integral part of their noble society.

However, there was order even in that chaos.

Men dealt with men while women dealt with women and there usually wouldn't be any intersection between the two circles.

From what he had heard from his children and a few others who had witnessed the events of the coming-of-age ceremony, he could easily decipher that whatever had taken place was the part of a scheme.

When his daughter had informed him that the lady at the center of this entire mess was someone who worked for them in the past, he dug a little deeper into her identity.

This was how he was able to learn more about her identity which even the others did not know about.

'No wonder, the first thing she did after entering noble society was to try and hurt my family.' He scoffed as he had realized her motive and her cause for doing what she had done.

Rutherford did not know the real reason why that lady had behaved that way, harming Yvonne, but he had discovered another truth about her which not many knew.

However, now was not the time to think of that as his attention was on the King who was seated before him.

"My King, it does not matter what the Prince has to do with that Lady but there was absolutely no reason for him to behave that way." A middle-aged Rutherford continued his series of complaints against the Crown Prince of this Kingdom.

For the Prince to lose his cool in a public event and even raise his hand on a young girl was unacceptable no matter how he saw it.

"If the Prince is interested in that Lady then so be it but there was no requirement for him to interfere in matters concerning the women." He added as that was how things worked.

Men fought viciously yet discreetly in the business world and matters concerning their fiefs while women did the same in events like these.

With a smiling face, they could spew venom enough to destroy someone's worth and self-esteem but making a physical move was looked down upon.

It also wasn't uncommon for husbands to lend their support from the shadows, though never would they retaliate in this way and in front of everyone.

It was a given that they would not interfere at least openly.

However, everyone who heard of that incident was surprised by how the Prince had dealt with things.

Neither was the Prince married to that Lady nor did Miss Yvonne do anything ridiculous that could justify his actions.

Therefore, everyone sided with the young Miss of the St. Claire family as Prince Fritzen's behavior had been outrageous.

While they could not voice out their opinions due to the other person's higher status, Rutherford was not one to back down when it came to the safety and wellbeing of his family.

He had no qualms in letting the Ruler know that his son had brought troubles to his daughter.

"Your Majesty, interfering in matters between my daughter and that Lady was not something that the Crown Prince should have done." He stated his stance in this matter.

Glennise Brodie and Princess Felicia who had been watching this from the sideline and even Duke Topher Tanner nodded their heads in acceptance of his words.

Howard too gave a brief nod as he was on his father's side in this matter.

They were present when this incident had taken place and had already deciphered that Yvonne had fallen prey to that Lady's tricks and even was disrespected by the Prince.

Therefore, they displayed their support to the Miss of the St. Claire family who had been standing in silence next to her father and brother until now.

Yvonne had not spoken a word after greeting the King and it was only Rutherford who had revealed his dissatisfactions to their King.

The man seated on the Throne had thick blonde hair flowing down to his shoulders and there was a heavy beard that covered the lower half of his face.

Soft wrinkles had begun to appear on his regal face which proved that he had also advanced in age just like the others.

King Ophire had been listening to the complaints coming from the concerned father and being a parent himself, he agreed with everything he heard.

Fritzen had no necessity to behave that way which was also why the King had intervened back when the hot-headed prince had tried to argue his way out of the sticky situation he had gotten himself into.

Princess Felicia, Lady Glennise, and Miss Yvonne would also have had a tough time if they continued to go against the Prince as he held a higher status.

Not to mention that their retaliation could be used against them by people with ill intentions.

Thus, he had asked his Steward to break up the argument before things escalated.

However, the glare he had shot his son on that day proved that he was not pleased with his behavior.

The Prince had upset the Princess and also caused a scandal right in his presence.

The King had wished to speak with his son regarding this matter but before he could, the Previous Earl of St. Claire had requested for an audience and the issue at hand was the same incident.

Since the Prince had been doted immensely by his mother, Queen Zena, he had never been truly punished.

However, it now appeared that this would soon change after what he had done all by himself.

Even Queen Zena had been upset with the Prince's behavior on that day as he had lost face for the Royal family before everyone and all for the sake of some unknown Lady coming from the countryside.

Therefore, it was inevitable that this time he would have to bear the consequences of his actions and there was no one who could come forward to save him.

Having come to this conclusion, King Ophire directed his gaze towards the family of three who was standing before him.

"She has a name!" A murmur coming through gritted teeth shifted everyone's attention from the King and onto the one who had just spoken.

Yvonne's eyes too fell on the young man who had been standing at a short distance away from the steps leading to the throne.

If Yvonne with her family and the King were in the center of this room then Glennise with Felicia were on her left while the two men, one of whom had spoken up were on her right.

However, until now they were all gazing at the King but now the center of attention had moved to one side of the hall.

With this change, the two best friends had the perfect view of the one directly opposite them.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on the young man with bright blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes.

However, his eyes were ablaze with fury as he leered at the older man who had been throwing accusations around for quite a while now.

He had not bothered when they were discussing his supposed bad behavior but the same could not be said for something that the Previous Earl had repeated from his very first statement.

"She has a name so you should stop referring to her as 'That Lady', Lord St. Claire." Prince Fritzen spat out, displaying his anger at what he had been listening to all along.

Shock was evident in everyone's eyes when they saw the Prince defending that lady right before the King, not worried that they were about to decide his fate any time now.

Instead of speaking in his favor, to improve his situation, he was fussing over how they were addressing the other person who wasn't even present among them at this moment.

King Ophire had been planning to sort this matter out at the earliest but looking at his son's behavior, he felt a shooting ache rising in his head swiftly.

Prince Fritzen had failed to notice his father's glare and even shrugged his shoulder out of his uncle, Grand Duke Roschester's hand who had been trying to stop him.

The Grand Duke's attempt to stop him from doing something stupid was in vain as he leered at the older man.

"Her name is-" Fritzen began but was interrupted in the next second.

"It doesn't matter to me what her name is, Prince." Rutherford spat out with the same intensity that had been directed at him earlier.

Yvonne's lips curved into a negligible smirk at her father's charismatic words before she regained her composure.

"How cou-" Once again the Prince wasn't allowed to finish his sentence.

"Or did the Prince forget how etiquette worked in our Kingdom?" Rutherford's raised brow reminded Prince Fritzen of what he had just done wrong.

In Rosenhyde, one could not introduce the name of a person unless they were present.

The only exceptions were children who were learning the names of the members of their society.

However, neither Prince Fritzen nor Rutherford were children.

They were adults and to introduce someone when they weren't present was also considered to be disrespectful.

This was why Grand Duke had been trying to prevent him from making that mistake but in his anger, Fritzen ignored his uncle's wordless advice and did as he pleased.

The result was that he was corrected right before everyone by the previous Earl and even had angered the King all over again.

King Ophire's forehead throbbed at his son's behavior which had taken for the worst in recent times.

However, he was still a father and could not allow an outsider to insult his son.

Therefore, he had to appease the Previous Earl who was the victim while making sure that this would not leave a negative opinion about the Crown Prince in his citizen's hearts.

"Looks like the Crown Prince has forgotten his etiquettes." King Ophire's words dragged their attention back on him.

With his eyes fixed on his son, he finally revealed his verdict in this matter.

It was certain that Prince Fritzen was the one in the wrong and instead of being apologetic, he had been rude to the Previous Earl who was a firm pillar of their society.

Therefore, hardening his expressions, the King doled out his command.

"Since that is the case then the Crown Prince can overcome this shortcoming by reading every book on etiquette and mannerisms present in the Royal Library." He announced the solution he had come up with.

While this might seem like a mediocre punishment, outsiders would not know the seriousness of what the Prince was about to experience soon.

Only those who frequented the Royal Library could imagine the pain that Prince Fritzen was feeling right at this moment.

"Is the Lord satisfied with this decision?" King Ophire posed this question to Rutherford, waiting to see how he would react.